Chapter Two#

2.1 Uttara #

No life is permanent,
And no conditions last forever.
The aggregates are reborn
And pass away, again and again.

Knowing this danger,
I’m not interested in being reborn
Into any state of existence.
I’ve escaped all sensual pleasures,
And attained the end of defilements.

2.2 Piṇḍolabhāradvāja #

You can’t live by fasting,
But food doesn’t lead to peace of heart.
Seeing how the body is sustained by food,
I wander, seeking.

They know it’s a swamp,
This worship and homage from respectable families;
A subtle dart, hard to pull out;
It’s hard for a corrupt person to give up honour.

2.3 Valliya #

A monkey went up to the little hut
With five doors.
He circles around, knocking
On each door, again and again.

Stand still monkey, don’t run!
Things are different now;
You’ve been caught by wisdom—
You won’t go far.

2.4 Gaṅgātīriya #

My hut on the bank of the Ganges
Is made from three palm leaves.
My alms-bowl is a funeral pot,
My robe is cast-off rags.

In my first two rainy seasons
I spoke only one word.
In my third rainy season,
The mass of darkness was torn apart.

2.5 Ajina #

Even someone with the three knowledges,
Who has conquered death,
And is without defilements,
Is looked down on for being unknown
By fools without wisdom.

But a person who gets food and drink
Is honored by them,
Even if they are of bad character.

2.6 Meḷajina #

When I heard the Teacher
Speaking Dhamma,
I wasn’t aware of any doubt
In the all-knowing, unconquered one,

The caravan leader, the great hero,
The most excellent of charioteers.
I have no doubt
In the path or practice.

2.7 Rādha #

Just as rain seeps into
A poorly roofed house,
Lust seeps into
An undeveloped mind.

Just as rain doesn’t seep into
A well roofed house,
Lust doesn’t seep into
A well-developed mind.

2.8 Surādha #

Rebirth is ended for me,
The conqueror’s instruction is fulfilled,
What they call a “net” is abandoned,
The attachment to being reborn
In any state of existence is undone.

I’ve arrived at the goal
For the sake of which I went forth
From the home life into homelessness:
The ending of all fetters.

2.9 Gotama #

Sages sleep happily
When they’re not attached to women;
For the truth is hard to find among them,
And one must always be guarded.

Sensual pleasure, you’ve been slain!
We’re not in your debt any more.
Now we go to nibbāna,
Where there is no more sorrow.

2.10 Vasabha #

First one kills oneself,
Then one kills others.
One kills oneself, really dead,
Like one who kills birds using a dead bird as a decoy.

A holy man’s color is not on the outside;
A holy man is colored on the inside.
Whoever does bad deeds
Such a one is truly dark, Sujampati.

2.11 Mahācunda #

It is from wishing to learn that learning grows;
When you are learned, understanding grows;
Through understanding, you know the goal;
Knowing the goal brings happiness.

Make use of secluded lodgings!
Practice to be released from fetters!
If you don’t find enjoyment there,
Live in the Saṅgha, guarded and mindful.

2.12 Jotidāsa #

People who act harshly—
Attacking people,
Tying them up,
Hurting them in all kinds of ways—
They’re treated in the same way;
Their deeds don’t vanish.

Whatever deeds a person does,
Whether for good or for bad,
They are the heir to each
And every deed that they perform.

2.13 Heraññakāni #

The days and nights rush by,
And then life is cut short.
The vitality of mortals wastes away,
Like the water in tiny streams.

But while doing bad deeds
The fool doesn’t realize—
It’ll be bitter later on;
Yes, the result will be bad for him.

If someone lost in the middle of the ocean,
Were to clamber up on a little log, they’d sink;
In the same way, even a good person would sink
If they rely on a lazy person.
So avoid those who are lazy, lacking energy.

Instead, dwell with the wise—
Secluded, noble,
Resolute, practising jhāna,
And always energetic.

2.15 Sabbamitta #

People are attached to people;
People are dependent on people;
People are hurt by people;
And people hurt people.

What’s the point of people,
Or the things people make?
Go, leave these people,
Who’ve hurt so many people.

2.16 Mahākāḷa #

There’s a big black woman who looks like a crow.
She broke off thigh-bones, first one then another;
She broke off arm-bones, first one then another;
She broke off a skull like a curd-bowl, and then—
She assembled them all together
And sat down beside them.

When an ignorant person builds up attachments,
That idiot returns to suffering, again and again.
So let one who understands not build up attachments:
May I never again lie with a broken skull!

