“Those that we previously killed,
Whether for sacrifice or for wealth,
Without exception were afraid:
They trembled and squealed.

But you aren’t frightened;
Your appearance is becoming more calm:
Why don’t you cry out
In such a fearful situation?”

“There isn’t any mental suffering
For one without expectations, village chief.
All fears are left behind
By one whose fetters are ended.

When attachment to life is ended,
In this very life as it is,
There is no fear of death,
It is just like laying down a burden.

I’ve lived the spiritual life well,
And developed the path well, too;
I have no fear of death
It is just like the ending of sickness.

I’ve lived the spiritual life well,
And developed the path well, too;
I’ve seen lives seen to be ungratifying,
Like one who has drunk poison, then vomited it out.

One who has gone beyond, without grasping,
Their duty completed, without defilements:
They are content at the end of life,
Just as one freed from execution.

Having realised the supreme Dhamma,
Without needing anything from the whole world,
One doesn’t grieve at death;
It is just like escaping from a burning house.

Whatever has come to pass,
Wherever life is obtained,
There is no-one who can wield power over all that:
So it was said by the great sage.

Whoever understands this
As it was taught by the Buddha
Doesn’t take hold of any kind of life,
It is just like grabbing a hot iron ball.

It doesn’t occur to me, ‘I had past lives’;
Nor does it occur to me, ‘I will have future lives’.
All conditions will disappear—
Why lament for that?

Seeing in accordance with reality
The bare arising of phenomena,
And the bare continuity of conditions,
There is no fear, village chief.

The world is like grass and wood:
When this is seen with understanding,
Not finding anything to be mine,
Thinking ‘it isn’t mine’, one doesn’t grieve.

I’m fed up with the body;
I don’t need another life.
This body will be broken up,
There won’t be another.

Do what you want
With my corpse.
I won’t be angry or attached
On that account.”

When they heard these words,
So astonishing that they gave them goose-bumps,
The young men laid down their swords
And said this:

“What have you practiced, Venerable?
Or who is your teacher?
Whose instructions do we follow
To gain the sorrowless state?”

“All-knowing, all-seeing,
The conqueror is my teacher.
He is a teacher of great compassion,
Healer of the whole world.

He taught this Dhamma,
Which leads to the end, unsurpassed.
Following his instructions,
You can gain the sorrowless state.”

When the bandits heard the good words of the sage,
They laid down their swords and weapons.
Some refrained from their deeds,
While others chose the going-forth.

When they had gone forth in the teaching of the Fortunate One,
They developed the factors of awakening and the spiritual powers,
And being wise, with joyful hearts, happy, their spiritual faculties complete,
They realised the state of nibbāna, the unconditioned.