[1] Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling among the Vajjis at Bhaṇḍagāma. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: "Bhikkhus." "Venerable sir," those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this:
"Bhikkhus, it is because of not understanding and not penetrating four dhammas that both I and you have run on and wandered through this long course. What four? Bhikkhus, it is because of not understanding and not penetrating noble virtue (sīla) that both I and you have run on and wandered through this long course. Bhikkhus, it is because of not understanding and not penetrating noble concentration (samādhi) that both I and you have run on and wandered through this long course. Bhikkhus, it is because of not understanding and not penetrating noble wisdom (paññā) that both I and you have run on and wandered through this long course. Bhikkhus, it is because of not understanding and not penetrating noble liberation (vimutti) that both I and you have run on and wandered through this long course.
"Bhikkhus, this noble virtue has been understood and penetrated; noble concentration has been understood and penetrated; noble wisdom has been understood and penetrated; noble liberation has been understood and penetrated. Craving for existence has been cut off; the conduit to existence (bhavanettī) has been destroyed; now there is no renewed existence."
This is what the Blessed One said. Having said this, the Sublime One, the Teacher, further said this:
Virtue, concentration, and wisdom,
and unsurpassed liberation—
these dhammas have been understood
by Gotama the glorious.
Thus the Buddha, having directly known,
declared the Dhamma to the bhikkhus;
the Teacher, the maker of an end of suffering (dukkha),
the One with Vision, has attained final Nibbāna.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.