[219] Then the Venerable Vakkali addressed his attendants: "Come, friends, lower me from the couch. For how could one such as I think the message of that Blessed One should be heard while sitting on a high seat?"
"Yes, friend," those bhikkhus replied to the Venerable Vakkali, and they lowered the Venerable Vakkali from the couch. [They said:] "Friend, this night, when the night was far advanced, two devatās … stood to one side. Standing to one side, friend, one devatā said this to the Blessed One: 'Venerable sir, the bhikkhu Vakkali intends upon liberation.' The other devatā said this to the Blessed One: 'Surely, venerable sir, being well liberated, he will be liberated.' And the Blessed One, friend Vakkali, said this of you: 'Do not fear, Vakkali; do not fear, Vakkali. Your death will not be a bad one; your passing away will not be a bad one.'"
[Vakkali said:] "Well then, friends, in my name pay homage with your heads at the Blessed One's feet, [saying]: 'Venerable sir, the bhikkhu (bhikkhu) Vakkali is afflicted, in pain, gravely ill. He pays homage with his head at the Blessed One's feet, and he says this: "Venerable sir, I do not doubt that form (rūpa) is impermanent; I do not doubt that what is impermanent is suffering (dukkha); I do not doubt that in what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change, there is for me no desire, or lust, or affection. Venerable sir, I do not doubt that feeling (vedanā) is impermanent; I do not doubt that what is impermanent is suffering; I do not doubt that in what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change, there is for me no desire, or lust, or affection. Venerable sir, I do not doubt that perception (saññā) is impermanent; I do not doubt that what is impermanent is suffering; I do not doubt that in what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change, there is for me no desire, or lust, or affection. Venerable sir, I do not doubt that volitional formations (saṅkhārā) are impermanent; I do not doubt that what is impermanent is suffering; I do not doubt that in what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change, there is for me no desire, or lust, or affection. Venerable sir, I do not doubt that consciousness (viññāṇa) is impermanent; I do not doubt that what is impermanent is suffering; I do not doubt that in what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change, there is for me no desire, or lust, or affection."'"
"Yes, friend," those bhikkhus replied to the Venerable Vakkali, and they departed. Then, not long after those bhikkhus had departed, the Venerable Vakkali used the knife.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.