[375] "Just as if, Vāseṭṭha, a man were to build a ladder at a great crossroads for ascending to a mansion. People would say to him: 'Good man, as to that mansion for the ascent to which you are building a ladder—do you know that mansion, whether it lies in the eastern direction, the southern direction, the western direction, or the northern direction; whether it is high, low, or of middling height?' Asked thus, he would say: 'No.' They would say to him: 'Good man, are you then building a ladder for ascending to a mansion which you neither know nor see?' Asked thus, he would say: 'Yes.' What do you think, Vāseṭṭha? This being so, does not that man's statement turn out to be without demonstrable basis (appāṭihīrakata)?"
"Certainly, worthy Gotama, this being so, that man's statement turns out to be without demonstrable basis."
"Even so, Vāseṭṭha: it seems that Brahmā has not been seen face to face by the brahmins versed in the three Vedas; nor, it seems, has Brahmā been seen face to face by the teachers of the brahmins versed in the three Vedas; nor, it seems, has Brahmā been seen face to face by the teachers' teachers of the brahmins versed in the three Vedas; nor, it seems, has Brahmā been seen face to face by the brahmins versed in the three Vedas even back through seven generations of teachers. And even the ancient seers of the brahmins versed in the three Vedas—the makers of the hymns, the expounders of the hymns, whose ancient hymnal, sung, recited, and compiled, the brahmins versed in the three Vedas of today still sing after and recite after, reciting what was recited and teaching what was taught—namely, Aṭṭhaka, Vāmaka, Vāmadeva, Vessāmitta, Yamataggi, Aṅgirasa, Bhāradvāja, Vāseṭṭha, Kassapa, and Bhagu—even they did not speak thus: 'We know this, we see this: where Brahmā is, by which way Brahmā is, or in what place Brahmā is.' Yet those very brahmins versed in the three Vedas say: 'We teach the path (magga) to companionship with that which we neither know nor see: this alone is the straight path, this is the direct way, leading onward, which leads the one who practices it to companionship with Brahmā.'
What do you think, Vāseṭṭha? This being so, does not the statement of the brahmins versed in the three Vedas turn out to be without demonstrable basis?"
"Certainly, worthy Gotama, this being so, the statement of the brahmins versed in the three Vedas turns out to be without demonstrable basis."
"Good, Vāseṭṭha. That those brahmins versed in the three Vedas should teach the path to companionship with that which they neither know nor see, saying: 'This alone is the straight path, this is the direct way, leading onward, which leads the one who practices it to companionship with Brahmā'—this is impossible."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.