[493] **"And I have heard that the deva-seer answers at the third time"** means: the Buddha, when asked a legitimate question up to the third time, answers; he is not at a loss.¹ Thus have I learned it, thus have I retained it, thus have I noted it.
**"The deva-seer" (devisi)** means: the Blessed One is both a deva and a seer (isi); hence he is "the deva-seer." Just as those gone forth from royalty are called royal seers (rājisi), and those gone forth from the brahmins are called brahmin seers (brāhmaṇisi), even so the Blessed One is both a deva and a seer; hence he is "the deva-seer."
Or alternatively: the Blessed One is a seer because he has gone forth. He sought, searched for, and sought out the great aggregate of virtue — thus too he is a seer. He sought, searched for, and sought out the great aggregate of concentration (samādhi), the great aggregate of wisdom, the great aggregate of liberation, the great aggregate of the knowledge (ñāṇa) and vision of liberation — thus too he is a seer. He sought, searched for, and sought out the shattering of the great mass of darkness, the breaking up of the great distortion (vipallāsa), the drawing out of the great dart of craving (taṇhā), the disentangling of the great tangle of views, the casting down of the great banner of conceit, the stilling of the great volitional formation (abhisaṅkhāra), the crossing over of the great flood, the laying down of the great burden, the cutting off of the great round of saṃsāra, the quenching of the great torment, the allaying of the great fever, the raising up of the great banner of the Dhamma — thus too he is a seer. He sought, searched for, and sought out the great establishments of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna), the great right exertions, the great bases for success, the great faculties, the great powers, the great factors of awakening (bojjhaṅga), the great noble eightfold path, the great Nibbāna — thus too he is a seer.
Or else: he is sought, searched for, and sought out by beings of great influence, who ask, "Where is the Buddha? Where is the Blessed One? Where is the deva of devas? Where is the bull among men?" — thus too he is a seer. Hence, "And I have heard that the deva-seer answers at the third time." Therefore that brahmin said:
"Twice, O Sakka, have I asked (thus said the venerable Mogharājā),
but the One with Vision did not answer me.
And I have heard that the deva-seer
answers at the third time."
¹ [Variant readings noted in the source: (1) M. sokāvatiṇṇaṃ; (2) M. saṃsāretīti ("does not evade") for the Siam reading no sampāyatīti; (1–4) M. lacks this reading; (2) M. rājā pabbajitā; (3) M. brāhmaṇā pabbajitā; (5) M. vinivethanaṃ; (6) M. papātanaṃ.]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.