[325] Bhikkhus, Upaka the Ājīvaka saw me travelling along the highroad between Gayā and the Bodhi. Having seen me, he said this: "Friend, your faculties are clear; the colour of your skin is pure and bright. In whose name, friend, have you gone forth? Who is your teacher? Whose Dhamma do you profess?" When this was said, bhikkhus, I addressed Upaka the Ājīvaka in verse:
"I am the conqueror of all, the knower of all,
unsullied amid all things (dhammā);
having relinquished all, liberated in the destruction of craving (taṇhā)—
having known this fully by myself, whom should I point to as teacher?
I have no teacher;
one like me does not exist;
in the world with its devas
there is no counterpart to me.
For I am the Arahant in the world;
I am the Teacher unsurpassed;
I alone am the Perfectly Self-Awakened One;
become cool am I, quenched (nibbuta).
To set rolling the Wheel of Dhamma
I go to the city of the Kāsis;
in a world become blind
I shall beat the drum of the Deathless (amata)."
"Friend, according to what you claim, you must be the Infinite Victor (anantajina)."
"Victors indeed are those like me
who have attained the destruction of the taints (āsava);
evil states have been conquered by me—
therefore, Upaka, I am a victor."
When this was said, bhikkhus, Upaka the Ājīvaka, saying "May it be so, friend," shook his head, took a wrong road, and departed.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.