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The '''three pure factors''' (Tib. [[དག་པ་གསུམ་]], ''dakpa sum'', [[Wyl.]] ''dag pa gsum''), by means of which an [[arhat]] teaches, are:
#Firstly there is the '''pure vessel of the listener''' (Tib. [[སྙན་པ་པོའི་སྣོད་དག་པ་]], Wyl. ''snyan pa po'i snod dag pa''). This means that the arhats use their supernatural powers of cognition to examine the students in the assembly before teaching the [[Dharma]] only to those whose mindstreams are pure. 
#Then there is the '''pure speech of the teacher''' (Tib. [[འཆད་པ་པོའི་ངག་དག་པ་]], Wyl. ''chad pa po'i ngag dag pa''). This means the arhats teach without any afflictive emotion, in a pleasant style that is free from any verbal impediment or any flaws in terms of grammar or syntax. 
#Finally there is the '''pure topic of the teaching''' (Tib. [[གསུང་རབ་ཀྱི་བརྗོད་བྱ་དག་པ་]], Wyl. ''gsung rab kyi brjod bya dag pa'') which means that the arhats teach exactly what they heard from their own teachers, the perfectly enlightened [[buddha]]s. They do not add or omit even so much as a single word on account of their infallible powers of recollection.
 
You might wonder why the great arhats do not teach the Dharma through the [[Three Types of Miraculous Ability|three types of miraculous ability]]. Arhats are unable to teach using these three miraculous abilities because they have [[Four Causes that Prevent Them From Knowing Certain Things|four causes that prevent them from knowing certain things]].<ref>[[Patrul Rinpoche]], ''Preliminary Points To be Explained when Teaching the Buddha's Word or the Treatises'', translated by Adam Pearcey.</ref>

==References==
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==Alternative Translations==
*Three purities (Padmakara Translation Group)

==Further Reading==
*[[Khenpo Kunzang Palden|Khenpo Kunpal]], ''[[Drops of Nectar|The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech]]'', translated by Padmakara Translation Group. Published by Shambhala. ISBN 978-1-59030-439-6, pages 15-16

[[Category: Basic Yana]]
[[Category:Three Pure Factors]]
[[Category: Enumerations]]
[[Category: 03-Three]]