Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A mendicant, like a wild colt, can have speed without beauty or proportion, speed and beauty without proportion, or all three together, and only the third grade is complete.
The three qualities, held constant across this set
Speed, beauty, and good proportion are the three qualities. What changes across AN 3.140, 141, and 142 is not these three labels but what “speed” is defined to mean. In this discourse, beauty and proportion are already fixed for the whole set: beauty is answering a question about the teaching or training without faltering, and proportion is actually receiving robes, almsfood, lodging, and medicine.
Speed, at this grade: the four noble truths
Here, being “fast” means truly understanding the four noble truths — the same formula AN 3.133 uses for marksmanship. It is the collection’s baseline definition of genuine attainment, the least advanced of the three levels this set of discourses will use for speed.
Why beauty and proportion can fail independently
A mendicant can genuinely understand the four truths and still falter under questioning — understanding is not the same as being able to explain it under pressure. And a mendicant who understands and can explain can still go without adequate robes or food, since neither attainment nor articulacy guarantees material support. The three qualities are logically independent, which is exactly why the discourse needs three grades rather than one.
A blunt admission about support
It is worth noticing plainly what “well proportioned” actually measures: whether the mendicant is fed, housed, clothed, and cared for when sick. The discourse does not pretend that attainment guarantees provision. A genuinely awakened mendicant can, on this reckoning, still be materially neglected — the third grade names an external condition dependent on the surrounding community's generosity, not solely on the mendicant's own practice.
Where this set is heading
AN 3.140’s wild colts define speed as the four truths; AN 3.141’s excellent horses will raise it to non-return; AN 3.142’s thoroughbred will raise it again to arahantship. Beauty and proportion never move. Only the third factor climbs, three rungs, discourse by discourse.
Key terms
The text
Three wild colts, three wild people
§1“Mendicants, I will teach you about three wild colts and three wild people. Listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.” “Yes, sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this: “What are the three wild colts? One wild colt is fast, but not beautiful or well proportioned. Another wild colt is fast and beautiful, but not well proportioned. While another wild colt is fast, beautiful, and well proportioned. These are the three wild colts. And what are the three wild people? One wild person is fast, but not beautiful or well proportioned. Another wild person is fast and beautiful, but not well proportioned. While another wild person is fast, beautiful, and well proportioned.
Fast alone
§2And how is a wild person fast, but not beautiful or well proportioned? It’s when a mendicant truly understands: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’. This is how they’re fast, I say. But when asked a question about the teaching or training, they falter without answering. This is how they’re not beautiful, I say. And they don’t receive robes, almsfood, lodgings, and medicines and supplies for the sick. This is how they’re not well proportioned, I say. This is how a wild person is fast, but not beautiful or well proportioned.
Fast and beautiful
§3And how is a wild person fast and beautiful, but not well proportioned? It’s when a mendicant truly understands: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’. This is how they’re fast, I say. When asked a question about the teaching or training, they answer without faltering. This is how they’re beautiful, I say. But they don’t receive robes, almsfood, lodgings, and medicines and supplies for the sick. This is how they’re not well proportioned, I say. This is how a wild person is fast and beautiful, but not well proportioned.
Fast, beautiful, and well proportioned
§4And how is a wild person fast, beautiful, and well proportioned? It’s when a mendicant truly understands: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’. This is how they’re fast, I say. When asked a question about the teaching or training, they answer without faltering. This is how they’re beautiful, I say. They receive robes, almsfood, lodgings, and medicines and supplies for the sick. This is how they’re well proportioned, I say. This is how a wild person is fast, beautiful, and well proportioned. These are the three wild people.”
Self-check quiz
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