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77.          In the description of hinting (nemittikata): a sign (nimita) is any bodily or verbal act that gets others to give requisites.
Giving a sign is making a sign such as ‘What have you got to eat?’, etc., on seeing [people] going along with food. Indication is talk that alludes to requisites. Giving indication:  on seeing cowboys, he asks ‘Are these milk cows’ calves or butter-milk cows’ calves?’, and when it is said ‘They are milk cows’ calves, venerable sir’, [he remarks] ‘They are not milk cows’ calves. If they were milk cows’ calves the bhikkhus would be getting milk’ etc.; and his getting it to the knowledge of the boys’ parents in this way, and so making them give milk, is giving indication’.

78.          Indirect talk is talk that keeps near [to the subject]. And here there should be told the story of the bhikkhu supported by a family. A bhikkhu, it seems, who was supported by a family. A bhikkhu, it seems, who was supported by a  family went into the house wanting to eat and sat down. The mistress of the house was unwilling to give. On seeing him she said ‘There is no rice’, and she went to a neighbor’s house as though to get rice. The bhikkhu went into the storeroom. Looking round, he saw sugarcane in the corner behind the door, sugar in a bowl, a string of salt fish in a basket, rice in a jar, and ghee in a pot. He came out and sat down. When the housewife came back, she said ‘I did not get any rice’. The bhikkhu said ‘Lay follower, I saw a sign just now that alms will not be easy to get today.’ – ‘What, venerable sir?’ – ‘I saw a snake that was like sugarcane put in the corner behind the door’ looking for something to hit it with, I saw a stone like a lump of sugar in a bowl. When the snake had been hit with the clod, it spread out a hood like a string of salt fish in a basket, and its teeth as it tried to bite the clod were like rice grains in a jar. Then the saliva mixed with poison that came out to its mouth in its fury was like ghee put in a pot.’ She thought ‘There is no hoodwinking the shaveling’, so she gave him the sugarcane [29] and she cooked the rice and gave it all to him with the ghee, the sugar and the fish.

79.          Such talk that keeps near [to the subject] should be understood as indirect talk.

  Roundabout talk is talking round and round [the subject] as much as is allowed.

80.        In the description of belittling: abusing is abusing by means of the tem instances of abuse.24  Disparaging is contemptuous talk. Reproaching is enumeration of faults such as ‘He is faithless, he is an unbeliever’. Snubbing is taking up verbally thus ‘Don’t say that here’. Snubbing in all ways, giving grounds and reason, is continual snubbing. Or alternatively, when someone does not give, taking him up thus ‘Oh, the prince of givers?’ is snubbing; and the thorough snubbing thus prince of givers!’ is continual snubbing. Ridicule is making fun of someone thus ‘What sort of a life has this man who eats up his seed [grain]?  Continual ridicule is making fun of him more thoroughly thus ‘What, you say this man is not a giver who always gives the words “There is

81.        nothing” to everyone?’. Denigration25  is denigrating someone by saying that he is not a giver, or by censuring him. All-round denigration is continual denigration. Tale-bearing is bearing tales from house to house, from village to village, from district to district, [thinking] ‘So they will give to me out of fear of my bearing tales’. Backbiting is speaking censoriously behind another’s back after speaking kindly to his face; for this is like biting the flesh of another’s back, when he is not looking, on the part of one who is unable to look him in the face; therefore it is called backbiting. This is called belittling (nippesikata)  because it scrapes off25 (nippesueti), wipes off,25 the virtuous qualities of others as a bamboo scraper25 (velupesika)  does unguent,25 or because it is a pursuit of gain by grinding25 (nippimsitva) and pulverizing others’ virtuous qualities, like the pursuit of perfume by grinding the kins of perfumed substances; that is why it is called belittling.

82.          In the description of pursuing gain with gain: pursuing is hunting after. Got from here is got from this house. There is into that house. Seeking  is wanting. Seeking for is hunting after. Seeking out is hunting after again and again. [30] The story of the bhikkhu who went round giving away the alms he had got at first to children of families here and there and in the end got milk and gruel should be told here. Searching, etc., are synonyms for ‘seeking’ etc, and so the construction here should be understood thus: going in search of is seeking; searching for is seeking for; searching out is seeking out.
  This is the meaning of scheming, and so on.

83.          Now [as regards the words] The evil states beginning with (§42): here the words beginning with should be understood to include the many evil states given in the Brahmajala Sutta in the way beginning ‘Or just as some ‘worthy ascetics, while eating the food given by the ‘faithful, make a living by wrong livelihood by such low ‘arts as these, that is to say, by palmistry, by fortune-‘telling, by divining omens, by interpreting dreams, ‘marks on the body, holes gnawed by mice; by fire ‘sacrifice, by spoon oblation, . . .’ (D.i,9).

84.          So this wrong livelihood entails the transgression of these six training precepts announced on account of livelihood, and it entails the evil states beginning with ‘Scheming, talking, hinting, belittling, pursuing gain with gain’. And so it is the abstinence from all sorts of wrong livelihood that is virtue of livelihood purification, the word-meaning of which is this: on account of it they live, thus it is livelihood. What is that? It is the effort consisting in the search for requisites. ‘Purification’ is purifiedness. ‘Livelihood purification’ is purification of livelihood.

