[429] 5. "I ask you, Blessed One — tell me this," (thus said the venerable Dhotaka,)
"I long for your word, O Great Seer;
having heard your utterance,
one would train for one's own Nibbāna."
"Then apply ardor (ātappa)," (said the Blessed One, "Dhotaka,")
"being prudent (nipaka) and mindful (sato) right here;
having heard the utterance from here,
one would train for one's own Nibbāna."
"I see, in the world of devas and humans,
a brahmin who owns nothing, moving about;
therefore I pay homage to you, O All-seeing One (samantacakkhu):
release me, O Sakka, from doubts (kathaṅkathā)."
"I shall not be able to release
anyone in the world who doubts, Dhotaka;
but coming to know the supreme Dhamma,
thus shall you cross over this flood (ogha)."
"Instruct me, O Brahmā, having compassion,
in the dhamma of seclusion (viveka), that I may understand it,
so that, untroubled just as space is,
I might wander right here — at peace, independent."
"I shall declare to you peace (santi)," (said the Blessed One, "Dhotaka,")
"in this very life, not by hearsay (anītiha);
having understood which, faring mindful,
one may cross over the entanglement (visattikā) in the world."
"And that supreme peace I delight in, O Great Seer,
having understood which, faring mindful,
one may cross over the entanglement in the world."
"Whatever you clearly comprehend," (said the Blessed One, "Dhotaka,")
"above, below, and across in the middle too —
understanding it thus, as 'a tie (saṅga)' in the world,
do not make craving (taṇhā) for existence in this state or that (bhavābhava)."
The Questions of the Young Brahmin Dhotaka (Dhotakamāṇavakapañhā), the fifth.
__________________
In the Suttanipāta, the sixth [question] of the fifth [chapter], the Pārāyanavagga: the Questions of Upasīva (Upasīvapañhā).
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.