Dighanikaya 2.158

2.158

Tattha tena hīti uyyojanatthe nipāto. Gaccha, samma jīvakāti vuttaṃ hoti. Hatthiyānānīti anekesu assarathādīsu yānesu vijjamānesupi hatthiyānaṃ uttamaṃ; uttamassa santikaṃ uttamayāneneva gantabbanti ca, assayānarathayānāni sasaddāni, dūratova tesaṃ saddo suyyati, hatthiyānassa padānupadaṃ gacchantāpi saddaṃ na suṇanti. Nibbutassa pana kho bhagavato santike nibbuteheva yānehi gantabbanti ca cintayitvā hatthiyānānīti āha.

Therein, 'well then' [tena hi] is a particle used in the sense of sending off; it means "Go, friend Jīvaka." 'Elephant mounts' [hatthiyānāni]: although many conveyances such as horse carriages and so forth were available, an elephant mount is the foremost; and thinking, "One must go to the foremost person only by the foremost mount," and "Conveyances of horses and conveyances of chariots are noisy, their sound is heard from afar, but people do not hear the sound of an elephant mount even as it walks step by step; and one must go into the presence of the Blessed One, who is peaceful, only with peaceful mounts," he said "elephant mounts."