[316] "Bhikkhus, I too, before my awakening, while still an unawakened Bodhisatta (bodhisatta), being myself subject to birth, sought only what is subject to birth; being myself subject to aging, I sought only what is subject to aging; being myself subject to sickness, I sought only what is subject to sickness; being myself subject to death, I sought only what is subject to death; being myself subject to sorrow, I sought only what is subject to sorrow; being myself subject to defilement (saṅkilesa), I sought only what is subject to defilement. Then, bhikkhus, this occurred to me: 'Why, being myself subject to birth, do I seek only what is subject to birth? Being myself subject to aging … subject to sickness … subject to death … subject to sorrow … being myself subject to defilement, why do I seek only what is subject to defilement? Suppose that, being myself subject to birth, having understood the danger (ādīnava) in what is subject to birth, I were to seek the unborn, unsurpassed security from the yoke (yogakkhema), Nibbāna (nibbāna); being myself subject to aging, having understood the danger in what is subject to aging, I were to seek the unaging, unsurpassed security from the yoke, Nibbāna; being myself subject to sickness, having understood the danger in what is subject to sickness, I were to seek the sickness-free, unsurpassed security from the yoke, Nibbāna; being myself subject to death, having understood the danger in what is subject to death, I were to seek the deathless, unsurpassed security from the yoke, Nibbāna; being myself subject to sorrow, having understood the danger in what is subject to sorrow, I were to seek the sorrowless, unsurpassed security from the yoke, Nibbāna; being myself subject to defilement, having understood the danger in what is subject to defilement, I were to seek the undefiled, unsurpassed security from the yoke, Nibbāna.'"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.