[301] "Poṭṭhapāda, suppose a man were to build a ladder at a crossroads for climbing up to a mansion. People would say to him: 'Good man, that mansion for climbing up to which you are building a ladder — do you know that mansion, whether it stands in the eastern direction, or the southern direction, or the western direction, or the northern direction; whether it is tall, or low, or of medium height?' Asked thus, he would say, 'No.' They would say to him: 'Good man, are you then building a ladder for climbing up to a mansion which you neither know nor have seen?' Asked thus, he would say, 'Yes.' What do you think, Poṭṭhapāda — this being so, does not that man's speech turn out to be without demonstrable basis (appāṭihīrakata)?"
"Certainly, venerable sir, this being so, that man's speech turns out to be without demonstrable basis."
"Even so, Poṭṭhapāda, as for those ascetics and brahmins who hold such a doctrine, such a view: 'The self (attā) is exclusively happy and free from disease after death' — I approach them and say: 'Is it true, as it is said, that you venerable ones hold such a doctrine, such a view: "The self is exclusively happy and free from disease after death"?' If, asked thus by me, they acknowledge, 'Yes,' I say to them: 'But then, do you venerable ones dwell knowing and seeing an exclusively happy world?' Asked thus, they say, 'No.' I say to them: 'But then, are you venerable ones aware of the self as 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, do you venerable ones know: "This is the path (magga), this is the practice for the realization of an exclusively happy world"?' Asked thus, they say, 'No.' I say to them: 'But then, do you venerable ones hear the voice of those deities who have been reborn in an exclusively happy world, as they say: "You have practiced well, dear sirs; you have practiced straightly, dear sirs, for the realization of an exclusively happy world; for we too, dear sirs, practicing in this way, have been reborn in an 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?"
"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English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.