SNP5.9 — The Question of the Student Hemaka

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Those who explained things to me in the past,

(said the venerable Hemaka),

outside of Gotamas teaching,

saying, So it was, so it will be:

all that was merely hearsay,

all that just fueled speculation.

I found no delight in it.

But you, O sage, please declare to me the Dhamma

that destroys craving,

knowing which, living mindfully,

one crosses over entanglement in the world.

Here, Hemaka, regarding agreeable things

that are seen, heard, sensed, and cognized:

the dispelling of desire and greed

is the imperishable state of Nibbāna.

Those who are mindful, knowing this,

are fully quenched in this very life.

They are forever peaceful,

having crossed over entanglement in the world.

The Question of the Student Hemaka is the eighth.

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