Thus have I heard. The Blessed One was once going along the high road between Râgagaha and Nâlandâ with a great company of the brethren, with about five hundred brethren. And Suppiya the mendicant too was going along the high road between Râgagaha and Nâlandâ with his disciple the youth Brahmadatta. Now just then Suppiya the mendicant was speaking in many ways in dispraise of the Buddha, in dispraise of the Doctrine, in dispraise of the Order. But young Brahmadatta, his pupil, gave utterance, in many ways, to praise of the Buddha, to praise of the Doctrine, to praise of the Order. Thus they two, teacher and pupil, holding opinions in direct contradiction one to the other, were following, step by step, after the Blessed One and the company of the brethren.

The king bowed to the Blessed One, and stretching forth his joined palms in salutation to the Order took his seat aside, and said to the Blessed One: (...) 'There are, Sir, a number of ordinary crafts: mahouts, horsemen, charioteers, archers, standard bearers, camp marshalls, camp followers, high military officers of royal birth, military scouts, men brave as elephants, champions, heroes, (...) cooks, barbers, bath attendants, confectioners, garland-makers, washermen, weavers, basket-makers, potters, arithmeticians, accountants, and whatsoever others of like kind there may be. All these enjoy, in this very world, the visible fruits of their craft. They maintain themselves, and their parents and children and friends, in happiness and comfort. (...) Can you, Sir, declare to me any such immediate fruit, visible in this very world, of the life of a recluse?

Ambattha, a young and proud brahman pays a visit to the Buddha and is very rude, charging the Sakyas, Gotama's relatives, with being menials. Gotama asks the brahman about his own family - and interesting things surface.

Where there is uprightness, wisdom is there, and where there is wisdom, uprightness is there. To the upright there is wisdom, to the wise there is uprightness, and wisdom and goodness are declared to be the best thing in the world. Just as one might wash hand with hand, or foot with foot, just even so, oh Gotama, is wisdom purified by uprightness, and uprightness is purified by wisdom. Where there is uprightness, wisdom is there, and where there is wisdom, uprightness is there. To the upright, there is wisdom, to the wise there is uprightness, and wisdom and goodness are declared to be the best thing in the world.

Thus have I heard. The Blessed One once, when going on a tour through Magadhâ, with a great multitude of the brethren, with about five hundred brethren, came to a Brahman village in Magadhâ called Khânumata.

Thus have I heard. The Blessed One was once staying at Vesali at the Gabled Hall in the Great Wood. Now at that time a number of Brahmans, who had been sent on pressing business of one kind or another from Kosali and Magadha, were lodging at Vesali.

This Sutta having been incorporated, word for word, as §§ 15-19, inclusive, in Mahali Sutta, the reader is referred to the translation given there.