Dighanikaya 28: 5. Sampasādanīyasuttavaṇṇanā

Explanation of Sāriputta's Lion's Roar

"Thus have I heard" introduces the Sampasādanīya Sutta. Here is the commentary on the obscure words: "At Nāḷandā" means in the city of that name, having made that city his resort for alms. "In Pāvārika's Mango Grove" means in the mango grove belonging to the guild-president who was a cloaks-dealer. That, it is said, was his park. Having heard the Blessed One's Dhamma discourse, filled with faith in the Blessed One, he had a monastery built in that park adorned with huts, caves, pavilions, and so forth, and dedicated it to the Blessed One. That monastery, like Jīvaka's Mango Grove, came to be known as "Pāvārika's Mango Grove"; he "was residing in Pāvārika's Mango Grove" is the meaning. "Addressed the Blessed One thus: 'I have such faith, Bhante, in the Blessed One.'" Why did he speak in this way? In order to make known the joyous satisfaction that had arisen in himself.

Here is the continuous narrative: The elder, it is said, having tended to his body early in the day, well robed, took bowl and robe, inspiring faith in devas and humans through his inspiring departures and other deportments, promoting the welfare and happiness of the residents of Nāḷandā, entered for alms. After his meal, having returned from his alms round, he went to the monastery, performed his duties for the Teacher, and when the Teacher had entered the Fragrant Chamber, he paid homage to the Teacher and went to his daytime resting place. There, having the co-residents and pupils perform their duties and then leave, he swept the daytime resting place, spread a piece of hide, cooled his hands and feet with water from a water pitcher, sat down cross-legged with three bends, determined the period of time, and attained the attainment of fruition.

Having emerged from the attainment according to the determined time, he began to recollect his own virtues. Then, as he recollected his virtues, virtue came into his range. Thereafter, in sequence: concentration, wisdom, liberation, knowledge and vision of liberation, the first absorption, the second absorption, the third absorption, the fourth absorption, the attainment of the base of boundless space, the attainment of the base of boundless consciousness, the attainment of the base of nothingness, the attainment of the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, insight-knowledge, knowledge of the mind-made psychic power, knowledge of the modes of psychic power, knowledge of the divine ear element, knowledge of reading the minds of others, knowledge of the recollection of past lives, knowledge of the divine eye... [and so forth]... the path of stream-entry, the fruit of stream-entry... [and so forth]... the path of arahantship, the fruit of arahantship, the analytical knowledge of meaning, the analytical knowledge of Dhamma, the analytical knowledge of language, the analytical knowledge of perspicuity, the knowledge of a disciple's perfections. Starting from this point, beginning with the aspiration made at the feet of the Buddha Anomadassī over an incalculable period plus a hundred thousand eons ago, as he recollected his virtues, virtues presented themselves right up to the sitting cross-legged [of the present moment].

Thus, as the elder recollected his virtues, he was unable to see any measure or limit to his virtues. He thought: "For me, a disciple standing in partial knowledge, there is no measure or limit to my virtues. But what, indeed, must be the virtues of the Teacher on whose account I went forth?" And he began to recollect the virtues of the Possessor of the Ten Powers. Having taken as a basis the Blessed One's virtue, his concentration, wisdom, liberation, knowledge and vision of liberation, the four establishments of mindfulness, the four right strivings, the four bases of psychic power, the four paths, the four fruits, the four analytical knowledges, the knowledge determining the four wombs, and the four noble lineages, he began to recollect the virtues of the Possessor of the Ten Powers.

