[385] 1.
"Those whom we slew in the past, for the sake of sacrifice or for the sake of wealth — fear arose in them without exception; they trembled and they wailed.
But in you there is no fright; your complexion grows brighter still. Why do you not lament in the face of peril so great?"
"For one without longing, chief (gāmaṇi), there is no suffering (dukkha) in the mind; truly, one whose fetters (saṃyojana) are destroyed has passed beyond all fears.
When the conduit to existence (bhavanetti) is destroyed, and the Dhamma is seen as it truly is,¹ there is no fear in death; it is like the laying down of a burden.
The holy life (brahmacariya) has been well lived by me, and the path (magga), too, has been well developed; I have no fear of death — it is like the ending of diseases.
The holy life has been well lived by me, and the path, too, has been well developed; existences have been seen to be without relish, as poison drunk and spat out.
Gone beyond (pāragū), without clinging, the task done, free of taints (āsava), one is content at the exhaustion of life, as one set free from the place of execution.
Having attained the supreme state of Dhamma, needing nothing in all the world, one does not sorrow at death, as one set free from a burning house.
Whatever conditioned thing exists, and wherever existence is obtained — all that is without a master (anissara): this has been declared by the Great Seer.²
One who understands that as it is, just as it was taught by the Buddha, takes hold of no existence at all, as one does not seize a heated ball of iron.
The thought 'I was' does not occur to me, nor does the thought 'I shall be' occur to me; volitional formations (saṅkhārā) will pass away — what lamentation is there in that?
For one who sees as it really is the bare arising of dhammas, the bare continuity of volitional formations, there is no fear, chief.
When with wisdom one sees the world as no more than grass and sticks, then, finding nothing that is 'mine,' one does not grieve: 'There is nothing of mine.'
I am weary of this body; I have no need of existence. This very body will break apart, and there will not be another.
Whatever task you have with this body, do it as you wish: on that account neither hatred nor affection will arise in me there."
Hearing that speech of his — astonishing, making the hair stand on end — the young men (māṇavā) laid down their blades and said this:
"What have you done, venerable sir? Or who is your teacher? Owing to whose teaching is this freedom from sorrow obtained?"
"The Omniscient, the All-seeing, the Victor (Jina), is my teacher — the Teacher of great compassion, the physician of all the world.
By him was taught this Dhamma, unsurpassed, leading to destruction; owing to his teaching this freedom from sorrow is obtained."
When the bandits had heard the seer's well-spoken words,
they laid down their blades and their weapons;
some abstained from that work of theirs,
and some chose the going forth (pabbajjā).
Having gone forth in the teaching of the Sublime One (Sugata),
having developed the factors of awakening (bojjhaṅga) and the powers,
those wise ones, uplifted in mind (citta), glad, with faculties perfected,
touched the state of Nibbāna, the unconditioned (asaṅkhata).
The Elder Adhimutta.
¹ Po., M., Yu. read *yathātathe*.
² Po., M., Yu. read *iti* ("thus it has been declared by the Great Seer").
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.