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Viyahapannatti 7.8

English (machine translation) 7.8

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English

7.8.365

"Venerable Sir, did non-omniscient humans in the beginningless, eternal past become liberated, become enlightened, become freed, attain complete nirvāṇa, and make an end of all suffering through self-restraint alone, through stoppage [of karma] alone, through the life of celibacy alone, through the mothers of the teachings alone?"
"Gautama, this matter is not correct, up to—"
"Is it true, Venerable Sir, that one who possesses arisen knowledge and vision, an arhat, a Jina, a kevalin, should be addressed as 'alamatthu'?"
"Yes, Gautama, one who possesses arisen knowledge and vision, an arhat, a Jina, a kevalin, should be addressed as 'alamatthu'."

7.8.366

"Is it true, Venerable Sir, that the jīva of an elephant and of a kunthu insect are equal?"
"Yes, Gautama, the jīva of an elephant and of a kunthu insect are indeed equal."
"Is it true, Venerable Sir, that compared to an elephant, a kunthu insect has less karma, less activity, less karmic influx, likewise less nourishment, less excretion, less inhalation, less exhalation, less supernatural power, less greatness, and less splendour; and compared to a kunthu insect, an elephant has more karma, more activity, more karmic influx, more nourishment, more excretion, more inhalation, more exhalation, more supernatural power, more greatness, and more splendour?"
"Yes, Gautama, compared to an elephant, a kunthu insect has less karma, or compared to a kunthu insect, an elephant has more karma; compared to an elephant, a kunthu insect has less activity, or compared to a kunthu insect, an elephant has more activity; compared to an elephant, a kunthu insect has less karmic influx, or compared to a kunthu insect, an elephant has more karmic influx; likewise, with respect to nourishment, excretion, inhalation, exhalation, supernatural power, and greatness of splendour, compared to an elephant, a kunthu insect has less, or compared to a kunthu insect, an elephant has more."
"For what reason, Venerable Sir, is it said: 'The jīva of an elephant and of a kunthu insect are equal'?"
"Gautama, suppose there were an gabled hall—plastered on both sides, guarded, with guarded doors, windless, and profoundly sheltered from wind. Then suppose some man, taking a fire or a lamp, enters inside that gabled hall, shuts all around the dense, continuous, aperture-free openings of the doors, and kindles that lamp in the exact middle region of that gabled hall.
Then that lamp illumines, lights up, heats, and radiates within that gabled hall, but not outside it.
Then suppose that man covers that lamp with a large earthen vessel; then that lamp illumines, lights up, heats, and radiates within that large earthen vessel, but not outside the large earthen vessel, nor within the gabled hall, nor outside the gabled hall.
Likewise [if he covers it] with an ox-hide mat, a small basket, a large measure, an āḍhaka, a half-āḍhaka, a prastha, a half-prastha, a kuḍava, a half-kuḍava, a fourth-part, an eighth-part, a sixteenth-part, a thirty-second-part, [or] a sixty-fourth-part.
Then suppose that man covers that lamp with a small lamp-cup; then that lamp illumines, lights up, heats, and radiates within that small lamp-cup, but not outside the small lamp-cup, nor outside the sixty-fourth-part, nor within the gabled hall, nor outside the gabled hall.
Just so, Gautama, whatever kind of body a jīva produces that is bound by past karma, it animates it with its innumerable space-points of the jīva—whether it be small or large. For that reason, Gautama, it is said: 'The jīva of an elephant and of a kunthu insect are equal.'"

7.8.367

"For the inhabitants of hell, Venerable Sir, is all sinful karma that has been done, is being done, and will be done, suffering, and that which is dissipated, happiness?"
"Yes, Gautama, for the inhabitants of hell, all sinful karma that has been done, is being done, and will be done, is suffering, and that which is dissipated is happiness. Likewise up to the inhabitants of celestial abodes."

7.8.368

"How many, Venerable Sir, are the instincts expounded to be?"
"Gautama, ten instincts are expounded, namely: the instinct of nourishment, the instinct of fear, the instinct of copulation, the instinct of possessiveness, the instinct of anger, the instinct of pride, the instinct of deceit, the instinct of greed, the instinct of the world, and the instinct of habit. Likewise up to the inhabitants of celestial abodes.
The inhabitants of hell dwell experiencing ten kinds of sensation, namely: cold, heat, hunger, thirst, itching, servitude, fever, burning, fear, and sorrow."

7.8.369

"Is it true, Venerable Sir, that the activity of non-renunciation performed by an elephant and a kunthu insect is indeed equal?"
"Yes, Gautama, the activity of non-renunciation performed by an elephant and a kunthu insect is indeed equal."
"For what reason, Venerable Sir, is it said: 'The activity of non-renunciation performed by an elephant and a kunthu insect is indeed equal'?"
"Gautama, on account of non-restraint. For that reason, Gautama, it is said: 'The activity of non-renunciation performed by an elephant and a kunthu insect is indeed equal.'"

7.8.370

"Venerable Sir, when consuming food specially prepared for monks, what does one bind? What does one commit? What does one accumulate? What does one augment?"
"Gautama, when consuming food specially prepared for monks, one makes the seven karma-species, excluding the lifespan karma, that were loosely bound into tightly bound ones, up to: 'the wise man is eternal, wisdom is non-eternal.'"
"So it is, Venerable Sir! So it is, Venerable Sir!"

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