Likewise, taking support in the five factors of striving, the five-factored right concentration, the five faculties, the five powers, the five elements of escape, the five bases of deliverance, the five wisdoms maturing deliverance, the six qualities to be remembered, the six bases of recollection, the six respects, the six elements of escape, the six constant dwellings, the six unsurpassable things, the six wisdoms partaking of breakthrough, the six direct knowledges, the six unshared knowledges, the seven qualities preventing decline, the seven noble treasures, the seven factors of awakening, the seven qualities of a good person, the seven grounds for eradication, the seven wisdoms, the seven individuals worthy of offerings, the seven powers of one whose outflows are destroyed, the eight causes for gaining wisdom, the eight rightnesses, the eight transcendings of worldly conditions, the eight grounds for initiating effort, the eight expositions on inauspicious times, the eight thoughts of a great man, the eight bases of mastery, the eight liberations, the nine qualities rooted in proper attention, the nine factors of striving for purification, the nine teachings on the abodes of beings, the nine subduings of resentment, the nine wisdoms, the nine diversities, the nine successive dwellings, the ten qualities that provide protection, the ten kasiṇa bases, the ten courses of wholesome action, the ten Tathāgata powers, the ten rightnesses, the ten abodes of the noble ones, the ten qualities of the adept, the eleven benefits of loving-kindness, the twelve modes of the Wheel of the Dhamma, the thirteen ascetic qualities, the fourteen Buddha-knowledges, the fifteen qualities that mature deliverance, the sixteen-factored mindfulness of breathing, the eighteen Buddha-qualities, the nineteen knowledges of reviewing, the forty-four grounds of knowledge, the more than fifty wholesome states, the seventy-seven grounds of knowledge, and the great vajra-knowledge that courses through two million four hundred thousand attainments, he began to recollect the virtues of the One of Ten Powers.

And sitting right there in his day-quarters, he also began to recollect taking support in the sixteen successive qualities that will appear below as, “Furthermore, venerable sir, this is unsurpassable.” Recollecting the virtues of the One of Ten Powers thus: “My Teacher is unsurpassable in the designation of the wholesome, unsurpassable in the designation of the sense bases, unsurpassable in descent into the womb, unsurpassable in the modes of mind-reading, unsurpassable in the attainment of vision, unsurpassable in the designation of persons, unsurpassable in striving, unsurpassable in courses of practice, unsurpassable in proper conduct in speech, unsurpassable in a man’s moral conduct, unsurpassable in the modes of instruction, unsurpassable in the knowledge of the liberation of other persons, unsurpassable in eternalist doctrines, unsurpassable in the knowledge of past lives, unsurpassable in the knowledge of the divine eye, unsurpassable in psychic power, and unsurpassable in this and that way,” he saw neither end nor measure to the virtues of the Blessed One. If the Elder could not see the end or measure even of his own virtues, how could he see those of the Blessed One? For whoever has great wisdom and clear knowledge has immense faith in the virtues of the Buddha. Worldly common folk, even when coughing or sneezing, recollect the virtues of the Buddha according to their respective supporting conditions, saying, “Homage to the Buddhas!” More greatly than all worldly common folk, a single stream-enterer has faith in the virtues of the Buddha. More than a hundred or a thousand stream-enterers, a single once-returner. More than a hundred or a thousand once-returners, a single non-returner. More than a hundred or a thousand non-returners, a single arahant has immense faith in the virtues of the Buddha. More than the remaining arahants, the eighty great elders have immense faith in the virtues of the Buddha. More than the eighty great elders, the four great elders. More than the four great elders, the two chief disciples. Even among them, the Elder Sāriputta; and even more than the Elder Sāriputta, a single Paccekabuddha has immense faith in the virtues of the Buddha. But if Paccekabuddhas, sitting throughout the entire cavity of the universe, outer robe striking outer robe, were to recollect the virtues of the Buddha, a single Omniscient Buddha would have immense faith in the virtues of the Buddha far more greatly than all of them.

Just as if many people, in order to know whether the great ocean is deep or shallow, were to twist cords: one among them might twist a cord one fathom long, another two fathoms, another ten fathoms, another twenty fathoms, another thirty fathoms, another forty fathoms, another fifty fathoms, another a hundred fathoms, another a thousand fathoms, and another eighty-four thousand fathoms. Boarding a ship or standing on a mountain or the like that rose up in the midst of the ocean, they might lower their respective cords. Among them, he whose cord is merely one fathom long knows water only at a depth of one fathom …pe… he whose [cord] is eighty-four thousand fathoms long knows water only at a depth of eighty-four thousand fathoms. He does not know how much water there is beyond that. But the water in the great ocean is not just that much; rather, it is endless and immeasurable, for the great ocean is eighty-four thousand leagues deep. In the very same way, the qualities of the Buddha seen by ordinary worldly folk are to be understood as being like the water known by a cord of from one fathom up to nine fathoms. The qualities of the Buddha seen by a stream-enterer are like the water known at a depth of ten fathoms by a ten-fathom cord. The qualities of the Buddha seen by a once-returner are like the water known at a depth of twenty fathoms by a twenty-fathom cord. The qualities of the Buddha seen by a non-returner are like the water known at a depth of thirty fathoms by a thirty-fathom cord. The qualities of the Buddha seen by an arahant are like the water known at a depth of forty fathoms by a forty-fathom cord. The qualities of the Buddha seen by the eighty great elders are like the water known at a depth of fifty fathoms by a fifty-fathom cord. The qualities of the Buddha seen by the four great elders are like the water known at a depth of a hundred fathoms by a hundred-fathom cord. The qualities of the Buddha seen by the elder Mahāmoggallāna are like the water known at a depth of a thousand fathoms by a thousand-fathom cord. The qualities of the Buddha seen by the elder Sāriputta, the General of the Dhamma, are like the water known at a depth of eighty-four thousand fathoms by an eighty-four-thousand-fathom cord. In that case, just as that man realizes, ‘Water in the great ocean is indeed not just this much, it is endless and immeasurable,’ just so the venerable Sāriputta, by conformity with the Dhamma, by inferential understanding, by inference, by grasping the method, established in the knowledge of a disciple's perfections, recollecting the virtues of the One of Ten Powers, had faith that ‘The qualities of the Buddha are endless and immeasurable.’

