ud.8.10 Udana

Dabba (2nd)

So I have heard.
At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.
There the Buddha addressed the mendicants,
“Mendicants!”
“Venerable sir,” they replied.
The Buddha said this:
“Mendicants, when Dabba the Mallian rose into the air and, sitting cross-legged in the sky, entered and withdrew from the fire element before becoming fully extinguished, his body burning and combusting left neither ashes nor soot to be found.
It’s like when ghee or oil blaze and burn, and neither ashes nor soot are found.
In the same way, when Dabba the Mallian rose into the air and, sitting cross-legged in the sky, entered and withdrew from the fire element before becoming fully extinguished, his body burning and combusting left neither ashes nor soot to be found.”
Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:
“When an iron bar is struck
by heat and flame
the heat gradually dissipates,
and where it has gone no-one knows.
In the same way for the rightly released,
who have crossed the flood of sensual bonds,
and attained unshakable happiness,
where they have gone cannot be found.”
The Heartfelt Sayings are finished.