It’s possible that wanderers who follow other paths might say, ‘The ascetic Gotama demonstrates boundless knowledge and vision of the past, but not of the future. What’s up with that?’ Those wanderers, like incompetent fools, seem to imagine that one kind of knowledge and vision can be demonstrated by means of another kind of knowledge and vision.

Regarding the past, the Realized One has knowledge stemming from memory. He recollects as far as he wants.

Regarding the future, the Realized One has the knowledge born of awakening: ‘This is my last rebirth. Now there are no more future lives.’

If a question about the past is untrue, false, and pointless, the Realized One does not reply. If a question about the past is true and substantive, but pointless, he does not reply. If a question about the past is true, substantive, and beneficial, he knows the right time to reply. And the Realized One replies to questions about the future or the present in the same way.

And so the Realized One has speech that’s well-timed, true, meaningful, in line with the teaching and training. That’s why he’s called the ‘Realized One’.

In this world—with its gods, Māras, and Brahmās, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its gods and humans—whatever is seen, heard, thought, known, sought, and explored by the mind, all that has been understood by the Realized One. That’s why he’s called the ‘Realized One’.

From the night when the Realized One understands the supreme perfect awakening until the night he becomes fully extinguished—through the natural principle of extinguishment, without anything left over—everything he speaks, says, and expresses is real, not otherwise. That’s why he’s called the ‘Realized One’.

The Realized One does as he says, and says as he does. Since this is so, that’s why he’s called the ‘Realized One’. In this world—with its gods, Māras and Brahmās, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, gods and humans—the Realized One is the undefeated, the champion, the universal seer, the wielder of power.