[372] Then Sabhiya the wanderer (paribbājaka), having bowed down with his head at the feet of the Blessed One, said this to the Blessed One: "Excellent, venerable sir! Excellent, venerable sir! Just as, venerable sir, one might set upright what had been overturned, or uncover what had been concealed, or point out the way to one who had gone astray, or hold up an oil lamp in the darkness, thinking, 'Those who have eyes will see forms' — even so has the Dhamma been made clear by the Blessed One in numerous ways. I go for refuge to the Blessed One, and to the Dhamma, and to the Saṅgha of bhikkhus. May I receive, venerable sir, the going forth (pabbajjā) in the presence of the Blessed One; may I receive the full ordination (upasampadā)."
"Sabhiya, one who formerly belonged to another sect, who desires the going forth in this Dhamma and Discipline, who desires the full ordination, lives on probation (parivāsa) for four months. At the end of the four months, the bhikkhus, being satisfied in mind, give him — one who has completed the probation — the going forth and the full ordination to the state of a bhikkhu. Yet herein a difference among individuals is known."
"If, venerable sir, those who formerly belonged to other sects, desiring the going forth in this Dhamma and Discipline, desiring the full ordination, live on probation for four months, and at the end of the four months the bhikkhus, being satisfied in mind, give those who have completed the probation the going forth and the full ordination to the state of a bhikkhu — then I will live on probation for four years. At the end of the four years, let the bhikkhus, being satisfied in mind, give me — one who has completed the probation — the going forth and the full ordination to the state of a bhikkhu."
Then Sabhiya the wanderer received the going forth in the presence of the Blessed One; he received the full ordination. And not long after his full ordination, the Venerable Sabhiya, dwelling alone, withdrawn, heedful, ardent, and resolute, before long realized for himself with direct knowledge (abhiññā), in this very life, that unsurpassed consummation of the holy life for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from the household life into homelessness; and having entered upon it, he dwelt therein. He directly knew: "Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done; there is no more for this state of being." And the Venerable Sabhiya became one of the arahants.
The Sabhiya Sutta, the sixth.
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In the Suttanipāta, the seventh [discourse] of the Great Chapter (Mahāvagga), the third [chapter]: the Sela Sutta.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.