Majjhimanikaya 1.10: 10. Satipaṭṭhānasuttavaṇṇanā

“Thus have I heard” begins the Satipaṭṭhānasutta. There, “was dwelling among the Kurus”: the royal princes of that realm are called the Kurus; their residence, even as a single realm, is called “the Kurus” by conventional usage; in that realm of the Kurus. But the commentary teachers said: In the time of Mandhātu, human beings in three continents heard, “Jambudīpa, the birthplace of supreme persons such as Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas, great disciples, and wheel-turning monarchs, is a supreme continent, extremely delightful,” and they came together with King Mandhātu, the wheel-turning monarch, as he toured the four continents placing the wheel-jewel in front. Then the king asked the advisor-jewel:

“Is there indeed any place more delightful than the human world?”

“Sire, why do you speak thus?

“Do you not see the majesty of the moon and sun?

“Is not their realm more delightful than this?”

Placing the wheel jewel in front, the king went there. Hearing that 'the great king Mandhātu has arrived,' the four great kings immediately surrendered their kingdom, thinking, 'The king is of great supernormal power and great majesty; it is impossible to repel him by battle.' Taking that, he asked again: 'Is there indeed any place more delightful than this?' Then they told him of the realm of the Tāvatiṃsa [gods]: 'The realm of the Tāvatiṃsa, your majesty, is more delightful. There these four great kings stand as attendants in the position of doorkeepers to Sakka, king of the gods. Sakka, king of the gods, is of great supernormal power and great majesty. Furthermore, these are his pleasure grounds: the Vejayanta Palace, a thousand leagues in height; the Sudhammā divine assembly hall, five hundred leagues in height; the Vejayanta chariot, one hundred and fifty leagues [in size]; likewise the elephant Erāvaṇa; the Nandana grove, the Cittalată grove, the Phārusaka grove, and the Missaka grove, adorned with thousands of heavenly trees; the Pāricchattaka coral tree, a hundred leagues in height; beneath it the Paṇḍukambala stone seat, sixty leagues in length, fifty leagues in breadth, fifteen leagues in height, of the colour of a hibiscus flower, owing to the softness of which half of Sakka's body sinks in when he sits down.'

Hearing that, the king, wishing to go there, sprinkled the wheel jewel with water. It stationed itself in the sky together with the fourfold army. Then, from midway between the two god realms, the wheel jewel descended and came to rest on the earth together with the fourfold army headed by the counselor jewel. The king went to the realm of the Tāvatiṃsa entirely alone. As soon as Sakka heard that 'Mandhātu has arrived,' he went out to meet him and said: 'Welcome to you, great king; it is yours, great king. Rule, great king!' and dividing the kingdom into two parts along with the performers, he gave [him] one part. As soon as the king was established in the realm of the Tāvatiṃsa, his human state departed and a divine state appeared.

When he was seated together with Sakka upon the Paṇḍukambala stone seat, it is said that the difference [between them] was discernible only by the blinking of his eyes. The gods, failing to notice this, were confused as to the difference between Sakka and him. Experiencing heavenly splendour there, he ruled the kingdom until thirty-six Sakkas had arisen and passed away. Still unsatisfied with sensual pleasures, he fell from there, landed in his own park, and, his body touched by wind and sun, passed away.

When the wheel jewel came to rest on the earth, however, the counselor jewel had the sandal of Mandhātu inscribed on a gold plate and ruled the kingdom, saying, 'This is the kingdom of Mandhātu.' Then those people who had come from the three continents, unable to return again, approached the counselor jewel and begged: 'Lord, we came through the majesty of the king; now we are unable to return. Give us a dwelling place.' He gave them each a province. There, the region inhabited by the people who had come from Pubbavideha received the name Videha country according to their former designation. The region inhabited by the people who had come from Aparagoyāna received the name Aparanta province. The region inhabited by the people who had come from Uttarakuru received the name Kuru country. Furthermore, with reference to many villages, market towns, and so on, it is referred to in the plural. Hence it is said: 'was dwelling among the Kurus.'

