assigned to their kind; in like manner, Kâsyapa, is the law preached by the Tathâgata, the Arhat, &c, of one and the same essence, that is to say, the essence of it is deliverance, the final aim being absence of passion, annihilation, knowledge of the all-knowing[1]. As to that, Kâsyapa, (it must be understood) that the beings who hear the law when it is preached by the Tathâgata, who keep it in their memory and apply themselves to it, do not know, nor perceive, nor understand their own self. For, Kâsyapa, the Tathâgata only really knows who, how, and of what kind those beings are; what[2], how, and whereby they are meditating; what, how, and whereby they are contemplating; what, why, and whereby they are attaining. No one but the Tathâgata, Kâsyapa, is there present, seeing all intuitively, and seeing the state of those beings in different stages, as of the lowest, highest, and mean grasses, shrubs, herbs, and trees. I am he, Kâsyapa, who, knowing the law which is of but one essence, viz. the essence of deliverance, (the law) ever peaceful, ending in Nirvâna, (the law) of eternal rest, having but one stage and placed in voidness, (who knowing this) do not on a sudden reveal to all the knowledge of the all-knowing, since I pay regard to the dispositions of all beings.
You are astonished, Kâsyapa, that you cannot fathom the mystery[3] expounded by the Tathâgata. It is, Kâsyapa, because the mystery expounded by