For the qualities of the Buddha that were to be grasped by conformity with the Dhamma were far more numerous than the qualities of the Buddha seen by the elder. Just like what? Just as a man might take water with the eye of a needle from the Candabhāgā, a great river that flows covering eighteen leagues—nine leagues on this side and nine on that side—and what is not taken is far more than the water taken with the eye of a needle. Or again, just as a man might take dust from the great earth with his finger, and the remaining dust is far more than the dust taken with his finger. Or again, just as a man might point his finger toward the great ocean, and the remaining water is far more than the water facing his finger. And just as a man might point his finger toward space, and the remaining portion of space is far more than the space facing his finger. Thus it is to be understood that the unseen qualities were far more numerous than the qualities of the Buddha seen by the elder. And this too has been said:

‘Even a Buddha might speak in praise of a Buddha,
and even if he spoke nothing else for an eon,
the eon would be exhausted during that long stretch of time,
but the praise of the Tathāgata would not be exhausted.’

Thus, as the elder recollected his own virtues and those of the Teacher, rapture and joy inundated his interior like the great flood of twin great rivers, and filled his entire body like wind [filling] a bellows, or like water that has welled up and risen [filling] a great lake. Then, as the elder reflected, ‘Well-wished indeed was my aspiration! Well-obtained was my going forth, in that I have gone forth in the presence of such a Teacher!’, an even stronger rapture and joy arose in him.

Then the elder, thinking, 'To whom should I make known this joy and gladness? No other ascetic or brahmin, deva, Māra, or Brahmā will be able to properly receive this confidence of mine; I will announce this gladness to the Teacher alone, for only the Teacher will be able to receive it. For let alone my joy and gladness—even if a hundred, a thousand, or a hundred thousand ascetics like me were to make known their gladness, he is able to grasp the minds of all and receive it. Just as neither small pools nor ravines are able to receive the great Candabhāgā River flowing over eighteen yojanas, and only the great ocean receives it—for let alone the Candabhāgā, the great ocean receives a hundred, a thousand, or a hundred thousand such rivers, and thereby neither its deficiency nor its fullness is discernible; even so, the Teacher is able to grasp the minds of all and receive the joy and gladness made known by a hundred, a thousand, or a hundred thousand ascetics like me. Other ascetics and brahmins, like the small pools and ravines with respect to the Candabhāgā, are not able to receive my gladness. Come, let me announce my joy and gladness to the Teacher alone'—having unfolded his cross-legged posture, shaken out his piece of hide, and taken it, he approached the Teacher in the evening, at the time when flowers fall from their stalks and ooze [nectar], and, making known his gladness, spoke beginning with: 'So confident am I, venerable sir.' In that context, 'so confident' means with such faith arisen, the meaning being 'I have such faith.' 'More thoroughly knowing' means known all the more, or possessing greater direct knowledge, the meaning being having higher knowledge. 'In regard to awakening': in regard to omniscience or in regard to the knowledge of the path of arahantship; for by the path of arahantship alone are the qualities of a Buddha grasped without remainder. Indeed, the two chief disciples obtain the knowledge of a disciple's perfection only through the path of arahantship; Paccekabuddhas, the knowledge of paccekabodhi; Buddhas, both omniscience and all the qualities of a Buddha. For everything of theirs succeeds only through the path of arahantship. Therefore the knowledge of the path of arahantship is called 'awakening'. In that respect, no one is superior to the Blessed One. Hence he said: 'more thoroughly knowing than the Blessed One, that is, in regard to awakening.'

