Sutta Nipata 5.6: Dhotakamanavapuccha

‘I ask thee, O Bhagavat, tell me this,’—so said the venerable Dhotaka,—‘I long for thy word, O great Isi; let one, having listened to thy utterance, learn his own extinction.’

‘Exert thyself then,—O Dhotaka,’ so said Bhagavat,—‘being wise and thoughtful in this world, let one, having listened to my utterance, learn his own extinction.’

Dhotaka: ‘I see in the world of gods and men a Brahmana wandering about, possessing nothing; therefore I bow down to thee, O thou all-seeing one, free me, O Sakka, from doubts.’

Buddha: ‘I shall not go to free any one in the world who is doubtful, O Dhotaka; when thou hast learned the best Dhamma, then thou shalt cross this stream.’

Dhotaka: ‘Teach (me), O Brahmana, having compassion (on me), the Dhamma of seclusion (i.e. Nibbana), that I may understand (it and) that I, without falling into many shapes like the air, may wander calm and independent in this world.’

‘I will explain to thee peace,—O Dhotaka,’ so said Bhagavat;—‘if a man in the visible world, without any traditional instruction, has understood it, and wanders about thoughtful, he may overcome desire in the world.’

Dhotaka: ‘And I take delight in that, the highest peace, O great Isi, which if a man has understood, and he wanders about thoughtful, he may overcome desire in the world.’

‘Whatsoever thou knowest,—O Dhotaka,’ so said Bhagavat,—‘(of what is) above, below, across, and in the middle, knowing this to be a tie in the world, thou must not thirst for reiterated existence.’