SNP5.12 — The Question of the Youth Jatukaṇṇi

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Having heard of the hero who has no desire for sensual pleasures,

(said the venerable Jatukaṇṇi),

I have come to ask the one who has crossed the flood, the one free from desire.

Declare the state of peace, O one with innate vision;

Blessed One, tell me this exactly as it is.

For the Blessed One lives having overcome sensual pleasures,

as the brilliant sun overcomes the earth with its heat.

Explain the Dhamma to me, one of little wisdom, O one of vast wisdom,

so that I may know

the abandoning of birth and aging right here.

Dispel greed for sensual pleasures,

(said the Blessed One to Jatukaṇṇi),

having seen renunciation as secure.

Let there be nothing found in you

that is grasped or rejected.

Dry up what lies in the past,

and let there be nothing for you in the future.

If you do not grasp at the middle,

you will wander at peace.

For one who is completely devoid of greed

regarding name and form, brahmin,

there are no taints to be found

by which one would fall under the power of death.

The Question of the Youth Jatukaṇṇi is the eleventh.

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