[916] **What ways of speech should he have?** — The question is asked about purity of speech (vacīpārisuddhi): endowed with what kind of ways of speech (byappatha) should he be — of what constitution, of what mode, of what likeness?
What is purity of speech? Here a bhikkhu, having abandoned false speech, abstains from false speech: he is a speaker of truth, an adherent of truth, steadfast, trustworthy, no deceiver of the world. Having abandoned divisive speech, he abstains from divisive speech: having heard something here, he is not one to repeat it elsewhere in order to divide these people; or having heard something elsewhere, he is not one to repeat it to these people in order to divide those. Thus he is a reconciler of those who are divided, a promoter of those who are united; he delights in concord, rejoices in concord, takes joy in concord; he is a speaker of words that create concord. Having abandoned harsh speech, he abstains from harsh speech: such speech as is blameless, pleasing to the ear, lovable, going to the heart, urbane, desired by many, agreeable to many — such speech he speaks. Having abandoned idle chatter, he abstains from idle chatter: he is a speaker at the right time, a speaker of fact, a speaker of what is beneficial, a speaker on the Dhamma, a speaker on the discipline (vinaya); he speaks words worth treasuring, timely, supported by reasons, measured, and connected with the goal.
Endowed with the four kinds of good verbal conduct, he speaks speech free from the four faults. He would be far removed from the thirty-two kinds of pointless talk (tiracchānakathā), refrained, abstained, departed, withdrawn, released, detached from them; he dwells with a mind rid of boundaries. He speaks on the ten topics of talk (kathāvatthu), namely: talk on fewness of wishes, talk on contentment, talk on seclusion, talk on non-entanglement, talk on the arousing of energy (vīriya), talk on virtue, talk on concentration (samādhi), talk on wisdom, talk on liberation, talk on the knowledge (ñāṇa) and vision of liberation. He speaks talk on the establishments of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna), talk on the right strivings, talk on the bases of spiritual power, talk on the faculties, talk on the powers, talk on the factors of awakening (bojjhaṅga), talk on the path (magga), talk on fruition, talk on Nibbāna. He is restrained in speech, controlled, well prepared, guarded, protected, watched over, and restrained. This is purity of speech. He should be endowed with such purity of speech — hence, **What ways of speech should he have?**
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.