Māgadhasutta

Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Ekamantaṁ ṭhito kho māgadho devaputto bhagavantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

At Sāvatthī. Standing to one side, the godling Maghada addressed the Buddha in verse:

“Kati lokasmiṁ pajjotā, yehi loko pakāsati; Bhavantaṁ puṭṭhumāgamma, kathaṁ jānemu taṁ mayan”ti.

“How many lamps are there that light up the world? We’ve come to ask the Buddha; how are we to understand this?”

“Cattāro loke pajjotā, pañcamettha na vijjati; Divā tapati ādicco, rattimābhāti candimā.

“There are four lamps in the world, a fifth is not found. The sun blazes by day, the moon radiates at night,

Atha aggi divārattiṁ, tattha tattha pakāsati; Sambuddho tapataṁ seṭṭho, esā ābhā anuttarā”ti.

while a fire illuminates both by day and by night. But a Buddha is the best of blazes: this is the supreme radiance.”