[195] 7. This indeed was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant — so I have heard:
"Bhikkhus, for a bhikkhu who is a learner (sekha), who has not yet attained the mind's ideal, who dwells aspiring to the unsurpassed security from bondage (yogakkhema) — taking it as an external factor, I do not see even a single other factor so helpful as this, bhikkhus, that is, good friendship (kalyāṇamittatā). Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu who has good friends abandons the unwholesome (akusala) and develops the wholesome (kusala)."
The Blessed One spoke this meaning. In this connection it is said:
"The bhikkhu who has good friends, who is deferential and respectful,
carrying out the word of his friends, clearly comprehending (sampajāna) and mindful (paṭissata),
may attain in due course the destruction of all fetters (saṃyojana)."
This meaning too was spoken by the Blessed One — so I have heard.
The seventh.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.