Aṅguttara Nikāya 5.23 3.

Impurities Sutta

Pañcaṅgikavagga Upakkilesasutta “Pañcime, bhikkhave, jātarūpassa upakkilesā, yehi upakkilesehi upakkiliṭṭhaṁ jātarūpaṁ na ceva mudu hoti na ca kammaniyaṁ na ca pabhassaraṁ pabhaṅgu ca na ca sammā upeti kammāya.

Disciples, these five impurities of gold, which when present in gold, make it neither pliable, workable, nor radiant, and it does not properly come to fulfillment in any craftsmanship.

Katame pañca?

What are the five?

Ayo, lohaṁ, tipu, sīsaṁ, sajjhaṁ— ime kho, bhikkhave, pañca jātarūpassa upakkilesā, yehi upakkilesehi upakkiliṭṭhaṁ jātarūpaṁ na ceva mudu hoti na ca kammaniyaṁ na ca pabhassaraṁ pabhaṅgu ca na ca sammā upeti kammāya.

Iron, copper, tin, lead, and silver: these are the five impurities of gold, which when present in gold, make it neither pliable, workable, nor radiant, and it does not properly come to fulfillment in any craftsmanship.

Yato ca kho, bhikkhave, jātarūpaṁ imehi pañcahi upakkilesehi vimuttaṁ hoti, taṁ hoti jātarūpaṁ mudu ca kammaniyañca pabhassarañca na ca pabhaṅgu sammā upeti kammāya.

But when gold is freed from these five impurities, it becomes pliable, workable, and radiant; it is not brittle and properly comes to fulfillment in any craftsmanship.

Yassā yassā ca piḷandhanavikatiyā ākaṅkhati—yadi muddikāya yadi kuṇḍalāya yadi gīveyyakāya yadi suvaṇṇamālāya—tañcassa atthaṁ anubhoti.

Whatever ornament one wishes to make from it: whether a ring, earrings, a necklace, or a golden chain: it serves that purpose.

Evamevaṁ kho, bhikkhave, pañcime cittassa upakkilesā, yehi upakkilesehi upakkiliṭṭhaṁ cittaṁ na ceva mudu hoti na ca kammaniyaṁ na ca pabhassaraṁ pabhaṅgu ca na ca sammā samādhiyati āsavānaṁ khayāya.

Similarly these are the five impurities of the mind, which when present in the mind, make it neither pliable, workable, nor radiant, and it does not properly attain concentration for the destruction of the taints.

Katame pañca?

What are the five?

Kāmacchando, byāpādo, thinamiddhaṁ, uddhaccakukkuccaṁ, vicikicchā— ime kho, bhikkhave, pañca cittassa upakkilesā yehi upakkilesehi upakkiliṭṭhaṁ cittaṁ na ceva mudu hoti na ca kammaniyaṁ na ca pabhassaraṁ pabhaṅgu ca na ca sammā samādhiyati āsavānaṁ khayāya.

Sense satisfaction, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt: these are the five impurities of the mind, which when present in the mind, make it neither pliable, workable, nor radiant, and it does not properly attain concentration for the destruction of the taints.

Yato ca kho, bhikkhave, cittaṁ imehi pañcahi upakkilesehi vimuttaṁ hoti, taṁ hoti cittaṁ mudu ca kammaniyañca pabhassarañca na ca pabhaṅgu sammā samādhiyati āsavānaṁ khayāya.

But when the mind is freed from these five impurities, it becomes pliable, workable, and radiant; it is not brittle and properly attains concentration for the destruction of the taints.

