Nandanasutta

Ekamantaṁ ṭhito kho nandano devaputto bhagavantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

Standing to one side, the godling Nandana addressed the Buddha in verse:

“Pucchāmi taṁ gotama bhūripañña, Anāvaṭaṁ bhagavato ñāṇadassanaṁ; Kathaṁvidhaṁ sīlavantaṁ vadanti, Kathaṁvidhaṁ paññavantaṁ vadanti; Kathaṁvidho dukkhamaticca iriyati, Kathaṁvidhaṁ devatā pūjayantī”ti.

“I ask you, Gotama, whose wisdom is vast, the Blessed One <j>of unhindered knowledge and vision. What sort do they call ethical? What sort do they call wise? What sort lives on after transcending suffering? What sort is worshiped by the deities?”

“Yo sīlavā paññavā bhāvitatto, Samāhito jhānarato satīmā; Sabbassa sokā vigatā pahīnā, Khīṇāsavo antimadehadhārī.

“Someone who is ethical, wise, evolved, becomes serene, loving absorption, mindful, who’s gotten rid of and given up all sorrows, with defilements ended, they bear their final body.

Tathāvidhaṁ sīlavantaṁ vadanti, Tathāvidhaṁ paññavantaṁ vadanti; Tathāvidho dukkhamaticca iriyati, Tathāvidhaṁ devatā pūjayantī”ti.

That sort they call ethical. That sort they call wise. That sort lives on after transcending suffering. That sort is worshiped by the deities.”