[37] Bhikkhus, then King Bandhumā summoned the charioteer and said this: 'My dear charioteer, did the prince enjoy himself in the parkland? My dear charioteer, was the prince pleased with the parkland?' 'No, Your Majesty, the prince did not enjoy himself in the parkland; no, Your Majesty, the prince was not pleased with the parkland.' 'But, my dear charioteer, what did the prince see as he was driving out to the parkland?'
'Your Majesty, as the prince was driving out to the parkland, he saw a great crowd of people assembled and a bier being made of cloths of various colors. Seeing this, he said to me: "My dear charioteer, why has that great crowd of people assembled, and why is a bier of cloths of various colors being made?" "That, sire, is one who is called dead." "Well then, my dear charioteer, drive the chariot to where that dead man is." "Yes, sire," I replied to Prince Vipassī, Your Majesty, and drove the chariot to where the dead man was. Your Majesty, the prince saw the man deceased and dead, and having seen him he said to me: "But why, my dear charioteer, is this one called dead?" "This, sire, is called one who is dead: now his mother and father and other relatives and kin will not see him, and he too will not see his mother and father or his other relatives and kin." "But, my dear charioteer, am I too subject to death, not gone beyond death? Will the king and the queen and my other relatives and kin not see me? Will I too not see the king and the queen or my other relatives and kin?" "Sire, both you and we are all subject to death, not gone beyond death. The king and the queen and your other relatives and kin will not see you, and you too will not see the king and the queen or your other relatives and kin." "Well then, my dear charioteer, enough now of the parkland for today; turn back from here to the inner palace." "Yes, sire," I replied to Prince Vipassī, Your Majesty, and turned back from there to the inner palace. Your Majesty, having gone to the inner palace, the prince, pained and dejected, broods: "Shame, alas, sirs, on this thing called birth (jāti), since for one who is born aging (jarā) will appear, sickness (byādhi) will appear, death (maraṇa) will appear."'
Bhikkhus, then it occurred to King Bandhumā: 'May it not be that Prince Vipassī does not rule the kingdom! May Prince Vipassī not go forth from the household life into homelessness! May the words of the brahmin soothsayers not come true!'
Bhikkhus, then King Bandhumā provided Prince Vipassī with the five cords of sensual pleasure (kāmaguṇā) even more than before, so that Prince Vipassī might rule the kingdom, so that Prince Vipassī might not go forth from the household life into homelessness, so that the words of the brahmin soothsayers might prove false. And there, bhikkhus, Prince Vipassī, furnished and endowed with the five cords of sensual pleasure, amused himself among them.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.