2.17 Tissa #

When your head is shaven,
And you’re wrapped in the outer robe,
You’ll have many enemies
When you receive food and drink,
Clothes and lodgings.

Knowing this danger,
This great fear in honours,
A monk should go forth mindfully,
With few possessions, and not full of desire.

2.18 Kimila #

In Pācīnavaṃsa grove
The companions of the Sakyans,
Having given up much wealth,
Are satisfied with whatever is put in their bowls.

Energetic, resolute,
Always strong in striving;
Having given up mundane satisfaction,
They delight in the satisfaction of Dhamma.

2.19 Nanda #

I used my mind unwisely,
I was addicted to ornamentation.
I was vain, fickle,
Tormented by desire for sensual pleasures.

But with the help of the Buddha,
The Kinsman of the Sun, so skilled in means,
I practiced wisely,
And extracted any attachment
To being reborn from my mind.

2.20 Sirimā #

If they praise someone
Who doesn’t have samādhi,
The praise is in vain,
As they don’t have samādhi.

If they rebuke someone
Who does have samādhi,
The rebuke is in vain,
As they do have samādhi.

2.21 Uttara #

I’ve fully understood the aggregates,
I’ve undone craving;
I’ve developed the factors of awakening,
And I’ve realized the ending of defilements.

Having fully understood the aggregates,
Having plucked out the weaver of the web,
Having developed the factors of awakening,
I’ll realize nibbāna, without defilements.

2.22 Bhaddaji #

That king was named Panāda,
Whose sacrificial post was golden.
Its height was sixteen times its width,
And the top was a thousand-fold.

With a thousand panels, and a hundred ball-caps,
Adorned with banners, made of gold;
There, the seven times six hundred
Gods of music danced.

2.23 Sobhita #

As a monk, mindful and wise,
Resolute in power and energy,
I recollected five hundred aeons
In one night.

Developing the four establishments of mindfulness,
The seven factors of awakening,
And the eightfold path,
I recollected five hundred aeons
In one night.

2.24 Valliya #

The duty of one whose energy is strong;
The duty of one intent on awakening:
That I’ll do, I won’t fail—
See my energy and effort!

Teach me the path,
The road that culminates in the deathless.
I’ll know it with wisdom,
As the Ganges knows the ocean.

2.25 Vītasoka #

The barber approached
To shave my head.
I picked up a mirror
And looked at my body.

My body looked vacant;
I was blind, but the darkness left me.
My fancy hairdo has been cut off:
Now there is no more rebirth
Into any state of existence.

2.26 Puṇṇamāsa #

I abandoned the five hindrances
So I could realise security from the yoke;
And I picked up the Dhamma as a mirror,
For knowing and seeing myself.

I checked over this body
All of it, inside and out.
Internally and externally,
My body looked vacant.

2.27 Bharata #

Come Nandaka, let’s go
To visit our preceptor.
We’ll roar the lion’s roar
Before of the best of Buddhas.

The sage gave us the going forth
Out of compassion, so that we could realize
The ending of all fetters—
Now we have reached that goal.

2.28 Bharata #

Come Nandaka, let’s go
To visit our preceptor.
We’ll roar the lion’s roar
Before of the best of Buddhas.

The sage gave us the going forth
Out of compassion, so that we could realize
The ending of all fetters—
Now we have reached that goal.

2.29 Bhāradvāja #

This is how the wise roar:
Like lions in mountain caves,
Heroes, triumphant in battle,
Having vanquished Māra and his army.

I’ve attended on the teacher;
I’ve honoured the Dhamma and the Saṅgha;
I’m happy and joyful,
Because I’ve seen my son free of defilements.

2.30 Kaṇhadinna #

I sat close by wise people,
And learnt the Dhamma many times.
What I learnt, I practiced,
Entering the road that culminates in the deathless.

I’ve slain the desire to be reborn
In any state of existence,
Such desire won’t be found in me again.
It was not, and it won’t be in me,
And it isn’t found in me now.

2.31 Migasira #

When I became a monk
In the teaching of the Buddha,
Letting go, I rose up;
I escaped the realm of sensual pleasures.

Then, under the supervision
Of the supreme Buddha,
My mind was freed.
I know that my freedom is unshakeable,
Because all fetters have ended.

2.32 Sivaka #

All houses are impermanent;
Again and again, in all kinds of realms,
54 verses of senior monks
I’ve searched for the house-builder—
Rebirth again and again is suffering.

