“Having heard of the hero free from desire for sensual pleasures,”
(said the venerable Jatukaṇṇi),
“I have come to ask the desireless one who has crossed over the flood;
Speak about the state of peace, you of innate vision,
Tell me about it, Blessed One, as it actually is.
For the Blessed One having overcome sensual desires, fares onward,
like the sun illuminating the earth with its radiance;
O One |of vast wisdom::of extensive distinctive knowledge, discernment [bhūripañña]|, to me whose wisdom is but small,
explain the Dhamma, so that I might understand;
The abandoning, right here, of birth and old age.”
“Remove |yearning::desire, greed [gedha]| for sensual pleasures,
(Jatukaṇṇi,” said the Blessed One)
“Having seen renunciation |as safety::as security, as peace, as rest [khemato]|;
Do not |grasp::raise up, hold onto [uggahīta]| or |cast aside::reject, throw away [niratta]| anything,
let neither of these be found within you.
Dry up what pertains to the past,
do not take up anything to come later;
If you will not grasp in the |present::middle [majjha]|,
you will wander calmed and cooled.
For one, brahmin, entirely,
devoid of craving for |name and form::combination of mental processes [intending, attention, contact, sensation, and perceiving] and physical form that constitute an individual being, the mental and physical objects of consciousness [nāmarūpa]|;
there exist no |mental defilements::mental outflows, discharges, taints [āsava]| for him,
by which he might fall under the sway of Death.”