1At one time the Buddha was staying at Nādika in the brick house. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants: “Mendicants!”

“Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this:

2“Mendicants, an element gives rise to a perception, a view, and a thought.”

When he said this, Venerable Kaccāna said to the Buddha: “Sir, regarding those who are not fully awakened Buddhas, there is a view that they are in fact fully awakened Buddhas. Due to what does this view appear?”

3“It’s a mighty thing, Kaccāna, the element of ignorance. An inferior element gives rise to inferior perceptions, inferior views, inferior thoughts, inferior intentions, inferior aims, inferior wishes, an inferior person, and inferior speech. One explains, teaches, asserts, establishes, clarifies, analyzes, and reveals the inferior. I say that their rebirth is inferior.

4A middling element gives rise to middling perceptions, middling views, middling thoughts, middling intentions, middling aims, middling wishes, a middling person, and middling speech. One explains, teaches, asserts, establishes, clarifies, analyzes, and reveals the middling. I say that their rebirth is middling.

5A superior element gives rise to superior perceptions, superior views, superior thoughts, superior intentions, superior aims, superior wishes, a superior person, and superior speech. One explains, teaches, asserts, establishes, clarifies, analyzes, and reveals the superior. I say that their rebirth is superior.”

1Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā ñātike vihārati giñjakāvasathe. Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: "bhikkhavo"ti.

"Bhadante"ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ. Bhagavā etadavoca: 

2"Dhātuṁ, bhikkhave, paṭicca uppajjati saññā, uppajjati diṭṭhi, uppajjati vitakko"ti.

Evaṁ vutte, āyasmā kaccāno bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: "yāyaṁ, bhante, diṭṭhi: ‘asammāsambuddhesu sammāsambuddhā’ti, ayaṁ nu kho, bhante, diṭṭhi kiṁ paṭicca paññāyatī"ti?

3"Mahati kho esā, kaccāna, dhātu yadidaṁ avijjādhātu. Hīnaṁ, kaccāna, dhātuṁ paṭicca uppajjati hīnā saññā, hīnā diṭṭhi, hīno vitakko, hīnā cetanā, hīnā patthanā, hīno paṇidhi, hīno puggalo, hīnā vācā; hīnaṁ ācikkhati deseti paññapeti paṭṭhapeti vivarati vibhajati uttānīkaroti; hīnā tassa upapattīti vadāmi.

4Majjhimaṁ, kaccāna, dhātuṁ paṭicca uppajjati majjhimā saññā, majjhimā diṭṭhi, majjhimo vitakko, majjhimā cetanā, majjhimā patthanā, majjhimo paṇidhi, majjhimo puggalo, majjhimā vācā; majjhimaṁ ācikkhati deseti paññapeti paṭṭhapeti vivarati vibhajati uttānīkaroti; majjhimā tassa upapattīti vadāmi.

5Paṇītaṁ, kaccāna, dhātuṁ paṭicca uppajjati paṇītā saññā, paṇītā diṭṭhi, paṇīto vitakko, paṇītā cetanā, paṇītā patthanā, paṇīto paṇidhi, paṇīto puggalo, paṇītā vācā; paṇītaṁ ācikkhati deseti paññapeti paṭṭhapeti vivarati vibhajati uttānīkaroti; paṇītā tassa upapattīti vadāmī"ti.

Tatiyaṁ.