[150] "Māluṅkyaputta, whoever should speak thus: 'I will not live the holy life (brahmacariya) under the Blessed One until the Blessed One declares to me: "The world is eternal," or "The world is not eternal," … or "The Tathāgata both exists and does not exist after death," or "The Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist after death"'—that matter would still remain undeclared (abyākata) by the Tathāgata, Māluṅkyaputta, and meanwhile that person would die.
"Māluṅkyaputta, suppose a man were struck by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and his friends and companions, his kinsmen and blood relatives, were to bring a surgeon to treat him. And he were to say thus: 'I will not have this arrow drawn out until I know the man by whom I was struck—whether he is a khattiya, a brāhmaṇa, a vessa, or a sudda.' He were to say thus: 'I will not have this arrow drawn out until I know the man by whom I was struck—his name and his clan.' He were to say thus: 'I will not have this arrow drawn out until I know the man by whom I was struck—whether he is tall, short, or of middle height.' He were to say thus: 'I will not have this arrow drawn out until I know the man by whom I was struck—whether he is dark, brown, or golden-skinned.' He were to say thus: 'I will not have this arrow drawn out until I know the man by whom I was struck—whether he dwells in such-and-such a village, town, or city.' He were to say thus: 'I will not have this arrow drawn out until I know the bow by which I was struck—whether it is a long bow (cāpa) or a crossbow (kodaṇḍa).' He were to say thus: 'I will not have this arrow drawn out until I know the bowstring by which I was struck—whether it is of swallow-wort fibre (akka), of reed fibre (saṇṭha), of sinew, of maruvā hemp, or of bark fibre (khīrapaṇṇin).' He were to say thus: 'I will not have this arrow drawn out until I know the shaft by which I was struck—whether it is of wild growth or of cultivated wood.' He were to say thus: 'I will not have this arrow drawn out until I know the shaft by which I was struck—with the feathers of what it was fitted: whether of a vulture, a heron, a hawk, a peacock, or a stork (sithilahanu).' He were to say thus: 'I will not have this arrow drawn out until I know the shaft by which I was struck—with the sinew of what it was bound: whether of an ox, of a buffalo, of a roruva deer, or of a monkey.' He were to say thus: 'I will not have this arrow drawn out until I know the arrow by which I was struck—whether it is a plain shaft, a razor-tipped arrow, a barbed arrow (vekaṇṇa), an iron arrow (nārāca), a calf's-tooth arrow, or an oleander-leaf arrow.'
"Māluṅkyaputta, that matter would still remain unknown to that man, and meanwhile that man would die. In the same way, Māluṅkyaputta, whoever should speak thus: 'I will not live the holy life under the Blessed One until the Blessed One declares to me: "The world is eternal," or "The world is not eternal," or "The world is finite," or "The world is infinite," or "The soul is the same as the body," or "The soul is one thing and the body another," or "The Tathāgata exists after death," or "The Tathāgata does not exist after death," or "The Tathāgata both exists and does not exist after death," or "The Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist after death"'—that matter would still remain undeclared by the Tathāgata, Māluṅkyaputta, and meanwhile that person would die."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.