Thus have I heard—At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthi, in Jeta‘s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s park. There, the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: “Bhikkhus.”
“Venerable sir,” those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this:
“Bhikkhus, speech endowed with four qualities is |well spoken::articulate, eloquent [subhāsita]|, not badly spoken, and it is blameless and irreproachable by the wise. What are these four? 1) Here, a bhikkhu speaks only what is well spoken, not what is badly spoken; 2) speaks only the |Dhamma::teachings of the Buddha that point to the nature of reality, the ultimate truth [dhamma]|, not what is not the Dhamma; 3) speaks only what is pleasing, not what is displeasing; 4) speaks only |truth::what is accurate, reliable [sacca]|, not |falsehood::lie [alika]|. Speech endowed with these four qualities, bhikkhus, is well spoken, not badly spoken, and it is blameless and irreproachable by the wise.” The Blessed One said this. Having spoken thus, the Well-Gone One further said this:
“The good say that well spoken speech is the best,
Speak Dhamma, not what is not Dhamma, that is second;
Speak what is pleasing, not displeasing, that is third;
Speak the truth, not falsehood, that is fourth.”
Then the Venerable Vaṅgīsa rose from his seat, draped his outer robe over one shoulder, and raising his hands in reverence towards the Blessed One, said to him: “An inspiration has come to me, Blessed One! An inspiration has come to me, |Fortunate One::well gone, Accomplished One, epithet of the Buddha [sugata]|!”
“Then express your inspiration, Vaṅgīsa,” replied the Blessed One. Then, the Venerable Vaṅgīsa extolled the Blessed One in his presence with suitable verses:
“One should speak only that kind of speech,
that does not |afflict::hurt, harm [tāpayati]| oneself;
And does not harm others,
that, indeed, is speech well spoken.
One should speak only endearing speech,
speech that is gladly received;
Words not rooted in |harm::injury causing actions, either to oneself or to others [pāpa]|,
[speech] that is pleasing to others.
Truth, indeed, is the |deathless::deathless state, epithet of Nibbāna [amata]| speech,
this is an eternal principle;
The good and the Dhamma, the wise say,
are established upon truth.
The speech the Buddha speaks,
for the attainment of |Nibbāna::complete cooling, letting go of everything, deathless, freedom from calamity, the non-disintegrating [nibbāna]|, |safety::security, sanctuary, peace, rest [khema]|;
For making an end to suffering,
is indeed the best of speech.”