85.          (d)  As regards the next kind called virtue concerning requisites, [here is the text: ‘Reflecting ‘wisely, he uses the robe only for protection from ‘cold, for protection from heat, for protection from ‘contact with gadflies, flies, wind, burning and ‘creeping things, and only for the purpose of ‘concealing the private parts. Reflecting wisely, he ‘uses alms food neither for amusement nor for ‘intoxication nor for smartening nor for ‘embellishment, but only for the endurance and ‘continuance of this body, for the ending of ‘discomfort, and for assisting the life of purity:  “Thus ‘I shall put a stop to “old feelings and shall not arouse ‘new feelings, and I shall be healthy and blameless ‘and live in comfort.” Reflecting wisely, he uses the ‘resting place only for the purpose of protection from ‘cold, for protection from heat, for protection from ‘contact with gadflies, flies, wind, burning and ‘creeping things, and only for the purpose of warding ‘off the perils of climate and enjoying retreat. ‘Reflecting wisely, he uses the requisite of medicine ‘as cure for the sick  only for protection from arisen ‘hurtful feelings and for complete immunity from  ‘affliction’ (i,10). Herein reflecting wisely  is reflecting as the means and as the way;26 beginning ‘For protection from cold’ that should be understood as ‘reflecting wisely’.

86.          Herein, The rove is any one of those beginning with the inner cloth. He uses: he employs; dresses in [as inner cloth], or puts on [as upper garment]. Only [31] is a phrase signifying invariability in the definition of a limit27 of a purpose; the purpose in the meditator’s making use of the robes is that much only, namely, protection from cold, etc., not more than that. From cold: from any kind of cold arisen through change in temperature externally. For protection: for the purpose of warding off; for the purpose of eliminating it so that it may not arouse affliction in the body. For when the body is afflicted by cold, the distracted mind cannot be wisely exerted. That is why the Blessed One permitted the robe to be used for protection from cold. So in each instance. Except that from heat  means from the heat of fire, the origin of which should be understood as forest fires, and so on.

87.          From contact with gadflies and flies, wind and burning and creeping things: here gadflies are flies that bite; they are also called ‘blind flies’. Flies are just flies.  Wind is distinguished as that with dust and that without dust. Burning is burning of the sun. Creeping things are any long creatures such as snakes and so on that move by crawling. Contact with them is of two kinds: contact by being bitten and contact by being touched. And that does not worry him who sits with a robe on. So he uses it for the purpose of protection from such things.

88.          Only: the word is repeated in order to define a subdivision of the invariable purpose; for the concealment of the private parts is an invariable purpose; the others are purposes, periodically,. Herein, private parts are any parts of the pudendum. For when a member is disclosed, conscience (hiri) is disturbed  (kuppati), offended. It is called ‘private parts (hirikopina)’ because of the disturbance of conscience (hiri-kopana). For the purpose of concealing the private parts: for the purpose of the concealment of those private parts. [As well as the reading hirikopinapaticchadanattham’] there is a reading ‘hiri-kopinam paticchadanattham’.

89.        Alms food is any sort of food. For any sort of nutriment is called ‘alms food (pindapata—lit. lump-dropping’ because of its having been dropped (patitatta) into a bhikkhu’s bowl during his alms round (pindolya). Or alms food (pindapata) is the dropping (pata) of the lumps (pinda); it is the concurrence (sannipata), the collection, of alms (bhikkhu) obtained here and there, is what is meant. Neither for amusement: neither for the purpose of amusement, as with village boys, etc.; for sake of sport, is what is meant. Nor for intoxication: not for the purpose of intoxication, as with boxers, etc.; for the sake of intoxication with strength and for the sake of intoxication with manhood, is what is meant. [32] Nor for smartening”: not for the purpose of smartening, as with royal concubines, courtesans, etc.; for the sake of plumpness in all the limbs, is what is meant. Nor for embellishment: not for the purpose of embellishment, as with actors, dancers, etc.; for the sake of a clear skin and complexion, is what is meant.

90.          And here the clause neither for amusement is stated for the purpose of abandoning support for delusion; nor for intoxication is said for the purpose of abandoning support for hate; nor for smartening nor for embellishment is said for the purpose of abandoning support for greed. And neither for amusement nor for intoxication  is said for the purpose of preventing the arising of fetters for oneself. Nor for smartening nor for embellishment is said for the purpose of preventing the arising of fetters for another. And the abandoning of both unwise practice and devotion to indulgence of sense pleasures should be understood as stated by these four. Only has the meaning already stated.

91.          Of this body: of this material body consisting of the four great primaries. For the endurance: for the purpose of continued endurance. And continuance: for the purpose of not interrupting [life’s continued] occurrence, or for the purpose of endurance for a long time. He makes use of the alms food for the purpose of the endurance, for the purpose of the continuance, of the body, as the owner of an old house uses props for his house, and as a carter uses axle grease, not for the purpose of amusement, intoxication, smartening, and embellishment. Furthermore, endurance is a term for the  life faculty. So what has been said as far as the words for the endurance and continuance of this body can be understood to mean: for the purpose of maintaining the occurrence of the life faculty in this body.

92.          For the ending of discomfort: hunger is called ‘discomfort’ in the sense of afflicting. He makes use of alms food for the purpose of ending that, like anointing a wound, like counteracting heat with cold, and so on. For assisting the life of purity: for the purpose of assisting the life of purity consisting in the whole dispensation and the life of purity consisting in the path. For while this [bhikkhu] is engaged in crossing the desert of existence by means of devotion to the Three Trainings depending on bodily strength  whose necessary condition is the use of alms food, he makes use of it to assist the life of purity just as those seeking to cross the desert used their child’s flesh,28 just as those seeking to cross a river use a raft, and just as those seeking to cross the ocean use a ship.