Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 17

Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 17

Thag 17.2
Sariputta Thera
Keeping the Wheel Rolling
Translated from the Pali by
Andrew OlendzkiPTS: vv. 991...1014



Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.



Copyright © 2005 Andrew Olendzki.
Access to Insight edition © 2005
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.



991:
In the village or the forest,
In the lowlands or the highlands;
Wherever the worthy ones dwell
— That terrain would be found pleasing.
992:
So pleasing (they find) the forests,
Wherein most people are not pleased.
Rid of passion, they will be pleased
— They do not pursue mere pleasure!
998:
Settled at the root of a tree,
With shaven head, clad in a robe,
The elder foremost in wisdom
— Upatissa just meditates.
1006:
He has become calm and at rest,
Wise in speech and not self-centered;
He's shaken off unwholesome states
— Like wind would leaves from a tree.
1007:
He has become calm and at rest,
Wise in speech and not self-centered;
He has plucked off unwholesome states
— Like wind would leaves from a tree.
1013:
The mighty ocean and the earth
A mountain, or even the wind
Are not adequate similes
— For the teacher's splendid release.
1014:
The elder keeps the wheel rolling,
Possessing great wisdom, composed;
And just like earth, water and fire,
— He's neither attached nor opposed.



Translator's note
Sariputta (also known by the name Upatissa) was the Buddha's leading follower,
particularly praised for his wisdom. These verses, containing eight syllables
per line, have been extracted from a longer poem of thirty seven verses
preserved in the Theragatha. They describe a man who continues to spend his time
in solitary meditation in the forest, even after having attained the full
awakening of the arahant. The elder keeps the dharma wheel of the Buddha's
teaching rolling by such dedication to meditation practice, and by exemplifying
the attitude of non-attachment in all that he does. The phrase may also refer to
Sariputta's pivotal role in the development of the Abhidhamma tradition.


Thag 17.3
Ananda
(excerpt)

Copyright © 1980 Buddhist Publication Society.
Access to Insight edition © 2006
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.

[Ananda:]
1024. 82,000 Teachings from the Buddha
I have received;
2,000 more from his disciples;
Now, 84,000 are familiar to me.


1025. Who nothing has heard and nothing understood,
He ages only oxen-like:
His stomach only grows and grows,
But his insight deepens not.

1026. Who has much heard and learned,
But does despise him who is poor in learning,
Is like one blind who holds a lamp.
So must I think of such a one.

1027. Thou follow him who has heard much,
Then what is heard shall not decline.
This is the tap-root of the holy life;
Hence a Dhamma-guardian thou should'st be!

1028. Knowing what comes first and last,
Knowing well the meaning, too,
Skilful in grammar and in other items,
The well-grasped meaning he examines.

1029. Keen in his patient application,
He strives to weigh the meaning well.
At the right time he makes his effort,
And inwardly collects his mind.

...

1034. All the quarters are bedimmed
And the Dhamma is not clear to me,
Indeed my noble friend has gone
And all about seems dark.

1035. The friend has passed away,
The Master, too, has gone.
There is no friendship now that equals this:
The mindfulness directed bodywards.

1036. The old ones now have passed away,
The new ones do no please me much,
Today alone I meditate
Like a bird gone to its nest.

...

1039. Through a full 25 years
As long as I have been in higher training
I have never had a thought of lust:
See, how powerfully the Dhamma works.

...

1046. Then was there terror, and the hair stood up, when he,
The all-accomplished one, the Buddha, passed away.

...

1049. The virtuous, wise man,
The hero strong and ever resolute,
The guardian of the word so true,
Ananda found extinction now.