1Then the Venerable Mahākoṭṭhita approached the Venerable Sāriputta and exchanged greetings with him. When they had concluded their greetings and cordial talk, he sat down to one side and asked the Venerable Sāriputta:

1Atha kho āyasmā mahākoṭṭhiko yenāyasmā sāriputto tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā āyasmatā sāriputtena saddhiṁ sammodi. Sammodanīyaṁ kathaṁ sāraṇīyaṁ vītisāretvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho āyasmā mahākoṭṭhiko āyasmantaṁ sāriputtaṁ etadavoca: 

2(1) "Friend, with the remainderless fading away and cessation of the six bases for contact, is there anything else?"[n.879] The dialogue here seems to be concerned with the "ontological status" of the arahant who has attained the nibbāna element without residue remaining, that is, with the question whether the liberated person exists or does not exist after death.

2"Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā atthaññaṁ kiñcī"ti?

3"Do not say so, friend."

3"Mā hevaṁ, āvuso".

4(2) "With the remainderless fading away and cessation of the six bases for contact, is there nothing else?"

4"Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā natthaññaṁ kiñcī"ti?

5"Do not say so, friend."

5"Mā hevaṁ, āvuso".

6(3) "With the remainderless fading away and cessation of the six bases for contact, is there both something else and nothing else?"

6"Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā atthi ca natthi ca aññaṁ kiñcī"ti?

7"Do not say so, friend."

7"Mā hevaṁ, āvuso".

8(4) "With the remainderless fading away and cessation of the six bases for contact, is there neither something else nor nothing else?"

8"Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā nevatthi no natthaññaṁ kiñcī"ti?

9"Do not say so, friend."[n.880] Mp glosses mā h’evaṁ with evaṁ mā bhaṇi, "Do not speak thus," and explains that the four questions are asked by way of eternalism, annihilationism, partial eternalism, and "eel-wriggling" (sassata-uccheda-ekaccasassata-amarāvikkhepa). Thus Sāriputta rejects each question. "Eel-wriggling" is agnosticism, skepticism, or intellectual evasiveness.

9"Mā hevaṁ, āvuso".

10"Friend, when you are asked: ‘With the remainderless fading away and cessation of the six bases for contact, is there something else?’ you say: ‘Do not say so, friend.’ And when you are asked: ‘With the remainderless fading away and cessation of the six bases for contact, is there nothing else? … Is there both something else and nothing else? … Is there neither something else nor nothing else?’ in each case you say: ‘Do not say so, friend.’ In what way should the meaning of this statement be understood?"

10"‘Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā atthaññaṁ kiñcī’ti, iti puṭṭho samāno ‘mā hevaṁ, āvuso’ti vadesi. ‘Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā natthaññaṁ kiñcī’ti, iti puṭṭho samāno:  ‘mā hevaṁ, āvuso’ti vadesi. ‘Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā atthi ca natthi ca aññaṁ kiñcī’ti, iti puṭṭho samāno:  ‘mā hevaṁ, āvuso’ti vadesi. ‘Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā nevatthi no natthaññaṁ kiñcī’ti, iti puṭṭho samāno:  ‘mā hevaṁ, āvuso’ti vadesi. Yathā kathaṁ pana, āvuso, imassa bhāsitassa attho daṭṭhabbo"ti?

11(1) "Friend, if one says: ‘With the remainderless fading away and cessation of the six bases for contact, there is something else,’ one proliferates that which is not to be proliferated.[n.881] Appapañcaṁ papañceti. Mp: "He creates proliferation or speculations in relation to something that should not be proliferated or speculated about. He travels along a path that one should not travel on." The Pāli word papañca suggests mental fabrication, obsessive mental construction, and deluded conceptualization, which the commentaries say arise from craving, conceit, and wrong views (taṇhā, māna, diṭṭhi). It seems to me that Mp understands appapañcaṁ as a contraction of appapañciyaṁ. A Chinese parallel, SĀ 249, says at T II 60a16–20: "If one makes any of these assertions about the six bases for contact, these are just empty words (). With the vanishing, fading away, cessation, and stilling of the six bases for contact, one relinquishes empty falsehood () and attains nibbāna." (2) If one says: ‘Friend, with the remainderless fading away and cessation of the six bases for contact, there is nothing else,’ one proliferates that which is not to be proliferated. (3) If one says: ‘Friend, with the remainderless fading away and cessation of the six bases for contact, there is both something else and nothing else,’ one proliferates that which is not to be proliferated. (4) If one says: ‘Friend, with the remainderless fading away and cessation of the six bases for contact, there is neither something else nor nothing else,’ one proliferates that which is not to be proliferated.

11"‘Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā atthaññaṁ kiñcī’ti, iti vadaṁ appapañcaṁ papañceti. ‘Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā natthaññaṁ kiñcī’ti, iti vadaṁ appapañcaṁ papañceti. ‘Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā atthi ca natthi ca aññaṁ kiñcī’ti, iti vadaṁ appapañcaṁ papañceti. ‘Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā nevatthi no natthaññaṁ kiñcī’ti, iti vadaṁ appapañcaṁ papañceti.

"Friend, as far as the range of the six bases for contact extends, just so far extends the range of proliferation.[n.882] Tāvatā papañcassa gati. Mp: "As far as the range of the six bases extends, just so far extends the range of proliferation, distinguished by way of craving, views, and conceit." As far as the range of proliferation extends, just so far extends the range of the six bases for contact. With the remainderless fading away and cessation of the six bases for contact there is the cessation of proliferation, the subsiding of proliferation."

Yāvatā, āvuso, channaṁ phassāyatanānaṁ gati tāvatā papañcassa gati; yāvatā papañcassa gati tāvatā channaṁ phassāyatanānaṁ gati. Channaṁ, āvuso, phassāyatanānaṁ asesavirāganirodhā papañcanirodho papañcavūpasamo"ti.

Tatiyaṁ.