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Notes Bk. I
253
Q. Bhante? Do the infernal beings suffer from karma enshrouding knowledge ?
A. Gautama ! Surely they do.
Q. Bhante ! How many are the types of effect of karma enshrouding knowledge ?
A. Gautama ! They are stated to be ten --- five covering objective organs of senses and five covering subjective organs of senses.
And so on.
93. The consideration here is, when karma causing confusion and falsehood is up, does a living being perform rites to move up ? The answer is in the affirmative ---- he does, and he does by the energy of the fool. The reason is obvious. When the living being has no knowledge of the correct import, and is, in consequence, devoid of the right conduct, his exertions cannot but be foolish, like the exertions of a blind man to bit a target. When a living being discards falsehood - and this he does with the acquisition of right knowledge-he becomes prudent, and all his strivings are due to the energy of a prudent being. With the acquisition of knowledge, attachment and spite go out. Just as darkness does not stand the scorching rays of the sun, so attachment and spite do not stand the exposure to knowledge. Mixed energy is the energy of one who is prudent in part, but is in part still in the clutches of falsehood.
94. Movement down is the reverse of the movement up. When karma generating falsehood is up, a living being moves down, and this he does by the energy of the fool, and sometimes also by the mixed energy, but never by the energy of the prudent. An alternative reading, viz., that 'he comes down by the energy of the fool, and not by the energy of the prudent, nor by the energy of the mixed type', does not stand ; for the Jast line of the Sūtra clearly says, 'the movement up takes place by the prudent's energy, and the movement down by the mixed energy.' Another point worthy of note is that real
