To Prince Abhaya
MN 58 Abhaya Rāja Kumāra: To Prince Abhaya
“What if a tender infant had a stick or pebble in his mouth, what would you do to him?”
“Venerable Sir, I would take it out. If I could not take it out at once, I would take his head in my left hand, and crooking a finger of my right hand, I would take it out even if it meant drawing blood. Why is that? Because I have compassion for the child.”
“Such speech as the Tathagata knows to be true, correct and beneficial, but chich is unwelcome and disagreeable to others: the Tathagata knows the time to use such speech.”