Dhammapada 3.6.p4

3.6.p4

Atha ne satthā āha – ‘‘kiṃ, bhikkhave, tasmiṃ ṭhāne vasituṃ na sakkhissathā’’ti? ‘‘Āma, bhante, amhākaṃ tasmiṃ ṭhāne vasantānaṃ evarūpāni bheravārammaṇāni upaṭṭhahanti, evarūpaṃ aphāsukaṃ hoti, tena mayaṃ ‘vajjetabbayuttakamidaṃ ṭhāna’nti taṃ chaḍḍetvā tumhākaṃ santikaṃ āgatā’’ti. ‘‘Bhikkhave, tattheva tumhākaṃ gantuṃ vaṭṭatī’’ti. ‘‘Na sakkā, bhante’’ti. ‘‘Bhikkhave, tumhe āvudhaṃ aggahetvā gatā, idāni āvudhaṃ gahetvā gacchathā’’ti. ‘‘Katarāvudhaṃ, bhante’’ti? Satthā ‘‘ahaṃ āvudhaṃ vo dassāmi, mayā dinnaṃ āvudhaṃ gahetvā gacchathā’’ti vatvā –

Said the Teacher, "I will give you a weapon, and the weapon which I give you you are to take with you when you go." Then he recited the entire Metta Sutta, beginning as follows, "This must he do who is skilled to seek his own spiritual good, once he has attained the Region of Tranquillity: he must be honest and upright and meek and mild and free from vaingloriousness." Having recited this Sutta, he said, "Monks, recite this Sutta from the forest-grove, without the hermitage, and then you may enter within the hermitage." With these instructions he dismissed them.