Read the passage and answer the question :

"Though the wise should hope, by this virtue... by this penance I will gain karma... and the fool should by the same means hope to gradually rid himself of his karma, neither of them can do it. Pleasure and pain measured out as it were, cannot be altered in the course of samsant (transmigration). It can neither be lessened or increased... just as a ball of string will when thrown unwind to its full length, so fool and wise alike will take their course and make and end of sorrow".

This excerpt has been taken from which of the following texts :

Sutta Pitaka

The correct answer is Option (3) → Sutta Pitaka

The passage provided is from the "Sutta Pitaka." The Sutta Pitaka is one of the "Three Baskets" (Tripitaka)that make up the Pali Canon, which is the traditional collection of Buddhist scriptures. The Sutta Pitaka contains the discourses or teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha, and it is a fundamental source of Buddhist doctrine and philosophy.

Here is an excerpt from the Sutta Pitaka, describing a conversation between king Ajatasattu, the ruler of Magadha, and the Buddha:

On one occasion King Ajatasattu visited the Buddha and described what another teacher, named Makkhali Gosala, had told him: “Though the wise should hope, by this virtue … by this penance I will gain karma … and the fool should by the same means hope to gradually rid himself of his karma, neither of them can do it. Pleasure and pain, measured out as it were, cannot be altered in the course of samsara (transmigration). It can neither be lessened or increased … just as a ball of string will when thrown unwind to its full length, so fool and wise alike will take their course and make an end of sorrow.”

Makkhali Gosala belonged to the Ajivika tradition, characterized by their belief in fatalism, the notion that everything in life is predetermined. King Ajatasattu met him and described the conversation he had with Gosala to Buddha.