[556] Then Brahmā Sahampati, having known with his own mind the reflection that had arisen in the mind of the Blessed One, thought: "Alas, sirs, the world is lost! Alas, sirs, the world is perishing! — in that the mind (citta) of the Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One (sammāsambuddha), inclines to inaction (appossukkatā) and not to teaching the Dhamma."
Then, just as a strong man might stretch out his bent arm or bend back his outstretched arm, so Brahmā Sahampati vanished from the brahmā world (brahmaloka) and appeared before the Blessed One.
Then Brahmā Sahampati, having arranged his upper robe over one shoulder and having set his right knee upon the ground, raised his joined palms in reverence toward the Blessed One and said to the Blessed One: "Venerable sir, let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma; let the Fortunate One (sugata) teach the Dhamma. There are beings who by nature have little dust in their eyes, who are falling away through not hearing the Dhamma; there will be those who understand the Dhamma."
This is what Brahmā Sahampati said. Having said this, he further said this:
"In the past there appeared among the Magadhans
an impure Dhamma, devised by those with stains.
Throw open this door to the Deathless (amata)!
Let them hear the Dhamma to which the Stainless One has awakened.
As one who stands upon a rocky mountain summit
might behold the people all around,
so too, O Wise One, O Universal Eye (samantacakkhu),
ascend the palace made of the Dhamma;
free of sorrow (soka) yourself, look down upon the people
plunged in sorrow, overcome by birth and aging (jāti, jarā).
Rise up, O Hero, victor in battle!
O Caravan Leader (satthavāha), free of debt, wander in the world.
Let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma:
there will be those who understand."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.