'Kammāsadhamma is the name of a market town of the Kurus.' Here, regarding 'Kammāsadhamma', some explain the meaning of the letter 'dha' by the letter 'da': Kammāsa was tamed (*damito*) here, hence Kammāsadamma. 'Kammāsa' refers to the man-eater Kammāsapāda. For him, it is said, when a wound where his foot had been pierced by a stake was healing, it healed resembling variegated wood; therefore, he was known as Kammāsapāda. And he was tamed in that place, turned away from the state of being a man-eater. By whom? By the Great Being. In which Jātaka? Some say in the Mahāsutasomajātaka. But these elders say in the Jayaddisajātaka. For at that time Kammāsapāda was tamed by the Great Being. As he said:

'When I was the son of Jayaddisa,
Offspring of the ruler of the Pañcāla country,
Giving up my life I freed my father,
And I inspired faith even in Kammāsapāda.'

Some, however, explain the meaning with the letter 'dha' itself. It is said that the Kuru observance practice (*kuruvattadhamma*) of the inhabitants of the Kuru country became tainted (*kammāsa*) there; therefore, because that practice became tainted here, that place is called 'Kammāsadhamma'. The market town established there also has this very name. Why is it not expressed with the locative case? Because it was not a place of residence. For the Blessed One, it is said, had no monastery as a place of residence in that market town. But having departed from the market town, there was a great jungle thicket in a certain pleasant area endowed with water. There the Blessed One resided, having made that market town his alms-resort village. Therefore, the meaning here should be understood thus: 'he was dwelling among the Kurus, Kammāsadhamma is the name of a market town of the Kurus—having made that his alms-resort village.'

Explanation of the exposition section

“This is the direct path, bhikkhus”: Why did the Blessed One deliver this discourse? Because the inhabitants of the Kuru realm were capable of receiving deep teachings. The monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen who were inhabitants of the Kuru realm, it is said, were always sound in body and sound in mind by their resort to suitable seasons and requisites, because that realm was endowed with [agreeable] seasons, requisites, and so forth. With their faculty of wisdom nurtured by this soundness of mind and body, they were capable of comprehending deep discourse. Therefore the Blessed One, seeing their capability to receive deep teachings, spoke this deep-meaning Satipaṭṭhānasutta, placing the meditation subject in arahantship in twenty-one places. For just as a man, having obtained a golden basket, would place various flowers in it, or having obtained a golden casket, would place the seven jewels in it, so the Blessed One, having found an assembly of inhabitants of the Kuru realm, taught a deep teaching. For this very reason he also delivered other discourses of deep meaning here: the Mahānidāna and Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna in the Dīghanikāya, and in this Majjhimanikāya the Sāropama, Rukkhūpama, Raṭṭhapāla, Māgaṇḍiya, and Āneñjasappāya.

Moreover, in that country the four assemblies dwelt habitually devoted to the engagement in the cultivation of mindfulness, and even the slaves, servants, and menials spoke only talk connected with mindfulness. Even at places such as water wells and thread-spinning places, no useless talk took place. If any woman was asked, "Mother, which cultivation of mindfulness do you pay attention to?" and answered, "None," they rebuked her: "Fie on your life! Though living, you are like the dead." Then, having advised her, "Do not do so again," they had her learn one or another [foundations] of mindfulness. But if one said, "I pay attention to such-and-such mindfulness," they cheered her, saying, "Good, good!" and praised her with such words as: "Your life is well-lived; you have truly attained human existence; for your sake the fully enlightened Buddha arose." And here, it was not only human beings who were engaged in paying attention to mindfulness, but even the animals living under their care. In this regard, here is a story: A certain dancer, it is said, went about training a young parrot. Having stayed dependent on a nunnery, he forgot the young parrot when he left. The novice nuns took it and cared for it. They named it Buddharakkhita. One day, seeing it seated before her, an elder nun said, "Buddharakkhita?"

"What is it, lady?"

"Do you have any mental attention?"

"No, lady."

"Friend, one who lives in the presence of those gone forth ought not to be careless about one's self. Some mental attention or other should be desired. But you will not be able [to do] anything else; recite, 'Bones, bones.'" Abiding by the elder nun's advice, it went about reciting, "Bones, bones."

One day, early in the morning, while it was sitting on the archway warming itself in the morning sun, a bird [of prey] seized it with its cage of talons. It made the sound, "Kiri, kiri!" The novice nuns heard it and, saying, "Lady, Buddharakkhita has been seized by a bird! Let us free him!" took clumps of earth and the like, chased it, and freed him. When he was brought and placed before her, the elder nun asked:

"Buddharakkhita, what did you think when you were seized by the bird?"

