1.1Ekamantaṁ ṭhito kho nandano devaputto bhagavantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:Standing to one side, the godling Nandana addressed the Buddha in verse:¹

2.1“Pucchāmi taṁ gotama bhūripañña,“I ask you, Gotama, whose wisdom is vast,2.2Anāvaṭaṁ bhagavato ñāṇadassanaṁ;the Blessed One <j>of unhindered knowledge and vision.2.3Kathaṁvidhaṁ sīlavantaṁ vadanti,What sort do they call ethical?2.4Kathaṁvidhaṁ paññavantaṁ vadanti;What sort do they call wise?2.5Kathaṁvidho dukkhamaticca iriyati,What sort lives on after transcending suffering?2.6Kathaṁvidhaṁ devatā pūjayantī”ti.What sort is worshiped by the deities?”

3.1“Yo sīlavā paññavā bhāvitatto,∥“Someone who is ethical, wise, evolved,3.2Samāhito jhānarato satīmā;becomes serene, loving absorption, mindful,3.3Sabbassa sokā vigatā pahīnā,who’s gotten rid of and given up all sorrows,3.4Khīṇāsavo antimadehadhārī.with defilements ended, they bear their final body.

4.1Tathāvidhaṁ sīlavantaṁ vadanti,That sort they call ethical.4.2Tathāvidhaṁ paññavantaṁ vadanti;That sort they call wise.4.3Tathāvidho dukkhamaticca iriyati,That sort lives on after transcending suffering.4.4Tathāvidhaṁ devatā pūjayantī”ti.That sort is worshiped by the deities.”