[449] "The worthy Raṭṭhapāla has said: 'The world has no owner (assako loko); one must leave everything behind and pass on.' But how, worthy Raṭṭhapāla, should the meaning of this statement be seen?"
"What do you think, great king? Just as you now amuse yourself, supplied and endowed with the five strands of sensual pleasure (kāmaguṇā), will you be able [to say]: 'In the world beyond, too, I shall amuse myself in just the same way, supplied and endowed with these same five strands of sensual pleasure'? Or will others take possession of this wealth, while you pass on according to your kamma?"
"Worthy Raṭṭhapāla, just as I now amuse myself, supplied and endowed with the five strands of sensual pleasure, I shall not be able [to say]: 'In the world beyond, too, I shall amuse myself in just the same way, supplied and endowed with these same five strands of sensual pleasure.' Rather, others will take possession of this wealth, while I shall pass on according to my kamma."
"Great king, it was with reference to this that the Blessed One who knows and sees, the Arahant, the Fully Awakened One, said: 'The world has no owner; one must leave everything behind and pass on.' Having known this, and seen it, and heard it, I went forth from the household life into homelessness."
"It is wonderful, worthy Raṭṭhapāla! It is marvellous, worthy Raṭṭhapāla — how well spoken this was by that Blessed One who knows and sees, the Arahant, the Fully Awakened One: 'The world has no owner; one must leave everything behind and pass on.' For indeed, worthy Raṭṭhapāla, the world has no owner; one must leave everything behind and pass on."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.