Twice now, Sakyan,
I’ve asked you,
but you, One with Eyes,
haven’t answered me.
“When asked the third time,
the divine seer answers”:
So I have heard.
This world, the next world,
the Brahmā world with its devas:
I don’t know how they’re viewed
by the prestigious Gotama.
So to the one who has seen
to the far extreme,
I’ve come with a desire for a question:
One who regards the world in what way
isn’t seen by Death’s King?
The Buddha:
Always mindful, Mogharāja,1
regard the world as
empty,
having removed any view
in terms of self.
This way
one is above & beyond death.
One who regards the world
in this way
isn’t seen by Death’s King.
Notes
1. Cited by the Buddha at AN 1:149 (1:234) as foremost among the monks in wearing coarse robes.
Origin URL: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/StNp/StNp5_15.html