[277] Then the wanderer Māgaṇḍiya, while walking and wandering about to stretch his legs, approached the fire chamber (agyāgāra) of the brahmin of the Bhāradvāja clan. The wanderer Māgaṇḍiya saw the spread of grass laid out in the fire chamber of the brahmin of the Bhāradvāja clan, and having seen it, he said to the brahmin of the Bhāradvāja clan: "For whom, friend, has this spread of grass been prepared in worthy Bhāradvāja's fire chamber? It looks like a bed fit for an ascetic."
"There is, worthy Māgaṇḍiya, the ascetic Gotama, a son of the Sakyans, gone forth from a Sakyan family. About that worthy Gotama this fair report has spread: 'Thus indeed is that Blessed One: an arahant, fully self-awakened, accomplished in true knowledge and conduct, sublime, knower of the world, unsurpassed charioteer of persons to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, awakened, blessed.' This bed has been prepared for that worthy Gotama."
"It is an ill sight indeed, worthy Bhāradvāja, that we have seen — we who have seen the bed of that worthy Gotama, the destroyer of growth (bhūnahu)!"
"Guard that speech, Māgaṇḍiya! Guard that speech, Māgaṇḍiya! For many wise khattiyas, wise brahmins, wise householders, and wise ascetics have full confidence in that same worthy Gotama, having been trained by him in the noble method, the wholesome Dhamma."
"Worthy Bhāradvāja, even if we were to see that worthy Gotama face to face, we would say to his face: 'The ascetic Gotama is a destroyer of growth.' Why is that? Because so it comes down in our scripture."
"If it is not troublesome to worthy Māgaṇḍiya, I shall report this to that ascetic Gotama."
"Let worthy Bhāradvāja be untroubled; you may tell him just what has been said."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.