[132] **"I ask you"** — in the passage *"Pucchāmi taṃ bhagavā brūhi me taṃ"* ("I ask you, Blessed One; tell me this"): **"I ask you"** means: I ask you, I beg you, I entreat you, I request your gracious favor, [thinking,] "May you declare it to me" — thus, "I ask you." **"Blessed One" (Bhagavā)**: this is a term of reverence … this designation, namely "Bhagavā," is a designation verified in reality (sacchikā paññatti). **"Tell me this"**: tell, declare, teach, make known, establish, reveal, analyze, make plain, proclaim — thus, "I ask you, Blessed One; tell me this."
Therefore that brahmin said:
"Whatever seers and humans (thus said the venerable Puṇṇaka),
khattiyas and brahmins,
have here in the world, in great numbers, prepared sacrifices to the deities —
did they, Blessed One, being heedful on the path of sacrifice,
cross over birth and aging, dear sir?
I ask you, Blessed One; tell me this."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.