Sundarikasutta

Suttapiṭaka · Saṁyuttanikāya · Sagāthāvaggasaṁyutta · Vol. 15 · Section 660

[660] [The Blessed One:] "Do not ask about birth (jāti); ask about conduct: fire (jātaveda) is born indeed from wood. Even one of lowly family, a steadfast sage (muni), is a thoroughbred (ājānīya), restrained by moral shame (hiri). Tamed by truth, endowed with self-control (dama), gone to the end of knowledge (vedantagū), one who has fulfilled the holy life (brahmacariya) — one who has set out a sacrifice (yañña) should invoke him: in due season he makes his oblation to one worthy of offerings (dakkhiṇeyya)."

English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.