Dhammapada · 18.9

Tato malā malataraṃ, avijjā paramaṃ malaṃ;Etaṃ malaṃ pahantvāna, nimmalā hotha bhikkhavo.

Tato mala malataram, avijja paramam malam; Etam malam pahantvana, nimmala hotha bhikkhavo.

Worse than these taints is ignorance — the supreme taint of all. Having abandoned this taint, O monks, become stainless.

— Dhammapada 18.9

Source: Pali text from the Khuddaka Nikāya of the Pali Canon (oldest extant Buddhist scripture, compiled c. 3rd century BCE). Public-domain English readings drawn from F. Max Müller's translation in Sacred Books of the East, Vol X (1881) and the Buddhist Publication Society's freely-licensed Acharya Buddharakkhita rendering.