THE PATH
OF PURIFICATION
(VISUDDHIMAGGA)
BY
BHADANTACARIYA BUDDHAGHOSA
Translated from the Pali
by
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
FIFTH EDITION
BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
Kandy Sri Lanka
143. However, it was also asked (vi) WHAT IS THE DEFILING OF
IT? and WHAT IS THE CLEANSING OF IT?
We answer that virtue's tornness, etc., is its defiling, and that its un-
tornness, etc., is its cleansing. Now that tornness, etc., is comprised
under the breach that has gain, fame, etc., as its cause, and under the
seven bonds of sexuality. When a man has broken the training course at
the beginning or at the end in any instance of the seven classes of
offences,
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his virtue is called torn, like a cloth that is cut at the edge. But
when he has broken it in the middle, it is called rent, like a cloth that is
rent in the middle. When he has broken it twice or thrice in succession, it
is called blotched, like a cow whose body is some such colour as black
or red with a discrepant colour appearing on the back or the belly. When
he has broken it [all over] at intervals, it is called mottled, like a cow
speckled [all over] with discrepant-coloured spots at intervals. This in
the first place is how there comes to be tornness with the breach that has
gain, Qtc.y as its cause.
144. And likewise with the seven bonds of sexuality; for this is said by
the Blessed One: 'Here, brahman, some ascetic or brahman claims to
lead the life of purity rightly; for he does not [52] enter into actual
sexual intercourse with women. Yet he agrees to massage, manipulation,
bathing and rubbing down by women. He enjoys it, desires it and takes
satisfaction in it. This is what is torn, rent, blotched and mottled in one
who leads the life of purity. This man is said to lead a life of purity that
is unclean. As one who is bound by the bond of sexuality, he will not be
released from birth, ageing and death ... he will not be released from
suffering, I say.
145. 'Furthermore, brahman, ... while he does not agree to [these things],
yet he jokes, plays and amuses himself with women ...
146. 'Furthermore, brahman,... while he does not agree to [these things],
yet he gazes and stares at women eye to eye ...
147. 'Furthermore, brahman,... while he does not agree to [these things],
yet he listens to the sound of women through a wall or through a fence
as they laugh or talk or sing or weep ...
148. 'Furthermore, brahman,... while he does not agree to [these things],
yet he recalls laughs and talks and games that he formerly had with
women ...
149. 'Furthermore, brahman, ... while he does not agree to [these things],
[53] yet he sees a householder or a householder's son possessed of,
endowed with, and indulging in, the five cords of sense desire ...
150. 'Furthermore, brahman, while he does not agree to [these things],
yet he leads the life of purity aspiring to some order of deities, [thinking]
"Through this rite (virtue) or this ritual (vow) or this asceticism I shall
become a [great] deity or some [lesser] deity". He enjoys it, desires it,
and takes satisfaction in it. This, brahman, is what is torn, rent, blotched
and mottled in one who leads the life of purity. This man ... will not be
released from suffering, I say' (A.iv, 54-56).
This is how tornness, etc., should be understood as included under
the breach that has gain, etc., as its cause and under the seven bonds of
sexuality.
151. Untornness, however, is accomplished by the complete non-break-
ing of the training precepts, by making amends for those broken for
which amends should be made, by the absence of the seven bonds of
sexuality, and, as well, by the non-arising of such evil things as anger,
enmity, contempt, domineering, envy, avarice, deceit, fraud, obduracy,
presumption, pride (conceit), haughtiness, conceit (vanity), and negli-
gence (see M. Sutta 7), and by the arising of such qualities as fewness of
wishes, contentment, and effacement (see M. Sutta 24).
152. Virtues not broken for the purpose of gain, etc., and rectified by
making amends after being broken by the faults of negligence, etc., and
not damaged by the bonds of sexuality and by such evil things as anger
and enmity, are called entirely untorn, unrent, unblotched, and unmottled.
And those same virtues are liberating since they bring about the state of
a freeman, and praised by the wise since it is by the wise that they are
praised, and unadhered-to since they are not adhered to by means of
craving and views, and conducive to concentration since they conduce to
access concentration or to absorption concentration. That is why their
untornness, etc., should be understood as 'cleansing' (see also Ch. VII,
§101f.).
153. . This cleansing comes about in two ways: through seeing the danger
of failure in virtue, and through seeing the benefit of perfected virtue.
[54] Herein, the danger of failure in virtue can be seen in accordance
with such suttas as that beginning 'Bhikkhus, there are these five dan-
gers for the unvirtuous in the failure of virtue' (A.iii,252).