'Lofty' means foremost. For this word 'lofty' occurs in the sense of delicious in passages such as: 'they eat lofty delicacies' (MN 1.366). In the sense of foremost in passages such as: 'Indeed, Master Vacchāyana praises the ascetic Gotama with lofty praise' (MN 3.280). In the sense of vast in passages such as: 'An immeasurable, lofty radiance' (DN 2.32). Here, it occurs in the sense of foremost. Hence it was said: ''lofty' means foremost.' 'Bull-like' means resembling the speech of a bull, unshakeable, unquivering. 'A definite stance has been taken' means: without speaking through oral tradition, through succession of teachers, through hearsay, through accordance with the scriptures, through reflection on reasons, through acceptance of a view after deliberation, by reasoning, or by deduction, but having penetrated as if by direct experiential knowledge, a definite stance has been taken; the meaning is that a definitive statement alone has been spoken.

'Lion's roar' means a foremost roar; the meaning is that an supreme roar has been roared, like a lion that is neither hesitant nor stuttering. Why did he begin this discourse with: 'What of you, Sāriputta?' To offer examination. For someone, having roared a lion's roar, is unable to face examination of his lion's roar, does not endure friction, and is like a monkey fallen into pitch. Just as impure metal being smelted burns and becomes charred cinders, so he becomes like a charred cinder. But someone else, when examination is offered of his lion's roar, is able to face it, endures friction, and, like flawless gold being smelted, shines all the more; such was the elder. Therefore, knowing 'He is capable of examination,' the Blessed One began this discourse in order to offer examination of his lion's roar.

Therein, 'all those to you' means all those by you. In 'such virtue' and so on, he asks about virtue and the rest by way of mundane and supramundane. The detailed discussion of these has already been given in the Mahāpadāna.

With 'What then, Sāriputta, those who will be?', asking: 'Those of the past have ceased for now, have reached the state of beyond designation, and are extinguished like the flame of a lamp; how will you know them who have thus ceased and reached the state of beyond designation? How, then, have the qualities of future Buddhas been known by you, having delimited them with your own mind?', he spoke thus. With 'What then, Sāriputta, of me at present?', interrogating: 'Future Buddhas too are unborn, unoriginated, and unarisen; how will you know them either? For knowing them is like seeing footprints in trackless space. Now you live in the same dwelling with me, wander for alms together, and sit on my right side at the time of Dhamma teaching; what then, have my qualities been known by you, having delimited them with your own mind?', he spoke thus.

Whenever he was questioned, however, the elder denied it: 'Certainly not, venerable sir.' Now for the elder there was both what was known and what was unknown; does he make a denial with respect to what was known to him, or with respect to what was unknown? He does not make it with respect to what was known; he makes it only with respect to what was unknown. The elder, it is said, understood as soon as the examination began: 'This examination does not pertain to the knowledge of a disciple's perfection; this examination pertains to omniscience.' Without making a denial concerning his own knowledge of a disciple's perfection, he makes a denial concerning omniscience, with respect to what was unknown. Thereby he also shows this: 'Venerable sir, I do not possess the omniscience capable of knowing the circumstances of the virtue, immersion, wisdom, and liberation of the Buddhas of the past, future, and present.'

"Herein" means among these Buddhas classified into past and so forth. "Then why now?" means he asks, "Then why, in the absence of such knowledge, was this spoken by you?"

"Inference according to the Dhamma": inductive reasoning, the grasp of a method, arising from following the application of knowledge through immediate perception of the Dhamma, is understood. Standing right within the disciple's perfection of knowledge, he says, "In this very manner I know, Blessed One." For the Elder's grasp of a method is immeasurable and limitless. Just as there is no measure or limit to omniscient knowledge, so it is with the grasp of a method of the General of the Dhamma. Therefore he knows: "By this [method], the Teacher is of such a kind; by this, he is unsurpassed." Indeed, the Elder's grasp of a method belongs to the domain of omniscient knowledge. Now, to make that grasp of a method evident by showing a simile, he said "Just as, venerable sir," and so on. Therein, because in a central region, whether the rampart foundations and walls of a city are firm, weak, or entirely absent, there is no fear of robbers, therefore omitting that he said "a frontier fortress". "Firm rampart foundations": firm base of the wall. "Firm wall and gateway": both a firm wall and a firm lintel arch. Why did he say "with a single gate"? For in a city with many gates there must be many wise gatekeepers. With a single gate, only one is suitable. And there is no other equal in wisdom to the Elder. Therefore, to indicate a single gatekeeper as a simile for his own state of wisdom, he said "with a single gate". "Wise": endowed with wisdom. "Competent": endowed with proficiency, having clear knowledge. "Intelligent": endowed with intelligence known as quick-witted discernment. "The surrounding patrol path": the wall-road named the patrol path. "Joint in the wall": the space where two bricks have separated. "Fissure in the wall": a broken part of the wall.

