Māgadha sutta: With Maghada

At Sāvatthī.

Standing to one side, the godling Maghada addressed the Buddha in verse:

“How many lamps are there
that light up the world?
We’ve come to ask the Buddha;
how are we to understand this?”

“There are four lamps in the world,
a fifth is not found.
The sun blazes by day,
the moon radiates at night,

while a fire illuminates both
by day and by night.
But a Buddha is the best of blazes:
this is the supreme radiance.”