154. Furthermore, on account of his unvirtuousness an unvirtuous person
is displeasing to deities and human beings, is uninstructable by his fel-
lows in the life of purity, suffers when unvirtuousness is censured, and is
remorseful when the virtuous are praised. Owing to that unvirtuousness
he is as ugly as hemp cloth. Contact with him is painful because those
who fall in with his views are brought to long-lasting suffering in the
states of loss. He is worthless because he causes no great fruit [to accrue]
to those who give him gifts. He is as hard to purify as a cesspit many
years old. He is like a log from a pyre (see Iti. 99); for he is outside both
[recluseship and the lay state]. Though claiming the bhikkhu state he is
no bhikkhu, so he is like a donkey following a herd of cattle. He is
always nervous, like a man who is everyone's enemy. He is as unfit to
live with as a dead carcase. Though he may have the qualities of learn-
ing, etc., he is as unfit for the homage of his fellows in the life of purity
as a charnel-ground fire is for that of brahmans. He is as incapable of
reaching the distinction of attainment as a blind man is of seeing a
visible object. He is as careless of the Good Law as a guttersnipe is of a
kingdom. Though he fancies he is happy, yet he suffers because he reaps
suffering as told in the Discourse on the Mass of Fire (A.iv,128-34).
155. Now the Blessed One has shown that when the unvirtuous have
their minds captured by pleasure and satisfaction in the indulgence of the
five cords of sense desires, in [receiving] salutation, in being honoured,
etc., the result of that kamma, directly visible in all ways, is very violent
pain, with that [kamma] as its condition, capable of producing a gush of
hot blood by causing agony of heart with the mere recollection of it.
Here is the text:
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Bhikkhus, do you see that great mass of fire burning, blazing and
glowing?—Yes, venerable sir.—What do you think,'bhikkhus, which is
better, that one [gone forth] should sit down or lie down-embracing that
mass of fire burning, blazing and glowing, or that he should sit down or
lie down embracing a warrior-noble maiden or a brahman maiden or a
maiden of householder family, with soft, delicate hands and feet? —It
would be better, venerable sir, that he should sit down or lie down
embracing a warrior-noble maiden ... [55] It would be painful, venerable
sir, if he sat down or lay down embracing that great mass of fire burning,
blazing and glowing.
156. 'I say to you, bhikkhus, I declare to you, bhikkhus, that it would be
better for one [gone forth] who is unvirtuous, who is evil-natured, of
unclean and suspect habits, secretive of his acts, who is not an ascetic
and claims to be one, who does not lead the life of purity and claims to
do so, who is rotten within, lecherous, and full of corruption, to sit down
or lie down embracing that great mass of fire burning, blazing and glow-
ing. Why is that? By his doing so, bhikkhus, he might come to death or
deadly suffering, yet he would not on that account, on the breakup of the
body, after death, reappear in states of loss, in an unhappy destiny, in
perdition, in hell. But if one who is unvirtuous, evil-natured ... and full
of corruption, should sit down or lie down embracing a warrior-noble
maiden ... that would be long for his harm and suffering: on the breakup
of the body, after death, he would reappear in states of loss, in an un-
happy destiny, in perdition, in hell' (A.iv, 128-29).
157. Having thus shown by means of the analogy of the mass of fire the
suffering that is bound up with women and has as its condition the
indulgence of the five cords of sense desires [by the unvirtuous], to the
same intent he showed, by the following similes of the horse-hair rope,
the sharp spear, the iron sheet, the iron ball, the iron bed, the iron chair,
and the iron cauldron, the pain that has as its condition [acceptance of]
homage and reverential salutation, and the use of robes, alms food, bed
and chair, and dwelling [by unvirtuous bhikkhus]:
'What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one should have
a strong horse-hair rope twisted round both legs by a strong man and
tightened so that it cut through the outer skin, and having cut through the
outer skin it cut through the inner skin, and having cut through the inner
skin it cut through the flesh, and having cut through the flesh it cut
through the sinews, and having cut through the sinews it cut through the
bones, and having cut through the bones it remained crushing the bone-
marrow—or that he should consent to the homage of great warrior-
nobles, great brahmans, great householders?' (A.iv,129). [56]
And: 'What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one should
have a strong man wound one's breast with a sharp spear tempered in
oil—or that he should consent to the reverential salutation of great war-
rior-nobles, great brahmans, great householders?' (A.iv,130).
And: 'What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one's body
should be wrapped by a strong man in a red-hot iron sheet burning,
blazing and glowing—or that he should use robes given out of faith by
great warrior-nobles, great brahmans, great householders?' (A.iv,130-
31).
