[148] (Pali source numbered §58 — see FLAGS)
"Bhikkhus, possessing eight qualities a bhikkhu is worthy of gifts (āhuneyyo) … an unsurpassed field of merit (puññakkhetta) for the world. Which eight? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is virtuous … he trains, having undertaken the training rules; he is of great learning … well penetrated by view; he is of aroused energy (vīriya), strong, of firm exertion, not shirking the burden with regard to wholesome qualities; he is a forest-dweller, with remote lodgings; he is one who endures discontent and delight, and dwells having overcome¹ arisen discontent; he is one who endures fear and dread, and dwells having overcome arisen fear and dread; he is one who gains at will, without trouble, without difficulty, the four jhānas pertaining to the higher mind, pleasant dwellings in this very life; with the destruction of the taints (āsava) … having realized [it — i.e., the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, as the Thai Royal edition supplies], he enters upon and dwells therein. Possessing these eight qualities, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is worthy of gifts … an unsurpassed field of merit for the world."
¹ Translator's note: the Siam Raṭṭha footnote (#๑ ม. อาเมณฺฑิตํ) records that the Burmese (Marammaraṭṭha) edition reads this word with āmeṇḍita, i.e., emphatic repetition.
[Editorial apparatus in the Thai control — "End of the eighth sutta / Aṭṭhapuggala Sutta, the first" — is not present in the Pali source and is therefore not rendered as canonical text; see FLAGS.]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.