Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Asked about the water-purification rites taught by brahmin ritualists, the Buddha replaces the whole question with an ethical one: purity is not something water confers, but something a person has or lacks according to ten specific patterns of conduct across body, speech, and mind — the ten courses of wholesome and unwholesome action.
A familiar name, an earlier meeting
Readers who know DN 16, the account of the Buddha’s final months, will recognize the name in this sutta’s setting immediately: Cunda the smith, in his mango grove near Pāvā, is the same layman who will later offer the Buddha his very last almsmeal. Here, though, we meet him earlier and in an entirely different register — not as the unwitting host of a fatal meal, but as a sincere inquirer, asking the Buddha directly what he believes about a practice Cunda himself currently follows: the brahmin ritual of purification through touch and water. It is a small but valuable widening of who Cunda is in the canon — not only a name attached to one difficult moment, but a person capable of asking a good question and receiving, in return, one of the tradition’s clearest ethical teachings.
The ritual in question
Cunda describes the practice precisely: rising early, one should stroke the earth from one’s bed; failing that, fresh cow dung; failing that, green grass; failing that, serve the sacred flame; failing that, revere the sun with cupped palms; failing that, immerse oneself in water three times, including at dusk. It is a graduated fallback sequence of purifying actions, and the Buddha immediately distinguishes it from “purity in the training of the Noble One” — without dismissing Cunda’s sincerity, only relocating where purity actually resides.
Ten courses, three domains
The Buddha’s answer is a complete, symmetrical structure: impurity (and its opposite, purity) is threefold by way of body, fourfold by way of speech, and threefold by way of mind — ten items in total, traditionally known as the ten courses of action (kammapatha), each stated first in its unwholesome form and then in its wholesome opposite:
| Domain | Unwholesome | Wholesome |
|---|---|---|
| Body (3) | killing living creatures | renouncing violence, living with sympathy for all beings |
| stealing | not taking what isn’t given | |
| sexual misconduct | avoiding it entirely | |
| Speech (4) | false speech (lying) | truthful speech |
| divisive speech (backbiting) | harmonizing speech | |
| harsh speech | gentle, agreeable speech | |
| idle chatter | timely, meaningful speech | |
| Mind (3) | covetousness | contentment |
| ill will | goodwill | |
| wrong view | right view |
Each item is given real content, not just named: false speech is illustrated through the specific scenario of a witness lying under oath in a council or royal court; wrong view is spelled out as denying the fruits of good and bad deeds, denying an afterlife, and denying that any ascetic or brahmin has ever realized these things directly — effectively a denial of kamma and rebirth altogether, with right view as its exact reversal.
The real bath
Having laid out the ten unwholesome and ten wholesome patterns, the Buddha delivers the discourse’s central point with plain, almost blunt repetition: someone who has the ten unwholesome qualities remains impure whether or not they stroke the earth, serve the flame, or bathe three times a day — and someone with the ten wholesome qualities remains pure regardless of whether they perform any of these rites at all. The ritual is not condemned as false in itself; it is simply declared irrelevant to the question it claims to answer. What actually produces good or bad rebirth — the hells, the animal realm, or the human and heavenly realms — is conduct, not water.
A satisfied listener
Cunda’s response is recorded only in abbreviated form here — “Excellent, sir! Excellent! …” — the standard formula used throughout the canon (given in full in other discourses, including MN 135) for a listener whose confusion has genuinely lifted. He goes for refuge as a lay follower for life. It is worth sitting with the fact that this same person will, some years later according to the traditional chronology, host the Buddha’s final meal — and that DN 16 goes out of its way to insist Cunda bears no blame whatsoever for what follows. Read together, the two discourses give Cunda the smith an unusually full arc for a minor canonical figure: a sincere question answered clearly, and a devotion that, at the very end, the Buddha himself defends.
Key terms
The text
A question about purity
§1So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Pāvā in Cunda the smith’s mango grove. Then Cunda the smith went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. The Buddha said to him, “Cunda, whose purity do you believe in?” “Sir, I believe in the purity advocated by the western brahmins garlanded with aquatic flowers who carry pitchers, serve the sacred flame, and immerse themselves in water.”
§2“But Cunda, what kind of purity do these western brahmins advocate?” “The western brahmins encourage their disciple like this: ‘Please, my man, rising early you should stroke the earth from your bed. If you don’t stroke the earth, stroke fresh cow dung. If you don’t stroke fresh cow dung, stroke green grass. If you don’t stroke green grass, serve the sacred flame. If you don’t serve the sacred flame, revere the sun with cupped palms. If you don’t revere the sun with cupped palms, immerse yourself in water three times, including at dusk.’ The western brahmins advocate this kind of purity.”
§3–4“The purity advocated by the western brahmins is quite different from that in the training of the Noble One.” “But what, sir, is purity in the training of the Noble One? Sir, please teach me this.” “Well then, brahmin, listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.” “Yes, sir,” Cunda replied. The Buddha said this:
Impurity, threefold, fourfold, threefold
§5–9“Cunda, impurity is threefold by way of body, fourfold by way of speech, and threefold by way of mind. And how is impurity threefold by way of body? It’s when a certain person kills living creatures. They’re violent, bloody-handed, a hardened killer, merciless to living beings. They steal. With the intention to commit theft, they take the wealth or belongings of others from village or wilderness. They commit sexual misconduct. They have sexual relations with women who have their mother, father, both mother and father, brother, sister, relatives, or clan as guardian. They have sexual relations with a woman who is protected on principle, or who has a husband, or whose violation is punishable by law, or even one who has been garlanded as a token of betrothal. This is the threefold impurity by way of body.
