[249] Setting at Sāvatthī. Bhikkhus, to whatever extent there are beings — whether footless, or two-footed, or four-footed, or many-footed; whether having form or formless; whether percipient, or non-percipient, or neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient — the Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One (sammāsambuddha), is declared the foremost among them. In the same way, bhikkhus, whatever wholesome dhammas there are, all of them are rooted in heedfulness (appamāda), converge upon heedfulness, and heedfulness is declared the foremost among those dhammas. Bhikkhus, for a bhikkhu who is heedful it is to be expected that he will develop the Noble Eightfold Path (ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga), that he will cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.