8.
The Second Discourse on the Four Great Kings
38. "Once upon a time, monks, Sakka, the lord of the gods, conciliating the gods of the Thirty-three, at that time spoke this verse -
And the extra holiday, well endowed with the eight factors;
One should observe the Observance, whoever is a man like me.'
"But that verse, monks, was badly sung by Sakka, the lord of the gods, not well sung, badly spoken, not well spoken. What is the reason for this? Because Sakka, monks, the lord of the gods, is not released from birth, from ageing, from death, from sorrows, from lamentations, from sufferings, from displeasures, from anguishes; he is not released from suffering, I say.
"But whatever monk, monks, is a Worthy One, one who has eliminated the mental corruptions, one who has lived the holy life, one who has done what was to be done, one who has laid down the burden, one who has attained his own welfare, one who has completely destroyed the fetter of becoming, one completely liberated through final knowledge - for that monk, monks, it is proper to say -
And the extra holiday, well endowed with the eight factors;
One should observe the Observance, whoever is a man like me.'
"What is the reason for this? Because that monk, monks, is released from birth, from ageing, from death, from sorrows, from lamentations, from sufferings, from displeasures, from anguishes; he is released from suffering, I say." The eighth.