Re: S IV 163

(i)
[...]
Cakkhu rūpānaŋ saññojanaŋ
rūpā cakkhussa saññojanaŋ |
sotaŋ saddānaŋ saññojanaŋ
saddā sotassa saññojanaŋ |
ghānaŋ gandhānaŋ saññojanaŋ
gandhā ghānassa saññojanaŋ |
jivhā rasānaŋ saññojanaŋ
rasā jivhāya saññojanaŋ |
kāyo phoṭṭhabbānaŋ saññojanaŋ
phoṭṭhabbā kāyassa saññojanaŋ |
mano dhammānaŋ saññojanaŋ |
dhammā manassa saññojananti ||

[...]
"The eye [comes to] a bind with forms [seen],
Forms [seen come to] a bind with the eye,
The ear [comes to] a bind with sound,
Sounds [come to] a bind with the ear,
The nose [comes to] a bind with odors,
Odors [come to] a bind with the nose,
The tongue [comes to] a bind with savors,
Savors [come to] a bind with the tongue,
The body [comes to] a bind with sensations-of-contact,
Sensations-of-contact [come to] a bind with the body,
The mind [comes to] a bind with doctrines,
Doctrines [come to] a bind with the mind."

(ii)
Na kho āvuso koṭṭhita [...]
[NA] Mano dhammānaŋ saññojanaŋ |
NA dhammā manassa saññojanaŋ ||

"My friend Koṭṭhita, it is indeed not [the case] [...]
The mind does not [come to] a bind with doctrines,
Doctrines do not [come to] a bind with the mind."

(iii)
Seyyathāpi āvuso
kāḷo ca balivaddo odāto ca balivaddo
ekena dāmena vā yottena vā saŋyuttā assu |
yo nu kho evaŋ vadeyya
kāḷo balivaddo odātassa balivaddassa saññojanaŋ |
odāto balivaddo kāḷassa balivaddassa saññojananti ||
Sammā nu kho so vadamāno vadeyyāti ||
No hetaŋ āvuso ||
Na kho āvuso kāḷo balivaddo odātassa balivaddassa saññojanaŋ |
napi odāto balivaddo kāḷassa balivaddassa saññojanaŋ |
yena ca kho te ekena dāmena vā yottena vā saŋyuttā |
taŋ tattha saññejanaŋ ||

"[But] better still [consider this example], my friend,
[Imagine] a black ox and a white ox,
Perhaps bound with one rope-around-the-head or one yoke[-over-the-shoulders],
Indeed anyone might say,
'The black ox [is put to] the harness with the white ox',
'The white ox [is put to] the harness with the black ox'.
Thus, indeed, properly speaking, they might describe [the two coming
together in a bind].
It is not the case, my friend.
No indeed, my friend, [it is not the case that] a black ox [is put] to
the harness with a white ox,
likewise [it is] not [the case that] a black ox [is put] to the
harness with a white ox,
but with whatever indeed [they are] harnessed together,
by that one [bond], [be it] a rope-around-the-head or a
yoke[-over-the-shoulders], that there [is] the harness."

E.M.