2v.365 "In injuring and killing here,
In beating and extortion,
Kassapa did not recognize evil
Nor see any merit for oneself.
He indeed taught what is worthy of trust:
That teacher deserves esteem." [n.191] The verse is a concise statement of Pūraṇa Kassapa's doctrine of nonaction (akiriyavada), for which see DN I 52,22–53,4 and SN24.6 (in the latter source no ascription of the view to a teacher is made). A detailed account of the teachings of the six "heretical teachers" (of whom four are mentioned here and all six just below at SN3.1) can be found in the Samaññaphala Sutta, DN No. 2; for a translation with commentary, see Bodhi, The Discourse on the Fruits of Recluseship, esp. pp. 6–9, 19–26, 69–86. Spk paraphrases: "In declaring that there is no result of evil or merit, he taught to beings what is trustworthy as the foundation, the support; therefore he deserves esteem, veneration, worship."

4v.366 "By austerity and scrupulousness
He attained complete self-restraint.
He abandoned contentious talk with people,
Refrained from falsehood, a speaker of truth.
Surely such a one does no evil." [n.193] The verse alludes to Makkhali's style of ascetic practice but, strangely, makes no mention of his doctrines. Spk explains his austerity (tapa) as bodily mortification and his scrupulousness (jiguccha) as the loathing of evil (Spk-pṭ: the undertaking of the vow of nudity, etc., in the belief that this is the way to eliminate evil). This explanation shows that Spk regards tapojiguccha here as a collective dvanda compound, "austerity and scrupulousness," and so I have rendered it. Sv III 834,37, however, commenting on DN III 40,13–52,22 (where the Buddha gives a long disquisition on how tapojiguccha is imperfect and perfect — aparipuṇṇa, paripuṇṇa), explains the compound as a tappurisa meaning "scrupulousness by austerity": Tapojiguccha ti viriyena papajiguccha papavivajjana; "Austerity-scrupulousness: scrupulousness in regard to evil, the avoidance of evil, by means of energy." Tapassi and jegucchi (the corresponding nouns of personal reference) are used to designate separate factors of the Bodhisatta's "fourfold holy life" practised before his enlightenment at MN I 77,23–27 and 78,32–36. See too Basham, pp. 109–15, for a description of Ajīvika asceticism.

6v.367 "A scrupulous discerning bhikkhu,
Well restrained by the four controls,
Explaining what is seen and heard:
Surely, he could not be a sinner." [n.194] Nigaṇṭha Nataputta is identical with Mahavīra, the historical progenitor of Jainism. His discipline of restraint by the four controls (catuyamasaṁvara) is described at DN I 57,25–27 and MN I 377,1–2. At MLDB, p. 482, the formula is translated: "(he is) curbed by all curbs, clamped by all curbs, cleansed by all curbs, and claimed by all curbs." It is questionable whether either the text or its commentary (Sv I 168–69, Ps III 58–59) represents a genuine Jaina tradition.

8v.368 "Pakudhaka Katiyana and the Nigaṇṭha,
Along with Makkhali and Pūraṇa:
Teachers of companies, attained to ascetic stature:
They were surely not far from superior men." [n.195] Pakudhaka Katiyana is an alternative spelling of Pakudha Kaccāyana, whose doctrine of the seven bodies (sattakaya) is described at DN I 56,21–57,34 and at SN24.8. Spk says that the statement that "they were not far from superior men" means, in effect, that they were superior men (sappurisa), i.e., ariyans or noble ones.

10v.369 "Even by howling along the wretched jackal
Remains a vile beast, never the lion's peer.
So though he be the teacher of a group,
The naked ascetic, speaker of falsehood,
Arousing suspicion by his conduct,
Bears no resemblance to superior men." [n.196] in pāda a, Be and Se read sahacaritena; Ee1 reads sagaravena, corrected in Ee2 to sāhāravena, "along with (his) howling." Spk-pṭ supports this: "By merely making a howl along with the roar of the lion; that is, the jackal (is not the lion's equal) merely by making a jackal's howl at the same time that the lion makes its lion's roar." The jackal and the lion form a classical pair of opposites in ancient Indian literature; see Ja Nos. 143 and 335, where a jackal does himself to death trying to emulate the lion's prowess in hunting, and especially Ja No. 172, where a jackal shames a group of young lions to silence by trying to imitate their roar. sn.i.67

12v.370 "Those engaged in austerity and scrupulousness,
Those protecting their solitude,
And those who have settled on form,
Delighting in the world of devas:
Indeed, these mortals instruct rightly
In regard to the other world."

14v.371 "Whatever forms exist here or beyond,
And those of luminous beauty in the sky,
All these, indeed, you praise, Namuci,
Like bait thrown out for catching fish." [n.198] Namuci is a name of Māra, which Spk-pṭ (to SN4.1) explains as meaning "he does not free" (na muci: vaṭṭadukkhato aparimuttapaccayatta namuci); "He is called Namuci because he does not let one get free from the suffering of the round." Spk paraphrases the Buddha’s remark: "Just as a fisherman throws out bait at the end of a hook for the purpose of catching fish, so, by praising these forms, you throw them out in order to catch living beings." See SN35.230.

16v.372 "Vipula is called the best of mountains
Among the hills of Rājagaha,
Seta, the best of snow-clad mountains,
The sun, the best of travellers in the sky.

17v.373 "The ocean is the best body of water,
The moon, the best of nocturnal lights,
But in this world together with its devas
The Buddha is declared supreme."

2"Idha chinditamārite,
Hatajānīsu kassapo;
Na pāpaṁ samanupassati,
Puññaṁ vā pana attano;
Sa ve vissāsamācikkhi,
Satthā arahati mānanan"ti.

4"Tapojigucchāya susaṁvutatto,
Vācaṁ pahāya kalahaṁ janena;
Samosavajjā virato saccavādī,
Na hi nūna tādisaṁ karoti pāpan"ti.

6"Jegucchī nipako bhikkhu,
Cātuyāmasusaṁvuto;
Diṭṭhaṁ sutañca ācikkhaṁ,
Na hi nūna kibbisī siyā"ti.

8"Pakudhako kātiyāno nigaṇṭho,
Ye cāpime makkhalipūraṇāse;
Gaṇassa satthāro sāmaññappattā,
Na hi nūna te sappurisehi dūre"ti.

10"Sahācaritena chavo sigālo,
Na kotthuko sīhasamo kadāci;
Naggo musāvādī gaṇassa satthā,
Saṅkassarācāro na sataṁ sarikkho"ti.

12"Tapojigucchāya āyuttā,
pālayaṁ pavivekiyaṁ;
Rūpe ca ye niviṭṭhāse,
devalokābhinandino;
Te ve sammānusāsanti,
paralokāya mātiyā"ti.

14"Ye keci rūpā idha vā huraṁ vā,
Ye cantalikkhasmiṁ pabhāsavaṇṇā;
Sabbeva te te namucippasatthā,
Āmisaṁva macchānaṁ vadhāya khittā"ti.

16"Vipulo rājagahīyānaṁ,
giri seṭṭho pavuccati;
Seto himavataṁ seṭṭho,
ādicco aghagāminaṁ.

17Samuddo udadhinaṁ seṭṭho,
nakkhattānaṁva candimā;
Sadevakassa lokassa,
buddho aggo pavuccatī"ti.

18Sivo khemo ca serī ca,
Ghaṭī jantu ca rohito;
Nando nandivisālo ca,
Susimo nānātitthiyena te dasāti.