[230] When this was said, those brahmins made an uproar, raising loud voices and a great clamour: "Oh, the sacrifice (yañña)! Oh, the accomplishment of the sacrifice!" But the brahmin Kūṭadanta sat in silence. Then those brahmins said this to the brahmin Kūṭadanta: "Why, then, does the worthy Kūṭadanta not applaud the well-spoken words of the ascetic Gotama as well spoken?"
"Sirs, it is not that I do not applaud the well-spoken words of the ascetic Gotama as well spoken. Indeed, the head of anyone who did not applaud the well-spoken words of the ascetic Gotama as well spoken would split apart. But, sirs, it occurs to me thus: the ascetic Gotama does not say 'Thus have I heard,' nor 'Thus it ought to have been'; rather, he says only 'Thus it was at that time; so it was at that time.' Therefore, sirs, it occurs to me: surely the ascetic Gotama at that time was King Mahāvijita, the owner of the sacrifice, or else the brahmin high priest (purohita) who officiated at that sacrifice. — But does the worthy Gotama recall that, having performed such a sacrifice or having officiated at it, with the breaking up of the body, after death, he arose in a good destination, a heavenly world (sugatiṃ saggaṃ lokaṃ)?"
"I do recall, brahmin, that, having both performed such a sacrifice and officiated at it, with the breaking up of the body, after death, I arose in a good destination, a heavenly world. At that time, brahmin, I was the brahmin high priest who officiated at that sacrifice."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.