Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Just as gold corrupted by iron, copper, tin, lead, or silver is brittle and unworkable, a mind corrupted by sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, or doubt is not rightly immersed for the ending of defilements; free of these five, the mind becomes pliable, workable, and capable of realizing whatever it turns toward.
The five hindrances, under a different name
Kāmacchando, byāpādo, thinamiddhaṁ, uddhaccakukkuccaṁ, vicikicchā is the identical five-item list the tradition elsewhere calls the nīvaraṇa, hindrances — a list important enough to eventually give its own chapter, later in this nipāta, its name. Here they are called upakkilesa, corruptions, and framed through a craftsman's image rather than the more common metaphor of obstruction. Both labels point at the same five states; a reader should not expect the vocabulary to stay fixed across the whole collection.
The gold simile, read closely
The simile is precise about what corruption costs: gold that is corrupted is na mudu, not pliable; na kammaniya, not workable; na pabhassara, not radiant; and pabhaṅgu, brittle. Four distinct losses, not one vague deficiency. Purified, the same four qualities return in reverse, and only then can a goldsmith make whatever ornament they choose — a ring, earrings, a necklace, a garland. The simile’s point is not that impure gold is worthless but that it cannot yet be shaped into anything in particular.
What purification makes possible
The discourse then lists, at real length, what becomes available to a mind freed of the five corruptions: the various psychic powers, clairaudience, reading others' minds, recollecting past lives in detail, clairvoyance into others' rebirths according to their deeds, and finally the ending of defilements. This is an unusually long list for a discourse this size, and it is close to word-for-word what appears already at the legacy page AN 5.28, this vagga's own namesake discourse. The two texts are not identical, but they draw on the same standard formula for what a purified, immersed mind is said to be capable of.
What this discourse does not claim
Notably, the discourse does not present the psychic powers or the recollection of past lives as ends in themselves, or even discuss them individually beyond naming each in the standard formula. Every item in the list is introduced with the same conditional, if you wish, and closed with the same refrain, you're capable of realizing it, since each and every one is within range. The claim is about capability opened up by purification, not about any one ability being recommended for its own sake.
Key terms
The text
Corruptions of gold
§1“Mendicants, there are these five corruptions of native gold. When native gold is corrupted by these it’s not pliable, workable, or radiant, but is brittle and not completely ready for working. What five? Iron, copper, tin, lead, and silver. When native gold is corrupted by these five corruptions it’s not pliable, workable, or radiant, but is brittle and not completely ready for working. But when native gold is free of these five corruptions it becomes pliable, workable, and radiant, not brittle, and ready to be worked. Then the goldsmith can successfully create any kind of ornament they want, whether a ring, earrings, a necklace, or a golden garland.
Corruptions of the mind
§2In the same way, there are these five corruptions of the mind. When the mind is corrupted by these it’s not pliable, workable, or radiant. It’s brittle, and not rightly immersed in samādhi for the ending of defilements. What five? Sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, and doubt. These are the five corruptions of the mind. When the mind is corrupted by these it’s not pliable, workable, or radiant. It’s brittle, and not rightly immersed in samādhi for the ending of defilements.
§3But when the mind is free of these five corruptions it’s pliable, workable, and radiant. It’s not brittle, and is rightly immersed in samādhi for the ending of defilements. You become capable of realizing anything that can be realized by insight to which you extend the mind, since each and every one is within range.
Psychic power
§4If you wish: ‘May I wield the many kinds of psychic power—multiplying myself and becoming one again; materializing and dematerializing; going unobstructed through a wall, a rampart, or a mountain as if through space; diving in and out of the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying cross-legged through the sky like a bird; touching and stroking with the hand the sun and moon, so mighty and powerful, controlling the body as far as the realm of divinity.’ You’re capable of realizing it, since each and every one is within range.
Clairaudience
§5If you wish: ‘With clairaudience that is purified and superhuman, may I hear both kinds of sounds, human and heavenly, whether near or far.’ You’re capable of realizing it, since each and every one is within range.
Reading minds
§6If you wish: ‘May I understand the minds of other beings and individuals, having encompassed them with my mind. May I understand mind with greed as “mind with greed”, and mind without greed as “mind without greed”; mind with hate as “mind with hate”, and mind without hate as “mind without hate”; mind with delusion as “mind with delusion”, and mind without delusion as “mind without delusion”; constricted mind as “constricted mind”, and scattered mind as “scattered mind”; expansive mind as “expansive mind”, and unexpansive mind as “unexpansive mind”; mind that is not supreme as “mind that is not supreme”, and mind that is supreme as “mind that is supreme”; mind immersed in samādhi as “mind immersed in samādhi”, and mind not immersed in samādhi as “mind not immersed in samādhi”; freed mind as “freed mind”, and unfreed mind as “unfreed mind”.’ You’re capable of realizing it, since each and every one is within range.
Past lives
§7If you wish: ‘May I recollect many kinds of past lives. That is: one, two, three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand rebirths; many eons of the world contracting, many eons of the world expanding, many eons of the world contracting and expanding. May I remember: “There, I was named this, my clan was that, I looked like this, and that was my food. This was how I felt pleasure and pain, and that was how my life ended. When I passed away from that place I was reborn somewhere else. There, too, I was named this, my clan was that, I looked like this, and that was my food. This was how I felt pleasure and pain, and that was how my life ended. When I passed away from that place I was reborn here.” May I recollect my many past lives, with features and details.’ You’re capable of realizing it, since each and every one is within range.
Clairvoyance
§8If you wish: ‘With clairvoyance that is purified and superhuman, may I see sentient beings passing away and being reborn—inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, in a good place or a bad place—and understand how sentient beings pass on according to their deeds: “These dear beings did bad things by way of body, speech, and mind. They denounced the noble ones; they had wrong view; and they chose to act out of that wrong view. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell. These dear beings, however, did good things by way of body, speech, and mind. They never denounced the noble ones; they had right view; and they chose to act out of that right view. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm.” And so, with clairvoyance that is purified and superhuman, may I see sentient beings passing away and being reborn—inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, in a good place or a bad place. And may I understand how sentient beings pass on according to their deeds.’ You’re capable of realizing it, since each and every one is within range.
The ending of defilements
§9If you wish: ‘May I realize the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom in this very life, and live having realized it with my own insight due to the ending of defilements.’ You’re capable of realizing it, since each and every one is within range.”
Self-check quiz
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