The tension between the apophatic and the cataphatic is found in the apparent inconsistency between the texts

in which the Buddha says that he has no views and those, rather more numerous, in which he refers to right views. I believe that these refer to different aspects of his experience and teachings. Under the impact of his Enlightenment, and indeed o f the brahminical tradition which contributed to his making sense of that experience, he felt he had attained to a reality beyond language. Within the Pali Canon, the apophatic strand is particularly notable in the last two books of the Sutta-nipata. But this is a subtle matter. For example, verse 798 is generally taken to be utterly apophatic: Rahula translates its first half as: To be attached to one thing (to a certain view) and to look down upon other things (views) as inferior - this the wise men call a fetter. But I have shown31 that the previous verse, 797, should be translated: Should one see benefit in seeing, hearing or thinking of the dtman, or in external observances, clinging there to that alone, one regards all else as inferior. In this compressed verse the target is specifically the teaching of Ysyriavalkya, both his teaching and his adherence to ritual. So under the guise of saying that one should not depend on what is seen, heard or thought - which would be to agree with Yajnavalkyas apophatic teaching - the Buddha is actually attacking him, in o th e r words, attacking the central Upanisadic doctrine.