[412] "What do you think, great king? Suppose a man were to come to you here from the eastern quarter, one trustworthy and reliable. Having approached you, he would say this: 'Great king, may you know this: I am coming from the eastern quarter. There I saw a great mountain, high as the clouds, coming this way, crushing all living beings. Whatever is to be done, great king — do it!' Then a second man might come from the southern quarter … Then a third man might come from the western quarter … Then a fourth man might come to you from the northern quarter, one trustworthy and reliable. Having approached you, he would say this: 'Great king, may you know this: I am coming from the northern quarter. There I saw a great mountain, high as the clouds, coming this way, crushing all living beings. Whatever is to be done, great king — do it!'
"When such a great and mighty peril has arisen for you, great king — so terrible a destruction of human life, and the human state so hard to obtain — what should be done?"
"When such a great and mighty peril has arisen for me, venerable sir — so terrible a destruction of human life, and the human state so hard to obtain — what should be done other than conduct in accordance with the Dhamma (dhammacariyā), other than righteous conduct (samacariyā), other than the doing of wholesome deeds (kusalakiriyā), other than the making of merit (puññakiriyā)?"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.