[170] "Bhikkhus, in whatever former birth, former existence, former abode the Tathāgata, being formerly a human being, abandoned wrong livelihood (micchā-ājīva) and made his living by right livelihood (sammā-ājīva): he abstained from cheating with weights, cheating with metals, and cheating with measures; from bribery, deception, fraud, and crooked dealing; and from maiming, killing, binding, highway robbery, plunder, and violence. Through having performed, accumulated, heaped up, and amassed that action (kamma), with the breaking up of the body, after death, he was reborn in a good destination (sugati), a heavenly world. There he surpassed the other gods in ten respects: in divine life-span, in divine beauty, in divine glory, in divine happiness, in divine sovereignty, in divine forms, in divine sounds, in divine odours, in divine tastes, and in divine touches. Passing away from there and coming to this state here, he obtained these two marks of a Great Man (mahāpurisalakkhaṇa): his teeth are even, and his canine teeth are gleaming white. Endowed with these marks, if he dwells in the home he becomes a king, a wheel-turning monarch (cakkavatti), righteous, a king of Dhamma, conqueror of the four quarters, who has attained stability in his realm and is possessed of the seven treasures. His are these seven treasures, namely: the wheel-treasure, the elephant-treasure, the horse-treasure, the gem-treasure, the woman-treasure, the householder-treasure, and the counsellor-treasure as the seventh. More than a thousand sons are his — heroes, of heroic mould, crushers of hostile armies. Having conquered this earth bounded by the ocean — free of stakes, free of signs, free of thorns [of brigandage], rich, prosperous, secure, blessed, free of affliction — he dwells over it without rod, without sword, by Dhamma, with justice. Being a king, what does he obtain? He is one of pure retinue: pure are his retinue — the brahmins and householders, the townsfolk and countryfolk, the accountants and chief ministers, the officers of the army, the gatekeepers, the ministers, the councillors, the vassal kings, the revenue-holders, and the princes. Being a king, this is what he obtains. But if he goes forth from the home into homelessness, he becomes an Arahant, a Perfectly Enlightened One (sammāsambuddha), one who has drawn back the veil in the world. Being a Buddha, what does he obtain? He is one of pure retinue: pure are his retinue — the bhikkhus, the bhikkhunīs, the laymen, the laywomen, the gods, the humans, the asuras, the nāgas, and the gandhabbas. Being a Buddha, this is what he obtains."
The Blessed One spoke this matter. Concerning that, it is said:
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.