Suppose there was a lotus pond with clear, sweet, cool water, clean, with smooth banks, delightful. Then along comes a person struggling in the oppressive heat, weary, thirsty, and parched. They’d plunge into the lotus pond to bathe and drink. And all their stress, weariness, and heat exhaustion would die down. In the same way, when you hear the worthy Gotama’s teaching— whatever it may be, whether statements, mixed prose & verse, discussions, or amazing stories— then all your stress, weariness, and exhaustion die down.”

When this was said, the brahmin Kāraṇapālī rose from his seat, arranged his robe over one shoulder, knelt on his right knee, raised his cupped palms toward the Buddha, and expressed this heartfelt sentiment three times:

“Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!

Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!

Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!

Excellent, worthy Piṅgiyānī! Excellent! As if he were righting the overturned, or revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, or lighting a lamp in the dark so people with clear eyes can see what’s there, the worthy Piṅgiyānī has made the teaching clear in many ways. I go for refuge to the worthy Gotama, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Saṅgha. From this day forth, may the worthy Piṅgiyānī remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”

Numbered Discourses 5.195 20. Brahmins Piṅgiyānī