[391] "Kaccāna, this statement of yours could stretch out to great length — you say: 'Worthy Gotama, the splendor (vaṇṇa) than which there is no other splendor higher or more sublime, that is the ultimate splendor,' yet you do not point out that splendor. Suppose, Kaccāna, a man were to say: 'Whoever is the finest lady in this land (janapadakalyāṇī), it is she that I want, she that I desire.' They would say to him: 'Good man, that finest lady of the land whom you want and desire — do you know whether she is a woman of the khattiyas, of the brahmins, of the vessas, or of the suddas?' Asked thus, he would say: 'No.' They would say to him: 'Good man, that finest lady of the land whom you want and desire — do you know that she is of such-and-such appearance, of such-and-such clan?' … 'whether she is tall, or short, or of medium height; whether she is black, brown, or golden-complexioned; or that she is in such-and-such a village, town, or city?' Asked thus, he would say: 'No.' They would say to him: 'Good man, do you then want and desire one whom you neither know nor have ever seen?' Asked thus, he would say: 'Yes.' What do you think, Kaccāna — that being so, does not that man's statement turn out to be groundless?"
"Certainly, worthy Gotama, that being so, that man's statement turns out to be groundless."
"In just the same way, Kaccāna, you say: 'Worthy Gotama, the splendor than which there is no other splendor higher or more sublime, that is the ultimate splendor,' yet you do not point out that splendor."
"Worthy Gotama, just as a beryl gem — beautiful, radiant, eight-faceted, well cut and polished — when placed upon a pale-orange woolen cloth, shines, glows, and radiates, even so, of such splendor is the self, free from disease, after death."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.