[314] Whatever beings (bhūta) are here assembled,
whether of the earth or those in the sky,
may all those beings be glad at heart,
and moreover let them listen respectfully to what is spoken.
Therefore, beings, all of you, pay heed:
show loving-kindness (mettā) to the human race,
who by day and by night bring you offerings (bali);
therefore, being heedful, protect them.
Whatever treasure there is, here or in the world beyond,
or whatever precious jewel there is in the heavens,
there is none equal to the Tathāgata.
This too is a precious jewel in the Buddha:
by this truth may there be well-being!
Destruction, dispassion (virāga), the Deathless (amata), the sublime,
which the Sakyan Sage, concentrated, attained—
there is nothing equal to that Dhamma.
This too is a precious jewel in the Dhamma:
by this truth may there be well-being!
That which the supreme Buddha extolled as pure—
the concentration (samādhi) they call "of immediate fruit"—
no equal to that concentration is found.
This too is a precious jewel in the Dhamma:
by this truth may there be well-being!
The eight persons praised by the good—
these constitute four pairs—
they, disciples of the Sugata, are worthy of offerings;
what is given to them bears great fruit.
This too is a precious jewel in the Saṅgha:
by this truth may there be well-being!
Those who have applied themselves well, with firm mind,
free from desire in the dispensation of Gotama,
have attained what was to be attained; having plunged into the Deathless,
they enjoy the quenching (nibbuti), gained without cost.
This too is a precious jewel in the Saṅgha:
by this truth may there be well-being!
Just as a gate-post (indakhīla) resting in the earth
would be unshaken by the winds from the four quarters,
of such a kind, I declare, is the true person (sappurisa)
who, having penetrated them, sees the noble truths (ariyasacca).
This too is a precious jewel in the Saṅgha:
by this truth may there be well-being!
Those who understand clearly the noble truths,
well taught by the one of deep wisdom—
however greatly heedless they may become,
they do not take up an eighth existence.
This too is a precious jewel in the Saṅgha:
by this truth may there be well-being!
Together with his attainment of vision (dassana-sampadā),
three things are abandoned:
personality-view (sakkāyadiṭṭhi), doubt (vicikicchā),
and whatever rules and observances (sīlabbata) there may be;
he is freed from the four states of loss and woe (apāya)
and is incapable of committing the six major wrong deeds (abhiṭhāna).
This too is a precious jewel in the Saṅgha:
by this truth may there be well-being!
Even though he may do an evil deed
by body, by speech, or by mind,
he is incapable of concealing it:
such incapacity is declared of one who has seen the state [of Nibbāna].
This too is a precious jewel in the Saṅgha:
by this truth may there be well-being!
Just as a woodland thicket with flowering crowns
in the first month of the hot season, in summer,
of such a kind is the excellent Dhamma he taught,
leading to Nibbāna, for the supreme benefit.
This too is a precious jewel in the Buddha:
by this truth may there be well-being!
The excellent one, knower of the excellent, giver of the excellent, bringer of the excellent,
unsurpassed, taught the excellent Dhamma.
This too is a precious jewel in the Buddha:
by this truth may there be well-being!
The old is destroyed, there is no new arising;
their minds are dispassionate toward future existence;
with the seed destroyed, their desire no longer growing,
those wise ones go out even as this lamp.
This too is a precious jewel in the Saṅgha:
by this truth may there be well-being!
Whatever beings are here assembled,
whether of the earth or those in the sky—
let us pay homage to the Buddha, the Tathāgata
honoured by devas and humans: may there be well-being!
Whatever beings are here assembled,
whether of the earth or those in the sky—
let us pay homage to the Dhamma, thus-gone (tathāgata),
honoured by devas and humans: may there be well-being!
Whatever beings are here assembled,
whether of the earth or those in the sky—
let us pay homage to the Saṅgha, thus-gone (tathāgata),
honoured by devas and humans: may there be well-being!
The Ratana Sutta, the first.
In the Sutta Nipāta, the second sutta of the second chapter, the Cūḷavagga: the Āmagandha Sutta.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.