[312] **I ask you, Blessed One; declare this to me.** — *I ask you* (pucchāmi taṃ): I ask you, I request you, I invite you, I entreat your favor, [saying] "Speak to me"; thus, "I ask you."
*Blessed One* (Bhagavā): this is a term of reverence … this designation "Blessed One" is a designation born of realization (sacchikā paññatti).
*Declare this to me* (brūhi me taṃ): declare it, tell it, teach it, make it known, establish it, disclose it, analyze it, make it plain, explain it; thus, "I ask you, Blessed One; declare this to me." Therefore that brahmin said:
"Whatever ascetics and brahmins there are here (thus said the Venerable Nanda)
who proclaim purity (suddhi) by what is seen and heard,
who proclaim purity by rules and observances (sīlabbata),
who proclaim purity in manifold ways —
if, O sage (muni), you say that they have not crossed the flood (ogha),
then who now, in the world of gods and humans,
has crossed beyond birth and aging, dear sir?
I ask you, Blessed One; declare this to me."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.