iti.62 Itivuttaka

Faculties

This was said by the Lord …

“Bhikkhus, there are these three faculties. What three? The faculty of the assurance: ‘I shall come to finally know what is as yet not finally known’; the faculty of final knowledge; and the faculty of one who has finally known. These, bhikkhus, are the three faculties.”

For a learner who is training
In conformity with the direct path,
The knowledge of destruction arises first,
And final knowledge immediately follows.

Freed by that final knowledge,
By destroying the fetters of being
The serene one has the certainty:
“Unshakeable is my release.”

Endowed with this faculty
The peaceful one delights in the peaceful state.
Having conquered Māra and his mount,
He bears his final body.

- Translator: John D. Ireland

- Editor: Bhikkhu Sujato

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Faculties

This was said by the Buddha, the Perfected One: that is what I heard.
“Mendicants, there are these three faculties.
What three?
The faculty of understanding that one’s enlightenment is imminent. The faculty of enlightenment. The faculty of one who is enlightened.
These are the three faculties.”
The Buddha spoke this matter.
On this it is said:
“As a trainee trains,
following the straight road,
first they know about ending;
enlightenment follows in the same lifetime.
Then the knowledge comes
to such a one, freed through enlightenment,
with the end of the fetters of rebirth:
‘My freedom is unshakable.’
Accomplished in the faculties,
peaceful, in love with the state of peace,
they bear their final body,
having vanquished Māra and his mount.”
This too is a matter that was spoken by the Blessed One: that is what I heard.