"Lady, I did not think of anything else. I thought only of a heap of bones, lady: 'Just a heap of bones is taking a heap of bones and going; in some place or other it will scatter them.'"

"Good, good, Buddharakkhita! In the future, this will be a condition for you for the destruction of existence." Thus even the animals there were engaged in paying attention to mindfulness. Therefore, generating in them an understanding of mindfulness, the Blessed One spoke this discourse.

Therein, "ekāyano" means a single path (ekamaggo). For of a path—

‘Magga, pantha, patha, pajja, añjasa, vaṭuma, ayana; / Boat, bridge for crossing, raft, and step-across over a bridge’ (Cūḷani. 101)—

there are many names. This [path] here is spoken of by the name "ayana". Therefore, in the phrase "this, monks, is the one-way path" (ekāyano ayaṃ, bhikkhave, maggo), the meaning should be seen thus: "This, monks, is a single path, not one that splits into two." Or, it is "ekāyana" because it must be traversed by one alone (ekena ayitabbo). "By one alone" means having abandoned companionship with crowds, being secluded with a mind drawn apart. "Must be traversed" means must be practiced. Or, they go by this, thus it is an "ayana"—the meaning is: they go from saṃsāra to Nibbāna. An ayana of the one (ekassa) is "ekāyana"; "of the one" means of the supreme one. And the Blessed One is the supreme one among all beings; therefore, it means "belonging to the Blessed One." For even though others also traverse it, even so it is the Blessed One's ayana because it was brought forth by him. As he said: "For that Blessed One, brahmin, is the originator of the unarisen path" and so forth (Majjhimanikāya 3.79). Or, it goes, thus it is an "ayana"—the meaning is: it goes on, it operates. An ayana in the one (ekasmiṃ) is "ekāyana"—it means it operates in this Dhamma and Vinaya alone, not elsewhere. As he said: "Only in this Dhamma and Vinaya, Subhadda, is the noble eightfold path found" (Dīghanikāya 2.214). For this is merely a difference in teaching, but the meaning is one. Furthermore, it goes to the one (ekaṃ ayatīti), thus it is "ekāyana"—it means that though it proceeds according to various methods of cultivation in the preliminary phase, in the subsequent phase it goes only to the one Nibbāna. As Brahmā Sahampati said:

‘Seeing the end of the destruction of birth, / he understands the one-way path, compassionate for welfare; / by this path they crossed before, / and they will cross, and they cross the flood’ (Saṃyuttanikāya 5.409).

Some, however, based on the verse "they do not go to the beyond twice," say it is "ekāyano" because one goes to Nibbāna only once. That is not appropriate. For this meaning, the phrasing would have to be "sakiṃ ayano" (going once). But if, having construed the meaning as "its single going (ekaṃ ayanaṃ) is a single course and occurrence," it were spoken so, the phrasing might be appropriate, but the meaning is not appropriate either way. Why? Because here the preliminary path is intended. For the preliminary path of mindfulness, which proceeds with respect to the four objects such as the body, is intended here, not the supramundane one. And that traverses even many times, and its traversing is manifold.

In the past as well, there was indeed discussion among the great elders regarding this term. The Elder Tipiṭakacūḷanāga said: “It is the preliminary path of the applications of mindfulness.” But his teacher, the Elder Tipiṭakacūḷasuma, said: “It is the mixed path.” “It is preliminary, venerable sir.” “It is mixed, friend.” When the teacher said this again and again, [the pupil], not contradicting him, remained silent. They arose without having settled the question. Then the senior teacher, going to the bathhouse, reflected from the beginning of the discourse, thinking: “The mixed path was asserted by me, while Cūḷanāga employs the term claiming it is preliminary; what now could be the conclusion here?” At the point, “For whoever, monks, should cultivate these four applications of mindfulness in this manner for seven years,” he observed: “Having arisen, the supramundane path certainly does not persist for seven years; the mixed path stated by me is not admissible, and only the preliminary path seen by Cūḷanāga is admissible.” Having recognized this, he went when the preaching of the Dhamma was announced on the eighth day [of the lunar fortnight].