Yassa yassa ca abhiññāsacchikaraṇīyassa dhammassa cittaṁ abhininnāmeti abhiññāsacchikiriyāya tatra tatreva sakkhibhabbataṁ pāpuṇāti sati sati āyatane. So sace ākaṅkhati: ‘anekavihitaṁ iddhividhaṁ paccanubhaveyyaṁ—ekopi hutvā bahudhā assaṁ, bahudhāpi hutvā eko assaṁ; āvibhāvaṁ, tirobhāvaṁ; tirokuṭṭaṁ tiropākāraṁ tiropabbataṁ asajjamāno gaccheyyaṁ, seyyathāpi ākāse; pathaviyāpi ummujjanimujjaṁ kareyyaṁ, seyyathāpi udake; udakepi abhijjamāno gaccheyyaṁ, seyyathāpi pathaviyaṁ; ākāsepi pallaṅkena kameyyaṁ, seyyathāpi pakkhī sakuṇo; imepi candimasūriye evaṁmahiddhike evaṁmahānubhāve pāṇinā parimaseyyaṁ parimajjeyyaṁ yāva brahmalokāpi kāyena vasaṁ vatteyyan’ti, tatra tatreva sakkhibhabbataṁ pāpuṇāti sati sati āyatane.

For whatever higher knowing one wishes to direct the mind towards: whether it be various kinds of psychic powers, such as being one and becoming many, becoming many and being one; appearing and disappearing; going through walls, ramparts, and mountains unobstructed as if through space; diving in and out of the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying through the air like a bird; touching and stroking the sun and moon, mighty and powerful as they are, with ones hand; exercising mastery with the body as far as the Brahma world:

One is able to witness this in each and every case. If one wishes to hear both divine and human sounds, far and near, with the divine ear element, purified and surpassing the human, one is able to witness this in each and every case.

So sace ākaṅkhati: ‘dibbāya sotadhātuyā visuddhāya atikkantamānusikāya ubho sadde suṇeyyaṁ—dibbe ca mānuse ca ye dūre santike cā’ti, tatra tatreva sakkhibhabbataṁ pāpuṇāti sati sati āyatane. So sace ākaṅkhati: ‘parasattānaṁ parapuggalānaṁ cetasā ceto paricca pajāneyyaṁ— sarāgaṁ vā cittaṁ sarāgaṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, vītarāgaṁ vā cittaṁ vītarāgaṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, sadosaṁ vā cittaṁ sadosaṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, vītadosaṁ vā cittaṁ vītadosaṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, samohaṁ vā cittaṁ samohaṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, vītamohaṁ vā cittaṁ vītamohaṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, saṅkhittaṁ vā cittaṁ saṅkhittaṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, vikkhittaṁ vā cittaṁ vikkhittaṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, mahaggataṁ vā cittaṁ mahaggataṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, amahaggataṁ vā cittaṁ amahaggataṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, sauttaraṁ vā cittaṁ sauttaraṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, anuttaraṁ vā cittaṁ anuttaraṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, samāhitaṁ vā cittaṁ samāhitaṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, asamāhitaṁ vā cittaṁ asamāhitaṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, vimuttaṁ vā cittaṁ vimuttaṁ cittanti pajāneyyaṁ, avimuttaṁ vā cittaṁ avimuttaṁ cittanti pajāneyyan’ti, tatra tatreva sakkhibhabbataṁ pāpuṇāti sati sati āyatane.

If one wishes to know the minds of other beings, other persons, having encompassed them with ones own mind: to know a mind with greed as with greed, a mind without greed as without greed; a mind with hatred as with hatred, a mind without hatred as without hatred; a mind with delusion as with delusion, a mind without delusion as without delusion; a contracted mind as contracted, a distracted mind as distracted; an exalted mind as exalted, an unexalted mind as unexalted; a surpassable mind as surpassable, an unsurpassable mind as unsurpassable; a concentrated mind as concentrated, an unconcentrated mind as unconcentrated; a liberated mind as liberated, an unliberated mind as unliberated:

One is able to witness this in each and every case.

If one wishes to recollect ones manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, many eons of world-contraction, many eons of world-expansion, many eons of world-contraction and expansion: remembering, There I was named so-and-so, had such a clan, such a color, such food, experienced such happiness and suffering, and had such a lifespan.

