The Young Man Hemaka’s Questions (SNP5.9)

“Those who explained things to me in the past,” said venerable Hemaka,
“before Gotama’s teaching,
saying ‘it was so, and so it will be’, all that was just hearsay,
all that just increased my thoughts, and I did not delight therein.

“You must explain the Teaching to me, O Sage, and the destruction of craving,
which, having understood, and living mindfully, one can cross over clinging to the world.”

“In regard to likeable forms here seen, heard, sensed, and cognized, Hemaka,
the dispelling of desire and passion for them—this is the undying Nibbāna.

“Knowing this, those who are mindful, who are Emancipated in this very life,
those who are always peaceful, have crossed over clinging to the world.”

The Young Man Hemaka’s Questions are Finished

Translated by Ānandajoti Bhikkhu.

Original translation 1999, revised, May 2007.

The text and translation, together with detailed notes and discussions, may be found in multiple formats on the translator’s website, Ancient Buddhist Texts.

Used by kind permission of Bhikkhu Ānandajoti.

The original translation was released under the following licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.