1. Having explained His Dhamma and what it involved, the Buddha then asked the Parivrajakas:
2. “Is not personal purity the foundation of good in the world?” And they answered, “It is as thou sayest.”
3. And he continued : “ Is not personal purity undermined by covetousness, passion, ignorance, the destruction of life, theft, adultery and lying? Is it not necessary for personal purity to build up sufficient strength of character so that these evils should be kept under control ? How can a man be the instrument of good if he has no personal purity in him ? “ And they replied, “ It is as thou sayest.”
4. “ Again why do men not mind enslaving or dominating others ? Why do men not mind making the lives of others unhappy ? Is it not because men are not righteous in their conduct towards one another?” And they answered in the affirmative.
5. “ Will not the practice of the Ashtanga Marga, the path of right views, right aims, right speech, right livelihood, right means, right mindfulness, right perseverance, and right contemplation, in short, the Path of Righteousness, if followed by every one, remove all injustice and inhumanity that man does to man?” And they said, “Yes.”
6. Turning to the path of virtue, he asked, “Is not Dana necessary to remove the suffering of the needy and the poor and to promote general good? Is not Karuna necessary to be drawn to the relief of poverty and suffering wherever it exists? Is not Nekkamma necessary to selfless work? Is not Uppekka necessary for sustained endeavour even though there is no personal gain?
7. “Is not love for man necessary?” And they said “ Yes.”
8. “I go further and say, “Love is not enough ; what is required is Maitri.” It is wider than love. It means fellowship not merely with human beings but with all living beings. It is not confined to human beings. Is not such Maitri necessary? What else can give to all living beings the same happiness which one seeks for one’s own self, to keep the mind impartial, open to all, with affection for every one and hatred for none ? “
9. They all said “Yes.”
10. “ The practice of these virtues must, however, be accompanied by Prajna, i.e., intelligence.
11. “Is not Prajna necessary?” The Pariv-rajakas gave no answer. To force them to answer his question the Buddha went on to say that the qualities of a good man are : “do no evil, think nothing that is evil, get his livelihood in no evil way and say nothing. that is evil or is likely to hurt anyone.” And they said, “ Yes, so it is.”
12. “But is doing good deeds blindly to be welcomed?” asked the Buddha “I say, ‘no.’ This is not enough,” said the Buddha to the Pariv- rajakas. “ If it was enough,” said the Buddha to the Parivrajakas, “ then a tiny babe could be proclaimed to be always doing good. For as yet, the babe does not know what a body means, much less will it do evil with its body beyond kicking about : it does not know what speech is, much less will it say anything evil beyond crying ; it does not know what thought is, beyond crying with delight ; it does not know what livelihood is, much less will it get its living in an evil way, beyond sucking its mother.
13. “ The Path of Virtue must, therefore, be subject to test of Prajna which is another name for understanding and intelligence.
14. “There is also another reason why Prajna-paramita is so important and so necessary. There must be Dana. But without Prajna, Dana may have a demoralizing effect. There must be Karuna. But without Prajna, Karuna may end in supporting evil. Every act of Paramita must be tested by Prajna Paramita which is another name for wisdom.
15. “ I premise that there must be knowledge and consciousness of what wrong conduct is, how it arises ; similarly, there must also be knowledge and consciousness of what is right conduct and wrong conduct. Without such knowledge there cannot be real goodness though the act may be good. That is why I say Prajna is a necessary virtue.”
16. The Buddha then concluded his sermon by addressing the following admonition to the Parivrajakas.
17. “ You are likely to call my Dhamma pessimistic because it calls the attention of mankind to the existence of suffering. I tell you such a view of my Dhamma would be wrong.
18. “ No doubt my Dhamma recognises the existence of suffering but forget not that it also lays equal stress on the removal of suffering.
19. “ My Dhamma has in it both hope and purpose.
20. “ Its purpose is to remove Avijja, by which I mean ignorance of the existence of suffering.
21. “There is hope in it because it shows the way to put an end to human suffering.
22. “ Do you agree with this or not ? “ And the Parivrajakas said , “Yes, we do.”
Source: The Buddha and His Dhamma | Author: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar