[181] Now at that time some five hundred brahmins from various countries were residing in Campā on some business. Those brahmins heard: "It is said that the brahmin Soṇadaṇḍa will go to see the ascetic Gotama." Then those brahmins approached the brahmin Soṇadaṇḍa, and having approached, they said to the brahmin Soṇadaṇḍa: "Is it true, as they say, that the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa will go to see the ascetic Gotama?"
"It is so in my mind, gentlemen: I too shall go to see the ascetic Gotama."
"Let the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa not go to see the ascetic Gotama. It is not fitting for the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa to go to see the ascetic Gotama. If the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa goes to see the ascetic Gotama, the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa's fame will diminish, and the ascetic Gotama's fame will increase. Inasmuch as the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa's fame will diminish and the ascetic Gotama's fame will increase, for this reason it is not fitting for the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa to go to see the ascetic Gotama; rather, it is the ascetic Gotama who should come to see the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa.
For the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa is well born on both sides, on the mother's side and on the father's side, of pure descent from the womb back through seven generations of paternal ancestors, unassailable and irreproachable with respect to birth. Inasmuch as the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa is well born on both sides, on the mother's side and on the father's side, of pure descent from the womb back through seven generations of paternal ancestors, unassailable and irreproachable with respect to birth, for this reason it is not fitting for the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa to go to see the ascetic Gotama; rather, it is the ascetic Gotama who should come to see the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa.
For the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa is rich, of great wealth, of great possessions … For the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa is a reciter and bearer of the mantras, a master of the three Vedas together with the Nighaṇḍu and Keṭubha, with the analysis of syllables, with the Itihāsa as the fifth; skilled in the words, a grammarian, fully accomplished in the Lokāyata and in the marks of a great man. For the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa is handsome, comely, graceful, endowed with supreme beauty of complexion, with the complexion of Brahmā, with the splendor of Brahmā, of no mean presence to behold. For the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa is virtuous, of mature virtue, endowed with mature virtue. For the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa is of fine speech, of fine enunciation, endowed with urbane speech that is distinct, faultless, and conveys the meaning. For the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa is a teacher of the teachers of many; he teaches the mantras to three hundred young brahmin students; and many young brahmin students from various quarters and various countries, desiring the mantras and wishing to learn the mantras, come to the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa's presence. For the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa is aged, elderly, senior, far advanced in years, arrived at the last stage of life; whereas the ascetic Gotama is young, and has newly gone forth. For the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa is honored, respected, esteemed, venerated, and revered by Seniya Bimbisāra, King of Magadha. For the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa is honored, respected, esteemed, venerated, and revered by the brahmin Pokkharasāti.
For the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa dwells in Campā, a place teeming with living beings, abounding in grass, timber, and water, rich in grain, a royal property, given by Seniya Bimbisāra, King of Magadha, as a royal grant, a brahmadeyya. Inasmuch as the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa dwells in Campā, a place teeming with living beings, abounding in grass, timber, and water, rich in grain, a royal property, given by Seniya Bimbisāra, King of Magadha, as a royal grant, a brahmadeyya, for this reason it is not fitting for the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa to go to see the ascetic Gotama; rather, it is the ascetic Gotama who should come to see the worthy Soṇadaṇḍa."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.