So they posted someone on the road, saying: “My man, let us know when you see the Blessed One coming, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha.” And that person stood there for two or three days before they saw the Buddha coming off in the distance. When they saw him, they went to the chamberlains and said: “Sirs, the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha is coming. Please come at your convenience.”

Then the chamberlains went up to the Buddha, bowed, and followed behind him. And then the Buddha left the road, went to the root of a certain tree, and sat down on the seat spread out. The chamberlains Isidatta and Purāṇa bowed, sat down to one side, and said to the Buddha:

“Sir, when we hear that you will be setting out from Sāvatthī to wander in the Kosalan lands, we’re sad and upset, thinking that you will be far from us. And when we hear that you are setting out from Sāvatthī to wander in the Kosalan lands, we’re sad and upset, thinking that you are far from us.