The Buddha was once a famous teacher of the Vedas with five hundred pupils. One pupil asked him how people could obtain gain in this world. His teacher answered that in a world full of fools the man who slanders, possesses the tricks of an actor and carries evil talk, gains prosperity. The pupil expressed his disappointment and continued his religious life.
The story was related in reference to a colleague who asked Sáriputta the same question and received the above answer. J.ii.420-3.