Then a certain brahman approached the Blessed One. Having approached the Blessed One, he exchanged friendly greetings. After pleasant conversation had passed between them, he sat to one side. Having sat to one side, the brahman spoke to the Blessed One thus:

“What does the Venerable Gotama assert, what does he preach?”

“I am one who asserts that which ought to be done, brahman, and one who asserts that which ought not to be done.”[1]

“But in what way is the Venerable Gotama one who asserts that which ought to be done, and one who asserts that which ought not to be done?”

“I say ‘that which ought not to be done’, brahman, of wrong-doing by body, wrong-doing by speech, wrong-doing by the thinking mind; of manifold evil and unwholesome thoughts, I say ‘that which ought not to be done’.

“I say ‘that which ought to be done’, brahman, of doing good by body, doing good by speech, doing good by the thinking mind; of manifold wholesome thoughts, I say ‘that which ought to be done’. In this way, brahman, I am one who preaches ‘that which ought to be done’ and one who preaches ‘that which ought not to be done’.”

“Superb, Venerable Gotama! Superb, Venerable Gotama! Venerable Gotama has made the Dhamma clear in many ways, as though he were turning upright what had been turned upside down, revealing what had been concealed, showing the way to one who was lost, or holding up a lamp in the dark: ‘Those who have eyes see forms!’ Just so, the Venerable Gotama has illuminated the Dhamma in various ways. I go to Venerable Gotama as refuge, and to the Dhamma, and to the assembly of monks. From this day, for as long as I am endowed with breath, let Venerable Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him for refuge.”