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With Soṇadaṇḍa 1.5

Sonadanda Sutta (Dialogues of the Buddha) 1.5

Language
English

1.5

And they laid before Soṇadaṇḍa the Brahman in like manner also other considerations, to wit:
That he was well born on both sides, of pure descent through the mother and through the father back through seven generations, with no slur put upon him, and no reproach, in respect of birth.
That he was prosperous, well to do, and rich.
That he was a repeater (of the sacred words), knowing the mystic verses by heart, one who had mastered the Three Vedas, with the indices, the ritual, the phonology, and the exegesis (as a fourth), and the legends as a, fifth, learned in the words and in the grammar, versed in Lokāyata (Nature-lore), and in the theory of the signs on the body of a great man.
That he was handsome, pleasant to look upon, inspiring trust, gifted with great beauty of complexion, fair in colour, fine in presence, stately to behold.
That he was virtuous, increased in virtue, gifted with virtue that had waxed great.
That he had a pleasant voice and pleasing delivery, and was gifted with polite address, distinct, not husky, suitable for making clear the matter in hand.
That he was the teacher of the teachers of many, instructing three hundred Brahmans in the repetition of the mystic verses, and that many young Brahmans, from various directions and various counties, all craving for the verses, came to learn them by heart under him.
That he was aged, old, and well stricken in years, long-lived and full of days.
That he was honoured, held of weight, esteemed worthy, venerated and revered by Seniya Bimbisāra, the king of Magadhā.
That lie was honoured, held of weight, esteemed worthy, venerated and revered by Pokkharasādi, the Brahman.
That he dwelt at Campā, a place teeming with life, with much grassland and woodland and corn, on a royal fief granted him by Seniya Bimbisāra, the king of Magadhā, as a royal gift, with power over it as if he were the king.
For each of these reasons it was not fitting that he, Soṇadaṇḍa the Brahman, should call upon the Samaṇa Gotama, but rather that the Samaṇa Gotama should call upon him.

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