Ancient elders, it is said, were lovers of hearing the Dhamma. As soon as they heard the sound, they would assemble all at once, saying, “I first! I first!” And on that day, it was the turn of the Elder Cūḷanāga. When he had sat down on the Dhamma seat, taken up the fan, and spoken the introductory verses, it occurred to the elder who stood behind the seat: “I will not speak in private.” For ancient elders were not envious; they did not go about carrying around their own preference as though it were a bundle of sugarcanes; they grasped only reason and discarded what lacked reason. Therefore the elder said: “Friend Cūḷanāga.” He stopped the Dhamma [talk], thinking, “That sounds like the voice of my teacher,” and said: “What is it, venerable sir?” “Friend Cūḷanāga, the mixed path stated by me is not admissible; only the preliminary path of the applications of mindfulness stated by you is admissible.”

The elder thought: “Our teacher is fully versed in the scriptural collections, a master of the Tipiṭaka, a Buddha in learning. Yet even such a monk's mind was agitated by this question. In the future, my younger brothers will become confused about this question; I will settle this question firmly by citing a discourse.” From the Paṭisambhidāmagga, [he noted]: “The one-way path is said to be the preliminary path of the applications of mindfulness:

‘Best of paths is the eightfold, / of truths the four statements; / best of states is dispassion, / and of two-legged beings, the one with vision.

This is the path, there is no other, / for the purification of vision; / enter upon this path, / for it confounds the army of Māra. / Having entered upon this, / you will make an end of suffering.’” —

He adduced and established this discourse.

“Path”: in what sense is it a path? In the sense of going to Nibbāna, and in the sense of being sought by those who seek Nibbāna. “For the purification of beings”: for the purification of beings whose minds are defiled by the stains such as passion and by the corruptions such as covetousness and unrighteous greed. For it is precisely by this path that—beginning with the Buddhas named Taṇhaṅkara, Medhaṅkara, Saraṇaṅkara, and Dīpaṅkara, who arose in a single aeon beyond four incalculable periods and a hundred thousand aeons from now, down to the Sage of the Sakyas—many fully enlightened Buddhas, many hundreds of paccekabuddhas, and noble disciples beyond calculation, all washed away the stain of mind and attained supreme purity. But there is no designation of defilement or purification with respect to the stain of the physical body. For indeed:

When the physical form is defiled, / humans are defiled; / when the physical form is clean, they are purified: / this was not declared by the Great Sage.

When the mind is defiled, / humans are defiled; / when the mind is clean, they are purified: / thus it was spoken by the Great Sage.

As he said: “Monks, by defilement of the mind beings are defiled; by purification of the mind they are purified.” And that purification of the mind occurs by this path of the applications of mindfulness. Therefore he said: “for the purification of beings.”

“For the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation”: for the transcending of sorrow and lamentation, meaning for their abandonment. For this path, when cultivated, leads to the overcoming of sorrow, as in the case of Santati the Chief Minister and others, and to the overcoming of lamentation, as in the case of Paṭācārā and others. Therefore he said: “for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation.” For although Santati the Chief Minister, having heard this verse:

“Purify what was before; / let there be nothing behind you. / If you do not grasp in between, / you will wander at peace.” —

attained arahantship together with the analytical knowledges;

and Paṭācārā, having heard this verse:

“There are no sons for protection, / nor a father, nor kinsmen; / for one seized by the End-Maker, / there is no protection among relatives.” —

was established in the fruit of stream-entry; nevertheless, because there is no meditation without contacting some phenomenon among body, feelings, mind, and mind-objects, it should be understood that they too overcame sorrow and lamentation precisely by this path.

“For the passing away of pain and grief”: for the passing away—the meaning is, for the cessation—of these two: bodily pain and mental grief. For when this path is cultivated, it leads to the passing away of pain, as in the case of Elder Tissa and others, and of grief, as in the case of Sakka and others.

Herein, this is the illustration: In Sāvatthī, it is said, a householder's son named Tissa renounced forty crores of gold, went forth, and lived in a wilderness forest uninhabited by villagers. His younger brother’s wife sent five hundred bandits, saying, “Go and deprive him of life!” They went, surrounded the elder, and sat down. The elder said, “Why have you come, lay followers?” “We are going to deprive you of life.” “Lay followers, take a surety from me and give me my life for just this one night.” “Who will be your surety in this place, recluse?” The elder took a large stone, broke his two thigh bones, and said, “Will this surety do, lay followers?” They withdrew, lit a fire at the head of the walkway, and lay down. The elder suppressed the pain and, reviewing his virtue, experienced rapture and joy born of his purified virtue. Then, gradually developing insight, he performed the recluse's duty through the three watches of the night, attained arahantship at daybreak, and uttered this inspired utterance:

“Having broken both legs, I shall assure you;
I am disgusted, I am ashamed, of dying with lust.

