[30] Then the Blessed One, knowing that Nigrodha the wanderer sat silent, dismayed, his shoulders drooping, his head down, brooding, without reply, said to Nigrodha the wanderer: "Is it true, Nigrodha, that this speech was spoken by you?"
"It is true, venerable sir; that speech was spoken by me, as by a fool, as by one confused, as by one unskillful."
"What do you think, Nigrodha? Have you heard it said by wanderers who were aged, elderly, teachers and teachers of teachers: 'Those who in times past were Arahants, Perfectly Enlightened Ones — did those Blessed Ones, so it is heard, when gathered and come together, dwell noisy, with loud voices and great clamor, engaged in various kinds of pointless talk (tiracchānakathā), that is to say: talk of kings, talk of thieves … talk of this or that state of existence — thus, just as you together with your teacher do now? Or rather, did those Blessed Ones, so it is heard, resort to remote lodgings in forest and woodland thickets, of little sound, of little noise, untouched by the breath of people passing, affording concealment from human beings, suitable for seclusion — just as I do now?'"
"I have heard it said, venerable sir, by wanderers who were aged, elderly, teachers and teachers of teachers: 'Those who in times past were Arahants, Perfectly Enlightened Ones — those Blessed Ones, so it is heard, did not, when gathered and come together, dwell noisy, with loud voices and great clamor, engaged in various kinds of pointless talk, that is to say: talk of kings, talk of thieves … talk of this or that state of existence — thus, as I together with my teacher do now. Those Blessed Ones, so it is heard, resorted to remote lodgings in forest and woodland thickets, of little sound, of little noise, untouched by the breath of people passing, affording concealment from human beings, suitable for seclusion — just as the Blessed One does now.'"
"Yet to you, Nigrodha, being a wise and elderly man, it did not occur: 'Awakened is that Blessed One; he teaches the Dhamma for awakening. Tamed is that Blessed One; he teaches the Dhamma for taming. Calmed is that Blessed One; he teaches the Dhamma for calming. Crossed over is that Blessed One; he teaches the Dhamma for crossing over. Fully quenched is that Blessed One; he teaches the Dhamma for final Nibbāna (parinibbāna).'"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.