"Corruptions of the mind": the five hindrances defile the mind, make it soiled, afflict it, and torment it; therefore they are called "corruptions of the mind". "Weakeners of wisdom": when hindrances arise, they do not allow unarisen wisdom to arise, nor do they allow arisen wisdom to grow; therefore they are called "weakeners of wisdom". "With minds well established": having minds firmly fixed on the four establishments of mindfulness. "The seven factors of awakening as they truly are": having developed the seven factors of awakening according to their true nature. "Unsurpassed full awakening": he shows that they penetrated arahantship or omniscient knowledge.

Moreover, herein, "establishments of mindfulness" means insight. "Factors of awakening" means the path. "Unsurpassed full awakening" means arahantship. Or, establishments of mindfulness or paths are mixed with the factors of awakening. Full awakening is arahantship alone. But the Elder Mahāsīva, reciter of the Dīgha, said: "Taking establishments of mindfulness as insight, and taking the factors of awakening as the path and omniscient knowledge, it would be a fine explanation; but it was not taken thus." In this way the Elder shows that among omniscient Buddhas, in the abandoning of the hindrances, in the development of the establishments of mindfulness, and in awakening, there is no difference, like broken pieces of gold or silver in between.

Standing here, the simile should be compared: the Venerable Sāriputta showed the frontier fortress, the wall, the patrol path, the gate, the wise gatekeeper, the large creatures entering and leaving the city, and the manifestness of those creatures to the wise gatekeeper. If one asks what is comparable to what: the fortress is like Nibbāna; the wall is like morality; the patrol path is like moral shame; the gate is like the noble path; the wise gatekeeper is like the General of the Dhamma; the large creatures entering and leaving the fortress are like the past, future, and present Buddhas; and the manifestness of those creatures to the gatekeeper is like the manifestness of the past, future, and present Buddhas to the Venerable Sāriputta by way of their morality, serenity, and so forth. To this extent, the Elder provided the application for his lion's roar: "Blessed One, standing thus in the disciple's perfection of knowledge, through inference according to the Dhamma, through the grasp of a method, I know."

"Here, venerable sir, to the Blessed One": why did he begin this teaching? In order to show the accomplishment of the disciple's perfection of knowledge. For this is the meaning here: "Blessed One, I, in acquiring the disciple's perfection of knowledge, did not acquire the disciple's perfection of knowledge by approaching any other ascetic or brahmin among the ninety-five sectarian groups; it was by approaching you alone and attending upon you that I acquired it." Therein, "here" is merely a particle. "I approached to hear the Dhamma": in approaching you, I approached not for the sake of robes and so forth, but for the purpose of hearing the Dhamma. Having approached thus, I acquired the disciple's perfection of knowledge. But when did the Elder approach to hear the Dhamma? He approached on the day the Vedanāpariggaha Sutta was spoken (MN 74) to his nephew, the wanderer Dīghanakha, in the Boar's Cave, and right then he acquired the disciple's perfection of knowledge. For on that day the Elder, standing holding a palm-leaf fan and fanning the Blessed One, heard that teaching and right there made the disciple's perfection of knowledge his own. "Higher and higher, more and more sublime": he taught it making it higher and higher and more and more sublime. "With its dark and bright counterparts": both dark and bright. And he taught that making it with counterparts, with opposites. Rejecting the dark with the bright, rejecting the bright with the dark—having thus made them counterparts, he taught the dark and bright; and in teaching the dark, he taught it with its effort and its fruition, and in teaching the bright, he taught it with its effort and its fruition.

