With Cunda

“I ask the sage abounding in wisdom,” said Cunda the smith, “the Buddha, master of the teaching, free of craving, best of men, excellent charioteer, please tell me this: how many ascetics are there in the world?”

“There are four ascetics, not a fifth.” said the Buddha to Cunda, “Being asked to bear witness, I will explain them to you: the path-victor, the path-teacher, the path-liver, and the path-wrecker.”

“Who is a path-victor according to the Buddhas?” said Cunda the smith, “and how is one an unequaled explainer of the path? Tell me when asked about one who lives the path, then declare the path-wrecker.”

“Rid of indecision, free of thorns, delighting in extinguishment, not fawning, a guide for the world with its gods. The Buddhas say one such is victor of the path.

Knowing the ultimate as ultimate, they explain and analyze the teaching right here. That sage unstirred, with doubt cut off, is the second mendicant, I say, the teacher of the path.

Living restrained and mindful on the path of the well-taught passage of teaching, cultivating blameless states, is the third mendicant, I say, the path-liver.

Dressed like one true to their vows, pushy, rude, a corrupter of families, devious, unrestrained, chaff, the path-wrecker’s life is a sham.

A layperson who gets this, a learned, wise noble disciple, knows that ‘They are not all like that one’. So when they see them they don’t lose their faith. For how could one equate them—the corrupt with the uncorrupt, the pure with the impure?”