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S. The past (atīta) exists?
P. Yes.
S. But did not the Venerable Phagguna say this to the Blessed One: "Venerable sir, is there that eye by which eye one describing the Buddhas of the past could describe them—who have attained final Nibbāna (parinibbuta), cut off proliferation (papañca), cut off the track (vaṭuma), exhausted the round (vaṭṭa), and transcended all suffering (dukkha)? … Venerable sir, is there that tongue …? Venerable sir, is there that mind (mano) by which mind one describing the Buddhas of the past could describe them—who have attained final Nibbāna, cut off proliferation, cut off the track, exhausted the round, and transcended all suffering?" "There is not, Phagguna, that eye by which eye one describing the Buddhas of the past could describe them—who have attained final Nibbāna, cut off proliferation, cut off the track, exhausted the round, and transcended all suffering. … There is not, Phagguna, that tongue … There is not, Phagguna, that mind by which mind one describing the Buddhas of the past could describe them—who have attained final Nibbāna, cut off proliferation, cut off the track, exhausted the round, and transcended all suffering."¹ Is there indeed such a discourse (suttanta)?
P. Yes.
S. Then indeed it should not be said that "the past exists."
¹ [Footnote in the Siam Raṭṭha edition:] Saṃ. Khu. 64.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.