[202] **"He, rid of craving (taṇhā), untroubled, without longing — he has crossed over birth and aging, I declare."**
**Craving (taṇhā):** craving for forms (rūpataṇhā), craving for sounds, craving for odours, craving for tastes, craving for tangibles, craving for dhammas. For whomever this craving has been abandoned, cut off, stilled, tranquilized, rendered incapable of arising again, burnt up by the fire of knowledge (ñāṇa), he is called one rid of craving: one who has given up craving, disgorged craving, released craving, abandoned craving, relinquished craving; rid of lust, having given up lust, disgorged lust, released lust, abandoned lust, relinquished lust; hungerless, quenched, become cool, an experiencer of bliss, he dwells with a self become divine (brahmabhūta). Thus: "he, rid of craving."
**Untroubled (anigha):** lust is a trouble, hatred is a trouble, delusion is a trouble, anger is a trouble, grudge is a trouble … all unwholesome volitional formations are troubles. For whomever these troubles have been abandoned, cut off, stilled, tranquilized, rendered incapable of arising again, burnt up by the fire of knowledge, he is called untroubled.
**Without longing (nirāsa):** "longing" (āsā) means craving — the lust, the passion … covetousness, greed, the unwholesome root. For whomever this longing, this craving, has been abandoned, cut off, stilled, tranquilized, rendered incapable of arising again, burnt up by the fire of knowledge, he is called one without longing.
**Birth (jāti):** the birth of those various beings into this or that order of beings, their being born, their descent [into the womb], production, coming forth, the manifestation of the aggregates (khandha), the obtaining of the sense bases (āyatana).
**Aging (jarā):** the aging of those various beings in this or that order of beings, decrepitude, brokenness of teeth, greyness of hair, wrinkling of skin, the decline of vitality, the ripening of the faculties.
**Death (maraṇa):** the passing away of those various beings from this or that order of beings, their perishing, breakup, disappearance, mortality, death, the completion of one's time, the breakup of the aggregates, the laying down of the carcass, the cutting off of the life faculty.
**"He, rid of craving, untroubled, without longing — he has crossed over birth and aging, I declare":** whoever is rid of craving, untroubled, and without longing — he [1] has crossed over, crossed beyond, transcended, and surpassed birth, aging, and death [2], I declare — I tell, I teach, I make known, I establish, I disclose, I analyze, I elucidate, I reveal. Thus: "He, rid of craving, untroubled, without longing — he has crossed over birth and aging, I declare." Therefore the Blessed One said:
The man here who is wise, a master of knowledge (vedagū),
having relinquished this tie amid the various states of existence —
he, rid of craving, untroubled, without longing,
has crossed over birth and aging, I declare.
Together with the conclusion of the verse … "Venerable sir, the Blessed One is my teacher; I am a disciple."
The Exposition of the Question of the Student Mettagū, the fourth, is concluded.
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The Exposition of the Question of the Student Dhotaka
[Translator's notes on variant readings recorded in the Siam Raṭṭha edition: (1) M. reads "kho"; (2) [M. reads] "uttari" (for "atāri").]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.