SAUNDARANANDA 13.26: Let It Come Out in the Wash

a-hRllekhasya manasaH
shiilaM t' uupaniShac chuci
ataH shiilaM nayaty agryam
iti shiilaM vishodhaya

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13.26
But the freedom of the mind from remorse

Is seated in pristine practice of integrity.

Therefore, realising that integrity comes first,

Purify the practice of integrity.

COMMENT:
In the previous canto, the farmer works so hard with confidence in what?

In this canto, the lotus leaf is cleansed by who?

When a buddha says "Let it come out in the wash," what is the meaning of the word "let"?

I only know that it is not to do.

Even a miniscule amount of pulling in the chin is not it. Pulling in the chin is, as I see it, the first evil not to do.

When a teacher teaches pulling in the chin as the first thing to do, and then slanders others -- for example those who practise mindfulness, or those who tell him that his teaching is wrong -- as "non-Buddhists," it is nothing other than the mirror principle at work. The teacher in question is expressing only his own self-doubt and fear of being wrong. Sadly for my furrowed heart, the teacher in question is my own teacher.

Not by establishing his own idea but by transmitting a teaching attributed to the Seven Buddhas, the Buddha Gautama began his teaching career like this:

Not to do any evil,
To carry on with every good,
To purify one's own mind,
Is the teaching of the buddhas.

Pulling in the chin, I submit, is the first evil not to do. Pulling in the chin is not the practice of integrity; it is the imitation of integrity.

EH Johnston:
But the freedom of the mind from remorse is based on purity of discipline. Therefore purify your discipline, realising that discipline goes in front as the foremost.

Linda Covill:
But pure moral self-restraint is the secret of a clear conscience; therefore purify your moral self-restraint, for moral self-restraint comes first.

VOCABULARY:
a-hRllekhasya = genitive of a-hRllekha: freedom from heart-furrowing; freedom from anxiety
manasaH = genitive of manas: mind, heart

shiilam (nom.): n. habit , custom , usage , natural or acquired way of living or acting , practice , conduct ; good disposition or character , moral conduct , integrity
tu: but
upaniShad: secret, basis
shuci: bright, white, clear , clean , pure ; unsullied , undefiled , innocent , honest , virtuous

atas: from this, hence
shiilam: practice of integrity, discipline, conduct:
nayati = 3rd person singular of nii: to lead , guide , conduct , direct , govern ;
agrya: mfn. foremost , topmost , principal , best

iti: thus
shiilam: practice of integrity, discipline, conduct
vishodhaya = causative, imperative of vishud: to become perfectly pure (esp. in ritual sense) ; to become clear (said of the senses)