[180] "Udāyī, suppose there were a householder or a householder's son, rich, of great wealth, of great possessions, with an accumulation of many heaps of gold ingots (nikkha), an accumulation of many heaps of grain, an accumulation of many fields, an accumulation of many plots of land, an accumulation of many wives, an accumulation of many male slaves, an accumulation of many female slaves. He might see a bhikkhu gone to a monastery, his hands and feet well washed, having eaten a delightful meal, seated in the cool shade, devoted to the higher mind (adhicitta). It might occur to him: 'How pleasant, sirs, is the ascetic life! How healthy, sirs, is the ascetic life! Would that I might shave off my hair and beard, put on the ochre robes, and go forth from the household life into homelessness!' And he would be able to abandon the many heaps of gold ingots, abandon the many heaps of grain, abandon the many fields, abandon the many plots of land, abandon the many wives, abandon the many male slaves, abandon the many female slaves, and, having shaved off his hair and beard and put on the ochre robes, go forth from the household life into homelessness. Now, Udāyī, would one who spoke thus be speaking rightly: 'The bonds by which that householder or householder's son is bound—he being able to abandon the many heaps of gold ingots, abandon the many heaps of grain, abandon the many fields, abandon the many plots of land, abandon the many wives, abandon the many male slaves, abandon the many female slaves, and, having shaved off his hair and beard and put on the ochre robes, go forth from the household life into homelessness—are for him a strong bond, a firm bond, a stout bond, an unrotten bond, a thick block of wood'?"
"No, venerable sir. The bonds by which that householder or householder's son is bound—he being able to abandon the many heaps of gold ingots, abandon the many heaps of grain, abandon the many fields, abandon the many plots of land, abandon the many wives, abandon the many male slaves, abandon the many female slaves, and, having shaved off his hair and beard and put on the ochre robes, go forth from the household life into homelessness—are for him a weak bond, a feeble bond, a rotten bond, a bond without substance."
"So too, Udāyī, certain clansmen (kulaputta) here, when told by me, 'Abandon this,' say thus: 'But what is this trivial, insignificant thing to be abandoned, when the Blessed One tells us to abandon it, when the Sublime One tells us to relinquish it?' They abandon that very thing and do not harbour dissatisfaction toward me; and those bhikkhus who desire the training, having abandoned it, dwell with few concerns, unruffled, subsisting on what others give, with a mind become like a wild deer's. For them, Udāyī, that is a weak bond, a feeble bond, a rotten bond, a bond without substance."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.