Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 21
Thag 21
Vangisa
Translated from the Pali by
John D. Ireland
Alternate translation:Hecker/Khema (excerpt)Ireland
PTS: vv. 1209-1279
Source: Vangisa: An Early Buddhist Poet, Buddhist Publication Society
Wheel Publication No. 417/418. Transcribed from a file provided by the
BPS.
Footnotes refer to those appearing in Vangisa: An Early Buddhist Poet.
Copyright © 1997 John D. Ireland.
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.
I. Departed (Nikkhantam)
1209. Alas! Now that I have departed from home to the homeless state, these
reckless thoughts from the Dark One1 come upon me.
1210. Mighty warriors, great archers, trained, steady bowmen, one thousand
fearless men, might surround me on all sides.
1211. Even if more women than these will come,2 they will not cause me to waver,
for I am firmly established in the teaching.
1212. In his presence I heard from the Awakened One, the Kinsman of the Sun, of
this path leading to nibbana; it is there that my mind is attached.
1213. Evil One, while I am living thus, if you assail me, so shall I act, O
Death, that you will not see my path.
II. Disliking (Aratim)
1214. Entirely giving up disliking and liking, and the thinking associated with
the life of a householder, one should not have craving for anything. He indeed
is a monk who is wholly without craving.
1215. Whatever there is here of form, inhabiting the earth and the sky, immersed
in the world,3 all is impermanent and decaying. So understanding, the wise live
their lives.4
1216. Regarding objects of attachment, people are greedy for what is to be seen
and heard and touched and otherwise experienced.5 Being unmoved, dispel desire
for them, for they call him a sage who does not cling to them.
1217. Then, caught in the sixty,6 full of (speculative) thoughts, because of
being outsiders,7 they are established in wrong teaching. But one who is a monk
would not take up a sectarian viewpoint, much less seize upon what is bad.
1218. Intelligent, for a long time composed (of mind), not deceitful, wise, not
envious, the sage has experienced the peaceful state, depending on which,
attained to quenching, he awaits his time.8
III. Despising the Well-behaved (Pesala-atimaññana)
1219. Abandon conceit, Gotama,9 get rid of the way of conceit completely.
Because of being infatuated by the way of conceit, for a long time you have been
remorseful.
1220. Soiled by contempt (for others), destroyed by conceit, people fall into
hell. Persons destroyed by conceit grieve for a long time upon being reborn in
hell.
1221. A monk never grieves who is a knower of the path,10 one who has practiced
it properly. He experiences fame and happiness; truthfully they call him "a seer
of Dhamma."
1222. Therefore be without barrenness11 here ( in this world), energetic,
purified by abandoning the hindrances. Having completely abandoned conceit, be
an ender (of suffering) through knowledge and become one who dwells at peace.
IV. Ananda
[Vangisa:]
1223. "I burn with sensual desire, my mind is enflamed (with passion). Out of
pity please tell me, Gotama,13 the effective extinguishing of it."
[Ananda:]
1224. "Your mind is enflamed because of distorted perception. Shun the aspect of
beauty associated with passion. (A)
1224B. "See constructions14 as other, as painful, not as self, (and thus)
extinguish strong passion; do not burn again and again. (B)15
1225. "Devote the mind, one-pointed and well-composed, to the contemplation of
foulness.16 Let mindfulness be directed towards the body and be full of
disenchantment for it.
1226. "Contemplate the signless17 and cast out the underlying tendency to
conceit. Then by the penetration of conceit you will go about at peace."
V. Well-spoken (Subhasita)
1227. One should speak only that word by which one would not torment oneself nor
harm others. That word is indeed well spoken.
1228. One should speak only pleasant words, words which are acceptable (to
others). What one speaks without bringing evils to others is pleasant.
1229. Truth is indeed the undying word; this is an ancient verity. Upon truth,
the good say, the goal and the teaching are founded.19
1230. The sure word the Awakened One speaks for the attainment of nibbana, for
making an end of suffering, is truly the best of words.
VI. Sariputta
1231. Of profound wisdom, intelligent, skilled in knowledge of the right and
wrong path, Sariputta of great wisdom teaches Dhamma to the monks.
1232. He teaches in brief, he speaks with detailed explanation, his voice is
(pleasing) like that of the mynah bird; he demonstrates readiness of speech.20
1233. Listening to his sweet utterance21 while he is teaching with a voice that
is captivating, pleasing, and lovely, the monks give ear, with minds elated and
joyful.
VII. The Invitation Ceremony (Pavarana)
1234. Today on the fifteenth (of the fortnight)23 five hundred monks have
gathered for the ceremony of purification, cutters of fetters and bonds,
untroubled, seers finished with renewed existence.
1235-36. As a wheel-turning monarch, surrounded by his ministers, tours all
around this ocean-girt earth, so do the disciples with the threefold knowledge,
who have left death behind, attend upon the victor in battle, the unsurpassed
caravan leader.
1237. All are the Fortunate One's sons; there is no chaff found here. I pay
homage to the destroyer of the dart of craving, the Kinsman of the Sun.
VIII. More than a Thousand (Parosahassam)
1238. More than a thousand monks attend upon the Happy One as he is teaching the
stainless Dhamma concerning nibbana, where no fear can come from any quarter.
1239. They hear the taintless Dhamma taught by the Fully Awakened One. The
Awakened One is truly resplendent as he is revered by the community of monks.
1240. You are called a naga,24 Fortunate One; of seers, you are the best of
seers.25 Like a great rain-cloud, you rain down upon the disciples.
1241. Leaving his daytime abode, wishing to see the Teacher, your disciple
Vangisa pays homage at your feet, Great Hero.
IX. Overcoming (Abhibhuyya)
1242. Overcoming the devious ways and range of Mara, he walks (free), having
broken up the things that make for barrenness of mind.27 See him producing
release from bonds, unattached, separating (the Teaching) into its constituent
parts.28
1243. He has shown the path in a variety of ways with the aim of guiding us
across the flood. Since the undying has been shown (to them), the Dhamma-seers
(are those who) stand immovable.
1244. The light-maker, having penetrated (the Dhamma), saw the overcoming of all
standpoints.29 Having understood and experienced it, he taught the topmost
(Dhamma-teaching) to the five.30
1245. When the Dhamma has been thus well taught, what indolence could there be
in those who know the Dhamma? Therefore, vigilant and ever revering, one should
follow the training in the Fortunate One's dispensation.
X. Kondañña
1246. The Elder Kondañña, strong in energy, who was enlightened after the
Awakened One,31 is repeatedly the obtainer of pleasurable abidings and
seclusions.32
1247. Whatever is to be attained by a disciple who does the instruction of the
Teacher, all that has been attained by him, vigilant and disciplined.
1248. Having great power and the threefold knowledge, skilled in knowing the
thoughts of others, Kondañña, the Awakened One's heir, pays homage at the
Teacher's feet.
XI. Moggallana
1249. Disciples, possessors of the threefold knowledge who have left death
behind, attend upon the sage seated on the mountain side, who has gone to the
far shore beyond suffering.
1250. Moggallana, of great supernormal powers, encompasses (their minds) with
his mind, seeking their minds, completely freed, without attachments.33
1251. Thus do they attend upon Gotama endowed with so many virtuous qualities,
the sage possessed of all the attributes and gone to the far shore beyond
suffering.
XII. Gaggara
1252. As the moon shines in the sky free from clouds, as also the spotless sun,
even so, Resplendent One, Great Sage, do you outshine the whole world with your
fame.
XIV. Vangisa (2)
1253. Intoxicated with skill in the poetic art, formerly we wandered from
village to village, from town to town. Then we saw the Awakened One gone to the
far shore beyond all (worldly conditioned) phenomena.
1254. The sage gone to the far shore beyond suffering taught me the Dhamma. On
hearing the Dhamma we gained confidence in him; faith arose in us.
1255. Having heard his word and learnt of the aggregates, bases, and elements, I
went forth into homelessness.
1256. Indeed Tathagatas appear for the good of the many men and women who
practice their teaching.
1257. Indeed the sage attained enlightenment for the good of those monks and
nuns who see the course to be undergone.34
1258. Well taught are the Four Noble Truths by the Seeing One, the Awakened One,
the Kinsman of the Sun, out of compassion for living beings.
1259. Suffering, the origin of suffering, the overcoming of suffering, and the
noble eightfold path leading to the allaying of suffering.
1260. Thus these things, thus spoken of, have been seen by me as they really
are. The true goal has been reached by me; the Awakened One's instruction has
been done.
1261. It was good indeed for me, my coming into the presence of the Awakened
One. Among things shared out I obtained the best.
1262. I have attained the perfection of the direct knowledges, I have purified
the element of hearing, I have the threefold knowledge and obtained supernormal
powers and am skilled in knowing the minds of others.
XV. Nigrodhakappa
1263. "I ask the teacher of superior wisdom, one who in this very life is the
cutter-off of doubts: The monk, well known and famous, who has died at
Agga.lava, was he completely quenched in mind?
1264. "Nigrodhakappa was the name given to that brahmin by you, Fortunate One.
Looking for release, strenuously energetic, he went about revering you, O seer
of the secure state (i.e., nibbana).
1265. "Sakka, All-seeing One, we all wish to know concerning that disciple. Our
ears are ready to hear. You are the teacher, you are unsurpassed.
1266. "Sever our doubt. Tell me this, you of extensive wisdom, that he
experienced quenching. Speak in our very midst, All-seeing One, like the
thousand-eyed Sakka in the midst of the gods.
1267. "Whatever bonds exist here (in the world), ways of delusion, on the side
of ignorance, bases for doubt, they no longer exist on reaching the Tathagata,
for that vision of his is supreme among men.
1268. "If no man were ever to disperse the defilements as the wind disperses a
mass of clouds, the whole world, enveloped, would surely be darkness, and even
illustrious men would not shine forth.
1269. "But the wise are light-makers. O Wise One, I think you are just such a
one. We have come upon him who knows and is gifted with insight. Make evident to
us, within the companies (of disciples), the fate of Kappa.
1270. "Quickly enunciate your beautiful utterance, O beautiful one! Like a goose
stretching forth (its neck), honk gently with your melodious and well-modulated
voice; we are all listening to you attentively.
1271. "Pressing the one who has completely abandoned birth and death, I shall
urge the purified one to speak Dhamma. For among outsiders there is no acting as
they wish, but among Tathagatas there is acting with discretion.35
1272. "This full explanation of yours, (coming from) one with upright wisdom, is
well learnt. This last salutation is proferred. You of superior wisdom, knowing
(Kappa's fate), do not keep us in ignorance.
1273. "Having known the noble Dhamma in its full extent, you of superior energy,
knowing (Kappa's fate), do not keep us in ignorance. I long for your word as one
overcome by heat in the hot season longs for water. Rain down on our ears.36
1274. "Surely the purpose for which Kappayana practiced the holy life was not in
vain. Was he quenched or had he a residue remaining?37 Let us hear in what way
he was released."
1275. "He cut off craving here for mind-and-materiality", said the Fortunate
One, "the stream of craving which for a long time had lain latent within him. He
has crossed beyond birth and death completely." So spoke the Fortunate One, the
foremost of the five.38
1276. "On hearing your word, O best of seers, I believe. My question was truly
not in vain; the brahmin did not deceive me.
