[437] Sakavādin: Does the past (atīta) exist?
Paravādin: In such a way it exists; in such a way it does not exist (hevatthi heva natthi).
Sakavādin: Is it that very same thing that exists and that very same thing that does not exist (sevatthi seva natthi)?
Paravādin: It should not be said thus. …
Sakavādin: Is it that very same thing that exists and that very same thing that does not exist?
Paravādin: Yes.
Sakavādin: Is the meaning of "it exists" the meaning of "it does not exist," and the meaning of "it does not exist" the meaning of "it exists"? Is the state of existing (atthibhāva) the state of not existing, and the state of not existing the state of existing? Whether one says "it exists" or "it does not exist," "it does not exist" or "it exists" — are these identical, one in meaning, the same, equivalent, and of the same nature (ese se ekaṭṭhe same samabhāge tajjāte)?¹
Paravādin: It should not be said thus. …
¹ Edition's footnote: Saṃ. Ma[hāvagga] 118.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.