5
On ‘The Highest’
Paramaṭṭhaka Sutta

796

If a person maintains that of views, his view is ‘The Highest ’,
Holding it as supreme in the world,
And says that all other views are contemptible,
Then he has not gone beyond disputes.

Paramanti diṭṭhīsu paribbasāno yaduttari kurute jantu loke
Hīnāti aññe tato sabbamāha tasmā vivādāni avītivatto

797

When a person sees an advantage for himself
In what is seen, heard, or cognised,
Or in precepts and practices,
He grasps such things,
Regarding everything else as contemptible.

Yadattanī passati ānisaṃsaṃ diṭṭhe sute sīlavate mute vā
Tadeva so tattha samuggahāya nihīnato passati sabbamaññaṃ

798

The good call that thing a bond,
If, tethered to it, one regards other people as inferior.
Therefore a monk should not be tethered to what is seen, heard, or cognised,
Nor to precepts and practices

Taṃ vāpi ganthaṃ kusalā vadanti yaṃ nissito passati hīnamaññaṃ
Tasmā hi diṭṭhaṃ va sutaṃ mutaṃ vā sīlabbataṃ bhikkhu na nissayeyya

799

He should not concoct fixed views about others
Based upon his knowledge of either them
Or of their precepts and practices.
He should neither suggest that he is equal
Nor suppose that he is either inferior or superior.

Diṭṭhimpi lokasmiṃ na kappayeyya ñāṇena vā sīlavatena vāpi
Samoti attānamanūpaneyya hīno na maññetha visesi vāpi

800

Detaching from whatever views he was clinging to,
And not clinging to any others,
He should not be tethered even to knowledge.
Amongst those in dispute he should not take sides.
He should not revert to fixed views whatsoever.

Attaṃ pahāya anupādiyāno ñāṇepi so nissayaṃ no karoti
Sa ve viyattesu na vaggasārī diṭṭhimpi so na pacceti kiñci

801

One with no aspiration for any form of existence
Either in this world or the world beyond,
Has no attachment to dogmatic religious teachings.

Yassūbhayante paṇidhīdha natthi bhavābhavāya idha vā huraṃ vā
Nivesanā tassa na santi keci dhammesu niccheyya samuggahītaṃ

802

Whoever does not concoct the slightest notion ‘I am’
About what is seen, heard or cognised,
This Brahman who has grasped no view about anything,⁽¹⁾
How could anyone have any doubts about him?

Tassīdha diṭṭhe va sute mute vā pakappitā natthi aṇūpi saññā
Taṃ brāhmaṇaṃ diṭṭhimanādiyānaṃ kenīdha lokasmiṃ vikappayeyya

803

He does not concoct religious teachings,
Nor does he blindly follow them.
He does not hold on even to the Buddha’s teachings.
He is a Brahman,
Not to be inferred by precepts and practices.
Gone to the further shore,
One of such quality does not return.

Na kappayanti na purekkharonti dhammāpi tesaṃ na paṭicchitāse
Na brāhmaṇo sīlavatena neyyo pāraṅgato na pacceti tādīti

Notes for Readers:

• Note (1) grasped no view about anything: namely, views about Truth and purity (v.824), dogmatic religious teachings (vv.785, 837, 910), existence (v.786), or about the world (v.799). Grasping a view means thinking it is 'The Highest' (v.833); or that other people’s views are contemptible (v.797).

Notes on Translation:

• Verse 799) concoct fixed views about others (i.e. other people): PED’s alternative translations of loka.
• Verse 800) whatever views he was clinging to: from the reference to views in the last line, I have taken attaṃ to mean clinging to views.
• Verse 800) The 'should not's: the whole verse is apparently meant in the optative case.
• Verse 802) the slightest notion ‘I am’: for this translation of saññā, see Appendix 7.
• Verse 803) concoct and blindly follow: I adopt the sense of v.784, where the terms refer to religious teachings.
• Verse 803) The Buddha’s teachings: dhammā. In the Octads, the Buddha’s teachings are sometimes called sāsanaṃ (vv.814; 815; 933; 944) .