1277. "As he spoke, so he acted. He was a disciple of the Awakened One. He cut
through the strong, spread-out net of Death the deceiver.
1278. "Kappiya saw the starting point of grasping, O Fortunate One. Kappayana
has certainly gone beyond the realm of Death, so difficult to cross.
1279. "I pay homage to you, the god of gods,39 and to your son, O best of
bipeds, to the great hero born in your tracks, a naga, a true son of the
naga."40
Showing posts with label Theragatha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theragatha. Show all posts
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 19
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 19
Thag 19
Talaputa Thera
Talaputa
Translated from the Pali by
Bhikkhu Khantipalo
Alternate translation:KhantipaloOlendzki (excerpt)
PTS: vv. 1091-1145
Source: From Forest Meditations: The Verses of the Arahant Talaputa Thera
(WH 243/244), by Bhikkhu Khantipalo (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society,
1983). Copyright © 1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with
permission.
Copyright © 1983 Buddhist Publication Society.
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.
I. Thoughts Before Going Forth
1. When, O when shall I live all alone
in mountain caves, unmated with desire,
clear seeing as unstable all that comes to be?
This wish of mine, when indeed will it be?
2. When shall I, wearing the patchwork robes
of color dun, be sage, uncraving, never making mine,
with greed, aversion and delusion slain
and to the wild woods gone, in bliss abide?
3. When shall I, this body seeing clear —
unstable nest of dying and disease
oppressed by age and death, dwell free from fear
in the woods alone? When indeed will it be?
4. When indeed shall I dwell seizing the sharpened sword
of wisdom made? When cut the craving creeper —
breeder of fear, bringer of pain and woe,
and twining everywhere? When indeed will it be?
5. When lion-like in the victor's stance
shall I draw quick the sage's sword
of wisdom forged and fiery might
quick breaking Mara with his host? When indeed will it be?
6. When myself exerting, shall I be seen
in goodly company of those esteeming Dhamma?
Those with faculties subdued who see things as they are?
Those who are 'Thus'? When indeed will it be?
7. When indeed will weariness not worry me —
hunger, thirst and wind, heat, bugs and creeping things,
while bent on my own good, the Goal,
in Giribbaja's wilds? When indeed will it be?
8. When indeed shall I, self-mindful and composed
win to that wisdom known by Him,
the Greatest Sage, the Four Truths won within,
so very hard to see? When indeed will it be?
9. When shall I, possessed of meditation's calm
with wisdom see the forms innumerable,
sounds, smells and tastes, touches and dhammas too,
as a raging blaze? When will this be for me?
10. When shall I indeed, when with abusive words
addressed, not be displeased because of that,
and then again when praised be neither pleased
because of that? When will this be for me?
11. When shall I indeed weigh as the same:
wood, grass and creepers with these craved-for groups,
both inner and external forms
the dhammas numberless? When will it be for me?
12. When in the season of the black raincloud
shall I follow the path within the wood
trodden by those that See; robes moistened
by new falling rain? When indeed will it be?
13. When in a mountain cave having heard the peacock's cry,
that crested twice-born, bird down in the wood,
shall I arise and collect together mind
for attaining the undying? When indeed will it be?
14. When shall I, the Ganges and the Yamuna,
the Sarasvati and the awful ocean mouth
of the Balava-abyss, by psychic might
untouching go across? When indeed will it be?
15. When shall I, like charging elephant unbound,
break up desire for sensual happiness
and shunning all the marks of loveliness
strive in concentrated states? When indeed will it be?
16. When, as pauper by his debts distressed,
by creditors oppressed, a treasure finds,
shall I be pleased the Teaching to attain
of the Greatest Sage? When indeed will it be?
II. Self-admonishments After Going Forth
17. Long years have I been begged by you
'Enough for you of this living in a house.'
by now I have gone forth to homelessness
what reason is there, mind, for you not to urge me on?
18. Was I not, O mind, assured by you indeed:
'The brightly plumaged birds on Giribbaja's peaks
greeting the thunder, the sound of great Indra,
will bring to you joy meditating in the wood?'
19. Dear ones and friends and kin within the family,
playing and loving, sensual pleasures of the world:
all have I given up and reached at last to this,
even now, O mind, you are not pleased with me.
20. Mine you are, mind, possessed by none but me;
why then lament when comes this time to arm?
Seeing all as unstable this is now renounced:
longing for, desirous of the Undying State.
21. Said He who speaks the best, Best among mankind,
man-taming trainer, Physician Great indeed:
'Unsteady, likened to a monkey is the mind,
extremely hard to check by not rid of lust.'
22. For varied, sweet, delightful are desires of sense;
blind, foolish common men long have lain in them
seeking after birth again, 'tis they who wish for ill,
by mind they are led on to perish in hell.
23. 'In the jungle you should dwell, resounding with the cries
of peacocks and herons, by pard and tiger hailed:
Abandon longing for the body — do not fail'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
24. 'Grow in concentrations, the faculties and powers,
develop wisdom-factors by meditation deep
and then with Triple Knowledge touch the Buddha-sasana.'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
25. 'Grow in the Eightfold Way for gaining the Undying
leading to Release and cleansing of all stains;
Plunge to the utter destruction of all Ill!'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
26. 'Thoroughly examine the craved-for groups as Ill.
Abandon that from which arises ill.
Here and now make you an end of ill.'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
27. 'Thoroughly see inward the impermanent as ill,
the void as without self, and misery as bane,
and so the mind restrain in its mental wanderings.'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
28. 'Head-shaven and unsightly, go to be reviled,
among the people beg with skull-like bowl in hand.
To the Greatest Sage, the Teacher's word devote yourself.'
So indeed my mind you used to urge at me on.
29. 'Wander well-restrained among the streets and families
having a mind to sensual pleasures unattached,
as the full moon shining clear at night.'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
30. 'You should be a forest-dweller, almsman too,
a graveyard-dweller and a rag-robe wearer too,
one never lying down, delighting in austerities.'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
31. As he who having planted trees about to fruit
should wish to cut a tree down to the root:
that simile you made, mind, that do you desire
when on me urge the unstable and the frail.
32. Formless one, far-traveler, a wanderer alone,
no more shall I your bidding do, for sense desires
are ill, leading to bitter fruit, to brooding fear:
with mind Nibbana-turned I shall walk on.
33. Not from lack of luck did I go forth,
nor shamelessness, nor caused by mind's inconstancy,
nor banishment nor caused by livelihood,
and therefore I agreed with you, O mind.
34. 'Having few wishes, disparagement's abandoning,
with the stilling of all ill is praised by goodly men'
so indeed, my mind, then you urged at me,
but now you go back to habits made of old.
35. Craving, unknowing, the liked and the disliked,
delighting in forms and pleasing feelings too,
dear pleasures of the senses — all have been vomited:
never to that vomit can I make myself return.
36. In every life, O mind, your word was done by me,
In many births I have not sought to anger you.
That which within oneself produced by you, ingrate,
long wandered on in ill create by you.
37. Indeed it is you, mind, makes us brahmanas,
you make us noble warriors, kings and seers as well,
sometimes it is merchant or workers become,
or led by you indeed we come to gods' estate.
38. Indeed you are the cause of becoming titans too,
and you are the root for becoming in the hells;
sometimes there is going to birth as animals,
or led by you indeed be come to ghosts' estate.
39. Not now will you injure me ever and again,
moment by moment as though showing me a play,
as with one gone mad you play with me —
but how, O mind, have you been failed by me?
40. Formerly this wandering mind, a wanderer,
went where it wished, wherever whim or pleasure led,
today I shall thoroughly restrain it
as a trainer's hook the elephant in rut.
41. He, the Master made me see this world —
unstable, unsteady, lacking any essence;
now in the Conqueror's Teaching, mind make me leap
cross me over the great floods so very hard to cross!
42. Now it's not for you, mind, as it was before,
not likely am I to return to your control —
in the Greatest Sage's Sasana I have gone forth
and those like me are not by ruin wrapped.
43. Mountains, seas, rivers, and this wealthy world,
four quarters, points between, the nadir and the heavens
all the Three Becomings unstable and oppressed.
Where, mind, having gone will you happily delight?
44. Firm, firm in my aim! What will you do, my mind?
No longer in your power, mind, nor your follower.
None would even handle a double-ended sack,
let be a thing filled full and flowing with nine streams.
45. Whether peak or slopes or fair open space
or forest besprinkled with fresh showers in the Rains,
where frequently are found boar and antelope,
there will you delight to a grotto-lodging gone.
46. Fair blue-throated and fair-crested, the peacock fair of tail,
wing-plumes of many hues, the passengers of air,
greeting the thunder with fair-sounding cries
will bring to you joy meditating in the wood.
47. When the sky-god rains on the four inch grass
and on full-flowering cloud-like woods,
within the mountains like a log I'll lie
and soft that seat to me as cotton down.
48. Thus will I do even as a master should:
Let whatever is obtained be enough for me,
that indeed I'll do to you as energetic man
by taming makes supple a catskin bag.
49. Thus will I do even as a master should;
Let whatever is obtained be enough for me,
by energy I'll bring you in my power
as a skilled trainer the elephant in rut.
50. With you well-tamed, no longer turning round,
like to a trainer with a straight running horse,
I am able to practice the safe and blissful Path
ever frequented by them who guard the mind.
51. I'll bind you by strength to the meditation-base
as elephant to post by a strong rope bound;
well-guarded by me, well-grown with mindfulness,
you shall, by all becomings, be without support.
52. With wisdom cutting off wending the wrong path,
by endeavor restrained, established in the Path,
having seen the origin of passing, rising too —
you will be an heir to the Speaker of the Best.
53. You dragged me, mind, as on an ox's round,
in the power of the Four Perversions set;
come now, serve the Great Sage, Compassionate,
He the sure cutter of fetters and bonds.
54. As a deer roams in the very varied woods
and goes to the pleasant crest garlanded by clouds,
so there you will delight on that unentangled mount.
There is no doubt, mind, you'll be established there.
55. Men and women enjoying any happiness
controlled by thy desires and delighting in life,
blind fools they are who comply with Mara's power,
they driven on, O mind, servants are of thee.
Thag 19
Talaputa Thera
Talaputa
Translated from the Pali by
Bhikkhu Khantipalo
Alternate translation:KhantipaloOlendzki (excerpt)
PTS: vv. 1091-1145
Source: From Forest Meditations: The Verses of the Arahant Talaputa Thera
(WH 243/244), by Bhikkhu Khantipalo (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society,
1983). Copyright © 1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with
permission.
Copyright © 1983 Buddhist Publication Society.
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.
I. Thoughts Before Going Forth
1. When, O when shall I live all alone
in mountain caves, unmated with desire,
clear seeing as unstable all that comes to be?
This wish of mine, when indeed will it be?
2. When shall I, wearing the patchwork robes
of color dun, be sage, uncraving, never making mine,
with greed, aversion and delusion slain
and to the wild woods gone, in bliss abide?
3. When shall I, this body seeing clear —
unstable nest of dying and disease
oppressed by age and death, dwell free from fear
in the woods alone? When indeed will it be?
4. When indeed shall I dwell seizing the sharpened sword
of wisdom made? When cut the craving creeper —
breeder of fear, bringer of pain and woe,
and twining everywhere? When indeed will it be?
