Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 16

Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 16

Thag 16.1
Adhimutta
Adhimutta and the Bandits
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: vv. 705-725



Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.



Copyright © 1995 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1995
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
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[The bandit chief:]
Those who
for the sake of sacrifice
for the sake of wealth
we have killed in the past,
against their will
have trembled & babbled
from fear.
But you —
you show no fear;
your complexion brightens.
Why don't you lament
in the face of what's greatly to be feared
[Ven. Adhimutta:]
There are no painful mental states, chieftain,
in one without longing.
In one whose fetters are ended,
all fears are overcome.
With the ending of [craving]
the guide to becoming,
when phenomena are seen
for what they are,
then just as in the laying down of a burden,
there's no fear in death.

I've lived well the holy life,
well-developed the path.
Death holds no fear for me.
It's like the end of a disease.

I've lived well the holy life,
well-developed the path,
seen states of becoming
as devoid of allure,
like poison spit out
after it's drunk.

One gone to the far shore
without clinging
without effluent
his task completed,
welcomes the ending of life,
as if freed from a place of execution.
Having attained the supreme Rightness,
unconcerned with all the world,
as if released from a burning house,
he doesn't sorrow at death.

Whatever's compounded,
wherever a state of becoming's obtained,
all that has no one in charge:
so says the Great Seer.
Whoever discerns this,
as taught by the Awakened One,
would no more grasp hold of any state of becoming
than he would a hot iron ball.
I have no 'I was,'
no 'I will be.'
Fabrications will simply go out of existence.
What's to lament there in that?
For one who sees, as it actually is,
the pure arising of phenomena,
the pure seriality of fabrications,
there's no fear.
When seeing the world with discernment
as on a par with grass & twigs,
finding no 'mine-ness,'
thinking, 'There's nothing of mine,'
he feels no sorrow.
Dissatisfied with this carcass,
I'm unconcerned with becoming.
This body will break up
and there will not be another.
Do as you like with this carcass.
From that I will feel
neither hatred nor love.
Hearing these awesome, hair-raising words, the young men threw down their
weapons & said:
What have you done, sir,
or who have you taken as mentor?
Because of whose teachings
is this lack of sorrow acquired?
[Ven. Adhimutta:]
The all-knowing,
all-seeing conqueror:
He is my mentor.
Greatly compassionate teacher,
all the world's healer,
this doctrine is his,
unexcelled, leading to ending.
Because of his teachings
is this lack of sorrow acquired.

The bandits, hearing the good words of the seer,
threw down their swords & their weapons.
Some relinquished their life of crime,
some chose the Going Forth.
Having gone forth in the teachings
of the one well-gone,
developing the powers & factors for Awakening,
wise, happy,
exultant in mind,
their faculties ripened,
they touched uncompounded Unbinding.


Thag 16.4
Ratthapala

Translator's note: The verses here fall into three sections, with the first two
relating to Ratthapala's story as told in MN 82. In the first, Ratthapala is
addressing his father after the latter had tried to use wealth and Ratthapala's
former wives to lure Ratthapala into disrobing. In the second section,
Ratthapala is talking to King Koravya, who had asked him why he had ordained
when he was still young and healthy, and had suffered no loss of relatives or
wealth.
The third section of verses here does not occur in MN 82.



Look at the image beautified,
a heap of festering wounds, shored up:
ill, but the object
of many resolves,
where there is nothing
lasting or sure.1

Look at the form beautified
with earrings & gems:
a skeleton wrapped in skin,
made attractive with clothes.

Feet reddened with henna,
a face smeared with powder:
enough to deceive a fool,
but not a seeker for the further shore.

Hair plaited in eight pleats,
eyes smeared with unguent:
enough to deceive a fool,
but not a seeker for the further shore.

Like a newly painted unguent pot —
a putrid body adorned:
enough to deceive a fool,
but not a seeker for the further shore.

The hunter set out the snares,
but the deer didn't go near the trap.
Having eaten the bait,
we go,
leaving the hunters
to weep.

