Aggannasutta 26.1-8

26.1

Ahu kho so, vāseṭṭha, samayo, yaṃ khattiyopi sakaṃ dhammaṃ garahamāno agārasmā anagāriyaṃ pabbajati:

There came a time when an aristocrat,

26.2

‘samaṇo bhavissāmī’ti.

26.3

Brāhmaṇopi kho, vāseṭṭha …pe…

brahmin,

26.4

vessopi kho, vāseṭṭha …pe…

peasant,

26.5

suddopi kho, vāseṭṭha, sakaṃ dhammaṃ garahamāno agārasmā anagāriyaṃ pabbajati:

or menial, deprecating their own vocation, went forth from the lay life to homelessness, thinking,

26.6

‘samaṇo bhavissāmī’ti.

‘I will be an ascetic.’

26.7

Imehi kho, vāseṭṭha, catūhi maṇḍalehi samaṇamaṇḍalassa abhinibbatti ahosi, tesaṃyeva sattānaṃ anaññesaṃ, sadisānaṃyeva no asadisānaṃ, dhammeneva no adhammena.

From these four circles, Vāseṭṭha, the circle of ascetics was created; for those very beings, not others; for those like them, not unlike; by virtue of principle, not against principle.

26.8

Dhammo hi, vāseṭṭha, seṭṭho janetasmiṃ diṭṭhe ceva dhamme abhisamparāyañca.

For principle, Vāseṭṭha, is the best thing for people in both this life and the next.