‘Venerable Nāgasena, those five qualities of the earth which you say he ought to take, which are they?’

‘Just, O king, as the earth remains just the same whether one scatter upon it desirable things or the reverse—whether camphor and aloes and jasmine and sandal-wood and saffron, or whether bile and phlegm and pus and blood and sweat and fat and saliva and mucus and the fluid which lubricates the joints and urine and faeces—still it is the same; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, remain the same, unmoved at support or neglect, at fame or dishonour, at blame or praise, in happiness or in woe. This, O king, is the first of the qualities of the earth he ought to have.

‘And again, O king, as the earth has no adornment, no garlands, but is suffused with the odour of itself; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, wear no finery, but rather be set round with the sweet savour of his own righteousness of life. This, O king, is the second quality of the earth he ought to have.

‘And again, O king, as the earth is solid, without holes or interstices, thick, dense, and spreads itself out on every side; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, be endowed with an unbroken righteousness of life with no gaps or cracks in it, thick, dense, and spreading itself out on every side. This, O king, is the third quality of the earth he ought to have.

‘And again, O king, as the earth is never weary, though it bears up the villages and towns and cities and countries, the trees and hills and rivers and ponds and lakes, the wild creatures and birds and men, multitudes of men and women; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, be never weary in giving exhortation and admonition and instruction and education, in rousing and inciting and gladdening, and at the expositions of the faith. This, O king, is the fourth quality of the earth he ought to have.

‘And again, O king, as the earth is free alike from fawning and from ill-will ; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, continue in spirit, like the earth, free alike from fawning upon any man, from ill-will to any man. This is the fifth quality of the earth he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by the devoted woman, culla Subhaddā, when she was exalting the recluses of her own sect:

“Were one, enraged, to cut their one arm with an axe,
Another, pleased, to anoint the other with sweet scent,
No ill-will would they bear the one, nor love the other.
Their hearts are like the earth, unmoved are my recluses.”’