[376] Then the Venerable Sāriputta said this to those venerable ones: "Friends, we have all answered according to our own inspiration. Come, friends, let us go to the Blessed One; and having approached, we shall report this matter to the Blessed One. As the Blessed One answers us, so shall we remember it." "Yes, friend," those venerable ones replied to the Venerable Sāriputta.
Then those venerable ones approached the Blessed One; and having approached and paid homage to the Blessed One, they sat down at one side. Seated at one side, the Venerable Sāriputta said this to the Blessed One: "Here, venerable sir, the Venerable Revata and the Venerable Ānanda came to me to hear the Dhamma. I saw, venerable sir, the Venerable Revata and the Venerable Ānanda coming from afar, and having seen them, I said this to the Venerable Ānanda: 'Let the Venerable Ānanda come! Welcome to the Venerable Ānanda, the Blessed One's attendant, who dwells ever in the Blessed One's presence. Delightful, friend Ānanda, is the Gosiṅga sal-tree wood; the night is moonlit and clear; the sal trees are all in full blossom; scents as it were divine waft about. With what kind of bhikkhu, friend Ānanda, would the Gosiṅga sal-tree wood be graced?' When this was said, venerable sir, the Venerable Ānanda said this to me: 'Here, friend Sāriputta, a bhikkhu is learned, a bearer of what he has heard … for the uprooting of the underlying tendencies. With such a bhikkhu, friend Sāriputta, would the Gosiṅga sal-tree wood be graced.'"
[The Blessed One said:] "Good, good, Sāriputta! Answering rightly, Ānanda would answer just so. For Ānanda, Sāriputta, is learned, a bearer of what he has heard, a storer of what he has heard. Those teachings that are good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, with meaning and with phrasing, which proclaim the holy life (brahmacariya) entirely complete and pure — such teachings have been much heard by him, borne in mind, recited verbally, pondered over in the mind, and well penetrated by view; and he teaches the Dhamma to the four assemblies with well-rounded, unbroken words and phrases, for the uprooting of the underlying tendencies."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.