The Sea

‘Venerable Nāgasena, those five qualities of the sea you say he ought to take, which are they?’
‘Just, O king, as the sea brooks no contact with a corpse ; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, brook no association with the stains of evil—lust and malice and dullness and pride and delusion, concealing the faults one has and claiming virtues one has not, envy and avarice, deceit and treachery and trickiness, wickedness and sinfulness of life. This, O king, is the first quality of the sea he ought to have.
‘And again, O king, just as the sea carries within it stores of all kinds of gems—pearls and diamonds and cat’s-eyes, and chank shells, and quartz, and coral, and crystal, but conceals them all; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, though he have attained to the various gems of character—the Path, and the Fruits Thereof, and the four Ghānas, and the eight Vimokkhas, and Samādhi, and the five Attainments (forms of ecstatic contemplation and Insight), and the six forms of Transcendental Knowledge —conceal them and not bring them to the light. This, O king, is the second quality of the sea he ought to have.
‘And again, O king, just as the sea associates with mighty creatures; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, associate himself with a fellow-disciple who desires little and is contented, who is pure in speech, whose conduct is directed to the eradication of evil, who is given to righteousness, modest, amiable, dignified, venerable, a speaker of profitable words, meek, one who will point out his associate’s faults, and blame him when he does wrong, clever in admonition, in instruction, and in education, able to arouse, to incite, and to gladden—with such a man as a friend, in righteousness should he dwell. This, O king, is the third quality of the sea he ought to have.
‘And again, O king, as the sea, though filled with the fresh water brought down by the Ganges, and the Jumna, and the Aciravatī, and the Sarabhū, and the Mahī, and by other rivers a hundred thousand in number, and by the rains of heaven, yet never overflows its shore; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, never consciously transgress the precepts for the sake of support, or fame, or praise, or salutations, or reverence, or honour—no! not even for his life. This, O king, is the fourth of the qualities of the sea he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods:
“Just, O king, as the great ocean has fixity as its characteristic, and never overflows its shores; just so, O king, should my disciples never overstep the regulations I have laid down for them—no! not even to save themselves alive.”
‘And again, O king, as the sea is not filled even by all the rivers—the Ganges, and the Jumna, and the Aciravatī, and the Sarabhū, and the Mahī—nor by the rains from heaven; just so, O king, should The strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, never be satisfied with receiving instruction, with asking and answering questions, with listening to the word, and learning it by heart, and examining into it, with hearing the Abhidhamma and the Vinaya, and the deep sayings of the Suttas, with analysis of forms, with learning the rules of right composition, conjunction, and grammatical construction, with listening to the ninefold teaching of the Conqueror. This, O king, is the fifth quality of the sea he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods, in the Sutasoma Jātaka:

“Just as the fire, in burning grass and sticks,
Is never satisfied, nor the great sea
Filled with the waters of all streams that flow—
So are these students wise, O king of kings,
Listening, ne’er sated with the words of truth.”’

Here ends the Second Chapter.