Khuddaka Nikaya - Nettippakarana - Specification Section Part 3-1

Khuddaka Nikaya - Nettippakarana ( The Guide ) - Specification Section Part 3-1

ACCORDING TO
KACCANA THERA

TRANSLATED FROM THE PALI BY
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
Pali Text Society

[PART 3. COUNTER-DEMONSTRATIVE SUBSECTION
Chapter i
16 Modes of Conveying: Separate Treatment]
Mode 1
The Ninefold Thread in the Mode of Conveying a Teaching
31. Herein, what is the Mode of Conveying a Teaching ? The
Mode of Conveying a Teaching is [summarized] in the following
verse:
'Gratification, Disappointment,
Escape, Fruit, Means, the Blessed One's
Command to Devotees: this Mode
Is the Conveying of a Teaching' (§5).
[The act-of-teaching and what-is-taught]
32. What does it teach ? [It teaches as follows:]
[In th e aspect s of] gratification , disappointment ,
escape , fruit , means , an d injunction,
1
(Bhikkhus , I
shal l teac h yo u a Tru e Ide a tha t is good in th e
beginning , good in th e middle , an d good in th e
end , wit h it s own meanin g an d it s own phrasing ; I
shal l displa y a Divin e Life tha t is entirel y perfec t
an d pure) (M. i, 280).
33. Herein, what is the gratification ?
( When a mortal desires, if his desire is fulfilled,
He is sure to be happy by getting what he wants )
This is the gratification. (Pe 45; Sn. 766).
34. Herein, what is the disappointment ?
[&](Desire-born and wilful, if his desires elude him,
He becomes as deformed as if pierced by a barb) (Sn. 767).
This is the disappointment.
32/1 For these six terms see n. 5/1. Here al l six words (assadam . . . dtmttim)
are in the accusative and in apposition to the word dhammam ('a True Idea )
in the quotation that follows. They are all governed by the verb desissami
('I shall teach') in the quotation. For a further exercise in the six see Pe 43-8.

35. Herein, what is the escape ?
(He that shuns desires, as a snake's head with his foot,
And is mindful evades this attachment to the world)
This is the escape. (Pe 46; Sn. 768).
36. Herein, what is the gratification %
(Fields, gardens and money, cattle and horses, bondsmen and men,
Women and kin: many are the desires that a man wants )
This is the gratification. (Sn. 769).
36a. Herein, what is the disappointment ?
( Impotent-seeming troubles overwhelm and crush him;
Then pain invades him, as water a broken boat) (Sn. 770).
This is the disappointment.
36b. Herein, what is the escape %
(So let a man be mindful ever in shunning sense-desires;
Let him abandon them and cross over theflood) (Sn. 771).
This is the escape.
37. Herein, what is the fruit ?
(The True Ideal guards him that walks therein,
As does a big umbrella in time of rain.
The IdeaVs reward when walked in right is this:
Who walks therein has no bad destination)
This is the fruit. (Pe 44; cf. Thag. 303).
38. Herein, what is the means ?
( Impermanent are all determinations, . . .
And painful too are all determinations, . . .
[And then besides] not-self are all ideas:
And so when he sees thus with understanding,
He then dispassion finds in suffering;
This path it is that leads to purification) (Pe 44; Dh. 277-9).
This is the means.
39. [7] Herein, what is the injunction ?
( Just as a man with good sight journeying
Would give wide berth to places of known danger,
So too here in this world of animation
Let wise men give wide berth to evil things) (Ud. 50).
This is the injunction.