I’ve seen you, house-builder!
You won’t build a house again.
All your rafters are broken,
Your ridgepole is split.
My mind is released from limits:
It’ll fall apart in this very life.

2.33 Upavāṇa #

The Worthy One, the world’s Holy One
The sage is afflicted by winds.
If there’s hot water,
Give it to the sage, brahmin.

I wish to bring it to the one
Who is honoured by those worthy of honour,
Revered by those worthy of reverence,
And respected by those worthy of respect.

2.34 Isidinna #

I’ve seen lay disciples who have memorized discourses, Saying “Sensual pleasures are impermanent”; But they are passionately enamoured Of jewelled earrings, Desiring children and wives.

To be honest, they don’t know Dhamma, Despite saying “Sensual pleasures are impermanent”; They don’t have the power to cut their lust, So they’re attached to children, wives, and wealth.

2.35 Sambulakaccāna #

The sky rains, the sky groans,
I’m staying alone in a frightful hole.
But while I’m staying alone in that frightful hole,
I’ve no fear, no dread, no goosebumps.

This is my normal state,
When I’m staying alone in a frightful hole:
I’ve no fear, no dread, no goosebumps.

2.36 Nitaka #

Whose mind is like rock,
Steady, not trembling?
Free of desire among desirable things,
Not agitated among agitating things?
For one whose mind is developed in this way,
From where will suffering come?

My mind is like rock,
Steady, not trembling,
Free of desire among desirable things,
Not agitated among agitating things.
For me, whose mind is developed in this way,
From where will suffering come?

2.37 Soṇapoṭiriya #

Night, with its garland of stars,
Is not just for sleeping.
Those who are conscious will know
That night is also for waking.

If I were to fall from the back of an elephant
And be trampled by the tuskers that follow,
Better for me to die in battle,
Than to live on in defeat.

2.38 Nisabha #

One who has gone forth
From the home life out of faith,
Leaving behind the five kinds of sensual pleasures,
So pleasant seeming, delighting the mind—
Let them put an end to suffering.

I don’t long for death;
I don’t long for life;
I await my time,
Aware and mindful.

2.39 Usabha #

I arranged a robe on my shoulder,
The colour of young mango sprouts;
Then I entered the village for alms,
While sitting on an elephant’s neck!

But when I dismounted from the elephant,
I was moved by inspiration—
At first I was burning, but then I was peaceful;
I realized the end of defilements.

2.40 Kappaṭakura #

This fellow, “Rag-rice”, he sure is a rag. This place has been made for practising jhāna, Like a crystal vase filled to the brim With the nectar of the deathless, Into which enough Dhamma has been poured.

Don’t nod off, Rag— I’ll smack your ear! Nodding off in the middle of the Saṅgha? You haven’t learnt a thing.

2.41 Kumārakassapa #

Oh, the Buddhas! Oh, the Dhammas! Oh, the perfections of the Teacher! Where a disciple may see Such a Dhamma for themselves.

Through countless aeons They obtained an identity; This is the end, Their last body; Transmigrating through births and deaths, Now there is no more rebirth Into any state of existence.

2.42 Dhammapāla #

The young monk Who is devoted to the teaching of the Buddha, Wakeful among those who sleep— His life isn’t in vain.

So let the wise devote themselves To faith, virtuous behaviour, Confidence, and insight into Dhamma, Remembering the teachings of the Buddhas.

2.43 Brahmāli #

Whose faculties have become serene,
Like horses tamed by a charioteer?
Who has abandoned conceit and defilements,
Becoming such that even the gods envy them?

My faculties have become serene,
Like horses tamed by a charioteer?
I have abandoned conceit and defilements,
Becoming such that even the gods envy me.

2.44 Mogharāja #

“Your skin is nasty but your heart is good,
Mogharāja, you always have samādhi.
But in the nights of winter, so dark and cold,
How will you get by, monk?”

I’ve heard that all the Magadhans
Have an abundance of grain.
I’ll make my bed under a thatched roof,
Just like those who live in comfort.”

2.45 Visākhapañcālaputta #

One should not suspend others from the Saṅgha,
Nor raise objections against them;
And neither disparage nor raise one’s voice
Against one who has crossed to the further shore.
One should not praise oneself among the assemblies,
But be without conceit, measured in speech,
And of good conduct.

For one who sees the goal, so very subtle and fine,
Who has wholesome thoughts and humbleness,
And cultivates the Buddha’s ethical conduct,
It’s not hard to gain nibbāna.

Chapter Two#

Notes#