[357] Then the Venerable Vaṅgīsa rose from his seat, arranged his robe over one shoulder, raised his joined palms in reverence toward the Blessed One, and said this to the Blessed One: "An inspiration has come to me, Blessed One! An inspiration has come to me, Sublime One!"
"Let the inspiration come to you, Vaṅgīsa," said the Blessed One.
Then the Venerable Vaṅgīsa [4] extolled [the Blessed One] in his presence with fitting verses:
"One should speak only such speech
by which one would not torment oneself
and would not injure others:
that speech truly is well spoken.
One should speak only kindly speech (piyavācā),
speech that is welcomed;
that which, taking up nothing evil,
one speaks as pleasant to others.
Truth truly is the deathless speech:
this is an age-old principle.
In truth, in the goal, and in the Dhamma
the good have stood established.
The speech that the Buddha speaks,
secure, for the attainment of Nibbāna,
for making an end of suffering (dukkha) —
that truly is the supreme among speeches."
The Subhāsita Sutta, the third.
In the Suttanipāta, the fourth [discourse] of the third chapter, the Mahāvagga: the Sundarika Sutta.
[Siam edition variant readings: 1. Burmese and European editions read "bhikkhave bhikkhu." 2. Burmese edition reads "no." 3. Burmese and European editions read "nādhammaṃ nāppiyaṃ." 4. Burmese and European editions read "bhagavantaṃ."]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.