[613] Thus have I heard:
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling near Sāvatthī, in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's monastery. Now on that occasion some five hundred brahmins from various provinces were residing in Sāvatthī on some business. Then it occurred to those brahmins: "This ascetic Gotama declares purification for all four castes (vaṇṇa). Who indeed is able to converse in debate with the ascetic Gotama concerning this statement?"
Now on that occasion a young brahmin (māṇava) named Assalāyana was residing in Sāvatthī — a youth with tonsured head, sixteen years of age from birth, a master of the three Vedas together with the glossaries (nighaṇḍu) and the treatises on ritual (keṭubha), together with the analysis of letters, with the histories (itihāsa) as the fifth; skilled in the verses, a grammarian, fully accomplished in worldly philosophy (lokāyata) and in the marks of a great man. Then it occurred to those brahmins: "This young brahmin Assalāyana is residing in Sāvatthī, a youth … fully accomplished. He indeed is able to converse in debate with the ascetic Gotama concerning this statement."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.