Sn 5.15
Mogharaja-manava-puccha
Mogharaja's Question
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 1116-1119
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
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[Mogharaja:]
Twice now, O Sakyan,
I've asked you,
but you, One with vision,
haven't answered me.
When asked the third time
the celestial seer answers:
so I have heard.
This world, the next world,
the Brahma world with its devas:
I don't know how they're viewed
by the glorious Gotama.
So to the one who has seen
to the far extreme,
I've come with a question:
How does one view the world
so as not to be seen
by Death's king?
[The Buddha:]
View the world, Mogharaja,
as empty —
always mindful
to have removed any view
about self.
This way one is above & beyond death.
This is how one views the world
so as not to be seen
by Death's king.
Note
On viewing the world as void, see S.XXXV.85.