[397] "Well then, Aggivessana, I shall question you in return on this very point; you may answer as seems fitting to you. What do you think, Aggivessana? Would an anointed khattiya king — such as King Pasenadi of Kosala, or King Ajātasattu of Magadha, the son of the Videhan princess — wield power in his own realm to execute those deserving execution, to fine those deserving fines, and to banish those deserving banishment?"
"Worthy Gotama, an anointed khattiya king — such as King Pasenadi of Kosala, or King Ajātasattu of Magadha, the son of the Videhan princess — would wield power in his own realm to execute those deserving execution, to fine those deserving fines, and to banish those deserving banishment. For even these communities and confederacies, worthy Gotama — namely the Vajjis and the Mallas — wield power in their own realms to execute those deserving execution, to fine those deserving fines, and to banish those deserving banishment. How much more, then, an anointed khattiya king such as King Pasenadi of Kosala, or King Ajātasattu of Magadha, the son of the Videhan princess? It would obtain, worthy Gotama, and he would deserve to wield it."
"What do you think, Aggivessana? When you say thus: 'Form (rūpa) is my self,' do you wield power over that form thus: 'Let my form be thus; let my form not be thus'?" When this was said, Saccaka the Nigaṇṭha's son was silent. A second time the Blessed One said this to Saccaka the Nigaṇṭha's son: "What do you think, Aggivessana? When you say thus: 'Form is my self,' do you wield power over that form thus: 'Let my form be thus; let my form not be thus'?" When this was said, a second time Saccaka the Nigaṇṭha's son was silent.
Then the Blessed One said this to Saccaka the Nigaṇṭha's son: "Answer now, Aggivessana; now is not the time for your silence. Whoever, Aggivessana, when asked a legitimate question by the Tathāgata up to the third time, does not answer — his head will split into seven pieces right there."
Now at that time the yakkha Vajirapāṇī, holding an iron thunderbolt — burning, blazing, all aglow — stood in the air above Saccaka the Nigaṇṭha's son, thinking: "If this Saccaka the Nigaṇṭha's son, when asked a legitimate question by the Blessed One up to the third time, does not answer, right here I shall split his head into seven pieces." And both the Blessed One and Saccaka the Nigaṇṭha's son saw that yakkha Vajirapāṇī.
Then Saccaka the Nigaṇṭha's son, frightened, agitated, with hair standing on end, seeking protection in the Blessed One alone, seeking shelter in the Blessed One alone, seeking refuge in the Blessed One alone, said this to the Blessed One: "Let the worthy Gotama ask me; I will answer."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.