[250] "Surely, venerable sir, it is for the sake of realizing these developments of concentration (samādhi-bhāvanā) that the bhikkhus live the holy life (brahmacariya) under the Blessed One?"
"No, Mahāli, it is not for the sake of realizing these developments of concentration that the bhikkhus live the holy life under me. There are, Mahāli, other dhammas, higher and more excellent, for the sake of realizing which the bhikkhus live the holy life under me."
"But, venerable sir, what are those dhammas, higher and more excellent, for the sake of realizing which the bhikkhus live the holy life under the Blessed One?"
"Here, Mahāli, with the complete destruction of three fetters a bhikkhu is a stream-enterer (sotāpanna), no longer subject to falling into states of woe, fixed in destiny, with awakening as his destination. This, Mahāli, is a dhamma higher and more excellent, for the sake of realizing which the bhikkhus live the holy life under me."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.