22.7 Of Correlation by Repetition (KV22.7)

Controverted Point: That there is no correlation by way of repetition.

Theravādin: But was it not said by the Exalted One:

“The taking of life, bhikkhus, when habitually practised and multiplied, is conducive to rebirth in purgatory, or among animals, or Petas. In its slightest form it results in, and is conducive to, a brief life among men”?

And again:

“Theft, bhikkhus, adultery, lying, slander, uttering harsh words, idle talk, intoxication, habitually practised and multiplied, are each and all conducive to rebirth in purgatory, among animals, or Petas. The slightest theft results in, conduces to destruction of property; the mildest offence against chastity gives rise to retaliatory measures among men; the lightest form of lying exposes the liar to false accusation among men; the mildest offence in slander leads to a rupture of friendship among men; the lightest result of harsh words creates sounds jarring on the human ear; the slightest result of idle talk is speech commanding no respect among men; the mildest inebriety conduces to want of sanity among men”?

And again:

“Wrong views, bhikkhus, wrong aspiration, effort, speech, activity, livelihood, mindfulness, concentration—each and all, if habitually practised, developed, and multiplied, conduce to rebirth in purgatory, among animals, among Petas”?

And again:

“Right views, right purpose, etc., habitually practised, developed, and multiplied, have their base and their goal and their end in the Ambrosial”?

The Points of Controversy, an English translation of the Pali Abhidhamma Kathāvatthu. Translated by Shwe Zan Aung and C.A.F. Rhys Davids. First published by Pali Text Society, 1915.

This SuttaCentral edition was prepared by Manfred Wierich and Ven. Vimala and proofread by Josephine Tobin. Some changes were introduced:

Abbreviations, i.e., those of cited works and the participants in the controversies, were expanded.

Cross-references were linked.

Some typographic changes were introduced, among others, i.e.: the phonetic symbol “ŋ” was changed to the Pāli diacritical letter “ṃ”, “ô” to “o”, single quotes to double quotes, and “:—” to “:”.

Letter-spacing with fixed spaces was replaced with bold font.

The corrigenda were merged into the text. Some could not be resolved, though.

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