[519] Bhikkhus, and what is the undertaking of dhamma (dhammasamādāna) that is pleasant in the present and ripens as pleasure in the future? Here, bhikkhus, a certain person is not by nature one of intense lust; he does not frequently experience suffering (dukkha) and grief born of lust. He is not by nature one of intense hatred; he does not frequently experience suffering and grief born of hatred. He is not by nature one of intense delusion; he does not frequently experience suffering and grief born of delusion. Secluded indeed from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, he enters upon and dwells in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by thought and examination (vitakka-vicāra), with rapture (pīti) and pleasure born of seclusion. With the subsiding of thought and examination, he enters upon and dwells in the second jhāna, which has internal confidence and unification of mind (citta), is without thought and without examination, with rapture and pleasure born of concentration (samādhi) … the third jhāna … the fourth jhāna. With the breaking up of the body, after death, he reappears in a good destination, in a heavenly world. This, bhikkhus, is called the undertaking of dhamma that is pleasant in the present and ripens as pleasure in the future. These, bhikkhus, are the four undertakings of dhamma.
That is what the Blessed One said. Satisfied, those bhikkhus rejoiced in the Blessed One's words.
The Shorter Discourse on the Undertaking of Dhamma, the Fifth, is finished.
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The Greater Discourse on the Undertaking of Dhamma
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.