40. (Look upon the world as void, Moghardja,) is the injunction.
Constantly mindfuh is the means.
(With self-view extirpated thus, You may outstrip Mortality) is
the fruit (Pe 45; Sn. 1119).
*
[How it is taught]
41. Herein, the Blessed One teaches escape to a person who gains
knowledge by what is condensed,
1
he teaches disappointment and
escape to a person who gains knowledge by what is expanded,
2
he
teaches gratification, disappointment, and escape, to a person who
is guidable.
42. Herein, there are four ways and four [types of] persons. One of
craving-temperament
1
who is dull finds the outlet, by way of the
foundations of mindfulness as support and with the mindfulness
faculty, on the way that is painful with sluggish acquaintanceship.
One of craving-temperament who is intelligent
2
finds the outlet, by
way of the [four] meditations as support and with the concentration
faculty, on the way that is painful with swift acquaintanceship.
3
41/1 'Ugghatita—condensed': see A. ii, 135; Pug. 41. I t is questionable
whether any of the meanings given in PED are right for any context, all of
which seem to derive from the A. ref. Here the meaning is as rendered, as
this context clearly shows. For the corresponding verb ugghateti see n. 54/1.
The term is also explained at Pug. 41. The etymology needs overhauling.
41/2 'Vipancita—expanded': the same remarks apply here as in the note
above on ugghatita. PED's 'unillusioned understanding, clear-minded,
unprejudiced' is quite off the mark. The point is that while the ugghatitannu
only needs a condensed (ugghatita) statement to gain knowledge (anna) of
the 4 Truths, the vipancitannu needs an expanded (vipancita) statement for
the same purpose. He is therefore slower-witted than the other. The
'guidable' (neyya), while still slower-witted, is yet able to follow guidance.
This applies to A. ii, 135. And vipancand (§55) does not mean 'passing a
sentence' as in PED but the 'act of expanding a condensed statement ' (as
is done in, say, M. Sutta 18). Similarly the derivatives viparicayati (§54)
and vipanciyanta (§56). This term is also explained at Pug. 41.
42/1 'Tanha—craving': this is the usual rendering and will do. The word
corresponds to the Skr. trsna 'thirst' , but is never used for 'thirst' , which is
pipasa. 'Need' would be a better rendering, perhaps.
42/2 l
Udatt(h)a—intelligent': NettiA and C spell udattha and NettiA glosses
'uda-attho; uldra-panno ti attho' (p. 43). Ba and Bb support PTS. For the
meaning PED (Netti refs. only) gives 'elevated, high, lofty, clever', but it
is simply the opposite (Amanda ('dull') here.
42/3 t
Abhinnd—acquaintance': the word (subst. fm. vb. abhijdndti) has 3
principal meanings: (1) direct acquaintance by personal experience, (2)

One of view-temperament who is dull finds the outlet, by way of the
right endeavours as support and with the energy faculty, on the way
that is pleasant with sluggish acquaintanceship. One of view-
temperament who is intelligent finds the outlet, by way of the truths
as support and with the understanding faculty, on the way that is
pleasant with swift acquaintanceship.
43. Both kinds of craving-temperament find the outlet, by way of
insight heralded by quiet,
1
to the heart-deliverance due to the fading
of lust. Both kinds of view-temperament find the outlet, by way of
quiet heralded by insight, to the understanding-deliverance due to
the fading of ignorance.
2
44. Herein, those who find the outlet (cf. §§529ff.) by the ways
heralded by quiet can be brought to abandoning1
by means of the
Conversion-of-Kelishing Guide-Line (§§644-72), while those who find
the outlet by the ways heralded by insight can be brought to
abandoning by means of the Lions'-Play Guide-Line (§§673-757).
[How it is apprehended]
45. [8] Where does this Mode of Conveying actually come into
being ? When the Master, or some respected companion in the
Divine Life, teaches the True Idea to someone, then that someone,
on hearing that True Idea, acquires faith.
46. Herein, inquiry, interest, estimating, scrutiny, is understanding
consisting in what is heard (see D. iii, 219). Suchlike inquiry,
estimating, scrutiny, mental looking-over, with what has been heard
as the support, is understanding consisting in cogitation. Know-
acquaintance by book-knowledge or by hearing from someone else, 'learning
by heart', which is equivalent to 'understanding consisting in what is heard'
(§46), and (3) 6 kinds of abhifind or 5 supernormal-powers belonging to worlds
and 1 knowledge-of-exhaustion-of-taints dissociated from worlds, together
called the chalabhinnd. Here the meaning is in the senses of (2) or (3).
43/1 The allusion is to A. ii, 157. 'Quiet' (samaiha) is a synonym for
'concentration' (samddhi).
43/2 Avijjd—here 'ignorance'—could be well rendered here by 'nescience'
as the derivative-opposite of vijjd (rendered here by 'science'). Avijjd is
technically 'ignorance' of the 4 Truths, while vijjd has the meanings of (1)
loosely any body of knowledge or 'science' (in the old sense) and (2) technically
the 'triple science' (tivijjd), as Recollection of Past Life (pubbenivdsdnussati),
the Heavenly Eye (dibba-cakkhu), and Knowledge of Exhaustion of Taints
(dsava-kkhuya-ndna).
44/1 'Hdtabba—can be brought to abandoning': \/hd to abandon (?).
NettiA says 'Yametabbd; netabbd ti attho'; see n. 181/1.