Having reflected thus, I developed insight into reality;
When daybreak arrived, I attained arahantship.”

Another group of thirty bhikkhus, having taken a meditation subject in the presence of the Blessed One, entered the rains retreat in a forest monastery and lived having agreed: “Friends, we must perform the recluse's duty throughout the three watches of the night; no one should come to another’s presence.” While they were performing the recluse's duty and nodding off toward dawn, a tiger came and would carry off one bhikkhu at a time. Not one person uttered even the word, “A tiger has caught me!” When five or ten bhikkhus had been eaten in this way, on the observance day they asked, “Where are the others, friends?” and learning [what had happened], they agreed: “From now on, one who is caught must say, ‘I have been caught!’” and continued living there.

Then the tiger seized a certain young bhikkhu in the same manner. He cried, “A tiger, venerable sirs!” The bhikkhus, taking walking sticks and torches, pursued to rescue him. The tiger climbed a precipice inaccessible to the bhikkhus and began to eat that bhikkhu starting from his big toe. The others said, “Good man, there is nothing we can do now; the distinction of bhikkhus becomes evident in a place like this!” Lying right in the tiger's mouth, he suppressed the pain and developed insight: by the time he was eaten up to the ankles, he became a stream-enterer; by the time he was eaten up to the knees, a once-returner; by the time he was eaten up to the navel, a non-returner; and while the heart-base was not yet eaten, he attained arahantship together with the analytical knowledges and uttered this inspired utterance:

“Virtuous, fulfilled in observances, wise and well concentrated,
Through a moment of negligence, captured by a tiger's mind,

Taken into a cage, placed upon a rock;
Let the tiger eat me at will, this body is food for enemies;
When the meditation subject is retained, death will be auspicious.”

Another elder, named Elder Pītamalla, in his lay life had won the championship banner in three kingdoms, came to the island of Tambapaṇṇi, had an audience with the king, and was favored by the king. One day, while passing by the door of a mat-weaving shop, he heard the Natumhāka Section: “Material form, bhikkhus, is not yours; give it up. When it is given up by you, it will be for your long-term welfare and happiness.” He thought, “It seems that neither material form is one’s own, nor is feeling!” Making that very thought his goad, he left, went to the Mahāvihāra, requested the going forth, went forth, took higher ordination, mastered the two codes of rules, took thirty bhikkhus, went to the courtyard of Gabalavāliya, and performed the recluse's duty. When his feet could no longer support him, he walked on his knees. In the night, a deer hunter mistook him for a deer and struck him with a spear. The spear pierced right through him. He had that spear removed, had the wounds packed with wads of grass, seated himself upon a slab of rock, made his opportunity, developed insight, and attained arahantship together with the analytical knowledges. When the bhikkhus came at the sound of his clearing of the throat, he declared his attainment to them and uttered this inspired utterance:

“Spoken by the best of Buddhas, the foremost teacher of the whole world:
‘This material form is not yours, bhikkhus; you should give it up.

Impermanent indeed are conditioned things, having the nature of arising and passing away;
Having arisen, they cease; their calming is bliss.’”

Then the bhikkhus said to him, “Venerable sir, if the fully enlightened Buddha were in good health, he would certainly stretch forth his hand and stroke your head upon your crown!” To this extent does this path lead to the passing away of pain, as in the case of Elder Tissa and others.

Sakka, lord of devas, having seen his own fivefold omens, terrified by the fear of death and overcome by grief, approached the Blessed One and asked a question. At the conclusion of the answer to the question on equanimity, he was established in the fruit of stream-entry together with eighty thousand devas. And his rebirth became normal once again.

The young deity Subrahmā too was enjoying heavenly splendor accompanied by a thousand celestial nymphs; there, five hundred nymphs, while picking flowers from a tree, passed away and were reborn in hell. Wondering, “Why are they taking so long?”, he investigated and saw that they had been reborn in hell. Then, checking, “How much lifespan do I have left?”, he came to know the exhaustion of his own lifespan too, and seeing that he was destined to be reborn in that very same hell, he became terrified and exceedingly dejected. Thinking, “No one other than the Teacher will dispel this dejection of mine,” he took the remaining five hundred nymphs, approached the Blessed One, and asked a question:

“Always terrified is this mind, always anxious is this thought,
Over difficulties that have not arisen, and also over those that have occurred;
If there is [a state] free from terror, when asked, do explain that to me.”

