[271] A dwelling wards off cold and heat,
and beasts of prey besides,
and creeping things and mosquitoes,
and the rains of the cold season too;
and when the dreadful wind and burning heat arise,
they are warded off.
For the sake of shelter and for the sake of comfort,
for meditating and for seeing with insight,
the gift of a dwelling to the Saṅgha
is praised by the Buddhas as the foremost gift.
Therefore indeed a wise person,
seeing his own good,
should have delightful dwellings built
and lodge the learned therein.
To them he should give food and drink,
cloth and lodgings,
with a mind full of confidence,
to those who have become upright.
They teach him the Dhamma
that dispels all suffering (dukkha);
and having understood that Dhamma here,
he attains final Nibbāna, free of taints (āsava).
Then the Blessed One, having expressed his appreciation to the householder Anāthapiṇḍika with these verses, rose from his seat and departed.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.