Giñjakāvasathasutta

Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā ñātike viharati giñjakāvasathe. Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: “bhikkhavo”ti. “Bhadante”ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ. Bhagavā etadavoca:

At one time the Buddha was staying at Ñātika in the brick house. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this:

“Dhātuṁ, bhikkhave, paṭicca uppajjati saññā, uppajjati diṭṭhi, uppajjati vitakko”ti. Evaṁ vutte, āyasmā kaccāno bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “yāyaṁ, bhante, diṭṭhi: ‘asammāsambuddhesu sammāsambuddhā’ti, ayaṁ nu kho, bhante, diṭṭhi kiṁ paṭicca paññāyatī”ti?

“Mendicants, an element gives rise to a perception, a view, and a thought.” When he said this, Venerable Kaccāna said to the Buddha, “Sir, regarding those who are not fully awakened Buddhas, there is a view that they are in fact fully awakened Buddhas. Due to what does this view appear?”

“Mahati kho esā, kaccāna, dhātu yadidaṁ avijjādhātu. Hīnaṁ, kaccāna, dhātuṁ paṭicca uppajjati hīnā saññā, hīnā diṭṭhi, hīno vitakko, hīnā cetanā, hīnā patthanā, hīno paṇidhi, hīno puggalo, hīnā vācā; hīnaṁ ācikkhati deseti paññapeti paṭṭhapeti vivarati vibhajati uttānīkaroti; hīnā tassa upapattīti vadāmi.

“It’s a mighty thing, Kaccāna, the element of ignorance. An inferior element gives rise to inferior perception, inferior view, inferior thought, inferior intention, inferior aim, inferior wish, an inferior person, and inferior speech. One explains, teaches, asserts, establishes, clarifies, analyzes, and discloses the inferior. I say that their rebirth is inferior.

Majjhimaṁ, kaccāna, dhātuṁ paṭicca uppajjati majjhimā saññā, majjhimā diṭṭhi, majjhimo vitakko, majjhimā cetanā, majjhimā patthanā, majjhimo paṇidhi, majjhimo puggalo, majjhimā vācā; majjhimaṁ ācikkhati deseti paññapeti paṭṭhapeti vivarati vibhajati uttānīkaroti; majjhimā tassa upapattīti vadāmi.

A middling element gives rise to middling perception, middling view, middling thought, middling intention, middling aim, middling wish, a middling person, and middling speech. One explains, teaches, asserts, establishes, clarifies, analyzes, and discloses the middling. I say that their rebirth is middling.

Paṇītaṁ, kaccāna, dhātuṁ paṭicca uppajjati paṇītā saññā, paṇītā diṭṭhi, paṇīto vitakko, paṇītā cetanā, paṇītā patthanā, paṇīto paṇidhi, paṇīto puggalo, paṇītā vācā; paṇītaṁ ācikkhati deseti paññapeti paṭṭhapeti vivarati vibhajati uttānīkaroti; paṇītā tassa upapattīti vadāmī”ti. Tatiyaṁ.

A superior element gives rise to superior perception, superior view, superior thought, superior intention, superior aim, superior wish, a superior person, and superior speech. One explains, teaches, asserts, establishes, clarifies, analyzes, and discloses the superior. I say that their rebirth is superior.”