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.



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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.