The king said: ‘Is there any being, Nāgasena, who transmigrates from this body to another?’

‘No, there is not.’

‘But if so, would it not get free from its evil deeds.’

‘Yes, if it were not reborn; but if it were, no.’

‘Give me an illustration.’

‘Suppose, O king, a man were to steal another man’s mangoes, would the thief deserve punishment?’

‘Yes.’

‘But he would not have stolen the mangoes the other set in the ground. Why would he deserve punishment?’

‘Because those he stole were the result of those that were planted.’

‘Just so, great king, this name-and-form commits deeds, either pure or impure, and by that Karma another name-and-form. is reborn. And therefore is it not set free from its evil deeds?’

‘Very good, Nāgasena!’