[428] 4. "I ask you, Blessed One; tell me this," (thus said the venerable Mettagū,)
"for I deem you a master of knowledge (vedagū), one of developed self (bhāvitatta):
from what indeed have these sufferings (dukkha) arisen,
whatever they be, of many kinds, in the world?"
"You have indeed asked me the source of suffering, Mettagū," (said the Blessed One,)
"and I shall declare it to you as one who understands:
it is with acquisition (upadhi) as their cause that sufferings originate,
whatever they be, of many kinds, in the world.
Whoever, unknowing, creates acquisition
comes to suffering again and again — a dullard.
Therefore, understanding, one should not create acquisition,
contemplating it as the genesis and origin of suffering."
"What we asked you, that you have declared to us.
We ask you another thing; come, tell us this:
how indeed do the wise cross over the flood (ogha) —
birth and aging, sorrow and lamentation?
Explain that to me well, O sage (muni),
for thus this Dhamma has been known by you."
"I shall proclaim to you the Dhamma, Mettagū," (said the Blessed One,)
"visible in this very life, not a matter of hearsay (anītiha),
having understood which, faring mindful,
one may cross over attachment (visattikā) to the world."
"And I rejoice in that supreme Dhamma,
O great seer (mahesi),
having understood which, faring mindful,
one may cross over attachment to the world."
"Whatever you clearly comprehend, Mettagū," (said the Blessed One,)
"above, below, and across in the middle:
having dispelled delight (nandī) and holding (nivesana) toward these things,
consciousness (viññāṇa) would not remain in existence.
Dwelling thus, mindful, heedful,
a bhikkhu faring on, having given up things cherished as 'mine' (mamāyita),
would, as one who knows, abandon right here
the suffering of birth and aging, of sorrow and lamentation."
"I rejoice in this word of the great seer:
well proclaimed, O Gotama, is that which is free of acquisition (nūpadhīka).
Surely the Blessed One has abandoned suffering,
for thus this Dhamma has been known by you.
And they too would surely abandon suffering
whom you, O sage, would instruct unremittingly.
Therefore, having drawn near, I pay homage to you, O nāga:
perhaps (the Blessed One) might instruct me too unremittingly."
"Whom one would know to be a brahmin, a master of knowledge,
owning nothing (akiñcana), unattached to sensual existence (kāmabhava) —
surely he has crossed over this flood;
crossed to the far shore, he is free of barrenness (akhila), free of doubt.
And that man, one who knows, a master of knowledge here,
having cast off this tie (saṅga) to this or that state of existence (bhavābhava),
he — rid of craving (taṇhā), untroubled (anigha), without longing (nirāsa) —
has crossed over birth and aging, I say."
The Fourth: The Questions of the Young Brahmin Mettagū (Mettagūmāṇavakapañhā).
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In the Suttanipāta, of the fifth chapter, the Pārāyanavagga — the fifth: the Questions of Dhotaka (Dhotakapañhā).
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.