The hunter's snares are broken;
the deer didn't go near the trap.
Having eaten the bait,
we go,
leaving the hunters
to grieve.2



I see in the world
people with wealth
who, from delusion,
don't make a gift
of the treasure they've gained.
Greedy, they stash it away,
hoping for even more
sensual pleasures.

A king who, by force,
has conquered the world
and rules over the earth
to the edge of the sea,
dissatisfied with the ocean's near shore,
longs for the ocean's
far shore as well.

Kings & others
— plenty of people —
go to death with craving
unabated. Unsated,
they leave the body behind,
having not had enough
of the world's sensual pleasures.

One's relatives weep
& pull out their hair.
'Oh woe, our loved one is dead,' they cry.
Carrying him off,
wrapped in a piece of cloth,
they place him
on a pyre,
then set him on fire.

So he burns, poked with sticks,
in just one piece of cloth,
leaving all his possessions behind.
They are not shelters for one who has died —
not relatives,
friends,
or companions.

His heirs take over his wealth,
while the being goes on,
in line with his kamma.
No wealth at all
follows the dead one —
not children, wives,
dominion, or riches.

Long life
can't be gotten with wealth,
nor aging
warded off with treasure.
The wise say this life
is next to nothing —
impermanent,
subject to change.

The rich & the poor
touch the touch of Death.
The foolish & wise
are touched by it, too.
But while fools lie as if slain by their folly,
the wise don't tremble
when touched by the touch.

Thus the discernment by which
one attains to mastery,
is better than wealth —
for those who haven't reached mastery
go from existence to existence,
out of delusion,
doing bad deeds.

One goes to a womb
& to the next world,
falling into the wandering on
— one thing
after another —
while those of weak discernment,
trusting in one,
also go to a womb
& to the next world.

Just as an evil thief
caught at the break-in
is destroyed
by his own act,
so evil people
— after dying, in the next world —
are destroyed
by their own acts.

Sensual pleasures —
variegated,
enticing,
sweet —
in various ways disturb the mind.
Seeing the drawbacks in sensual objects:
that's why, O king, I went forth.

Just like fruits, people fall
— young & old —
at the break-up of the body.
Knowing this, O king,
I went forth.
The contemplative life is better
for sure.3



Out of conviction,
I went forth
equipped with the Victor's message.
Blameless4 was my going-forth:
Debtless I eat my food.

Seeing sensuality as burning,
gold as a knife,
pain in the entry into the womb
& great danger in hells —
seeing this peril, I was then dismayed —
pierced (with dismay), then calmed
on attaining fermentations' end.

The Teacher has been served by me;
the Awakened One's bidding,
done;
the heavy load, laid down;
the guide to becoming,5 uprooted.
And the goal for which I went forth
from home life into homelessness
I've reached:
the end
of all fetters.
Notes
1. This verse = Dhp 147
2. This verse is not contained in MN 82.
3. The verses in MN 82 end here.
4. Avajjaa. The Burmese and Sinhalese editions of the Pali canon read avañjhaa,
or "not barren."
5. The guide to becoming is craving.
See also: MN 82


Thag 16.7
Bhaddiya Kaligodhayaputta

Whatever the fine clothes I wore
when astride the elephant's neck,
whatever the fine rice I ate, the pure meat sauce,
today — fortunate, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Wearing cast-off cloth, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Going for alms, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Wearing only one triple set of robes, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Bypassing no donors on his alms round, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Eating only one meal a day, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Eating from the bowl, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Refusing food brought afterwards, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Living in the wilderness, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Living at the foot of a tree, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Living in the open air, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Living in a cemetery, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Accepting whatever lodging he's assigned, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Not lying down, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Modest, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Content, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Secluded, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Unentangled, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Energy aroused, persevering,
delighting in whatever falls into his bowl,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
does jhana without clinging.

Abandoning a 100-carat bowl of bronze
and a 100-weight bowl of gold,
I took instead a bowl of clay:
that was my second consecration.

In the midst of high encircling walls,
strong battlements & gates,
guarded by men with swords in hand —
trembling
I used to live.
Today, fortunate, unafraid,
with fear & terror abandoned,
Bhaddiya, son of Godha,
having plunged into the forest,
does jhana.

