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2.5 As for the "samvara," this tendency seems to appear as the famous passages of Nigantha Nataputta's teachings in Sāmannaphalasutta (SphS), the so called "Teachings of the Six Heretics", which is said to render the words of Mahāvīra. Despite the years of scholarly research, its meaning is still somewhat unclear. Nigantha Nataputta's portion runs as follows:
idha mahārāja nigaṇto cātu yāma samvara samvuto hoti.... idha mahārāja nigaṇṭo sabba vārī vārito ca hoti sabba-vāri yuto ca sabba vāri-dhuto ca, sabba-vāriphuṭṭho ca...
Before continuing, I would first like to discuss the meaning of sabba-vārī in the Sāmannaphalasutta. I prefer the reading of vārī as it is found in the following text editions: the Royal Thai Edition, the Burmese Chattha Sangāvana, the Sri Lankan Simon Hewavitarne Bequest Series Edition, the PTS edition of the Sumangalavilāsinī, and the PTS dictionary. On this passage, Buddhaghosa's aṭṭhakathā is:
nāta putta vāde cātu yāma samvara samvuto ti catu koṭṭasena samvarena samvuto.
sabba vī vārito cāti vārita-sabba udako, pațikkhitta sītodako ti attho.
so kira sitodake satta saññi hoti.
tasmā tam na valañeti.
sabba vāri yuto ti sabbena pāpa vāraṇena yutto. sabba vadhuto ti sabbena pāpa vāraṇena dhuto pāpo. sabba vāri puṭṭho ti sabbena pāpa-vāraṇena phuṭṭho.
The term sabba vāri occur here four times. Cātu yāma samvara samvuto means being protected/restrained (sam VR) by the four kinds of restraint/rules (samvara). Buddhaghosa goes on to explain the first sabba vāri vārito as, "restraining
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