‘Venerable Nāgasena, those five qualities of the mountain height you say he ought to have, which are they?’

‘Just, O king, as the mountain height is a hiding-place for the wicked; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, keep secret the offences and failings of others, revealing them not. This, O king, is the first of the qualities of the mountain height he ought to have.

‘And again, O king, just as the mountain height is void of many people; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, be void of lust, angers, follies, and pride, of the net of (wrong) views, and of all evil dispositions. This, O king, is the second quality of the mountain height he ought to have.

‘And again, O king, just as the mountain height is a lonely spot, free from crowding of men; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, be given to solitude, and free from evil, unworthy qualities, from those that are not noble. This, O king, is the third quality of the mountain height he ought to have.

‘And again, O king, just as the mountain height is clean and pure; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, be good and pure, happy, and without self-righteousness. This, O king, is the fourth quality of the mountain height he ought to have.

‘And again, O king, just as the mountain height is the resort of the noble ones; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, be sought after by the noble ones. This, O king, is the fifth quality of the mountain height he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods, in the most excellent Saṃyutta Nikāya:

“With solitary men, those noble ones,
Whose minds, on Arahatship strictly bent,
Rise easily to contemplation’s heights,
Stedfast in zeal and wise in holy writ—
With such should he resort, with such commune.”’