‘Venerable Nāgasena, it has been said by the Blessed One:

“The Tathāgata, O brethren, the Arahat, the Buddha supreme, is the discoverer of a way that was unknown.”

‘But on the other hand he said:

“Now I perceived, O brethren, the ancient way, the ancient path, along which the previous Buddhas walked.”

‘If, Nāgasena, the Tathāgata be the discoverer of a way not previously found out, then it must be wrong that it was an ancient way that he perceived, an ancient path along which previous Buddhas walked. But if the way he perceived were an ancient way, then the statement that it was unknown must be wrong. This too is a double-edged problem, now put to you, which you have to solve.’

‘Both the quotations you make, O king, are accurate. And both the statements so made are correct. When the previous Tathāgatas, O king, had disappeared, then, there being no teacher left, their way too disappeared. And it was that way—though then broken up, crumbled away, gone to ruin, closed in, no longer passable, quite lost to view— that the Tathāgata, having gained a thorough knowledge of it, saw by the eye of his wisdom, (and knew it) as the way that previous Buddhas trod. And therefore is it that he said:

“Now I perceived, O brethren, the ancient way, the ancient path along which previous Buddhas walked.”

‘And it was a way which—there being, through the disappearance of previous Tathāgatas, no teacher left—was a way then broken up, crumbled away, gone to ruin, closed in, and lost to view, that the Tathāgata made now passable again. And therefore is it that he said:

“The Tathāgata, O brethren, the Arahat, the Buddha supreme, is the discoverer of a way that was unknown.”

‘Suppose, O king, that on the disappearance of a sovran overlord, the mystic Gem of Sovranty lay concealed in a cleft on the mountain peak, and that on another sovran overlord arriving at his supreme dignity, it should appear to him. Would you then say, O king, that the Gem was produced by him ?’

‘Certainly not, Sir! the Gem would be in its original condition. But it has received, as it were, a new birth through him.’

‘Just so, O king, is it that the Blessed One, gaining a thorough knowledge of it by the eye of’ his wisdom, brought back to life and made passable again the most excellent eightfold way in its original condition as when it was walked along by the previous Tathāgatas—though that way, when there was no teacher more, had become broken up, had crumbled away, had gone to ruin, was closed in, and lost to view. And therefore is it that he said:

“The Tathāgata, O brethren, the Arahat, the Buddha supreme, is the discoverer of a way that was unknown.”

‘It is, O king, as when a mother brings forth from her womb the child that is already there, and the saying is that the mother has given birth to the child. Just so, O king, did the Tathāgata, having gained a thorough knowledge of it by the eye of his wisdom, bring into life, and make passable again, a way that was already there, though then broken up, crumbled away, gone to ruin, closed in, and lost to view.

‘It is as when some man or other finds a thing that has been lost, and the people use the phrase: “He has brought it back to life.” And it is as when a man clears away the jungle, and sets free a piece of land, and the people use the phrase: “That is his land.” But that land is not made by him. It is because he has brought the land into use that he is called the owner of the land. Just so, O king, did the Tathāgata, having gained a thorough knowledge of it by the eye of his wisdom, bring back to life, and make passable again, a way that was already there, though then broken up, crumbled away, gone to ruin, closed in, no longer passable, and lost to view. And therefore is it that he said:

“The Tathāgata, O brethren, the Arahat, the Buddha supreme, is the discoverer of a way that was unknown.”’

‘Very good, Nāgasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.’

Here ends the dilemma as to the way of Nirvāṇa.