[150] **"Pātimokkha":** this is the beginning, this is the entrance (mukha), this is the foremost (pamukha) of wholesome states; therefore it is called "Pātimokkha."
**"Venerable sirs":** this is an expression of affection, this is an expression of respect; "venerable sirs" is a designation implying reverence and deference.
**"I shall recite":** I shall announce, I shall teach, I shall make known, I shall establish, I shall disclose, I shall analyze, I shall make plain, I shall proclaim.
**"It":** the Pātimokkha is meant.
**"All who are present":** however many there are in that assembly — elders, newly ordained, and those of middle standing — these are called "all who are present."
**"Let us listen well":** having made it a matter of concern, having attended to it, we bring it all together with the mind (citta).
**"Let us pay attention":** with unified mind, with undistracted mind, with unscattered mind, we heed it.
**"Whoever has an offense (āpatti)":** whether an elder, a newly ordained, or one of middle standing, [who has] any one of the five classes of offenses or any one of the seven classes of offenses.
**"He should reveal it":** he should confess it, he should disclose it, he should make it plain, he should proclaim it — in the midst of the Saṅgha, in the midst of a group, or to a single person.
**An offense that "is not present"** means: either he has not committed one, or, having committed one, he has emerged from it.
**"One should remain silent":** one should acquiesce; one should not speak.
**"I shall know that [you are] pure":** I shall know, I shall bear in mind.
**"Just as there is an answer for one questioned individually":** just as one questioned by another would answer, even so it should be known by that assembly: "He is asking me."
**"An assembly of such a kind":** an assembly of bhikkhus is meant.
**"It has been proclaimed up to the third time":** it has been proclaimed once, it has been proclaimed a second time, it has been proclaimed a third time.
**"Remembering":** knowing, recognizing.
**An offense that "is present"** means: either he has committed one, or, having committed one, he has not emerged from it.
**"He does not reveal it":** he does not confess it, does not disclose it, does not make it plain, does not proclaim it — in the midst of the Saṅgha, in the midst of a group, or to a single person.
**"He is guilty of deliberate false speech (sampajānamusāvāda)":** what does deliberate false speech amount to? It is an offense of wrong-doing (dukkaṭa).
**"Declared by the Blessed One to be an obstructive thing":** obstructive to what? Obstructive to the attainment of the first jhāna, obstructive to the attainment of the second jhāna, obstructive to the attainment of the third jhāna, obstructive to the attainment of the fourth jhāna; obstructive to the attainment of the jhānas, the liberations (vimokkha), the concentrations (samādhi), the meditative attainments (samāpatti), renunciation, escape, seclusion — wholesome states.
**"Therefore":** for that reason.
**"Remembering":** knowing, recognizing.
**"Desiring purity":** wishing to emerge [from the offense], wishing to be purified.
**An offense that "is present"** means: either he has committed one, or, having committed one, he has not emerged from it.
**"It should be revealed":** it should be revealed in the midst of the Saṅgha, in the midst of a group, or to a single person.
**"For when it has been revealed, there is ease for him":** ease for what? There is ease for the attainment of the first jhāna, there is ease for the attainment of the second jhāna, there is ease for the attainment of the third jhāna, there is ease for the attainment of the fourth jhāna; there is ease for the attainment of the jhānas, the liberations, the concentrations, the meditative attainments, renunciation, escape, seclusion — wholesome states.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.