[547] "What do you think, great king? Are Kāsi and Kosala dear to you?"
"So it is, Mallikā. Kāsi and Kosala are dear to me. Through the power of Kāsi and Kosala we enjoy sandalwood from Kāsi, and we wear garlands, scents, and unguents."
"What do you think, great king? Through the change and alteration of Kāsi and Kosala, would sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair arise in you?"
"Mallikā, through the change and alteration of Kāsi and Kosala, even my life might be altered — how, then, would sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair not arise in me?"
"It was with reference to this, great king, that the Blessed One — the one who knows, the one who sees, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One — said: 'Sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are born from what is dear (piyajātikā), spring from what is dear (piyappabhūtikā).'"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.