[922] **"As a smith the dross of silver, so should he blow away his own stain"** (kammāro rajatasseva niddhame malamattano): "smith" (kammāro) is a term for a goldsmith. "Silver" (rajataṃ) is a term for gold (jātarūpa). Just as a goldsmith blows away, blows off, and blows out even the coarse dross of gold, blows away, blows off, and blows out even the middling dross, blows away, blows off, and blows out even the subtle dross — even so a bhikkhu blows away, blows off, blows out, abandons, dispels, terminates, and brings to non-existence even his own coarse defilements; blows away, blows off, blows out, abandons, dispels, terminates, and brings to non-existence even the middling defilements; blows away, blows off, blows out, abandons, dispels, terminates, and brings to non-existence even the subtle defilements. Or else, a bhikkhu blows away, blows off, blows out, abandons, dispels, terminates, and brings to non-existence his own stain of lust (rāga), stain of hatred, stain of delusion, stain of conceit (māna), stain of views (diṭṭhi), stain of defilements, and stain of misconduct — which make for blindness, make for lack of vision, make for lack of knowledge (ñāṇa), which bring about the cessation of wisdom, which side with vexation, and which do not lead to Nibbāna. Or else, with right view he blows away, blows off, blows out, abandons, dispels, terminates, and brings to non-existence wrong view; with right thought, wrong thought; with right speech, wrong speech; with right action, wrong action; with right livelihood, wrong livelihood; with right effort, wrong effort; with right mindfulness, wrong mindfulness; with right concentration, wrong concentration; with right knowledge, wrong knowledge; with right deliverance, wrong deliverance — he blows away, blows off, blows out, abandons, dispels, terminates, and brings to non-existence. Or else, with the noble eightfold path he blows away, blows off, blows out, abandons, dispels, terminates, and brings to non-existence all defilements, all misconduct, all distress, all fevers, all torments, and all unwholesome volitional formations. Therefore it is said: "As a smith the dross of silver, so should he blow away his own stain." Hence the Elder Sāriputta said:
"Having undertaken what training,
being unified, prudent, and mindful,
would he blow away his own stain,
as a smith the dross of silver?"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.