[272] Setting at Sāvatthī. "Bhikkhus, just as whatever kinds of seeds and plants (bījagāma-bhūtagāma) attain growth, increase, and abundance, all of them do so in dependence on the earth, established upon the earth — it is in this way that these seeds and plants attain growth, increase, and abundance. So too, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu, in dependence on virtue (sīla), established upon virtue, developing the Noble Eightfold Path (ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga) and cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path, attains growth, increase, and abundance in [wholesome] states (dhammesu)."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.