“Having directly known that Dhamma, I came to a conclusion concerning the Dhammas with respect to a certain Dhamma here” means: having recognised a certain Dhamma, namely the knowledge of a disciple’s perfection, within that Dhamma that was taught, I came to a conclusion concerning the Dhammas. Concerning which Dhammas? Concerning the Dhammas of the Four Truths. Here, this is the discussion among the elders: First, Elder Suma, who dwelt at Kāḷavalla, says: “At this point, there is no reason for coming to a conclusion concerning the Dhammas of the Four Truths. For on the very day he saw the great disciple Assaji, by means of the first path, he had already come to a conclusion concerning the Dhammas of the Four Truths; subsequently, at the entrance of the Boar's Cave, by means of the higher three paths, he came to a conclusion concerning the Dhammas of the Four Truths. But in this passage, ‘concerning the Dhammas’ means he came to a conclusion concerning the qualities of the Buddha.” But Elder Cūḷasīva, who dwelt at Lokantara, having said all the rest in the same way, said: “In this passage, however, ‘concerning the Dhammas’ means he came to a conclusion concerning arahantship.” But Elder Mahāsīva, the reciter of the Dīgha and master of the Tipiṭaka, having likewise stated the earlier position, said: “In this passage, ‘concerning the Dhammas’ means he came to a conclusion concerning the knowledge of a disciple’s perfection,” and added, “the qualities of the Buddha, however, are arrived at by method of inference.”

“I gained confidence in the Teacher” means: having thus reached a conclusion regarding the Dhammas of the knowledge of a disciple’s perfection, all the more did I gain confidence in the Teacher, [thinking:] “Truly, the Blessed One is a fully awakened Buddha!” “Well-expounded by the Blessed One is the Dhamma”: it is well proclaimed, well spoken, leading out; the path leads out for the sake of the fruit, capable of crushing lust, hatred, and delusion.

“Of good conduct is the Saṅgha”: he shows, “I have confidence in the Blessed One because even the disciple-Saṅgha of the Buddha, the Blessed One, is of good conduct, having entered upon the right practice that is free from defects such as crookedness.”

Explanation of the Exposition of Wholesome States

Now, in order to show the sixteen sequential states attained while seated in his day-quarters, he began the teaching: “Moreover, bhante, this is unsurpassed…”. There, “unsurpassed” (anuttariyaṃ) means the state of being unsurpassed. “In the way that the Blessed One teaches the Dhamma”: in whatever way, in whatever manner, by whatever exposition the Blessed One teaches the Dhamma, he says that that exposition of yours is unsurpassed. “In regard to wholesome states”: he explains that even among the wholesome states taught by that exposition, the Blessed One alone is unsurpassed. Or, while showing the domain of that exposition, he said: “in regard to wholesome states”. “There, these are wholesome states”: there, under the phrase “in regard to wholesome states,” these are to be understood as what are called wholesome states. Here, the wholesome is to be understood in five ways: in the sense of health, in the sense of blamelessness, in the sense of being born of skill, in the sense of absence of distress, and in the sense of producing pleasant results. Among these, arriving at the method of the Jātakas, “wholesome” is valid in the sense of health. Arriving at the method of the Discourses, it is in the sense of blamelessness. Arriving at the method of the Abhidhamma, it is in the sense of being born of skill, absence of distress, and pleasant results. But in this passage, by the method of the Bāhitika Sutta, the wholesome is to be regarded in the sense of blamelessness.

“The four establishments of mindfulness”: the four establishments of mindfulness—the establishment of mindfulness by contemplation of the body in fourteen ways, the establishment of mindfulness by contemplation of feelings in nine ways, the establishment of mindfulness by contemplation of the mind in sixteen ways, and the establishment of mindfulness by contemplation of phenomena in five ways—having been classified in this manner through various methods, are taught as a mix of mundane and supramundane by way of serenity, insight, and the path. But the establishment of mindfulness of the fruit is not intended here. “The four right strivings”: they are of one characteristic in the sense of exertion, but have diverse functions by way of their duties. In the manner beginning: “Here, a bhikkhu [generates desire] for the non-arising of unarisen evil, unwholesome states…”, the four right strivings are taught as a mix of mundane and supramundane by way of serenity, insight, and the path. “The four bases of psychic power”: they are unified in the sense of succeeding, but have diverse individual essences by way of desire and so forth. In the manner beginning: “Here, a bhikkhu develops the base of psychic power endowed with concentration of desire and volitional formations of striving…”, the four bases of psychic power are taught as a mix of mundane and supramundane by way of serenity, insight, and the path.