5. When lion-like in the victor's stance
shall I draw quick the sage's sword
of wisdom forged and fiery might
quick breaking Mara with his host? When indeed will it be?
6. When myself exerting, shall I be seen
in goodly company of those esteeming Dhamma?
Those with faculties subdued who see things as they are?
Those who are 'Thus'? When indeed will it be?
7. When indeed will weariness not worry me —
hunger, thirst and wind, heat, bugs and creeping things,
while bent on my own good, the Goal,
in Giribbaja's wilds? When indeed will it be?
8. When indeed shall I, self-mindful and composed
win to that wisdom known by Him,
the Greatest Sage, the Four Truths won within,
so very hard to see? When indeed will it be?
9. When shall I, possessed of meditation's calm
with wisdom see the forms innumerable,
sounds, smells and tastes, touches and dhammas too,
as a raging blaze? When will this be for me?
10. When shall I indeed, when with abusive words
addressed, not be displeased because of that,
and then again when praised be neither pleased
because of that? When will this be for me?
11. When shall I indeed weigh as the same:
wood, grass and creepers with these craved-for groups,
both inner and external forms
the dhammas numberless? When will it be for me?
12. When in the season of the black raincloud
shall I follow the path within the wood
trodden by those that See; robes moistened
by new falling rain? When indeed will it be?
13. When in a mountain cave having heard the peacock's cry,
that crested twice-born, bird down in the wood,
shall I arise and collect together mind
for attaining the undying? When indeed will it be?
14. When shall I, the Ganges and the Yamuna,
the Sarasvati and the awful ocean mouth
of the Balava-abyss, by psychic might
untouching go across? When indeed will it be?
15. When shall I, like charging elephant unbound,
break up desire for sensual happiness
and shunning all the marks of loveliness
strive in concentrated states? When indeed will it be?
16. When, as pauper by his debts distressed,
by creditors oppressed, a treasure finds,
shall I be pleased the Teaching to attain
of the Greatest Sage? When indeed will it be?
II. Self-admonishments After Going Forth
17. Long years have I been begged by you
'Enough for you of this living in a house.'
by now I have gone forth to homelessness
what reason is there, mind, for you not to urge me on?
18. Was I not, O mind, assured by you indeed:
'The brightly plumaged birds on Giribbaja's peaks
greeting the thunder, the sound of great Indra,
will bring to you joy meditating in the wood?'
19. Dear ones and friends and kin within the family,
playing and loving, sensual pleasures of the world:
all have I given up and reached at last to this,
even now, O mind, you are not pleased with me.
20. Mine you are, mind, possessed by none but me;
why then lament when comes this time to arm?
Seeing all as unstable this is now renounced:
longing for, desirous of the Undying State.
21. Said He who speaks the best, Best among mankind,
man-taming trainer, Physician Great indeed:
'Unsteady, likened to a monkey is the mind,
extremely hard to check by not rid of lust.'
22. For varied, sweet, delightful are desires of sense;
blind, foolish common men long have lain in them
seeking after birth again, 'tis they who wish for ill,
by mind they are led on to perish in hell.
23. 'In the jungle you should dwell, resounding with the cries
of peacocks and herons, by pard and tiger hailed:
Abandon longing for the body — do not fail'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
24. 'Grow in concentrations, the faculties and powers,
develop wisdom-factors by meditation deep
and then with Triple Knowledge touch the Buddha-sasana.'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
25. 'Grow in the Eightfold Way for gaining the Undying
leading to Release and cleansing of all stains;
Plunge to the utter destruction of all Ill!'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
26. 'Thoroughly examine the craved-for groups as Ill.
Abandon that from which arises ill.
Here and now make you an end of ill.'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
27. 'Thoroughly see inward the impermanent as ill,
the void as without self, and misery as bane,
and so the mind restrain in its mental wanderings.'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
28. 'Head-shaven and unsightly, go to be reviled,
among the people beg with skull-like bowl in hand.
To the Greatest Sage, the Teacher's word devote yourself.'
So indeed my mind you used to urge at me on.
29. 'Wander well-restrained among the streets and families
having a mind to sensual pleasures unattached,
as the full moon shining clear at night.'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
30. 'You should be a forest-dweller, almsman too,
a graveyard-dweller and a rag-robe wearer too,
one never lying down, delighting in austerities.'
So indeed my mind you used to urge me on.
31. As he who having planted trees about to fruit
should wish to cut a tree down to the root:
that simile you made, mind, that do you desire
when on me urge the unstable and the frail.
32. Formless one, far-traveler, a wanderer alone,
no more shall I your bidding do, for sense desires
are ill, leading to bitter fruit, to brooding fear:
with mind Nibbana-turned I shall walk on.
33. Not from lack of luck did I go forth,
nor shamelessness, nor caused by mind's inconstancy,
nor banishment nor caused by livelihood,
and therefore I agreed with you, O mind.
34. 'Having few wishes, disparagement's abandoning,
with the stilling of all ill is praised by goodly men'
so indeed, my mind, then you urged at me,
but now you go back to habits made of old.
35. Craving, unknowing, the liked and the disliked,
delighting in forms and pleasing feelings too,
dear pleasures of the senses — all have been vomited:
never to that vomit can I make myself return.
36. In every life, O mind, your word was done by me,
In many births I have not sought to anger you.
That which within oneself produced by you, ingrate,
long wandered on in ill create by you.
37. Indeed it is you, mind, makes us brahmanas,
you make us noble warriors, kings and seers as well,
sometimes it is merchant or workers become,
or led by you indeed we come to gods' estate.
38. Indeed you are the cause of becoming titans too,
and you are the root for becoming in the hells;
sometimes there is going to birth as animals,
or led by you indeed be come to ghosts' estate.
39. Not now will you injure me ever and again,
moment by moment as though showing me a play,
as with one gone mad you play with me —
but how, O mind, have you been failed by me?
40. Formerly this wandering mind, a wanderer,
went where it wished, wherever whim or pleasure led,
today I shall thoroughly restrain it
as a trainer's hook the elephant in rut.
41. He, the Master made me see this world —
unstable, unsteady, lacking any essence;
now in the Conqueror's Teaching, mind make me leap
cross me over the great floods so very hard to cross!
42. Now it's not for you, mind, as it was before,
not likely am I to return to your control —
in the Greatest Sage's Sasana I have gone forth
and those like me are not by ruin wrapped.
43. Mountains, seas, rivers, and this wealthy world,
four quarters, points between, the nadir and the heavens
all the Three Becomings unstable and oppressed.
Where, mind, having gone will you happily delight?
44. Firm, firm in my aim! What will you do, my mind?
No longer in your power, mind, nor your follower.
None would even handle a double-ended sack,
let be a thing filled full and flowing with nine streams.
45. Whether peak or slopes or fair open space
or forest besprinkled with fresh showers in the Rains,
where frequently are found boar and antelope,
there will you delight to a grotto-lodging gone.
46. Fair blue-throated and fair-crested, the peacock fair of tail,
wing-plumes of many hues, the passengers of air,
greeting the thunder with fair-sounding cries
will bring to you joy meditating in the wood.
47. When the sky-god rains on the four inch grass
and on full-flowering cloud-like woods,
within the mountains like a log I'll lie
and soft that seat to me as cotton down.
48. Thus will I do even as a master should:
Let whatever is obtained be enough for me,
that indeed I'll do to you as energetic man
by taming makes supple a catskin bag.
49. Thus will I do even as a master should;
Let whatever is obtained be enough for me,
by energy I'll bring you in my power
as a skilled trainer the elephant in rut.
50. With you well-tamed, no longer turning round,
like to a trainer with a straight running horse,
I am able to practice the safe and blissful Path
ever frequented by them who guard the mind.
51. I'll bind you by strength to the meditation-base
as elephant to post by a strong rope bound;
well-guarded by me, well-grown with mindfulness,
you shall, by all becomings, be without support.
52. With wisdom cutting off wending the wrong path,
by endeavor restrained, established in the Path,
having seen the origin of passing, rising too —
you will be an heir to the Speaker of the Best.
53. You dragged me, mind, as on an ox's round,
in the power of the Four Perversions set;
come now, serve the Great Sage, Compassionate,
He the sure cutter of fetters and bonds.
54. As a deer roams in the very varied woods
and goes to the pleasant crest garlanded by clouds,
so there you will delight on that unentangled mount.
There is no doubt, mind, you'll be established there.
55. Men and women enjoying any happiness
controlled by thy desires and delighting in life,
blind fools they are who comply with Mara's power,
they driven on, O mind, servants are of thee.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 18
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 18
Thag 18
Maha Kassapa
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:Olendzki (excerpt)Thanissaro
PTS: vv. 1051-90
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1998
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.
One shouldn't go about
surrounded, revered
by a company:
one gets distracted;
concentration
is hard to gain.
Fellowship with many people
is painful.
Seeing this,
one shouldn't approve
of a company.
A sage shouldn't visit families:
one gets distracted;
concentration
is hard to gain.
He's eager & greedy for flavors,
whoever misses the goal
that brings bliss.
They know it's a bog —
the reverence & veneration
of families —
a subtle arrow, hard to extract.
Offerings are hard for a worthless man
to let go.
* * *
Coming down from my dwelling place,
I entered the city for alms,
stood courteously next to a leper
eating his meal.
He, with his rotting hand,
tossed me a morsel of food,
and as the morsel was dropping,
a finger fell off
right there.
Sitting next to a wall,
I ate that morsel of food,
and neither while eating it,
nor having eaten,
did I feel
any disgust.
Whoever has mastered
left-over scraps for food,
smelly urine for medicine,
the foot of a tree for a dwelling,
cast-off rags for robes:
He is a man
of the four directions.
* * *
Where some are exhausted
climbing the mountain,
there
the Awakened One's heir
— mindful, alert,
buoyed by his psychic power —
Kassapa climbs.
Returning from his alms round,
climbing the peak,
Kassapa does jhana
with no sustenance/clinging,
having abandoned terror
& fear.
Returning from his alms round,
climbing the peak,
Kassapa does jhana
with no sustenance/clinging,
unbound
among those who burn.
Returning from his alms round,
climbing the peak,
Kassapa does jhana
with no sustenance/clinging,
free of fermentation,
his duty
done.
Spread with garlands of vines,
places delighting the mind,
resounding with elephants,
appealing:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
The color of blue-dark clouds,
glistening,
cooled with the waters
of clear-flowing streams
covered with ladybugs:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
Like the peaks of blue-dark clouds,
like excellent peaked-roof buildings,
resounding with tuskers,
appealing:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
Their lovely surfaces wet with rain,
mountains frequented
by seers
& echoing
with peacocks:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
This is enough for me —
desiring to do jhana,
resolute, mindful;
enough for me —
desiring the goal,
resolute,
a monk;
enough for me —
desiring comfort,
resolute,
in training;
enough for me —
desiring my duty,
resolute,
Such.
Flax-flower blue,
like the sky
covered over with clouds;
filled with flocks
of various birds:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
Uncrowded
by householders,
frequented
by herds of deer
filled with flocks
of various birds:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
With clear waters &
massive boulders,
frequented by monkeys &
deer,
covered with moss &
water weeds:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
There is no such pleasure for me
in the music of a five-piece band
as there is when my mind
is at one,
seeing the Dhamma
aright.
* * *
One shouldn't do lots of work,
should avoid people,
shouldn't busy oneself.
He's eager & greedy for flavors,
whoever misses the goal
that brings bliss.
One shouldn't do lots of work,
should avoid
what doesn't lead to the goal.
The body gets wearied,
fatigued.
Aching, one finds
no tranquillity.
* * *
Simply by flapping the mouth
one doesn't see
even oneself.
One goes around stiff-
necked,
thinking, 'I'm better
than they.'
Not better,
he thinks himself better,
the fool:
the wise don't praise him,
the stiff-necked man.
But whoever isn't stirred
by the modes of
'I'm better,
not better.
I'm worse.
I'm like that';
one who's discerning,
who acts as he says,
well-centered
in virtues,
committed to
tranquillity of awareness, he
is the one
the wise
would praise.
One with no respect
for his fellows in the holy life,
is as far
from the true Dhamma
as the earth
is from the sky.
But those whose conscience
& fear of evil
are always rightly established: they
have flourished in the holy life.
For them
there's no further becoming.
A monk conceited & vain,
even though clad
in a robe of cast-off rags,
like a monkey in a lion's skin,
doesn't shine because of it.
But a monk not conceited
or vain,
masterful,
his faculties restrained, shines
because of his robe of cast-off rags,
like a lion
in the cleft of a mountain.
* * *
These many devas,
powerful, prestigious
— 10,000 devas —
all of Brahma's retinue,
stand with their hands over their hearts,
paying homage to Sariputta,
the Dhamma-general,
enlightened,
centered,
great master of jhana,
[saying:]
'Homage to you, O thoroughbred man.
Homage to you, O superlative man —
of whom we have no direct knowledge
even of that
in dependence on which
you do jhana.
'How very amazing:
the awakened ones'
very own deep range —
of which we have no direct knowledge,
though we have come
as hair-splitting archers.'
Seeing Sariputta,
a man worthy of worship,
worshipped by deva retinues,
Kappina
smiled.
* * *
As far as this buddha-field extends
— except for the great sage himself —
I'm the one
outstanding
in ascetic qualities.
There's no one else
like me.
The Teacher has been served by me;
the Awakened One's bidding,
done;
the heavy load, laid down;
the guide to becoming, uprooted.
Neither to robe,
nor dwelling,
nor food
does he cling:
Gotama,
like a lotus unspotted
by water, inclining
to renunciation, detached
from the three planes of becoming.1
He,
the great sage,
has the frames of reference
as his neck,
conviction
as hands,
discernment
as head.
The great master of jhana
he goes about
always unbound.
Note
1. The three planes of becoming are the sensual, form, and formlessness. See SN
12.1.
See also: AN 4.259.
Thag 18
Maha Kassapa
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:Olendzki (excerpt)Thanissaro
PTS: vv. 1051-90
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1998
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.
One shouldn't go about
surrounded, revered
by a company:
one gets distracted;
concentration
is hard to gain.
Fellowship with many people
is painful.
Seeing this,
one shouldn't approve
of a company.
A sage shouldn't visit families:
one gets distracted;
concentration
is hard to gain.
He's eager & greedy for flavors,
whoever misses the goal
that brings bliss.
They know it's a bog —
the reverence & veneration
of families —
a subtle arrow, hard to extract.
Offerings are hard for a worthless man
to let go.
* * *
Coming down from my dwelling place,
I entered the city for alms,
stood courteously next to a leper
eating his meal.
He, with his rotting hand,
tossed me a morsel of food,
and as the morsel was dropping,
a finger fell off
right there.
Sitting next to a wall,
I ate that morsel of food,
and neither while eating it,
nor having eaten,
did I feel
any disgust.
Whoever has mastered
left-over scraps for food,
smelly urine for medicine,
the foot of a tree for a dwelling,
cast-off rags for robes:
He is a man
of the four directions.
* * *
Where some are exhausted
climbing the mountain,
there
the Awakened One's heir
— mindful, alert,
buoyed by his psychic power —
Kassapa climbs.
Returning from his alms round,
climbing the peak,
Kassapa does jhana
with no sustenance/clinging,
having abandoned terror
& fear.
Returning from his alms round,
climbing the peak,
Kassapa does jhana
with no sustenance/clinging,
unbound
among those who burn.
Returning from his alms round,
climbing the peak,
Kassapa does jhana
with no sustenance/clinging,
free of fermentation,
his duty
done.
Spread with garlands of vines,
places delighting the mind,
resounding with elephants,
appealing:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
The color of blue-dark clouds,
glistening,
cooled with the waters
of clear-flowing streams
covered with ladybugs:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
Like the peaks of blue-dark clouds,
like excellent peaked-roof buildings,
resounding with tuskers,
appealing:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
Their lovely surfaces wet with rain,
mountains frequented
by seers
& echoing
with peacocks:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
This is enough for me —
desiring to do jhana,
resolute, mindful;
enough for me —
desiring the goal,
resolute,
a monk;
enough for me —
desiring comfort,
resolute,
in training;
enough for me —
desiring my duty,
resolute,
Such.
Flax-flower blue,
like the sky
covered over with clouds;
filled with flocks
of various birds:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
Uncrowded
by householders,
frequented
by herds of deer
filled with flocks
of various birds:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
With clear waters &
massive boulders,
frequented by monkeys &
deer,
covered with moss &
water weeds:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
There is no such pleasure for me
in the music of a five-piece band
as there is when my mind
is at one,
seeing the Dhamma
aright.
* * *
One shouldn't do lots of work,
should avoid people,
shouldn't busy oneself.
He's eager & greedy for flavors,
whoever misses the goal
that brings bliss.
One shouldn't do lots of work,
should avoid
what doesn't lead to the goal.
The body gets wearied,
fatigued.
Aching, one finds
no tranquillity.
* * *
Simply by flapping the mouth
one doesn't see
even oneself.
One goes around stiff-
necked,
thinking, 'I'm better
than they.'
Not better,
he thinks himself better,
the fool:
the wise don't praise him,
the stiff-necked man.
But whoever isn't stirred
by the modes of
'I'm better,
not better.
I'm worse.
I'm like that';
one who's discerning,
who acts as he says,
well-centered
in virtues,
committed to
tranquillity of awareness, he
is the one
the wise
would praise.
One with no respect
for his fellows in the holy life,
is as far
from the true Dhamma
as the earth
is from the sky.
But those whose conscience
& fear of evil
are always rightly established: they
have flourished in the holy life.
For them
there's no further becoming.
A monk conceited & vain,
even though clad
in a robe of cast-off rags,
like a monkey in a lion's skin,
doesn't shine because of it.
But a monk not conceited
or vain,
masterful,
his faculties restrained, shines
because of his robe of cast-off rags,
like a lion
in the cleft of a mountain.
* * *
These many devas,
powerful, prestigious
— 10,000 devas —
all of Brahma's retinue,
stand with their hands over their hearts,
paying homage to Sariputta,
the Dhamma-general,
enlightened,
centered,
great master of jhana,
[saying:]
'Homage to you, O thoroughbred man.
Homage to you, O superlative man —
of whom we have no direct knowledge
even of that
in dependence on which
you do jhana.
'How very amazing:
the awakened ones'
very own deep range —
of which we have no direct knowledge,
though we have come
as hair-splitting archers.'
Seeing Sariputta,
a man worthy of worship,
worshipped by deva retinues,
Kappina
smiled.
* * *
As far as this buddha-field extends
— except for the great sage himself —
I'm the one
outstanding
in ascetic qualities.
There's no one else
like me.
The Teacher has been served by me;
the Awakened One's bidding,
done;
the heavy load, laid down;
the guide to becoming, uprooted.
Neither to robe,
nor dwelling,
nor food
does he cling:
Gotama,
like a lotus unspotted
by water, inclining
to renunciation, detached
from the three planes of becoming.1
He,
the great sage,
has the frames of reference
as his neck,
conviction
as hands,
discernment
as head.
The great master of jhana
he goes about
always unbound.
Note
1. The three planes of becoming are the sensual, form, and formlessness. See SN
12.1.
See also: AN 4.259.
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.
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.
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,
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.
[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.
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,
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.
[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.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 15
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 15
Thag 15.1
Annakondanna Thera
Annakondanna
(excerpt)
Translated from the Pali by
Andrew OlendzkiPTS: v. 675
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.
...
Just as a rain-cloud would settle
The dust that's been raised by the wind,
So all conceptions come to rest
— When one sees clearly with wisdom.
...
Thag 15.2
Udayin Thera
The Blooming Lotus
(excerpt)
As the flower of a lotus,
Arisen in water, blossoms,
Pure-scented and pleasing the mind,
Yet is not drenched by the water,
In the same way, born in the world,
The Buddha abides in the world;
And like the lotus by water,
He does not get drenched by the world.
Translator's note
This poem by the Elder Udayin evokes one of the most famous of Buddhist images,
and is laced with meaning on many levels. In one sense — emerging from the
psychological ethos of early Buddhist teaching — it can be taken to describe the
ability of the awakened person to thrive in the world of sensory experience
without clinging or attachment. Though the human condition is rooted in the
desires that give rise to all life and selfhood, one can learn to live in this
world without being bound by the impulse to crave pleasure and avoid pain. One
gets "drenched by the world" when one succumbs to to the range of grasping
behaviors which inevitably bring about suffering — the mind clings to an object
like water that permeates something and drenches it. Here we see a Buddha that
does not transcend the world, but lives in it for forty-five years with a mind
free of all attachments.
As the tradition evolved, the question of just what sort of being the Buddha was
became of growing importance. The image of the lotus emerging from the mud and
blooming above the world became a popular way of expressing the Buddha's
transcendence. In the canonical passage upon which Udayin builds his verse
(Samyutta Nikaya 22:94) the phrase "having passed beyond the world" (lokam
abhibhuyya) is added, and this becomes the basis for the Vetulyaka assertion
that the Buddha was essentially a transcendent being. This interpretation had
profound implications for later Buddhism, and set the stage for, among other
ideas, the Three Bodies of the Buddha doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism. In this way
of looking at things, Awakening (represented by the lotus blossom) is something
that happens again and again in all different places and times, and is not
limited to a single occurrence of it among the Sakya's of ancient India.
The tantric Buddhists of the Vajrayana were drawn to the contrast in this image
between the ordinary, defiling mud in which the plant is rooted and the sublime
loveliness of the blossom. Relentless in their non-attachment to dichotomies and
their demolition of opposites, the tantric approach is to be capable of
embracing both extremes without clinging to either. Though the emphasis changes,
we can see that the essential teaching of non-attachment or non-clinging
(nopalippati) — to the objects of sense-perception, to a particular mode of
teaching, or to conventional dualities — remains carried through the ages by
this simple image of a lotus growing out of the water.
Thag 15.1
Annakondanna Thera
Annakondanna
(excerpt)
Translated from the Pali by
Andrew OlendzkiPTS: v. 675
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.
...
Just as a rain-cloud would settle
The dust that's been raised by the wind,
So all conceptions come to rest
— When one sees clearly with wisdom.
...
Thag 15.2
Udayin Thera
The Blooming Lotus
(excerpt)
As the flower of a lotus,
Arisen in water, blossoms,
Pure-scented and pleasing the mind,
Yet is not drenched by the water,
In the same way, born in the world,
The Buddha abides in the world;
And like the lotus by water,
He does not get drenched by the world.
Translator's note
This poem by the Elder Udayin evokes one of the most famous of Buddhist images,
and is laced with meaning on many levels. In one sense — emerging from the
psychological ethos of early Buddhist teaching — it can be taken to describe the
ability of the awakened person to thrive in the world of sensory experience
without clinging or attachment. Though the human condition is rooted in the
desires that give rise to all life and selfhood, one can learn to live in this
world without being bound by the impulse to crave pleasure and avoid pain. One
gets "drenched by the world" when one succumbs to to the range of grasping
behaviors which inevitably bring about suffering — the mind clings to an object
like water that permeates something and drenches it. Here we see a Buddha that
does not transcend the world, but lives in it for forty-five years with a mind
free of all attachments.
As the tradition evolved, the question of just what sort of being the Buddha was
became of growing importance. The image of the lotus emerging from the mud and
blooming above the world became a popular way of expressing the Buddha's
transcendence. In the canonical passage upon which Udayin builds his verse
(Samyutta Nikaya 22:94) the phrase "having passed beyond the world" (lokam
abhibhuyya) is added, and this becomes the basis for the Vetulyaka assertion
that the Buddha was essentially a transcendent being. This interpretation had
profound implications for later Buddhism, and set the stage for, among other
ideas, the Three Bodies of the Buddha doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism. In this way
of looking at things, Awakening (represented by the lotus blossom) is something
that happens again and again in all different places and times, and is not
limited to a single occurrence of it among the Sakya's of ancient India.
The tantric Buddhists of the Vajrayana were drawn to the contrast in this image
between the ordinary, defiling mud in which the plant is rooted and the sublime
loveliness of the blossom. Relentless in their non-attachment to dichotomies and
their demolition of opposites, the tantric approach is to be capable of
embracing both extremes without clinging to either. Though the emphasis changes,
we can see that the essential teaching of non-attachment or non-clinging
(nopalippati) — to the objects of sense-perception, to a particular mode of
teaching, or to conventional dualities — remains carried through the ages by
this simple image of a lotus growing out of the water.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 14
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 14
Thag 14.1
Revata's Farewell
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: vv. 645-658
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1998
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.
Since I went forth
from home into homelessness,
I haven't known
an ignoble, aversive resolve.
"May these beings
be destroyed,
be slaughtered,
fall into pain" —
I've not known this resolve
in this long, long time.
But I have known good will,
unlimited,
fully developed,
nurtured step after step,
as taught by the One
Awake:
to all, a friend;
to all, a comrade;
for all beings, sympathetic.
And I develop a mind of good will,
delighting in non-malevolence — always.
Unvanquished, unshaken,
I gladden the mind.
I develop the sublime abiding,
not frequented by
the lowly.
Attaining no-thinking,
the disciple of the Rightly
Self-awakened One
is endowed with noble silence
straightaway.
As a mountain of rock
is unmoving,
firmly established,
so a monk, with the ending of delusion,
like a mountain, doesn't quake.
To a person without blemish,
constantly in search of what's pure,
a hair-tip of evil
seems a storm cloud.
As a frontier fortress is guarded
within & without,
you should safeguard yourselves.
Don't let the moment
pass you by.
I don't delight in death,
don't delight in living.
I await my time
like a worker his wage.
I don't delight in death,
don't delight in living.
I await my time
mindful, alert.
The Teacher has been served by me;
the Awakened One's bidding,
done;
the heavy load, laid down;
the guide to becoming, uprooted.
And the goal for which I went forth
from home life into homelessness
I've reached:
the end
of all fetters.
Attain completion through heedfulness:
that is my message.
So then, I'm about to be
Unbound.
I'm released
everywhere.
Thag 14.2
Godatta
Just as a fine, well-bred bull
yoked to a load,
enduring his load,
crushed
by the heavy burden,
doesn't throw down his yoke;
so, too, those who are filled with discernment
— as the ocean, with water —
don't look down on others.
This is nobility among beings.
Having fallen in time
under the sway of time,
having come under the sway
of becoming-becoming,
people fall subject to pain
& they grieve.
Elated by the causes of pleasure,
& cast down by causes of pain,
fools are destroyed by both,
not seeing them for what they are.
While those who, in the midst of
pleasure & pain
have gone past the seamstress of craving,
stand firm
like a boundary pillar,
neither elated nor cast down.
Not to gain or loss
not to status or honor,
not to praise or blame,
not to pleasure or pain:
everywhere
they do not adhere —
like a water bead
on a lotus.
Everywhere
they are happy, the enlightened,
everywhere
un-
defeated.
No matter what
the unrighteous gain
or the righteous loss,
righteous loss is better
than if there were unrighteous gain.
No matter what
the status of the unaware
or the lowliness of those who know,
the lowliness of those who know
is better,
not the status of those
unaware.
No matter what
the praise from fools
or the censure from those who know,
the censure from those who know
is better
than if there were praise
from fools.
And as for the pleasure
from sensuality
and the pain from seclusion,
the pain from seclusion
is better
than if there were pleasure
from sensuality.
And as for living through unrighteousness
and dying for righteousness,
dying for righteousness
is better,
than if one were to live
through unrighteousness.
Those who've abandoned
sensuality & anger,
whose minds are calmed
from becoming & non-,
go through the world
unattached.
For them there is nothing
dear or undear.
Developing
the factors for Awakening,
faculties,
& strengths,
attaining the foremost peace,
without fermentation, they
are entirely
Unbound.
Thag 14.1
Revata's Farewell
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: vv. 645-658
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1998
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.
Since I went forth
from home into homelessness,
I haven't known
an ignoble, aversive resolve.
"May these beings
be destroyed,
be slaughtered,
fall into pain" —
I've not known this resolve
in this long, long time.
But I have known good will,
unlimited,
fully developed,
nurtured step after step,
as taught by the One
Awake:
to all, a friend;
to all, a comrade;
for all beings, sympathetic.
And I develop a mind of good will,
delighting in non-malevolence — always.
Unvanquished, unshaken,
I gladden the mind.
I develop the sublime abiding,
not frequented by
the lowly.
Attaining no-thinking,
the disciple of the Rightly
Self-awakened One
is endowed with noble silence
straightaway.
As a mountain of rock
is unmoving,
firmly established,
so a monk, with the ending of delusion,
like a mountain, doesn't quake.
To a person without blemish,
constantly in search of what's pure,
a hair-tip of evil
seems a storm cloud.
As a frontier fortress is guarded
within & without,
you should safeguard yourselves.
Don't let the moment
pass you by.
I don't delight in death,
don't delight in living.
I await my time
like a worker his wage.
I don't delight in death,
don't delight in living.
I await my time
mindful, alert.
The Teacher has been served by me;
the Awakened One's bidding,
done;
the heavy load, laid down;
the guide to becoming, uprooted.
And the goal for which I went forth
from home life into homelessness
I've reached:
the end
of all fetters.
Attain completion through heedfulness:
that is my message.
So then, I'm about to be
Unbound.
I'm released
everywhere.
Thag 14.2
Godatta
Just as a fine, well-bred bull
yoked to a load,
enduring his load,
crushed
by the heavy burden,
doesn't throw down his yoke;
so, too, those who are filled with discernment
— as the ocean, with water —
don't look down on others.
This is nobility among beings.
Having fallen in time
under the sway of time,
having come under the sway
of becoming-becoming,
people fall subject to pain
& they grieve.
Elated by the causes of pleasure,
& cast down by causes of pain,
fools are destroyed by both,
not seeing them for what they are.
While those who, in the midst of
pleasure & pain
have gone past the seamstress of craving,
stand firm
like a boundary pillar,
neither elated nor cast down.
Not to gain or loss
not to status or honor,
not to praise or blame,
not to pleasure or pain:
everywhere
they do not adhere —
like a water bead
on a lotus.
Everywhere
they are happy, the enlightened,
everywhere
un-
defeated.
No matter what
the unrighteous gain
or the righteous loss,
righteous loss is better
than if there were unrighteous gain.
No matter what
the status of the unaware
or the lowliness of those who know,
the lowliness of those who know
is better,
not the status of those
unaware.
No matter what
the praise from fools
or the censure from those who know,
the censure from those who know
is better
than if there were praise
from fools.
And as for the pleasure
from sensuality
and the pain from seclusion,
the pain from seclusion
is better
than if there were pleasure
from sensuality.
And as for living through unrighteousness
and dying for righteousness,
dying for righteousness
is better,
than if one were to live
through unrighteousness.
Those who've abandoned
sensuality & anger,
whose minds are calmed
from becoming & non-,
go through the world
unattached.
For them there is nothing
dear or undear.
Developing
the factors for Awakening,
faculties,
& strengths,
attaining the foremost peace,
without fermentation, they
are entirely
Unbound.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 12
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 12
Thag 12.2
Sunita the Outcaste
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: vv. 620-631
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
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.
In a lowly family I was born,
poor, with next to no food.
My work was degrading:
I gathered the spoiled,
the withered flowers from shrines
and threw them away.
People found me disgusting,
despised me, disparaged me.
Lowering my heart,
I showed reverence to many.
Then I saw the One Self-awakened,
arrayed with a squadron of monks,
the Great Hero, entering the city,
supreme, of the Magadhans.
Throwing down my carrying pole,
I approached him to do reverence.
He — the supreme man — stood still
out of sympathy
just
for me.
After paying homage
to the feet of the teacher,
I stood to one side
& requested the Going Forth from him,
supreme among all living beings.
The compassionate Teacher,
sympathetic to all the world, said:
"Come, monk."
That was my formal Acceptance.
Alone, I stayed in the wilds,
untiring,
I followed the Teacher's words,
just as he, the Conqueror, had taught me.
In the first watch of the night,
I recollected previous lives;
in the middle watch,
purified the divine eye;
in the last,
burst the mass of darkness.
Then, as night was ending
& the sun returning,
Indra & Brahma came to pay homage to me,
hands palm-to-palm at their hearts:
"Homage to you, O thoroughbred of men,
Homage to you, O man supreme,
whose fermentations are ended.
You, dear sir, are worthy of offerings."
Seeing me, arrayed with a squadron of devas,
the Teacher smiled & said:
"Through austerity, celibacy,
restraint, & self-control:
That's how one is a brahman.
He is a brahman supreme."
Thag 12.2
Sunita the Outcaste
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: vv. 620-631
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
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.
In a lowly family I was born,
poor, with next to no food.
My work was degrading:
I gathered the spoiled,
the withered flowers from shrines
and threw them away.
People found me disgusting,
despised me, disparaged me.
Lowering my heart,
I showed reverence to many.
Then I saw the One Self-awakened,
arrayed with a squadron of monks,
the Great Hero, entering the city,
supreme, of the Magadhans.
Throwing down my carrying pole,
I approached him to do reverence.
He — the supreme man — stood still
out of sympathy
just
for me.
After paying homage
to the feet of the teacher,
I stood to one side
& requested the Going Forth from him,
supreme among all living beings.
The compassionate Teacher,
sympathetic to all the world, said:
"Come, monk."
That was my formal Acceptance.
Alone, I stayed in the wilds,
untiring,
I followed the Teacher's words,
just as he, the Conqueror, had taught me.
In the first watch of the night,
I recollected previous lives;
in the middle watch,
purified the divine eye;
in the last,
burst the mass of darkness.
Then, as night was ending
& the sun returning,
Indra & Brahma came to pay homage to me,
hands palm-to-palm at their hearts:
"Homage to you, O thoroughbred of men,
Homage to you, O man supreme,
whose fermentations are ended.
You, dear sir, are worthy of offerings."
Seeing me, arrayed with a squadron of devas,
the Teacher smiled & said:
"Through austerity, celibacy,
restraint, & self-control:
That's how one is a brahman.
He is a brahman supreme."
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 11
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 11
Thag 11.1
Sankicca
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: vv. 597-607
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 2004 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 2004
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.
What do you want in the woods, my boy,
like a bird1 exposed to the rain?
Monsoons refresh you,
for seclusion is for those in jhana.
As the monsoon wind
drives the clouds in the rainy season,
so thoughts concerned with seclusion
impel me.
* * *
A black crow
making its home in a charnel ground
inspires within me
mindfulness in —
based on dispassion for —
the body.2
* * *
One whom others don't guard,
who doesn't guard others:
He is a monk
who lies down in ease,
unconcerned with sensual passions.
* * *
With clear waters &
massive boulders,
frequented by monkeys &
deer,
covered with moss &
water weeds:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
* * *
I've lived in wildernesses,
canyons, & caves,
isolated dwellings
frequented by predator & prey,
but never have I known
an ignoble, aversive resolve:
"May these beings
be destroyed,
be slaughtered,
fall into pain."
* * *
The Teacher has been served by me;
the Awakened One's bidding,
done;
the heavy load, laid down;
the guide to becoming,3 uprooted.
And the goal for which I went forth
from home life into homelessness
I've reached:
the end
of all fetters.
I don't delight in death,
don't delight in living.
I await my time
like a worker his wage.
I don't delight in death,
don't delight in living.
I await my time
mindful, alert.
Notes
1. Ujjuhaana. The Commentary offers two interpretations for this word. The first
is that it is a hill covered with jungle and many streams that tended to
overflow in the rainy season. The other is that it is the name of a bird that
could stay comfortable even when exposed to cold, wind, and rain. I've chosen
the second alternative. K.R. Norman speculates that the term could be written
ujjahaana, in which case it would be the present participle for a verb meaning
abandoned or cast off. However, none of the manuscripts support his speculation.
2. In other words, the sight of the crow taking up residence in skulls and other
body parts provided a chastening perspective on how the mind takes up residence
in the body.
3. The guide to becoming is craving.
See also: Thag 5.8; Thag 14.1; Thag 18.
Thag 11.1
Sankicca
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: vv. 597-607
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 2004 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 2004
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.
What do you want in the woods, my boy,
like a bird1 exposed to the rain?
Monsoons refresh you,
for seclusion is for those in jhana.
As the monsoon wind
drives the clouds in the rainy season,
so thoughts concerned with seclusion
impel me.
* * *
A black crow
making its home in a charnel ground
inspires within me
mindfulness in —
based on dispassion for —
the body.2
* * *
One whom others don't guard,
who doesn't guard others:
He is a monk
who lies down in ease,
unconcerned with sensual passions.
* * *
With clear waters &
massive boulders,
frequented by monkeys &
deer,
covered with moss &
water weeds:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
* * *
I've lived in wildernesses,
canyons, & caves,
isolated dwellings
frequented by predator & prey,
but never have I known
an ignoble, aversive resolve:
"May these beings
be destroyed,
be slaughtered,
fall into pain."
* * *
The Teacher has been served by me;
the Awakened One's bidding,
done;
the heavy load, laid down;
the guide to becoming,3 uprooted.
And the goal for which I went forth
from home life into homelessness
I've reached:
the end
of all fetters.
I don't delight in death,
don't delight in living.
I await my time
like a worker his wage.
I don't delight in death,
don't delight in living.
I await my time
mindful, alert.
Notes
1. Ujjuhaana. The Commentary offers two interpretations for this word. The first
is that it is a hill covered with jungle and many streams that tended to
overflow in the rainy season. The other is that it is the name of a bird that
could stay comfortable even when exposed to cold, wind, and rain. I've chosen
the second alternative. K.R. Norman speculates that the term could be written
ujjahaana, in which case it would be the present participle for a verb meaning
abandoned or cast off. However, none of the manuscripts support his speculation.
2. In other words, the sight of the crow taking up residence in skulls and other
body parts provided a chastening perspective on how the mind takes up residence
in the body.
3. The guide to becoming is craving.
See also: Thag 5.8; Thag 14.1; Thag 18.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 10
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 10
Thag 10.1
Kaludayin Thera
Crossing the Rohini
(excerpt)
Translated from the Pali by
Andrew OlendzkiPTS: vv. 527-529
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.
Crimson now, Sir, are the trees of the forest,
Having shed their foliage, they're eager to fruit,
(Their flowers are) blazing forth like brilliant flames,
— It is a luscious time of year, Great Hero.
The blossoming trees, so pleasing to the mind,
Spread their fragrance in every direction,
Surrendering their leaves and longing for fruit;
— The time has come to depart from here, Hero.
It is neither too cold, nor again too hot,
The season is pleasant, suited for travel.
My Lord, let the Sakyas and Koliyas see you
— Facing westward and crossing the Rohini.
Translator's note
These verses are said to have been uttered by Udayin (nick-named Kala Udayin or
"Dark Udayin"). He was the son of king Suddhodhana's chief minister, and is said
to have been the childhood companion of prince Siddhartha. Soon after Gotama's
awakening, the king sent several messengers to ask his son to return home. Each
one, upon hearing the Buddha's teaching, apparently joined his movement and gave
up the king's mission. Finally Suddhodhana sends Kaludayin, who agrees on
condition that he can become a follower of the Buddha upon getting him to return
home for a visit.
The Rohini river runs through the heart of the Buddha's homeland, marking the
border between the lands of the Sakyas and the Koliyas (his father's and
mother's families, respectively). Since the verses are uttered in Rajagaha, well
to the southeast, a returning journey would face the traveler westward. One
commentary says that Kaludayin went on for sixty stanzas of this beautiful
nature poetry before asking the Buddha to return, but we only have the first few
of these. The language is rich and evocative of spring sights and smells. It is
composed in a meter of eleven syllables per line.
The Buddha does indeed go home soon after his awakening, where he picks up a
number of family members to join his order. These include his half brother
(Nanda), several cousins (Ananda, Anuruddha, and Devadatta), and his son
(Rahula). Eventually his wife (Yosodhara), step-mother (Mahapajapati) and many
other Sakyas will also become nuns and monks.
Thag 10.2
Ekavihariya
Dwelling Alone
Copyright © 2003 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 2003
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.
Translator's note: This poem, which is attributed to King Asoka's younger
brother, falls into three parts: the first expresses his initial desire to leave
the life of the palace and go into the forest; the second depicts his going
forth; and the third announces his Awakening. Some scholars have suggested that
many of the poems dealing with events in the lives of the early Buddhist monks
and nuns may have originally been intended for dramatic performance, and this
poem could easily have been written with that intent. The language of the
original, with its heavy use of poetic terms, certainly indicates that the
author had a literate background and was writing for a sophisticated audience.
If, in front or behind,
there is no one else,
it's extremely pleasant
for one staying alone
in the forest.
Come then! Alone
I will go to the wilderness
praised by the Awakened One
pleasant for a resolute monk
dwelling alone.
Alone,
astute in my goal,
I'll quickly enter the grove
— refreshing,
giving rapture
to meditators —
the haunt
of elephants in rut.
When the Cool Forest's in full flower,
in a cool mountain gorge,
having bathed my limbs
I'll walk back & forth.
alone.
Ah, when will I dwell,
alone and free from companions,
in the refreshing great forest —
my task done,
fermentation-free?
As I desire to do this,
may my purpose succeed.
I myself
will bring it about.
No one can do it
for anyone else.
I myself
bind on my armor.
I will enter the grove
and will not emerge
without having attained
fermentations' end.
While soft breezes blow —
cool,
heavily, fragrantly scented —
I'll make ignorance burst,
as I sit on a mountaintop.
In the forest covered with blossoms
or perhaps on a cool hillside,
blessed with the bliss of release,
on Giribbaja I'll delight. 1
I am now he
whose resolves are fulfilled
like the moon on a full-moon night.
With all fermentations
totally ended,
there is now no further becoming.
Note
1. Giribbaja is the ring of mountains surrounding Vulture's Peak.
Thag 10.5
Kappa
Full of the many clans of impurities,
the great manufacturer of excrement,
like a stagnant pool,
a great tumor,
great wound,
full of blood & lymph,
immersed in a cesspool,
trickling liquids, the body
is oozing foulness — always.
Bound together with sixty sinews,
plastered with a stucco of muscle,
wrapped in a jacket of skin,
this foul body is of no worth at all.
Linked together with a chain of bones,
stitched together with tendon-threads,
it produces its various postures,
from being hitched up together.
Headed surely to death,
in the presence of the King of Mortality,
the man who learns to discard it right here,
goes wherever he wants.
Covered with ignorance,
the body's tied down with a four-fold tie,1
sunk in the floods,2
caught in the net of latencies,3
conjoined with five hindrances,4
given over to thought,
accompanied with the root of craving,
roofed with delusion's roofing.
That's how the body functions,
compelled by the compulsion of kamma,
but its attainment ends
in ruin.
Its many becomings go
to ruin.
These who hold to this body as mine
— blind fools, people run-of-the-mill —
fill the horrific cemetery,
taking on further becoming.
Those who stay uninvolved with this body
— as they would with a serpent
smeared with dung —
disgorging the root of becoming,5
from lack of effluent,
will be totally Unbound.
Notes
1. The four-fold tie: greed, ill will, attachment to precepts & practice, and
dogmatic obsession with views.
2. Floods: passion for sensuality, becoming, views, and ignorance.
3. Latencies: pride, ignorance, lust, aversion, uncertainty, delusion, and
craving for becoming.
4. Hindrances: sensual desire, ill will, sloth & drowsiness, restlessness &
anxiety, and uncertainty.
5. The root of becoming: craving.
Thag 10.1
Kaludayin Thera
Crossing the Rohini
(excerpt)
Translated from the Pali by
Andrew OlendzkiPTS: vv. 527-529
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.
Crimson now, Sir, are the trees of the forest,
Having shed their foliage, they're eager to fruit,
(Their flowers are) blazing forth like brilliant flames,
— It is a luscious time of year, Great Hero.
The blossoming trees, so pleasing to the mind,
Spread their fragrance in every direction,
Surrendering their leaves and longing for fruit;
— The time has come to depart from here, Hero.
It is neither too cold, nor again too hot,
The season is pleasant, suited for travel.
My Lord, let the Sakyas and Koliyas see you
— Facing westward and crossing the Rohini.
Translator's note
These verses are said to have been uttered by Udayin (nick-named Kala Udayin or
"Dark Udayin"). He was the son of king Suddhodhana's chief minister, and is said
to have been the childhood companion of prince Siddhartha. Soon after Gotama's
awakening, the king sent several messengers to ask his son to return home. Each
one, upon hearing the Buddha's teaching, apparently joined his movement and gave
up the king's mission. Finally Suddhodhana sends Kaludayin, who agrees on
condition that he can become a follower of the Buddha upon getting him to return
home for a visit.
The Rohini river runs through the heart of the Buddha's homeland, marking the
border between the lands of the Sakyas and the Koliyas (his father's and
mother's families, respectively). Since the verses are uttered in Rajagaha, well
to the southeast, a returning journey would face the traveler westward. One
commentary says that Kaludayin went on for sixty stanzas of this beautiful
nature poetry before asking the Buddha to return, but we only have the first few
of these. The language is rich and evocative of spring sights and smells. It is
composed in a meter of eleven syllables per line.
The Buddha does indeed go home soon after his awakening, where he picks up a
number of family members to join his order. These include his half brother
(Nanda), several cousins (Ananda, Anuruddha, and Devadatta), and his son
(Rahula). Eventually his wife (Yosodhara), step-mother (Mahapajapati) and many
other Sakyas will also become nuns and monks.
Thag 10.2
Ekavihariya
Dwelling Alone
Copyright © 2003 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 2003
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.
Translator's note: This poem, which is attributed to King Asoka's younger
brother, falls into three parts: the first expresses his initial desire to leave
the life of the palace and go into the forest; the second depicts his going
forth; and the third announces his Awakening. Some scholars have suggested that
many of the poems dealing with events in the lives of the early Buddhist monks
and nuns may have originally been intended for dramatic performance, and this
poem could easily have been written with that intent. The language of the
original, with its heavy use of poetic terms, certainly indicates that the
author had a literate background and was writing for a sophisticated audience.
If, in front or behind,
there is no one else,
it's extremely pleasant
for one staying alone
in the forest.
Come then! Alone
I will go to the wilderness
praised by the Awakened One
pleasant for a resolute monk
dwelling alone.
Alone,
astute in my goal,
I'll quickly enter the grove
— refreshing,
giving rapture
to meditators —
the haunt
of elephants in rut.
When the Cool Forest's in full flower,
in a cool mountain gorge,
having bathed my limbs
I'll walk back & forth.
alone.
Ah, when will I dwell,
alone and free from companions,
in the refreshing great forest —
my task done,
fermentation-free?
As I desire to do this,
may my purpose succeed.
I myself
will bring it about.
No one can do it
for anyone else.
I myself
bind on my armor.
I will enter the grove
and will not emerge
without having attained
fermentations' end.
While soft breezes blow —
cool,
heavily, fragrantly scented —
I'll make ignorance burst,
as I sit on a mountaintop.
In the forest covered with blossoms
or perhaps on a cool hillside,
blessed with the bliss of release,
on Giribbaja I'll delight. 1
I am now he
whose resolves are fulfilled
like the moon on a full-moon night.
With all fermentations
totally ended,
there is now no further becoming.
Note
1. Giribbaja is the ring of mountains surrounding Vulture's Peak.
Thag 10.5
Kappa
Full of the many clans of impurities,
the great manufacturer of excrement,
like a stagnant pool,
a great tumor,
great wound,
full of blood & lymph,
immersed in a cesspool,
trickling liquids, the body
is oozing foulness — always.
Bound together with sixty sinews,
plastered with a stucco of muscle,
wrapped in a jacket of skin,
this foul body is of no worth at all.
Linked together with a chain of bones,
stitched together with tendon-threads,
it produces its various postures,
from being hitched up together.
Headed surely to death,
in the presence of the King of Mortality,
the man who learns to discard it right here,
goes wherever he wants.
Covered with ignorance,
the body's tied down with a four-fold tie,1
sunk in the floods,2
caught in the net of latencies,3
conjoined with five hindrances,4
given over to thought,
accompanied with the root of craving,
roofed with delusion's roofing.
That's how the body functions,
compelled by the compulsion of kamma,
but its attainment ends
in ruin.
Its many becomings go
to ruin.
These who hold to this body as mine
— blind fools, people run-of-the-mill —
fill the horrific cemetery,
taking on further becoming.
Those who stay uninvolved with this body
— as they would with a serpent
smeared with dung —
disgorging the root of becoming,5
from lack of effluent,
will be totally Unbound.
Notes
1. The four-fold tie: greed, ill will, attachment to precepts & practice, and
dogmatic obsession with views.
2. Floods: passion for sensuality, becoming, views, and ignorance.
3. Latencies: pride, ignorance, lust, aversion, uncertainty, delusion, and
craving for becoming.
4. Hindrances: sensual desire, ill will, sloth & drowsiness, restlessness &
anxiety, and uncertainty.
5. The root of becoming: craving.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 9
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 9
Thag 9
Bhuta Thera
No Greater Contentment
Translated from the Pali by
Andrew OlendzkiPTS: vv. 522-526
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.
When the thundering storm cloud roars out in the mist,
And torrents of rain fill the paths of the birds,
Nestled in a mountain cave, the monk meditates.
— No greater contentment than this can be found.
When along the rivers the tumbling flowers bloom
In winding wreaths adorned with verdant color,
Seated on the bank, glad-minded, he meditates.
— No greater contentment than this can be found.
When in the depths of night, in a lonely forest,
The rain-deva drizzles and the fanged beasts cry,
Nestled in a mountain cave, the monk meditates.
— No greater contentment than this can be found.
When restraining himself and his discursive thoughts,
(Dwelling in a hollow in the mountains' midst),
Devoid of fear and barrenness, he meditates.
— No greater contentment than this can be found.
When he is happy — expunged of stain, waste and grief,
Unobstructed, unencumbered, unassailed —
Having ended all defilements, he meditates.
— No greater contentment than this can be found.
Translator's note
Three entirely different moods are portrayed so sensitively in the first three
stanzas of this poem by the monk Bhuta — the first wild and clamorous, the
second bright and benevolent, the third dark and mysterious. Constant among
these dramatic changes of nature is the meditating monk, content in any setting.
Mindful awareness allows all things to be just what they are, undisturbed by the
reconstructions of the petty ego. Like the tiny figure in a Chinese landscape
painting, the monk blends into phenomena because of his transparency of self.
The original tristubh meter is an alteration of 12 and 13 syllables per line,
reproduced here in a 12 and 11 syllable translation that seems to work better in
English. The Pali images are so richly textured in this poem, one could easily
use twice as many English words and still not capture the nuances.
The second line alone, for example, evokes the image of twisted streams of water
cascading down the steep streambeds of a mountain gorge, and then transfers the
image to the heavens, where the plunging rivulets now course down the invisible
tracks left everywhere in the sky by the passage of birds. That's a lot to fit
into eleven syllables!
Thag 9
Bhuta Thera
No Greater Contentment
Translated from the Pali by
Andrew OlendzkiPTS: vv. 522-526
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.
When the thundering storm cloud roars out in the mist,
And torrents of rain fill the paths of the birds,
Nestled in a mountain cave, the monk meditates.
— No greater contentment than this can be found.
When along the rivers the tumbling flowers bloom
In winding wreaths adorned with verdant color,
Seated on the bank, glad-minded, he meditates.
— No greater contentment than this can be found.
When in the depths of night, in a lonely forest,
The rain-deva drizzles and the fanged beasts cry,
Nestled in a mountain cave, the monk meditates.
— No greater contentment than this can be found.
When restraining himself and his discursive thoughts,
(Dwelling in a hollow in the mountains' midst),
Devoid of fear and barrenness, he meditates.
— No greater contentment than this can be found.
When he is happy — expunged of stain, waste and grief,
Unobstructed, unencumbered, unassailed —
Having ended all defilements, he meditates.
— No greater contentment than this can be found.
Translator's note
Three entirely different moods are portrayed so sensitively in the first three
stanzas of this poem by the monk Bhuta — the first wild and clamorous, the
second bright and benevolent, the third dark and mysterious. Constant among
these dramatic changes of nature is the meditating monk, content in any setting.
Mindful awareness allows all things to be just what they are, undisturbed by the
reconstructions of the petty ego. Like the tiny figure in a Chinese landscape
painting, the monk blends into phenomena because of his transparency of self.
The original tristubh meter is an alteration of 12 and 13 syllables per line,
reproduced here in a 12 and 11 syllable translation that seems to work better in
English. The Pali images are so richly textured in this poem, one could easily
use twice as many English words and still not capture the nuances.
The second line alone, for example, evokes the image of twisted streams of water
cascading down the steep streambeds of a mountain gorge, and then transfers the
image to the heavens, where the plunging rivulets now course down the invisible
tracks left everywhere in the sky by the passage of birds. That's a lot to fit
into eleven syllables!
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 8
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 8
Thag 8.1
Maha-Kaccana
Translated from the Pali by
Bhikkhu BodhiPTS: vv. 494-501
Source: From Maha Kaccana: Master of Doctrinal Exposition (WH 405/406), by
Bhikkhu Bodhi (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1995). Copyright ©
1995 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.
Copyright © 1995 Buddhist Publication Society.
Access to Insight edition © 1996
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.
One should not do much work
One should avoid people,
One should not bustle (to obtain gifts).
One who is eager and greedy for flavors
Misses the goal that entails happiness.
They knew as a bog this homage and veneration
Obtained among devoted families.
A subtle dart, difficult to extract,
Honor is hard for a vile man to discard.
It is not on account of another
That a mortal's kamma is evil.
On one's own accord one should not resort to evil,
For mortals have kamma as their kinsmen.
One is not a thief by another's word,
One is not a sage by another's word;
It is as one knows oneself
That the devas also know one.
Others do not understand
That we all come to an end here.
But those wise ones who understand this
Thereby settle their quarrels.
The wise man lives indeed
Even despite the loss of his wealth.
But if one does not obtain wisdom,
Then even though rich one is not alive.
One hears all with the ear,
One sees all with the eye,
The wise man should not reject
Everything that is seen and heard.
One with eyes should be as if blind,
One with ears as if deaf,
One with wisdom as if mute,
One with strength as if feeble.
Then, when the goal has been attained,
One may lie upon one's death bed.
Thag 8.1
Maha-Kaccana
Translated from the Pali by
Bhikkhu BodhiPTS: vv. 494-501
Source: From Maha Kaccana: Master of Doctrinal Exposition (WH 405/406), by
Bhikkhu Bodhi (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1995). Copyright ©
1995 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.
Copyright © 1995 Buddhist Publication Society.
Access to Insight edition © 1996
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.
One should not do much work
One should avoid people,
One should not bustle (to obtain gifts).
One who is eager and greedy for flavors
Misses the goal that entails happiness.
They knew as a bog this homage and veneration
Obtained among devoted families.
A subtle dart, difficult to extract,
Honor is hard for a vile man to discard.
It is not on account of another
That a mortal's kamma is evil.
On one's own accord one should not resort to evil,
For mortals have kamma as their kinsmen.
One is not a thief by another's word,
One is not a sage by another's word;
It is as one knows oneself
That the devas also know one.
Others do not understand
That we all come to an end here.
But those wise ones who understand this
Thereby settle their quarrels.
The wise man lives indeed
Even despite the loss of his wealth.
But if one does not obtain wisdom,
Then even though rich one is not alive.
One hears all with the ear,
One sees all with the eye,
The wise man should not reject
Everything that is seen and heard.
One with eyes should be as if blind,
One with ears as if deaf,
One with wisdom as if mute,
One with strength as if feeble.
Then, when the goal has been attained,
One may lie upon one's death bed.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 7
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 7
Thag 7.1
Sundara Samudda and the Courtesan
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: vv. 459-465
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Buddhist Publication Society.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
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.
Ornamented, finely clothed
garlanded, adorned,
her feet stained red with lac,
she wore slippers:
a courtesan.
Stepping out of her slippers —
her hands raised before me,
palm-to-palm over her heart —
she softly, tenderly,
in measured words
spoke to me first:
"You are young, recluse.
Heed my message:
Partake of human sensuality.
I will give you luxury.
Truly I vow to you,
I will tend to you as to a fire.
When we are old,
both leaning on canes,
then we will both become contemplatives,
winning the benefits of both worlds."
And seeing her before me —
a courtesan, ornamented, finely clothed,
hands palm-to-palm over her heart —
like a snare of death laid out,
apt attention arose in me,
the drawbacks appeared,
disenchantment stood
at an even keel:
With that, my heart was released.
See the Dhamma's true rightness!
The three knowledges
have been attained;
the Buddha's bidding,
done.
Thag 7.1
Sundara Samudda and the Courtesan
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: vv. 459-465
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Buddhist Publication Society.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
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.
Ornamented, finely clothed
garlanded, adorned,
her feet stained red with lac,
she wore slippers:
a courtesan.
Stepping out of her slippers —
her hands raised before me,
palm-to-palm over her heart —
she softly, tenderly,
in measured words
spoke to me first:
"You are young, recluse.
Heed my message:
Partake of human sensuality.
I will give you luxury.
Truly I vow to you,
I will tend to you as to a fire.
When we are old,
both leaning on canes,
then we will both become contemplatives,
winning the benefits of both worlds."
And seeing her before me —
a courtesan, ornamented, finely clothed,
hands palm-to-palm over her heart —
like a snare of death laid out,
apt attention arose in me,
the drawbacks appeared,
disenchantment stood
at an even keel:
With that, my heart was released.
See the Dhamma's true rightness!
The three knowledges
have been attained;
the Buddha's bidding,
done.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 6
Khuddaka Nikaya - Theragatha 6
Thag 6.2
Tekicchakani
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: vv. 381-386
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 2002 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 2002
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.
The grain: harvested.
The rice: gone to be threshed.
But I don't get any alms.
How will I get by?
Confident, recollect
the immeasurable Buddha.
Your body pervaded with rapture,
you'll be at the height
of continual joy.
Confident, recollect
the immeasurable Dhamma.
Your body pervaded with rapture,
you'll be at the height
of continual joy.
Confident, recollect
the immeasurable Sangha.
Your body pervaded with rapture,
you'll be at the height
of continual joy.
You live in the open air.
Cold are these wintry nights.
Don't suffer, overcome with the cold.
Go into your hut, with its fastened bolt.
I'll fasten the four
immeasurables.
With them, I'll dwell
in comfort.
I won't suffer from the cold,
dwelling
unperturbed.
Thag 6.6
Sappadasa
Twenty five years since my going forth,
and no peace of awareness
— not a finger-snap's worth —
attained.
Having gained no oneness of mind,
I was wracked with lust.
Wailing, with my arms upheld,
I ran amok from my dwelling —
"Or... or shall I take the knife?
What's the use of life to me?
If I were to renounce the training,
what sort of death would I have?"
So, taking a razor,
I sat down on a bed.
And there was the razor,
placed ready to cut my own vein,
when apt attention arose in me,
the drawbacks appeared,
disenchantment stood
at an even keel:
With that, my heart was released.
See the Dhamma's true rightness!
The three knowledges
have been attained;
the Awakened One's bidding,
done.
Thag 6.9
Jenta, the Royal Chaplain's Son
I was
drunk with the intoxication
of my birth, wealth, & sovereignty.
Drunk with the intoxication
of my body's build, coloring, & form,
I wandered about,
regarding no one
as my equal or better,
foolish, arrogant, haughty,
my banner held high.
I — disrespectful, arrogant, proud —
bowed down to no one,
not even mother,
father,
or those commonly held
in respect.
Then — seeing the ultimate leader,
supreme, foremost of charioteers,
like a blazing sun,
arrayed with a squadron of monks —
casting away pride & intoxication
through an awareness serene & clear,
I bowed down
my
head
to him, supreme
among all living beings.
Haughtiness & contempt
have been abandoned
— rooted out —
the conceit "I am" is extracted,
all forms of pride, destroyed.
Thag 6.10
Sumana the Novice
When I was seven
& newly gone forth,
having conquered with my power
the great powerful serpent,
I was fetching water for my preceptor
from the great lake, Anotatta,1
when the Teacher saw me & said:
"Look, Sariputta, at that one,
the young boy coming there,
carrying a pot of water,
well-centered within,
his practices — inspiring;
his bearing — admirable.
He's Anuruddha's novice,
mature in his powers,
made thoroughbred by a thoroughbred,
good by one who is good,
tamed by Anuruddha,
trained by one whose task
is done.
He, having reached the highest peace
& realized the unshakable,
Sumana the novice
wants this:
'Don't let anyone know me.'"
Note
1. Anotatta: A fabulous lake located in the Himalayas, famed for the purity of
its cool waters. Sumana would have had to use his psychic powers to fetch water
from there.
Thag 6.12
Brahmadatta
Whence is there anger
in one without anger
tamed, calmed, living in tune,
released through right gnosis,
Such?
You make things worse
when you flare up
at someone who's angry.
Whoever doesn't flare up
at someone who's angry
wins a battle
hard to win.
You live for the good of both
— your own, the other's —
when, knowing the other's provoked,
you mindfully grow calm.
When you work the cure of both
— your own, the other's —
those who think you a fool
know nothing of Dhamma.
If anger arises,
reflect on the saw simile. 1
If craving for savor,
remember the son's-flesh simile. 2
If your mind runs loose
after sensual pleasures
& states of becoming,
quickly restrain it with mindfulness
as you would a bad ox
eating grain. 3
Notes
1. See MN 21.
2. See SN 12.63.
3. See MN 19.
See also: SN 11.5
Thag 6.13
Sirimanda
Rain soddens what's covered
& doesn't sodden what's exposed.
So open up what's covered up,
so that it won't get soddened by the rain.
Attacked by death
is the world,
surrounded by aging,
beset by the arrow of craving,
always obscured by desire.
Attacked by death
is the world,
& encircled by aging,
constantly beaten, with no shelter,
like a thief
sentenced to punishment.
They encroach like masses of flame,
these three:
death, aging, & illness.
There's no strength to confront them,
no speed to run away.
Make the day not-in-vain,
a little or a lot.
However much
the day passes,
that's how much less
is life.
Your last day approaches.
This isn't your time
to be heedless.
Thag 6.2
Tekicchakani
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: vv. 381-386
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 2002 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 2002
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.
The grain: harvested.
The rice: gone to be threshed.
But I don't get any alms.
How will I get by?
Confident, recollect
the immeasurable Buddha.
Your body pervaded with rapture,
you'll be at the height
of continual joy.
Confident, recollect
the immeasurable Dhamma.
Your body pervaded with rapture,
you'll be at the height
of continual joy.
Confident, recollect
the immeasurable Sangha.
Your body pervaded with rapture,
you'll be at the height
of continual joy.
You live in the open air.
Cold are these wintry nights.
Don't suffer, overcome with the cold.
Go into your hut, with its fastened bolt.
I'll fasten the four
immeasurables.
With them, I'll dwell
in comfort.
I won't suffer from the cold,
dwelling
unperturbed.
Thag 6.6
Sappadasa
Twenty five years since my going forth,
and no peace of awareness
— not a finger-snap's worth —
attained.
Having gained no oneness of mind,
I was wracked with lust.
Wailing, with my arms upheld,
I ran amok from my dwelling —
"Or... or shall I take the knife?
What's the use of life to me?
If I were to renounce the training,
what sort of death would I have?"
So, taking a razor,
I sat down on a bed.
And there was the razor,
placed ready to cut my own vein,
when apt attention arose in me,
the drawbacks appeared,
disenchantment stood
at an even keel:
With that, my heart was released.
See the Dhamma's true rightness!
The three knowledges
have been attained;
the Awakened One's bidding,
done.
Thag 6.9
Jenta, the Royal Chaplain's Son
I was
drunk with the intoxication
of my birth, wealth, & sovereignty.
Drunk with the intoxication
of my body's build, coloring, & form,
I wandered about,
regarding no one
as my equal or better,
foolish, arrogant, haughty,
my banner held high.
I — disrespectful, arrogant, proud —
bowed down to no one,
not even mother,
father,
or those commonly held
in respect.
Then — seeing the ultimate leader,
supreme, foremost of charioteers,
like a blazing sun,
arrayed with a squadron of monks —
casting away pride & intoxication
through an awareness serene & clear,
I bowed down
my
head
to him, supreme
among all living beings.
Haughtiness & contempt
have been abandoned
— rooted out —
the conceit "I am" is extracted,
all forms of pride, destroyed.
Thag 6.10
Sumana the Novice
When I was seven
& newly gone forth,
having conquered with my power
the great powerful serpent,
I was fetching water for my preceptor
from the great lake, Anotatta,1
when the Teacher saw me & said:
"Look, Sariputta, at that one,
the young boy coming there,
carrying a pot of water,
well-centered within,
his practices — inspiring;
his bearing — admirable.
He's Anuruddha's novice,
mature in his powers,
made thoroughbred by a thoroughbred,
good by one who is good,
tamed by Anuruddha,
trained by one whose task
is done.
He, having reached the highest peace
& realized the unshakable,
Sumana the novice
wants this:
'Don't let anyone know me.'"
Note
1. Anotatta: A fabulous lake located in the Himalayas, famed for the purity of
its cool waters. Sumana would have had to use his psychic powers to fetch water
from there.
Thag 6.12
Brahmadatta
Whence is there anger
in one without anger
tamed, calmed, living in tune,
released through right gnosis,
Such?
You make things worse
when you flare up
at someone who's angry.
Whoever doesn't flare up
at someone who's angry
wins a battle
hard to win.
You live for the good of both
— your own, the other's —
when, knowing the other's provoked,
you mindfully grow calm.
When you work the cure of both
— your own, the other's —
those who think you a fool
know nothing of Dhamma.
If anger arises,
reflect on the saw simile. 1
If craving for savor,
remember the son's-flesh simile. 2
If your mind runs loose
after sensual pleasures
& states of becoming,
quickly restrain it with mindfulness
as you would a bad ox
eating grain. 3
Notes
1. See MN 21.
2. See SN 12.63.
3. See MN 19.
See also: SN 11.5
Thag 6.13
Sirimanda
Rain soddens what's covered
& doesn't sodden what's exposed.
So open up what's covered up,
so that it won't get soddened by the rain.
Attacked by death
is the world,
surrounded by aging,
beset by the arrow of craving,
always obscured by desire.
Attacked by death
is the world,
& encircled by aging,
constantly beaten, with no shelter,
like a thief
sentenced to punishment.
They encroach like masses of flame,
these three:
death, aging, & illness.
There's no strength to confront them,
no speed to run away.
Make the day not-in-vain,
a little or a lot.
However much
the day passes,
that's how much less
is life.
Your last day approaches.
This isn't your time
to be heedless.
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