One in whom desire for the ineffable has been born, whose mind is suffused with it, whose heart is not bound to sensual pleasures — such a one is called ‘going against the stream’.

Chandajāto anakkhāte — in whom desire for the ineffable has been born: chanda here is spiritual aspiration, not mundane desire. Anakkhāta is the ineffable, the indescribable — one of the names for nibbana. The desire for nibbana is the only desire that does not generate suffering.

Manasā ca phuṭo siyā — whose mind is suffused: phuṭa is pervaded, permeated. The aspiration is not superficial but pervades the entire mind of the practitioner.

Kāmesu ca appaṭibaddhacitto — whose heart is not bound to sensual pleasures: appaṭibaddha is unbound, free. The heart free from kāma has space for the ineffable.

Uddhaṃsototi vuccati — such a one is called “going against the stream”: uddhaṃsota — the one who swims upstream. While the mass of beings flows with the current of sensory desire downward, the advanced practitioner swims upward, against the current, toward the source.