§10–13And how is impurity fourfold by way of speech? It’s when a certain person lies. They’re summoned to a council, an assembly, a family meeting, a guild, or to the royal court, and asked to bear witness: ‘Please, my man, say what you know.’ Not knowing, they say ‘I know.’ Knowing, they say ‘I don’t know.’ Not seeing, they say ‘I see.’ And seeing, they say ‘I don’t see.’ So they deliberately lie for the sake of themselves or another, or for some trivial worldly reason. They backbite. They repeat in one place what they heard in another so as to divide people against each other. And so they divide those who are harmonious, supporting division, delighting in division, loving division, speaking words that promote division. They speak harshly. They use the kinds of words that are cruel, nasty, hurtful, offensive, bordering on anger, not leading to immersion. They talk nonsense. Their speech is untimely, and is neither factual nor beneficial. It has nothing to do with the teaching or the training. Their words have no value, and are untimely, unreasonable, rambling, and pointless. This is the fourfold impurity by way of speech.
§14–16And how is impurity threefold by way of mind? It’s when a certain person is covetous. They covet the wealth and belongings of others: ‘Oh, if only their belongings were mine!’ They have ill will and malicious intentions: ‘May these sentient beings be killed, slaughtered, slain, destroyed, or annihilated!’ They have wrong view. Their perspective is distorted: ‘There’s no meaning in giving, sacrifice, or offerings. There’s no fruit or result of good and bad deeds. There’s no afterlife. There’s no such thing as mother and father, or beings that are reborn spontaneously. And there’s no ascetic or brahmin who is rightly comported and rightly practiced, and who describes the afterlife after realizing it with their own insight.’ This is the threefold impurity by way of mind.
§17–23These are the ten ways of doing unskillful deeds. When you have these ten ways of doing unskillful deeds, then if you rise early, whether or not you stroke the earth from your bed, you’re still impure. Whether or not you stroke fresh cow dung, you’re still impure. Whether or not you stroke green grass, you’re still impure. Whether or not you serve the sacred flame, you’re still impure. Whether or not you revere the sun with cupped palms, you’re still impure. Whether or not you immerse yourself in water three times, you’re still impure. Why is that? These ten ways of doing unskillful deeds are impure and make things impure. It’s because of those who do these ten kinds of unskillful deeds that hell, the animal realm, the ghost realm, or any other bad places are found.
Purity, threefold, fourfold, threefold
§24–28Cunda, purity is threefold by way of body, fourfold by way of speech, and threefold by way of mind. And how is purity threefold by way of body? It’s when a certain person gives up killing living creatures. They renounce the rod and the sword. They’re scrupulous and kind, living full of sympathy for all living beings. They give up stealing. They don’t, with the intention to commit theft, take the wealth or belongings of others from village or wilderness. They give up sexual misconduct. They don’t have sexual relations with women who have their mother, father, both mother and father, brother, sister, relatives, or clan as guardian. They don’t have sexual relations with a woman who is protected on principle, or who has a husband, or whose violation is punishable by law, or even one who has been garlanded as a token of betrothal. This is the threefold purity by way of body.
§29–33And how is purity fourfold by way of speech? It’s when a certain person gives up lying. They’re summoned to a council, an assembly, a family meeting, a guild, or to the royal court, and asked to bear witness: ‘Please, my man, say what you know.’ Not knowing, they say ‘I don’t know.’ Knowing, they say ‘I know.’ Not seeing, they say ‘I don’t see.’ And seeing, they say ‘I see.’ So they don’t deliberately lie for the sake of themselves or another, or for some trivial worldly reason. They give up backbiting. They don’t repeat in one place what they heard in another so as to divide people against each other. Instead, they reconcile those who are divided and support those who are united, delighting in harmony, loving harmony, speaking words that promote harmony. They give up harsh speech. They speak in a way that’s mellow, pleasing to the ear, endearing, going to the heart, polite, likable and agreeable to the people. They give up talking nonsense. Their words are timely, true, and meaningful, in line with the teaching and training. They say things at the right time which are valuable, reasonable, succinct, and beneficial. This is the fourfold purity by way of speech.
§34–37And how is purity threefold by way of mind? It’s when a certain person is content. They don’t covet the wealth and belongings of others: ‘Oh, if only their belongings were mine!’ They have a kind heart and loving intentions: ‘May these sentient beings live free of enmity and ill will, untroubled and happy!’ They have right view, an undistorted perspective: ‘There is meaning in giving, sacrifice, and offerings. There are fruits and results of good and bad deeds. There is an afterlife. There are such things as mother and father, and beings that are reborn spontaneously. And there are ascetics and brahmins who are rightly comported and rightly practiced, and who describe the afterlife after realizing it with their own insight.’ This is the threefold purity by way of mind.
§38–44These are the ten ways of doing skillful deeds. When you have these ten ways of doing skillful deeds, then if you rise early, whether or not you stroke the earth from your bed, you’re still pure. Whether or not you stroke fresh cow dung, you’re still pure. Whether or not you stroke green grass, you’re still pure. Whether or not you serve the sacred flame, you’re still pure. Whether or not you revere the sun with cupped palms, you’re still pure. Whether or not you immerse yourself in water three times, you’re still pure. Why is that? These ten ways of doing skillful deeds are pure and make things pure. It’s because of those who do these ten kinds of skillful deeds that gods, humans, or any other good places are found.”
Cunda’s response
§45When he said this, Cunda the smith said to the Buddha, “Excellent, sir! Excellent! … From this day forth, may the Buddha remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”
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