Nimokkha sutta: Liberation

At Sāvatthī.

Then, late at night, a glorious deity, lighting up the entire Jeta’s Grove, went up to the Buddha, bowed, stood to one side, and said to him, “Good fellow, do you know the liberation, emancipation, and seclusion of sentient beings?”

“I do, good sir.”

“But how is it that you know the liberation, emancipation, and seclusion of sentient beings?”

“Due to the ending of relish for rebirth; due to the finishing of perception and consciousness; due to the cessation and stilling of feelings— that, respectable sir, is how I know the liberation, emancipation, and seclusion of sentient beings.”