Punabbasu, may you be happy! Today, I rise. Hear me too, Uttarā: I have seen the noble truths!”

Linked Discourses 10.8 1. With Indaka With Sudatta

At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha in the Cool Grove. Now at that time the householder Anāthapiṇḍika had arrived at Rājagaha on some business. He heard a rumor that a Buddha had arisen in the world. Right away he wanted to go and see the Buddha, but he thought, “It’s too late to go and see the Buddha today. I’ll go and see him tomorrow.” He went to bed thinking of the Buddha. During the night he got up three times thinking it was sunup. Then he approached the Sivaka Gate, and non-human beings opened it for him. But as he was leaving the city, light vanished and darkness appeared to him. He felt fear, terror, and goosebumps, and wanted to turn back. Then the invisible spirit Sivaka called out:

“A hundred elephants, a hundred horses, a hundred mule-drawn chariots, a hundred thousand maidens bedecked with jeweled earrings: these are not worth a sixteenth part of a single forward stride!