There are, Kassapa, some ascetics and brahmins who teach ethics. They praise ethical conduct in many ways. But as far as the highest noble ethics goes, I don’t see anyone who’s my equal, still less my superior. Rather, I am the one who is superior when it comes to the higher ethics.

There are, Kassapa, some ascetics and brahmins who teach mortification in disgust of sin. They praise mortification in disgust of sin in many ways. But as far as the highest noble mortification in disgust of sin goes, I don’t see anyone who’s my equal, still less my superior. Rather, I am the one who is superior when it comes to the higher mortification in disgust of sin.

There are, Kassapa, some ascetics and brahmins who teach wisdom. They praise wisdom in many ways. But as far as the highest noble wisdom goes, I don’t see anyone who’s my equal, still less my superior. Rather, I am the one who is superior when it comes to the higher wisdom.

There are, Kassapa, some ascetics and brahmins who teach freedom. They praise freedom in many ways. But as far as the highest noble freedom goes, I don’t see anyone who’s my equal, still less my superior. Rather, I am the one who is superior when it comes to the higher freedom.

It’s possible that wanderers who follow other paths might say: ‘The ascetic Gotama only roars his lion’s roar in an empty hut, not in an assembly.’ They should be told, ‘Not so!’ What should be said is this: ‘The ascetic Gotama roars his lion’s roar, and he roars it in an assembly.’

It’s possible that wanderers who follow other paths might say: ‘The ascetic Gotama roars his lion’s roar, and he roars it in an assembly. But he doesn’t roar it boldly.’ They should be told, ‘Not so!’ What should be said is this: ‘The ascetic Gotama roars his lion’s roar, he roars it in an assembly, and he roars it boldly.’

It’s possible that wanderers who follow other paths might say: ‘The ascetic Gotama roars his lion’s roar, he roars it in an assembly, and he roars it boldly. But they don’t question him. … Or he doesn’t answer their questions. … Or his answers are not satisfactory. … Or they don’t think him worth listening to. … Or they’re not confident after listening. … Or they don’t show their confidence. … Or they don’t practice accordingly. … Or they don’t succeed in their practice.’ They should be told, ‘Not so!’ What should be said is this: ‘The ascetic Gotama roars his lion’s roar; he roars it in an assembly; he roars it boldly; they question him; he answers their questions; his answers are satisfactory; they think him worth listening to; they’re confident after listening; they show their confidence; they practice accordingly; and they succeed in their practice.’