Anusota Sutta
Four Types of Persons Found in the World
[5] Bhikkhus, these four kinds of persons are found in the world. Which four?
- One who goes with the current (anusota).
- One who goes against the current (paṭisota).
- One who stands firm, neither going with nor against the current.
- One who has crossed over, reached the far shore, and stands on dry land — a brāhmaṇa.
1. One who goes with the current
“And how is one a person who goes with the current?
There is someone in this world who indulges in kāma (sensual pleasures) and commits unwholesome actions. This is called a person who goes with the current.”
2. One who goes against the current
“And how is one a person who goes against the current?
There is someone in this world who does not indulge in kāma and does not commit unwholesome actions — even though he experiences bodily pain and mental pain, even though he cries with tears streaming down, he still maintains the purity and completeness of the brahmacariya.
This is called a person who goes against the current.”
3. One who stands firm
“And how is one a person who stands firm?
There is someone in this world who, through the ending of the five lower fetters (saṅyojanas), is reborn spontaneously (opapātika) and attains final Nibbāna in that same existence, with no return from that world.
This is called a person who stands firm.”
4. One who has crossed over — a brāhmaṇa
“And how is one a person who has crossed over and stands on dry land — a brāhmaṇa?
There is someone in this world who, through the destruction of the āsavas, realizes — by his own higher wisdom — the taintless ceto-vimutti and paññā-vimutti, and dwells in it here and now.
This is called a person who has crossed over, reached the far shore, and stands on dry land — a brāhmaṇa.
Bhikkhus, these are the four persons found in the world.”
(Verse Summary — Nikama Gāthā)
Those who are unrestrained in kāma, not free from craving, living on sensual pleasures in this world — these are called those going with the current, overwhelmed by taṇhā, repeatedly born and growing old.
Therefore, the wise in this world, mindful and restrained, avoid kāma and avoid unwholesome deeds. Even through bodily and mental pain, they abandon kāma and abandon evil — such a one is called going against the current.
One who has abandoned the five fetters (the lower saṅyojanas), a perfected trainee (sekha), unshakable, with mastery of mind and established faculties — this person is called standing firm, for he has penetrated the Dhamma.
For one in whom all phenomena — higher and lower — are fully exhausted and extinguished, that person has reached the pinnacle of knowledge, completed the holy life, and attained the end of the world — called one who has reached the far shore.