[426] 2. "Who here is contented in the world?"
(thus asked the Venerable Tissametteyya,)¹
"For whom are there no perturbations?
Who, having directly known both ends,
by wisdom does not cling in the middle?
Whom do you call 'a great man' (mahāpurisa)?
Who here has passed beyond the seamstress (sibbanī)?"²
"One who lives the holy life (brahmacariya) amid sensual pleasures,"
("Metteyya," said the Blessed One,)
"rid of craving (taṇhā), ever mindful,
a bhikkhu quenched, having comprehended —
for him there are no perturbations.
He, having directly known both ends,
by wisdom does not cling in the middle.
Him I call 'a great man';
he here has passed beyond the seamstress."
The Question of the Young Man Tissametteyya, the second.
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In the Suttanipāta, of the fifth chapter, the Pārāyana Vagga: the third, the Question of Puṇṇaka.
¹ The European edition reads "Tisso Metteyyo".
² The Burmese edition reads "sibbinim accagā".
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.