ledge that, in one associating his attention with these two kinds of
understanding, arises on the plane of seeing or on the plane of
keeping-in-being,
1
is understanding consisting in keeping-in-being.
[Now] understanding consisting in what is heard [arises] from
another's utterance. Understanding consisting in cogitation [arises]
from reasoned attention2
moulded3
for oneself. Understanding
consisting in keeping-in-being is knowledge that arises by means of
another's utterance and by means of reasoned attention moulded for
oneself
4
(cf. Pe 233).
47. He in whom there are the two kinds of understanding, namely
that consisting in what is heard and that consisting in cogitation, is
one who gains knowledge by what is condensed. He is whom there
is understanding consisting in what is heard but no understanding
consisting in cogitation is one who gains knowledge by what is
expanded. He in whom there is neither understanding consisting
.in what is heard nor understanding consisting in cogitation is
guidable (cf. Pe 30).
[The Teaching as presentation of the Four Truths]
48. What does the teaching of the True Idea teach ? The Four
Truths, namely Suffering, Origin, Cessation, and the Path.
Disappointment and fruit are suffering; gratification is origin;
escape is cessation; means and injunction are the path (cf. §32).
These are the Four Truths.
46/1 'Seeing' (dassana) as a technical term means the 1st path, at which
moment nibbdna is first 'seen'. 'Keeping in being' (bhdvand—caus. subst.
fm. \/bhu to be) is the corresponding technical term for the remaining three
paths, which 'keep that vision of nibbdna in being' by repeating it. This
latter word has thus an important ontological significance.
46/2 'Yoniso manasikdra—reasoned attention'. Yoni (lit. 'womb') is figur-
atively used for the 'reason' from which an idea is 'born', i.e., a condition-
sine-qua-non (paccaya), see M. iii, 142. Manasi-kdra means what it says,
namely 'doing in the mind'. It is always necessarily present. Yoniso
manasikdra ('reasoned attention') as a technical term means thinking in
terms of the specific conditionality of existence. The classic example is
given at JS. ii, 105f.; the opposite, ayoniso manasikdra, is any train of thought
which ignores that specifically conditioned structure of existence (see M. i, 7),
and which results in the formation of wrong views and the consequent
production of suffering. It is not to be confused with temporal ('historical')
causality.
46/3 'Moulded for oneself' refers primarily to the original thinking by
'reasoned attention' described at S. ii, 105f.
46/4 Cf. Pe 1-2.

49. [Now] this is the Wheel of the True Idea, according as the
Blessed One said:
('This is suffering9
: At Benares, bhikkhus, in the Deer Park at
Isipatana, the matchless Wheel of the True Idea was thus set rolling
by me not to be stopped by monk
1
or divine
2
or god or Mara or Divinity
or anyone in the world . . . ) and the whole 'Wheel-of-the-True-Idea'
[Discourse should be quoted] (cf. S. v, 424).
Herein, there are terms of ungauged measure, letters of ungauged
measure (cf. A. ii, 182), phrases, moods, linguistics and demon-
strations of ungauged measure (cf. §27) but there is an explaining,
displaying, divulging, analysing, exhibiting, and describing (cf.
§28), of that very meaning [in the ninefold Thread] (see Pe 5).
This is the Noble Truth of Suffering.
50. ((
This is the origin of suffering1
: At Benares, bhikkhus, in the
Deer Park at Isipatana, the matchless Wheel of the True Idea wasset
rolling by me ...). . .
51. [9] (c
This is the cessation of suffering': At Benares, bhikkhus,
52. ((
This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering': At Benares,
bhikkhus, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, the matchless Wheel of the
True Idea was thus set rolling by me not to be stopped by monk or
divine or god or Mara or Divinity or anyone in the world) (cf. S. v,
424).
Herein, there are terms of ungauged measure, letters of ungauged
measure, phrases, moods, linguistics, and demonstrations of un-
gauged measure, but there is an explaining, displaying, divulging,
analysing, exhibiting, and describing, of that very meaning [in the
ninefold Thread]. This is the Noble Truth of the Way Leading to
the Cessation of Suffering.
49/1 There is no adequate translation of samarm. At MA. i, 113 it is denned
as 'anyone who has gone forth from the house-life' and is further explained
at MA. ii, 201.
49/2 The three Pali words brahma ('divine' as in brahma-vihdra = 'divine
abiding' , brahmacariya = 'divine life', 'brahmaydna = 'divine vehicle' S. v, 4),
brahma ('High Divinity'), and brdhmana (a 'divine', a 'priestly divine', the
'priestly-divine caste' , 'of the divine caste') are all closely related etymologic-
ally and semantically. There are frequent plays on these words, and each
is always shadowed by the meanings of the others. Brahma (adj.) signifies
the quality of perfection of the Brahma God, and the Brdhmana Caste claims to
derive its origins from Brahma regarded as the Creator.