Then the Blessed One said to him:

“Except through enlightenment factors and austerity, except through restraint of the senses,
Except through relinquishing all, I see no safety for living beings.”

At the conclusion of the teaching, he, together with the five hundred nymphs, was established in the fruit of stream-entry, made that splendor secure, and returned to the deva realm. Thus it should be understood that this path, when cultivated, leads to the disappearance of dejection, as it did for Sakka and others.

“For the attainment of the true method”: the true method (ñāya) is the Noble Eightfold Path; “for its attainment” means for its realization. For this mundane path of the foundations of mindfulness, cultivated in the preliminary stage, leads to the attainment of the supramundane path. Therefore he said, “for the attainment of the true method.” “For the direct realization of Nibbāna”: for the direct realization—that is to say, for making evident to oneself—the deathless, which has received the name “Nibbāna” because it is free from the entanglement (vāna) of craving. For this path, when cultivated, progressively brings about the direct realization of Nibbāna. Therefore he said, “for the direct realization of Nibbāna.”

In this connection, although when “for the purification of beings” is stated, the overcoming of sorrow and the rest are indeed established in meaning, yet apart from those skilled in the logic of the Dispensation they are not obvious to others; and the Blessed One does not first make people skilled in the logic of the Dispensation and only afterwards teach the Dhamma. Rather, he makes each respective meaning known through each respective discourse. Therefore, making clear and demonstrating whatever benefit the one-way path accomplishes here, he said, “for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation,” and so forth. Or alternatively, because the purification of beings that occurs through the one-way path takes place by the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation; the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation by the disappearance of pain and dejection; the disappearance of pain and dejection by the attainment of the true method; and the attainment of the true method by the direct realization of Nibbāna. Therefore, demonstrating this sequence as well, having said, “for the purification of beings,” he said, “for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation,” and so forth.

Moreover, this is a proclamation of praise for the one-way path. For just as the Blessed One proclaimed the praise of the teaching of the Six Sextets by means of eight phrases: “Monks, I will teach you the Dhamma good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end, with the correct meaning and phrasing; I will proclaim the holy life completely fulfilled and entirely purified, namely, the Six Sextets”; and just as in the teaching on the noble lineages he proclaimed their praise by means of nine phrases: “Monks, these four noble lineages are foremost, of ancient lineage, traditional, primeval, unadulterated, formerly unadulterated, not being adulterated, not to be adulterated, not reproached by recluses and brahmins of wisdom”; so too he proclaimed the praise of this one-way path by means of seven phrases beginning with “for the purification of beings.”

If it is asked, “Why?”: it is to generate enthusiasm in those monks. For on hearing the proclamation of praise, those monks, filled with enthusiasm, will think: “This path, it is said, destroys four afflictions—sorrow, which is torment of the heart; lamentation, which is verbal rambling; pain, which is bodily disagreeableness; and dejection, which is mental disagreeableness—and brings three distinctions: purification, the true method, and Nibbāna. Therefore this Dhamma teaching is to be learned, mastered, remembered, and recited, and this path is to be cultivated.” Thus, he proclaimed its praise to generate enthusiasm in those monks, just as blanket merchants and the like [proclaim] the praise of blankets and so on.

For example, even when a merchant selling light red blankets worth a hundred thousand proclaims, “Take blankets!”, people do not yet know what kind of blanket it is. For even blankets of hair and blankets of horsehair, though foul-smelling and rough to the touch, are also called “blankets.” But when it is proclaimed by him, “A red blanket from Gandhāra, fine, bright, soft to the touch,” then those who are able buy it. Those who are not able also wish to see it. Exactly so, even when it was said, “This is the one-way path, monks,” what kind of path it is was not yet evident. For various paths that do not lead out [of suffering] are also called “paths.” But when it was said, “for the purification of beings,” and so on, they became enthusiastic, thinking: “This path, it is said, destroys four afflictions and brings three distinctions; this Dhamma teaching is to be learned, mastered, remembered, and recited, and this path is to be cultivated.” Thus, proclaiming its praise, he said, “for the purification of beings,” and so forth. And just as with the simile of the merchant selling light red blankets worth a hundred thousand, so too similes such as those of merchants of red Jambu-river gold, water-clearing gems, purest pearls, and washed coral should be adduced here.