[247] "Friends, suppose a man in need of heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, having come to a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, were to pass over the root and pass over the trunk, imagining that heartwood should be sought among the branches and leaves — such is the case with you venerable ones: with the Teacher present face to face, you have passed by the Blessed One and think that I should be questioned about this matter. Friends, that Blessed One, knowing, knows; seeing, sees; he has become vision, become knowledge (ñāṇa), become Dhamma, become Brahmā; he is the speaker, the proclaimer, the elucidator of the meaning, the giver of the Deathless, the Lord of the Dhamma, the Tathāgata. That indeed was the time when you should have asked the Blessed One himself about this matter, and as the Blessed One answered you, so you should have remembered it."
"Certainly, friend Kaccāna, the Blessed One, knowing, knows; seeing, sees; he has become vision, become knowledge, become Dhamma, become Brahmā; he is the speaker, the proclaimer, the elucidator of the meaning, the giver of the Deathless, the Lord of the Dhamma, the Tathāgata; and that indeed was the time when we should have asked the Blessed One himself about this matter, and as the Blessed One answered us, so we should have remembered it. Yet the Venerable Mahākaccāna is praised by the Teacher and esteemed by his wise companions in the holy life, and the Venerable Mahākaccāna is capable of explaining in detail the meaning of this summary that was recited in brief by the Blessed One without the meaning being analyzed in detail. Let the Venerable Mahākaccāna explain it, without finding it troublesome."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.