[243] When this was said, the wanderer Vacchagotta said to the Blessed One: "Master Gotama, is there any householder who, without having abandoned the fetter (saṃyojana) of household life, makes an end of suffering (dukkha) with the breakup of the body?"
"Vaccha, there is no householder who, without having abandoned the fetter of household life, makes an end of suffering with the breakup of the body."
"But, Master Gotama, is there any householder who, without having abandoned the fetter of household life, goes to heaven with the breakup of the body?"
"Vaccha, not merely one hundred, not two hundred, not three hundred, not four hundred, not five hundred — rather, far more than that are the householders who, without having abandoned the fetter of household life, have gone to heaven with the breakup of the body."
"Master Gotama, is there any Ājīvaka who makes an end of suffering with the breakup of the body?"
"Vaccha, there is no Ājīvaka who makes an end of suffering with the breakup of the body."
"But, Master Gotama, is there any Ājīvaka who goes to heaven with the breakup of the body?"
"Vaccha, though I recollect back ninety-one eons from now, I do not know of any Ājīvaka who went to heaven, except for one — and even he was a proponent of the doctrine of kamma, a proponent of the doctrine of the efficacy of action."
"That being so, Master Gotama, that sectarian fold is empty even of one who goes to heaven."
"So it is, Vaccha: that sectarian fold is empty even of one who goes to heaven."
Thus spoke the Blessed One. Delighted, the wanderer Vacchagotta rejoiced in what the Blessed One had said.
The Cūḷavacchagotta Sutta, the first, is finished.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.