And: 'What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one's
mouth should be prised open by a strong man with red-hot iron tongs
burning, blazing and glowing, and that into his mouth should be put a
red-hot iron ball burning, blazing and glowing, which burns his lips and
burns his mouth and tongue and throat and belly and passes out below
carrying with it his bowels and entrails—or that he should use alms food
given out of faith by great warrior-nobles ...?' (A.iv,131-32).
And: 'What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one should
have a strong man seize him by the head or seize him by the shoulders
and seat him or lay him on a red-hot iron bed or iron chair, burning,
blazing and glowing—or that he should use a bed or chair given out of
faith by great warrior-nobles ...?' (A.iv,132-33).
And: 'What do you think, bhikkhus, which is better, that one should
have a strong man take him feet up and head down and plunge him into
a red-hot metal cauldron burning, blazing and glowing, to be boiled
there in a swirl of froth, and as he boils in the swirl of froth to be swept
now up, now down, and now across—or that he should use a dwelling
given out of faith by great warrior-nobles ...?' (A.iv, 133-34).
158. What pleasure has a man of broken virtue
Forsaking not sense pleasures, which bear fruit
Of pain more violent even than the pain
In the embracing of a mass of fire?
What pleasure has he in accepting homage
Who, having failed in virtue, must partake
Of pain that will excel in agony
The crushing of his legs with horse-hair ropes? [57]
What pleasure has a man devoid of virtue
Accepting salutations of the faithful,
Which is the cause of pain acuter still
Than pain produced by stabbing with a spear?
What is the pleasure in the use of garments
For one without restraint, whereby in hell
He will for long be forced to undergo
The contact of the blazing iron sheet?
Although to him his alms food may seem tasty,
Who has no virtue, it is direst poison,
Because of which he surely will be made
For long to swallow burning iron balls.
And when the virtueless make use of couches
And chairs, though reckoned pleasing, it is pain
Because they will be tortured long indeed
On red-hot blazing iron beds and chairs.
Then what delight is there for one unvirtuous
Inhabiting a dwelling given in faith,
Since for that reason he will have to dwell
Shut up inside a blazing iron pan?
The Teacher of the world, in him condemning,
Described him in these terms: 'Of suspect habits,
Full of corruption, lecherous as well,
By nature evil, rotten too within*.
So out upon the life of him abiding
Without restraint, of him that wears the guise
Of the ascetic that he will not be,
And damages and undermines himself!
What is the life he leads, since any person,
No matter who, with virtue to his credit
Avoids it here, as those that would look well
Keep far away from dung or from a corpse?
He is not free from any sort of terror,
Though free enough from pleasure of attainment;
While heaven's door is bolted fast against him,
He is well set upon the road to hell.
Who else if not one destitute of virtue
More fit to be the object of compassion?
Many indeed and grave are the defects
That brand a man neglectful of his virtue.
Seeing danger in the failure of virtue should be understood as re-
viewing in such ways as these. And seeing benefits in perfected virtue
should be understood in the opposite sense.
159. Furthermore: [58]
His virtue is immaculate,
His wearing of the bowl and robes
Gives pleasure and inspires trust,
His going forth will bear its fruit.
A bhikkhu in his virtue pure
Has never fear that self-reproach
Will enter in his heart: indeed
There is no darkness in the sun.
A bhikkhu in his virtue bright
Shines forth in the Ascetics' Wood41
As by the brightness of his beams
The moon lights up the firmament.
Now if the bodily perfume
Of virtuous bhikkhus can succeed
In pleasing even deities,
What of the perfume of his virtue?
It is more perfect far than all
The other perfumes in the world,
Because the perfume virtue gives
Is borne unchecked in all directions.
The deeds done for a virtuous man,
Though they be few, will bear much fruit,
And so the virtuous man becomes
A vessel of honour and renown.
There are no cankers here and now
To plague the virtuous man at all;
The virtuous man digs out the root
Of suffering in lives to come.
Perfection among human kind
And even among deities,
If wished for, is not hard to gain
For him whose virtue is perfected;
But once his virtue is perfected,
His mind then seeks no other kind
Than the perfection of nibbana,
The state where utter peace prevails.
Such is the blessed fruit of virtue,
Showing full many a varied form,
So let a wise man know it well
This root of all perfection's branches.
160. The mind of one who understands thus, shudders at failure in virtue
and reaches out towards the perfecting of. virtue. So virtue should be
cleansed with all care, seeing this danger of failure in virtue and this
benefit of the perfection of virtue in the way stated.
161. And at this point in the Path of Purification, which is shown under
the headings of virtue, concentration and understanding by the stanza,
4
When a wise man, established well in virtue' (§1), virtue, firstly, has
been fully illustrated.
The first chapter called *The Description of
Virtue' in the Path of Purification composed for
the purpose of gladdening good people.
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