[How the Teaching is variously presented]
53. Herein, the Blessed One explains by letters, displays by terms,
divulges by phrases, analyses by moods, exhibits by linguistics, and
describes by demonstrations.
54. Herein, the Blessed One condenses
1
by letters and terms, he
expands
2
by phrases and moods, he details by linguistics and
demonstrations.
55. Herein, condensing1
is the beginning, expanding2
is the middle,
and detailing is the end (see §32).
56. This True Idea and Outguiding (Discipline), when it is con-
densed,
1
guides out (disciplines) the [type of] person who gains
knowledge by what is condensed; hence 'good in the beginning' is
said (§32). When expanded it guides out (disciplines) the [type of]
person who gains knowledge by what is expanded; hence 'good in
the middle' is said (§32). When detailed it guides out (disciplines)
the [type of] person who is guidable; hence 'good in the end' is
said (§32).
57. Herein, six terms [concern] the meaning, namely explaining,
displaying, divulging, analysing, exhibiting, and describing (§28);
these six terms concern the meaning. [And] six terms [concern]
the phrasing, namely letter, term, phrase, mood, linguistic, and
demonstration (§27); these six terms [concern] the phrasing. That is
why the Blessed One said (Bhikkhus, I shall teach you a True Idea
that is good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end,
with its own meaning and its own phrasing; I shall display a Divine
Life that is entirely perfect and pure) (§32).
58. [10] 'Entirely':
1
disjoined from worlds, not mixed with world
54/1 'Ugghateti—to condense': (see n. 41/1) the meaning 'to open, to reveal'
given in PTS Netti Index and quoted in PED is incorrect. Perhaps confused
there with the 'removal' (ugghati) of the
i
kasina)
as described at Vis. 113 and
327.
54/2 'Vipancayati—to expand' (i.e., expand a condensed meaning): see
n. 41/2.
55/1 'Uggliatand—(act of) condensing': not in PED.
55/2 ' Vipancand—(act of) expanding' (i.e., expanding a condensed statement) :
see n. 41/2.
56/1 Ugghatiyanto, vipanciyanto, and vitthdriyanto, are not denominatives
as stated in PTS Netti Index, but present participles of the passive voice.
58/1 This paragraph simply takes up and explains, for completeness' sake,
the final clause of the quotation (§32) which forms the basis of this Mode
of Conveying, and which has so far not been dealt with. There is no reason
for printing it in small type as is done in PTS.

ideas. 'Perfect'', perfected, with nothing lacking and nothing
superfluous. 'Pure'', immaculate, with all stains removed, estab-
lished [as fit] for all [kinds of] distinctions.
59. (This is called 'a Perfect One's footprint' and 'something used by
a Perfect One' and 'something marked by a Perfect One'y
1
(M. i, 182).
With that this Divine Life is evident. That is why the Blessed One
said 'I shall display a Divine Life that is entirely perfect and pure'.
[For whom the Teaching is intended]
60. For whom is this teaching of the True Idea ? For devotees.
This is why the venerable Maha-Kaccana said:
'Gratification, Disappointment,
Escape, Fruit, Means, the Blessed One's
Command to devotees; this Mode
Is the Conveying of a Teaching' (§5).
The Mode of Conveying a Teaching is ended.