So sace ākaṅkhati: ‘anekavihitaṁ pubbenivāsaṁ anussareyyaṁ, seyyathidaṁ—ekampi jātiṁ dvepi jātiyo tissopi jātiyo catassopi jātiyo pañcapi jātiyo dasapi jātiyo vīsampi jātiyo tiṁsampi jātiyo cattārīsampi jātiyo paññāsampi jātiyo jātisatampi jātisahassampi jātisatasahassampi anekepi saṁvaṭṭakappe anekepi vivaṭṭakappe anekepi saṁvaṭṭavivaṭṭakappe—amutrāsiṁ evaṁnāmo evaṅgotto evaṁvaṇṇo evamāhāro evaṁsukhadukkhappaṭisaṁvedī evamāyupariyanto, so tato cuto amutra udapādiṁ; tatrāpāsiṁ evaṁnāmo evaṅgotto evaṁvaṇṇo evamāhāro evaṁsukhadukkhappaṭisaṁvedī evamāyupariyanto, so tato cuto idhūpapannoti, iti sākāraṁ sauddesaṁ anekavihitaṁ pubbenivāsaṁ anussareyyan’ti, tatra tatreva sakkhibhabbataṁ pāpuṇāti sati sati āyatane. So sace ākaṅkhati: ‘dibbena cakkhunā visuddhena atikkantamānusakena satte passeyyaṁ cavamāne upapajjamāne hīne paṇīte suvaṇṇe dubbaṇṇe, sugate duggate yathākammūpage satte pajāneyyaṁ—ime vata bhonto sattā kāyaduccaritena samannāgatā vacīduccaritena samannāgatā manoduccaritena samannāgatā ariyānaṁ upavādakā micchādiṭṭhikā micchādiṭṭhikammasamādānā, te kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā apāyaṁ duggatiṁ vinipātaṁ nirayaṁ upapannā; ime vā pana bhonto sattā kāyasucaritena samannāgatā vacīsucaritena samannāgatā manosucaritena samannāgatā ariyānaṁ anupavādakā sammādiṭṭhikā sammādiṭṭhikammasamādānā, te kāyassa bhedā paraṁ maraṇā sugatiṁ saggaṁ lokaṁ upapannāti, iti dibbena cakkhunā visuddhena atikkantamānusakena satte passeyyaṁ cavamāne upapajjamāne hīne paṇīte suvaṇṇe dubbaṇṇe, sugate duggate yathākammūpage satte pajāneyyan’ti, tatra tatreva sakkhibhabbataṁ pāpuṇāti sati sati āyatane.

Passing away from there, I reappeared elsewhere; and there too I was named so-and-so, had such a clan, such a color, such food, experienced such happiness and suffering, and had such a lifespan. Passing away from there, I reappeared here,: recalling ones manifold past lives in their aspects and details, one is able to witness this in each and every case.

When he achieves the base consisting of boundless space, he can, if he wishes, with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, see beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and know how beings pass on according to their actions, thinking: These beings who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, and mind, who reviled the noble ones, held wrong views and undertook actions under the influence of wrong views, with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in a state of deprivation, in a bad destination, in perdition, even in hell; but these beings who were endowed with good conduct of body, speech, and mind, who did not revile the noble ones, who held right views and undertook actions under the influence of right views, with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in a good destination, even in the heavenly world.

Thus, with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he can see beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and know how beings pass on according to their actions.

There and then he achieves the ability to witness this at that base consisting of boundless space.

So sace ākaṅkhati: ‘āsavānaṁ khayā anāsavaṁ cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja vihareyyan’ti, tatra tatreva sakkhibhabbataṁ pāpuṇāti sati sati āyatane”ti. Tatiyaṁ.

If he wishes: May I realize for myself, with direct knowing, here and now, the deliverance of mind, the deliverance by wisdom that is taintless, having realized it for myself with direct knowing, may I dwell in it, there and then he achieves the ability to witness this at that base consisting of boundless space.