So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this:
“Mendicants, when Dabba the Mallian rose into the air and, sitting cross-legged in midair, entered and withdrew from the fire element before becoming fully quenched, his body burning and combusting left neither ashes nor soot to be found. It’s like when ghee or oil blaze and burn, and neither ashes nor soot are found. In the same way, when Dabba the Mallian rose into the air and, sitting cross-legged in midair, entered and withdrew from the fire element before becoming fully quenched, his body burning and combusting left neither ashes nor soot to be found.”
Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:
“Just as the glow of iron struck by a hammer in the fire of Jātaveda gradually dissipates, its destiny unknown;
in the same way, for the rightly released, who have crossed the flood of sensual bonds, there is no destination to describe—they have found unshakable happiness.”
The Heartfelt Sayings are finished.