[316] "Even though the worthy Kassapa says this, still my opinion here remains thus: 'Even so, there is no other world, there are no beings spontaneously reborn (opapātika), and there is no fruit or result of deeds well done or ill done.'"
"But is there, chieftain, a method (pariyāya) …"
"There is, worthy Kassapa, a method …"
"How, exactly, chieftain?"
"Here, worthy Kassapa, my men arrest a bandit, a criminal, and present him to me, saying: 'Sir, this is a bandit, a criminal. Pronounce whatever punishment you wish for him.' I say to them: 'Well then, sirs, cut open this man's outer skin; perhaps we may see his soul (jīva).' They cut open that man's outer skin. We see no soul of his. I say to them: 'Well then, sirs, cut open this man's inner skin, cut the flesh, cut the sinews, cut the bones, cut the bone-marrow; perhaps we may see his soul.' They cut into that man's bone-marrow. We see no soul of his. This too, worthy Kassapa, is the method by which my opinion remains thus: 'Even so, there is no other world, there are no beings spontaneously reborn, and there is no fruit or result of deeds well done or ill done.'"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.