Standing firm in the mass of virtue,
developing mindfulness & discernment,
step by step I attained
the ending of all fetters.


Thag 16.8
Angulimala

[Angulimala:]
"While walking, contemplative,
you say, 'I have stopped.'
But when I have stopped
you say I haven't.
I ask you the meaning of this:
How have you stopped?
How haven't I?"
[The Buddha:]
"I have stopped, Angulimala,
once & for all,
having cast off violence
toward all living beings.
You, though,
are unrestrained toward beings.
That's how I've stopped
and you haven't."
[Angulimala:]
"At long last a greatly revered great seer
for my sake
has come to the great forest.
Having heard your verse
in line with the Dhamma,
I will go about
having abandoned evil."

So saying, the bandit
hurled his sword & weapons
over a cliff
into a chasm,
a pit.
Then the bandit paid homage
to the feet of the One Well-gone,
and right there requested the Going-forth.
The Awakened One,
the compassionate great seer,
the teacher of the world, along with its devas,
said to him then:
"Come, bhikkhu."
That in itself
was bhikkhuhood for him.

* * *

Who once was heedless,1
but later is not,
brightens the world
like the moon set free from a cloud.

His evil-done deed2
is replaced with skillfulness:
he brightens the world
like the moon set free from a cloud.

Whatever young monk
devotes himself
to the Buddha's bidding:
he brightens the world
like the moon set free from a cloud.

May even my enemies
hear talk of the Dhamma.
May even my enemies
devote themselves
to the Buddha's bidding.
May even my enemies
associate with those people
who — peaceful, good —
get others to accept the Dhamma.
May even my enemies
hear the Dhamma time & again
from those who advise endurance,
forbearance,
who praise non-opposition,
and may they follow it.

For surely he wouldn't harm me,
or anyone else;
he would attain the foremost peace,
would protect the feeble & firm.

Irrigators guide the water.3
Fletchers shape the arrow shaft.
Carpenters shape the wood.
The wise control
themselves.

Some tame with a blunt stick,
with hooks, & with whips
But without blunt or bladed weapons
I was tamed by the one who is Such.

"Doer of No Harm" is my name,
but I used to be a doer of harm.
Today I am true to my name,
for I harm no one at all.

A bandit
I used to be,
renowned as Angulimala.
Swept along by a great flood,
I went to the Buddha as refuge.

Bloody-handed
I used to be,
renowned as Angulimala.
See my going for refuge!
Uprooted is [craving],
the guide to becoming.

Having done the type of kamma
that would lead to many
bad destinations,
touched by the fruit of [that] kamma,
unindebted, I eat my food.4

They're addicted to heedlessness5
— dullards, fools —
while one who is wise
cherishes heedfulness
as his highest wealth.

Don't give way to heedlessness6
or to intimacy
with sensual delight —
for a heedful person,
absorbed in jhana,
attains an abundant bliss.

This7 has come well & not gone away,
it was not badly thought through for me.
From among well-analyzed qualities,
I have obtained
the best.

This has come well & not gone away,
it was not badly thought through for me.

The three knowledges
have been attained;
the Awakened One's bidding,
done.8

Where once I stayed here & there
with shuddering mind —
in the wilderness,
at the foot of a tree,
in mountains, caves —
with ease I now lie down, I stand,
with ease I live my life.
O, the Teacher has shown me sympathy!

Before, I was of brahman stock,
on either side high-born.
Today I'm the son
of the One Well-gone,
the Dhamma-king,
the Teacher.

Rid of craving, devoid of clinging,
sense-doors guarded, well-restrained,
having killed the root of evil,
I've reached fermentations' end.

The Teacher has been served by me;
the Awakened One's bidding,
done;
the guide to becoming, uprooted;
the heavy load, laid down.



Notes
1. This verse = Dhp 172.
2. This verse = Dhp 173.
3. This verse = Dhp 80.
4. This verse illustrates the principle explained in AN 3.99: that one's
experience of the results of past kamma is tempered by one's present state of
mind.
5. This verse = Dhp 26.
6. This verse = Dhp 27.
7. "This" apparently refers to the abundant bliss mentioned in the previous
verse.
8. The verses in MN 86 end here.