[652] **Free from barrenness, possessed of ready wit (akhilo paṭibhāṇavā):** Free from barrenness: greed (rāga) is barrenness (khila), hatred is barrenness, delusion is barrenness, anger is barrenness, grudge is barrenness … all unwholesome volitional activities (sabbākusalābhisaṅkhārā) are barrenness. Those barrennesses have been abandoned by the Buddha, the Blessed One, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, made non-existent, of such a nature as not to arise again in the future; therefore the Buddha is free from barrenness.
**Possessed of ready wit (paṭibhāṇavā):** there are three kinds of persons possessed of ready wit: one possessed of ready wit through learning (pariyatti), one possessed of ready wit through interrogation (paripucchā), and one possessed of ready wit through attainment (adhigama).
Who is possessed of ready wit through learning? Here, someone has mastered the word of the Buddha — the discourses (sutta), the mixed prose and verse (geyya), the expositions (veyyākaraṇa), the verses (gāthā), the inspired utterances (udāna), the thus-said discourses (itivuttaka), the birth-stories (jātaka), the marvelous accounts (abbhūtadhamma), and the question-and-answer texts (vedalla). Depending on his learning, [understanding] becomes clear to him. This one is possessed of ready wit through learning.
Who is possessed of ready wit through interrogation? Here, someone is an inquirer concerning the meaning (attha), the method (ñāya), the characteristics, the causes, and what is possible and impossible (ṭhānāṭhāna). Depending on his interrogation, [understanding] becomes clear to him. This one is possessed of ready wit through interrogation.
Who is possessed of ready wit through attainment? Here, someone has attained the four establishments of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna), the four right strivings (sammappadhāna), the four bases of spiritual power (iddhipāda), the five faculties (indriya), the five powers (bala), the seven factors of awakening (bojjhaṅga), the noble eightfold path (magga), the four noble paths, the four fruits of asceticism (sāmaññaphala), the four analytical knowledges (paṭisambhidā), and the six direct knowledges (abhiññā). By him the meaning is known, the dhamma is known, the language (nirutti) is known. When the meaning is known, the meaning becomes clear; when the dhamma is known, the dhamma becomes clear; when the language is known, the language becomes clear. Knowledge (ñāṇa) in these three is the analytical knowledge of ready wit (paṭibhāṇa-paṭisambhidā).
The Blessed One is endowed, fully endowed, has approached, fully approached, has arrived at, fully arrived at, and is possessed of this analytical knowledge; therefore the Buddha is possessed of ready wit. One who has no learning, no interrogation, and no attainment — what will become clear to him? Therefore [the Buddha is] free from barrenness and possessed of ready wit. Hence the Elder Piṅgiya said:
> All the more do I gain confidence,
> having heard the word of the Muni —
> the Fully Awakened One, with the veil removed,
> free from barrenness, possessed of ready wit.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.