1Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Baraṇasi in the Deer Park at Isipatana. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus: "Bhikkhus!"

"Venerable sir!" those bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:

2"Bhikkhus, I am freed from all snares, both celestial and human. You too, bhikkhus, are freed from all snares, both celestial and human. Wander forth, O bhikkhus, for the welfare of the multitude, for the happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the good, welfare, and happiness of devas and humans. Let not two go the same way. Teach, O bhikkhus, the Dhamma that is good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end, with the right meaning and phrasing. Reveal the perfectly complete and purified holy life. There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. sn.i.106 There will be those who will understand the Dhamma. I too, bhikkhus, will go to Senanigama in Uruvela in order to teach the Dhamma." [n.273] This is the Buddha’s famous injunction to his first sixty arahant disciples to go forth and spread the Dhamma. The passage also occurs at Vin I 20,36–21,16, in correct temporal sequence, preceding SN4.4. Vv. 476–77 follow immediately, though here they are separated and assigned to an encounter in Sāvatthī. A BHS parallel, including the verses, is at Mvu III 415–16; see Jones, 3:416–17
Spk explains the threefold goodness of the Dhamma in various ways pertaining both to practice and doctrine. For example, virtue is the beginning; serenity, insight, and the path are the middle; the fruits and Nibbāna are the end; or the opening of a sutta is good, and so too the middle portion and the conclusion. When the Buddha went to Uruvela he converted the thousand jaṭila ascetics, which culminated in the Fire Sermon (SN35.28).

Then Māra the Evil One approached the Blessed One and addressed him in verse: [n.274] Spk: Māra approached and spoke, thinking: “Like one directing a great war, the ascetic Gotama enjoins the sixty men to teach the Dhamma. I am not pleased even if one should teach, let alone sixty. Let me stop him!”

The Blessed One:

5Then Māra the Evil One … disappeared right there.

1Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā bārāṇasiyaṁ vihārati isipatane migadāye. Tatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi: "bhikkhavo"ti.

"Bhadante"ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ. Bhagavā etadavoca:

2"Muttāhaṁ, bhikkhave, sabbapāsehi ye dibbā ye ca mānusā. Tumhepi, bhikkhave, muttā sabbapāsehi ye dibbā ye ca mānusā. Caratha, bhikkhave, cārikaṁ bahujanahitāya bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāya atthāya hitāya sukhāya devamanussānaṁ. Mā ekena dve agamittha. Desetha, bhikkhave, dhammaṁ ādikalyāṇaṁ majjhekalyāṇaṁ pariyosānakalyāṇaṁ sātthaṁ sabyañjanaṁ kevalaparipuṇṇaṁ parisuddhaṁ brahmacariyaṁ pakāsetha. Santi sattā apparajakkhajātikā, assavanatā dhammassa parihāyanti. Bhavissanti dhammassa aññātāro. Ahampi, bhikkhave, yena uruvelā senānigamo tenupasaṅkamissāmi dhammadesanāyā"ti.

Atha kho māro pāpimā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:

5Atha kho māro pāpimā … pe … tatthevantaradhāyīti.