[299] "Poṭṭhapāda, there are ascetics and brahmins who hold this doctrine, this view: 'After death the self (attā) is exclusively happy and free from disease.' I approach them and say: 'Is it true, as it is said, that you venerable ones hold this doctrine, this view: "After death the self is exclusively happy and free from disease"?' If, being asked thus by me, they affirm 'Yes,' I say to them: 'But then, venerable ones, do you dwell knowing and seeing an exclusively happy world?' Asked thus, they say, 'No.' I say to them: 'But then, venerable ones, are you clearly aware (sampajānātha) of a self that is exclusively happy for a single night or a single day, or for half a night or half a day?' Asked thus, they say, 'No.' I say to them: 'But then, venerable ones, do you know: "This is the path, this is the way of practice for the realization of the exclusively happy world"?' Asked thus, they say, 'No.' I say to them: 'But then, venerable ones, do you hear the voice of the deities who have arisen in the exclusively happy world, as they speak thus: "Practice well, dear sirs; practice straightforwardly, dear sirs, for the realization of the exclusively happy world; for we too, dear sirs, practicing thus, have arisen in the exclusively happy world"?' Asked thus, they say, 'No.'
"What do you think, Poṭṭhapāda? This being so, does not the speech of those ascetics and brahmins turn out to be without demonstrable basis (appāṭihīrakata)?"
"Certainly, venerable sir, this being so, the speech of those ascetics and brahmins turns out to be without demonstrable basis."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.