“Are you swamped by sorrow <j>that you meditate in the forest? Have you lost a fortune, or do you long for one? Or perhaps you’ve committed <j>some crime in the village? Why don’t you get too close to people? And why does no one get close to you?”

“I’ve dug out the root of sorrow completely. I practice absorption free of guilt or sorrow. I’ve cut off all greed and muttered prayer for future lives. Undefiled, I practice absorption, <j>O kinsman of the negligent!”

“The things they call ‘mine’, and those who say ‘it’s mine’: if your mind remains there, you won’t escape me, ascetic!”

“The things they speak of aren’t mine; I’m not someone who speaks like that. So know this, Wicked One: you won’t even see the path I take.”

“If you’ve discovered the path that’s safe, and leads to freedom from death, go and walk that path alone—why teach it to anyone else?”

“Those crossing to the far shore ask what’s beyond the domain of Death. When I’m asked, I explain to them the truth without attachments.”