5:15  Mogharāja’s Question

Twice now, Sakyan,

I’ve asked you,

but you, One with Eyes,

haven’t answered me.

“When asked the third time,

the divine seer answers”:

So I have heard.

This world, the next world,

the Brahmā world with its devas:

I don’t know how they’re viewed

by the prestigious Gotama.

So to the one who has seen

to the far extreme,

I’ve come with a desire for a question:

One who regards the world in what way

isn’t seen by Death’s King?

The Buddha:

Always mindful, Mogharāja,1

regard the world as

empty,

having removed any view

in terms of self.

This way

one is above & beyond death.

One who regards the world

in this way

isn’t seen by Death’s King.

vv. 1116–1119

Note

1. Cited by the Buddha at AN 1:149 (1:234) as foremost among the monks in wearing coarse robes.

See also: DN 15; MN 22; MN 26; MN 49; MN 121; SN 22:1; SN 4:19; SN 5:10; SN 12:15; SN 35:23; SN 35:82; SN 35:85; AN 9:39