1At Sāvatthī. "Bhikkhus, once in the past a number of seers who were virtuous and of good character had settled down in leaf huts in a tract of forest. Then Sakka, lord of the devas, and Vepacitti, lord of the asuras, approached those seers.

"Vepacitti, lord of the asuras, put on his boots, bound his sword on tightly, and, with a parasol borne aloft, entered the hermitage through the main gate; then, having turned his left side towards them, [n.628] Apabyamato karitva (or apavyamato karitva, in Ee1). CPD says apavyama is a v.l. for apasavya. At Ud 50,18 the expression apasabyamato karitva occurs, which Ud-a 292, 4 explains as turning the left side towards a holy person as a sign of disrespect. he walked past those seers who were virtuous and of good character. But Sakka, lord of the devas, took off his boots, handed over his sword to others, lowered his parasol, and entered the hermitage through an (ordinary) gate; then he stood on the lee side, raising his joined hands in reverential salutation, paying homage to those seers who were virtuous and of good character.

"Then, bhikkhus, those seers addressed Sakka in verse:

2v.898 "‘The odour of the seers long bound by their vows,
Emitted from their bodies, goes with the wind.
Turn away from here, O thousand-eyed god,
For the seers’ odour is foul, O deva-king.’ [n.629] Spk glosses ciradikkhitanaṁ in pāda a as cirasamadiṇṇavatanaṁ, "who have long undertaken vows." On "thousand-eyed" (sahassanetta) as an epithet of Sakka, see SN11.12; though there the Pali is sahassakkha, the meaning is the same. The seers say this because they subscribe to the common belief that the devas find the smell of human bodies repulsive—particularly ascetics who may not bathe frequently (see Mātali's argument at v. 932). Sakka's reply conveys the same point as Dhp 54–56: the scent of virtue is supreme among all scents and pervades even the worlds of the devas.

Sakka:

3v.899 "‘Let the odour of the seers long bound by their vows,
Emitted from their bodies, go with the wind;
We yearn for this odour, O venerable sirs,
As for a garland of flowers on the head. sn.i.227
The devas do not perceive it as repulsive.’" [n.630] Spk paraphrases: "The devas do not perceive anything repulsive in this odour of the virtuous ones; they perceive it as desirable, lovely, agreeable."

1Sāvatthiyaṁ. "Bhūtapubbaṁ, bhikkhave, sambahulā isayo sīlavanto kalyāṇadhammā araññāyatane paṇṇakuṭīsu sammanti. Atha kho, bhikkhave, sakko ca devānamindo vepacitti ca asurindo yena te isayo sīlavanto kalyāṇadhammā tenupasaṅkamiṁsu.
Atha kho, bhikkhave, vepacitti asurindo paṭaliyo upāhanā ārohitvā khaggaṁ olaggetvā chattena dhāriyamānena aggadvārena assamaṁ pavisitvā te isayo sīlavante kalyāṇadhamme apabyāmato karitvā atikkami. Atha kho, bhikkhave, sakko devānamindo paṭaliyo upāhanā orohitvā khaggaṁ aññesaṁ datvā chattaṁ apanāmetvā dvāreneva assamaṁ pavisitvā te isayo sīlavante kalyāṇadhamme anuvātaṁ pañjaliko namassamāno aṭṭhāsi.
Atha kho, bhikkhave, te isayo sīlavanto kalyāṇadhammā sakkaṁ devānamindaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsiṁsu: