snp.5.6 Suttanipata

“I ask you, Gracious One, please tell this to me,” said venerable Dhotaka,
“I am waiting for a word of yours, Great Seer,
having heard your utterance I could train for my own Nibbāna.”

“Then you must become ardent, Dhotaka said the Gracious One,
“being prudent and mindful right here,
henceforth, after hearing this utterance you should train for your own Nibbāna.”

“I see in the world with its gods and men,” said venerable Dhotaka,
“a brahmin who moves about having nothing,
therefore I revere you, All-Seeing Visionary,
O Sakyan, please free me from my doubts.”

“I will not be able to free
anyone in the world who is having doubts, Dhotaka,
but knowing Nibbāna, the best thing,
in this way you can cross over the flood.”

“Brahmin! Being compassionate teach,” said venerable Dhotaka,
“the state of detachment that I should know,
then I, being undisturbed, just like the sky,
may live peaceful and independent right here.”

“I shall proclaim the peace to you, Dhotaka,” said the Gracious One,
“which is not hearsay here in the world,
which, having understood, and living mindfully, one can cross over clinging to the world.”

“I greatly rejoice in that supreme peace, Great Seer,
which, having understood, and living mindfully, one can cross over clinging to the world.”

“Whatever you know, Dhotaka,” said the Gracious One,
“above, below, and across the middle,
having understood this is called a shackle in the world,
you must not have craving for repeated existence.”

The Young Man Dhotaka’s Questions are Finished

Dhotaka
O Seeker Great, I long to hear your word,
then having heard your speech,
for Nirvāṇa train myself—
I ask the Lord thus, please tell me of this.

Buddha
Ascetically exert yourself,
just wise and mindful here,
then having heard my words,
for Nirvāṇa train yourself.

Dhotaka
In the world of devas and humanity I see
the with-nothing brahmin who wanders about,
to the All-seeing Seer, to you I bow down:
free me, O Sakya, from consuming doubt.

Buddha
I am not able, O Dhotaka, to liberate you
from consuming doubt of whatever kind in the world,*Sujato: lkm had “To liberate, O Dhotaka, from consuming doubt, I do not go about the world”, which relied on the variant reading gamissāmi. This however appears to be incorrect, and I have adopted the reading sahissāmi as used in the Mahāsaṅgīti text; see Norman’s note on page 410 of the Group of Discourses.
but, having Known this Dharma best
beyond this flood you go across.

Dhotaka
Teach me, O Brahma, out of your compassion,
the State of Seclusion that I may know it well,
so that I may live just like the sky,
kind-minded, peaceful, also clinging-free.

Buddha
This Peace I shall explain to you,
Seen-Now and not traditional lore,
knowing which the mindful fare,
and cross the world’s entanglements.

Dhotaka
I am delighted, Seeker Great
with this Peace that’s ultimate,
knowing which the mindful fare,
and cross the world’s entanglements.

Buddha
Whatever you cognize above,
below, across, and in between;
Here having Known clinging just to this,
form no craving for high or low.