[382] When this was said, the brahmin student Vāseṭṭha said to the Blessed One: "Worthy Gotama, I have heard this: 'The ascetic Gotama knows the path to companionship (sahabyatā) with Brahmā.'"
"What do you think, Vāseṭṭha? Is Manasākaṭa near to here, not far from here?"
"Even so, worthy Gotama, Manasākaṭa is near to here, not far from here."
"What do you think, Vāseṭṭha? Suppose there were a man born and raised in Manasākaṭa, and, just as he had come away from Manasākaṭa, people were to ask him the road to Manasākaṭa. Would there be, Vāseṭṭha, any slowness or hesitancy in that man born and raised in Manasākaṭa when asked the road to Manasākaṭa?"
"No indeed, worthy Gotama. And why is that? Because, worthy Gotama, that man was born and raised in Manasākaṭa; all the roads to Manasākaṭa are well known to him."
"There might indeed, Vāseṭṭha, be some slowness or hesitancy in that man born and raised in Manasākaṭa when asked the road to Manasākaṭa; but there is never any slowness or hesitancy in the Tathāgata when questioned about the Brahmā-world or the practice (paṭipadā) leading to the Brahmā-world. I understand Brahmā, Vāseṭṭha, and I understand the Brahmā-world, and the practice leading to the Brahmā-world; and I understand also how Brahmā practiced so as to be reborn in the Brahmā-world."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.