1Then the wanderer Vacchagotta went up to the Buddha and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to the Buddha:

“Master Gotama, does the self exist absolutely?”

But when he said this, the Buddha kept silent.

“Then does the self not exist absolutely?”

But for a second time the Buddha kept silent.

Then the wanderer Vacchagotta got up from his seat and left.

2And then, not long after Vacchagotta had left, Venerable Ānanda said to the Buddha:

“Sir, why didn’t you answer Vacchagotta’s question?”

“Ānanda, when Vacchagotta asked me whether the self exists absolutely, if I had answered that ‘the self exists absolutely’ I would have been siding with the ascetics and brahmins who are eternalists. When Vacchagotta asked me whether the self does not exist absolutely, if I had answered that ‘the self does not exist absolutely’ I would have been siding with the ascetics and brahmins who are annihilationists.

When Vacchagotta asked me whether the self exists absolutely, if I had answered that ‘the self exists absolutely’ would that have helped give rise to the knowledge that all things are not-self?”

“No, sir.”

“When Vacchagotta asked me whether the self does not exist absolutely, if I had answered that ‘the self does not exist absolutely’, Vacchagotta—who is already confused—would have got even more confused, thinking: ‘It seems that the self that I once had no longer exists.’”

1Atha kho vacchagotto paribbājako yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavatā saddhiṁ sammodi. Sammodanīyaṁ kathaṁ sāraṇīyaṁ vītisāretvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho vacchagotto paribbājako bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:

"Kiṁ nu kho, bho gotama, atthattā"ti?

Evaṁ vutte, bhagavā tuṇhī ahosi.

"Kiṁ pana, bho gotama, natthattā"ti?

Dutiyampi kho bhagavā tuṇhī ahosi.

Atha kho vacchagotto paribbājako uṭṭhāyāsanā pakkāmi.

2Atha kho āyasmā ānando acirapakkante vacchagotte paribbājake bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:

"Kiṁ nu kho, bhante, bhagavā vacchagottassa paribbājakassa pañhaṁ puṭṭho na byākāsī"ti?

"AhañcĀnanda, vacchagottassa paribbājakassa ‘atthattā’ti puṭṭho samāno ‘atthattā’ti byākareyyaṁ, ye te, Ānanda, samaṇabrāhmaṇā sassatavādā tesametaṁ saddhiṁ abhavissa. AhañcĀnanda, vacchagottassa paribbājakassa ‘natthattā’ti puṭṭho samāno ‘natthattā’ti byākareyyaṁ, ye te, Ānanda, samaṇabrāhmaṇā ucchedavādā tesametaṁ saddhiṁ abhavissa.

AhañcĀnanda, vacchagottassa paribbājakassa ‘atthattā’ti puṭṭho samāno ‘atthattā’ti byākareyyaṁ, api nu me taṁ, Ānanda, anulomaṁ abhavissa ñāṇassa uppādāya: ‘sabbe dhammā anattā’"ti?

"No hetaṁ, bhante".

"AhañcĀnanda, vacchagottassa paribbājakassa ‘natthattā’ti puṭṭho samāno ‘natthattā’ti byākareyyaṁ, sammūḷhassa, Ānanda, vacchagottassa paribbājakassa bhiyyo sammohāya abhavissa: ‘ahuvā me nūna pubbe attā, so etarahi natthī’"ti.

Dasamaṁ.