The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [394]
7. “‘Friend Nigaṇṭhas, suppose a man were wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and because of this he felt painful, racking, piercing feelings. Then his friends and companions, kinsmen and relatives, brought a surgeon. The surgeon would cut around the opening of the wound with a knife, probe for the arrow with a probe, pull out the arrow, and apply a medicinal powder to the opening of the wound, and at each step the man would feel painful, racking, piercing feelings. Then on a later occasion, when the wound was healed and covered with skin, the man would be well and happy, independent, master of himself, able to go where he likes. He might think: “Formerly I was pierced by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and because of this I felt painful, racking, piercing feelings. Then my friends and companions, kinsmen and relatives, brought a surgeon. The surgeon cut around the opening of the wound with a knife, probed for the arrow with a probe, pulled out the arrow, and applied a medicinal powder to the opening of the wound, and at each step I felt painful, racking, piercing feelings. [217] But now that the wound is healed and covered with skin, I am well and happy, independent, my own master, able to go where I like.”
8. “‘So too, friend Nigaṇṭhas, if you knew that you existed in the past and that it is not the case that you did not exist…or what the abandoning of unwholesome states is and what the cultivation of wholesome states is here and now; that being so, it would be fitting for the venerableNigaṇṭhas to declare: “Whatever this person feels…all suffering will be exhausted.”
9. “‘But since, friend Nigaṇṭhas, you do not know that you existed in the past and that it is not the case that you did not exist…or what the abandoning of unwholesome states is and what the cultivation of wholesome states is here and now, it is not fitting for the venerable Nigaṇṭhas to declare: “Whatever this person feels…all suffering will be exhausted.”’
10. “When this was said, the Nigaṇṭhas told me: [218] ‘Friend, the Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta is omniscient and all-seeing and claims to have complete knowledge and vision thus: “Whether I am walking or standing or asleep or awake, knowledge and vision are continuously and uninterruptedly present to me.” He says thus: “Nigaṇṭhas, you have done evil actions in the past; exhaust them with the performance of piercing austerities. And when you are here and now restrained in body, speech, and mind, that is doing no evil actions for the future. So by annihilating with asceticism past actions and by doing no fresh actions, there will be no consequence in the future. With no consequence in the future…all suffering will be exhausted.” We approve of and accept this, and so we are satisfied.’
11. “When this was said, I told the Nigaṇṭhas:924 ‘There are five things, friend Nigaṇṭhas, that may turn out in two different ways here and now. What five? They are: faith, approval, oral tradition, reasoned cogitation, and reflective acceptance of a view. These five things may turn out in two different ways here and now. Herein, what kind of faith do the venerable Nigaṇṭhas have in a teacher who speaks about the past? What kind of approval, what kind of oral tradition, what kind of reasoned cogitation, what kind of reflective acceptance of a view?’ Speaking thus, bhikkhus, I did not see any legitimate defence of their position by the Nigaṇṭhas.
12. “Again, bhikkhus, I said to the Nigaṇṭhas: ‘What do you think, friend Nigaṇṭhas? When there is intense exertion, intense striving, do you then feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to intense exertion? But when there is no intense exertion, no intense striving, do you then not feel any painful, racking, piercing feelings due to intense exertion?’—‘When there is intense exertion, friend Gotama, intense striving, then we feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to intense exertion; [219] but when there is no intense exertion, no intense striving, then we do not feel any painful, racking,