“I ask you, Auspicious One, tell me this.
Truly I anticipate your word, great sage.
Having heard your pronouncement,
I will train in the extinguishment of the self.”
“Then indeed be fervent, Dhotaka,”
said the Auspicious One,
“and astute and recollected right here.
Having heard this pronouncement,
train in the extinguishment of the self.”
“I see in the world of gods and men,
a brahmin faring with nothing.
I venerate you, all-seeing one.
Free me, O Sakyan, from my doubts.”
“I am not able to free
anyone in the world who is doubtful, Dhotaka.
But understanding the foremost principle,
so you shall make it across this flood.”
“Instruct me, brahmin, out of compassion,
such that I could understand the principle of withdrawal,
so that I could live here undisturbed as space,
detached and at peace.”
“I will declare to you that peace, Dhotaka,”
said the Auspicious One,
“experiential, not hearsay,
understanding which one who lives recollected
would cross over entanglement in the world.”
“And I delight, great sage,
in that highest peace,
understanding which one who lives recollected
would cross over entanglement in the world.”
“Whatever you know of, Dhotaka,”
said the Auspicious One,
“above, below, across, and in the middle —
understanding this as a snare in the world,
don’t crave for being or non-being.”
Notes
In the translators’ booklet this is Snp 5.6, following SuttaCentral’s numbering.