First of all, they tell what is right and what is wrong. Right is right and wrong is definitely wrong. One must not take what is right as wrong, nor should one take what is wrong as right. And so we should discuss things and in this way come to understand them clearly. For people who leave the home-life, cultivation is right and failing to cultivate is wrong.

“The second thing that śāstras discuss is what is deviant and what is proper. What is deviant is definitely deviant and what is proper is decidedly proper. You must not take what is deviant and consider it to be proper, nor take what is proper and consider it deviant. That’s another reason why there must be discussions.

“The third reason for discussion is to distinguish good and evil. Good is good and evil is evil. You cannot regard what is good as being evil, nor regard what is evil as being good.

“The fourth function of śāstras is to discuss cause and effect. A cause is decidedly a cause and an effect is definitely an effect. You can’t call a cause an effect, nor an effect a cause. You must make your discriminations clearly.

“The fifth aspect of śāstras is to clarify defilement and purity. Defilement is defilement and purity is purity. You must not take defilement to be purity or purity to be defilement. You must not be upside down. And so what śāstras do is discriminate these clearly." (HD 7)

論 ; Śāstra is a Sanskrit term that can refer either to a commentary on one of the sutras or to an independent treatise on some aspect or aspects of the Buddhadharma.