Linked Discourses 1.5

1. A Reed

Cut How Many?

At Sāvatthī.
Standing to one side, that deity recited this verse in the Buddha’s presence:
“Cut how many? Drop how many?
Develop how many more?
When a mendicant slips how many chains
are they said to have crossed the flood?”

“Five to cut, five to drop,
and five more to develop.
When a mendicant slips five chains
they’re said to have crossed the flood.”