[348] Then, Kevaṭṭa, just as a strong man might stretch out his bent arm or bend back his outstretched arm, even so that **bhikkhu** vanished from the Brahmā world and appeared before me. Then, Kevaṭṭa, that bhikkhu, having paid homage to me, sat down to one side. Seated to one side, Kevaṭṭa, that bhikkhu said this to me: "Venerable sir, where do these four great elements (mahābhūta) cease without remainder — that is to say, the earth element (paṭhavī-dhātu), the water element (āpo-dhātu), the fire element (tejo-dhātu), and the wind element (vāyo-dhātu)?"
When this was said, Kevaṭṭa, I said to that bhikkhu: "Formerly, bhikkhu, seafaring merchants, taking a shore-sighting bird, would set out upon the ocean in a ship. When the ship was out of sight of the shore, they would release the shore-sighting bird. It flies to the eastern quarter, it flies to the southern quarter, it flies to the western quarter, it flies to the northern quarter, it flies upward, it flies to the intermediate quarters. If it sees the shore anywhere around, it goes off in that very direction; but if it does not see the shore anywhere around, it returns to that very ship. In just the same way, bhikkhu, having searched even as far as the Brahmā world without obtaining an answer to this question, you have come back to my very presence. This question, bhikkhu, should not be asked thus: 'Venerable sir, where do these four great elements cease without remainder — that is to say, the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the wind element?' Rather, bhikkhu, this is how the question should be asked."
[The Exposition of the Question concerning the Great Elements]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.