[438] Then the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna, knowing that Sakka, lord of the devas, was stirred with urgency, his hair standing on end, said this to Sakka, lord of the devas: "But how, Kosiya, did the Blessed One speak in brief of liberation through the destruction of craving (taṇhā)? It would be good if we too might have a share in hearing that talk."
"Here, dear sir Moggallāna, I approached the Blessed One; having approached, I paid homage to the Blessed One and stood at one side. Standing at one side, dear sir Moggallāna, I said this to the Blessed One: 'Venerable sir, in what way, in brief, is a bhikkhu liberated through the destruction of craving — one who has reached the ultimate conclusion, the ultimate security from bondage, the ultimate holy life, the ultimate consummation, best among devas and humans?' When this was said, dear sir Moggallāna, the Blessed One said this to me: 'Here, lord of the devas, a bhikkhu has heard: "All things (dhammā) are not worth adhering to." If, lord of the devas, a bhikkhu has heard thus, that all things are not worth adhering to, he directly knows all things; having directly known all things, he fully understands all things; having fully understood all things, whatever feeling (vedanā) he feels — whether pleasant, painful, or neither-painful-nor-pleasant — he abides contemplating impermanence in those feelings, abides contemplating dispassion, abides contemplating cessation, abides contemplating relinquishment. Abiding contemplating impermanence in those feelings, abiding contemplating dispassion, abiding contemplating cessation, abiding contemplating relinquishment, he does not cling to anything in the world. Not clinging, he is not agitated; not agitated, he personally attains Nibbāna. He understands: "Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this state of being." To this extent, lord of the devas, a bhikkhu is, in brief, liberated through the destruction of craving — one who has reached the ultimate conclusion, the ultimate security from bondage, the ultimate holy life, the ultimate consummation, best among devas and humans.' Thus, dear sir Moggallāna, did the Blessed One speak to me in brief of liberation through the destruction of craving."
Then the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna, having delighted in and rejoiced at the words of Sakka, lord of the devas — just as a strong man might extend his bent arm or bend his extended arm — vanished from among the Tāvatiṃsa devas and appeared at the palace of Migāramātā in the Pubbārāma.
Then, not long after the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna had departed, the attendant maidens of Sakka, lord of the devas, said this to Sakka, lord of the devas: "Dear sir, was that the Blessed One, your Teacher?"
"No, dear ladies, that was not the Blessed One, my Teacher; that was the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna, my companion in the holy life."
"It is a gain for you, dear sir; it is well gained by you, dear sir, that your companion in the holy life is of such great psychic power, of such great might. Oh, what indeed, then, must the Blessed One, your Teacher, be!"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.