[440] 16.
"I am old, feeble, of faded complexion," (thus said the Venerable Piṅgiya)
"my eyes are not clear, my hearing is not easy.
Let me not perish bewildered midway:
declare the Dhamma, that I may understand it —
the abandoning here of birth (jāti) and aging (jarā)."
"Having seen [beings] struck down because of forms (rūpa)," ("Piṅgiya," said the Blessed One)
"— heedless people are stricken because of forms —
therefore, Piṅgiya, being heedful,
abandon form, that there be no renewed existence."
"The four quarters, the four intermediate quarters,
above and below — these ten directions:
nothing is unseen by you, nor unheard or unsensed,
nor is there anything uncognized in the world.
Declare the Dhamma, that I may understand it —
the abandoning here of birth and aging."
"Beholding human beings overcome by craving (taṇhā)," ("Piṅgiya," said the Blessed One)
"tormented, beset by aging —
therefore, Piṅgiya, being heedful,
abandon craving, that there be no renewed existence."
The Questions of the Student Piṅgiya, the Sixteenth.
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English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.