[257] Then the Venerable Māluṅkyaputta approached the Blessed One; having approached and paid homage to the Blessed One, he sat down to one side. Sitting to one side, the Venerable Māluṅkyaputta said this to the Blessed One: "It would be good, venerable sir, if the Blessed One would teach me the Dhamma in brief, so that, having heard the Dhamma from the Blessed One, I might dwell alone, withdrawn, heedful, ardent (ātāpī), and resolute."
"Here now, Māluṅkyaputta, what shall we say to the young bhikkhus, when you, old, aged, and advanced in years, ask the Tathāgata for an exhortation in brief?"
"Let the Blessed One teach me the Dhamma in brief, venerable sir; let the Fortunate One teach the Dhamma in brief. Perhaps I might understand the meaning of the Blessed One's utterance; perhaps I might become an heir to the Blessed One's utterance."
"Māluṅkyaputta, there are these four arisings of craving (taṇhā) whereby craving, when it arises, arises in a bhikkhu. What four? On account of robes, Māluṅkyaputta, craving, when it arises, arises in a bhikkhu; on account of almsfood, Māluṅkyaputta, craving, when it arises, arises in a bhikkhu; on account of lodging, Māluṅkyaputta, craving, when it arises, arises in a bhikkhu; or on account of existence and non-existence thus and so, Māluṅkyaputta, craving, when it arises, arises in a bhikkhu. These, Māluṅkyaputta, are the four arisings of craving whereby craving, when it arises, arises in a bhikkhu. When, Māluṅkyaputta, a bhikkhu's craving has been abandoned, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, obliterated, so that it is no more subject to future arising, this bhikkhu is said, Māluṅkyaputta, to have cut off craving, stripped away the fetters (saṃyojana), and, by the complete breaking through of conceit, made an end of suffering (dukkha)."
Then the Venerable Māluṅkyaputta, having been exhorted by the Blessed One with this exhortation, rose from his seat, paid homage to the Blessed One, circumambulated him keeping his right side towards him, and departed. Then the Venerable Māluṅkyaputta, dwelling alone, withdrawn, heedful, ardent, and resolute, before long realized for himself by direct knowledge, in this very life, that unsurpassed consummation of the holy life for the sake of which sons of good family rightly go forth from the household life into homelessness, and having entered upon it, he dwelt therein. He directly knew: "Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what was to be done has been done, there is no more of this state of being." And the Venerable Māluṅkyaputta became one of the arahants.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.