Sutta Nipāta 63

Anthology of Discourses 5.9

The Questions of Hemaka

1 “Those who have previously answered me,” said Venerable Hemaka,

“before Gotama’s teaching,

said ‘thus it was’ or ‘so it shall be’.

All that was just the testament of hearsay;

all that just fostered speculation:

I found no delight in that.

2 But you, sage, explain to me

the teaching that destroys craving.

Having understood it, one who lives mindfully

may cross over clinging in the world.”

3 “The removal of desire and lust, Hemaka,

for pleasant things

seen, heard, thought, or cognized here

is extinguishment, the state that does not pass.

4 Those who have fully understood this, mindful,

are quenched in this very life.

Always at peace,

they’ve crossed over clinging to the world.”