256 “A bhikkhu should be a meditator,
One who is liberated in mind,
If he desires the heart’s attainment,
Bent on that as his advantage.
Having known the world’s rise and fall,
Let him be lofty in mind and unattached.”¹⁴⁵ [47]

 

 

257 “Having slain what does one sleep soundly?
Having slain what does one not sorrow?
What is the one thing, O Gotama,
Whose killing you approve?”

 

 

 

258 “Having slain anger, one sleeps soundly;
Having slain anger, one does not sorrow;
The killing of anger, O Vatrabhū,
With its poisoned root and honeyed tip:
This is the killing the noble ones praise,
For having slain that, one does not sorrow.”

 

 

259 “How many sources of light are in the world
By means of which the world is illumined? <107>
We’ve come to ask the Blessed One this:
How are we to understand it?”

 

 

 

260 “There are four sources of light in the world;
A fifth one is not found here.
The sun shines by day,
The moon glows at night,
261 And fire flares up here and there
Both by day and at night.
But the Buddha is the best of those that shine:
He is the light unsurpassed.”

 

 

262 “This should be done by the brahmin:
Striving without weariness, <108>
That by his abandoning of sensual desires
He does not yearn for existence.”¹⁴⁷

 

 

 

263 “For the brahmin there is no task to be done,
[O Dāmali,” said the Blessed One],
“For the brahmin has done what should be done.
While he has not gained a footing in the river, [48]
A man will strain with all his limbs;
But a footing gained, standing on the ground,
He need not strain for he has gone beyond.

 

 

 

264 “This is a simile for the brahmin, O Dāmali,
For the taintless one, the discreet meditator.
Having reached the end of birth and death,
He need not strain for he has gone beyond.”¹⁴⁸ <109>

 

271 “Having exerted oneself, cut the stream!
Dispel sensual desires, O brahmin!
Without having abandoned sensual desires,
A sage does not reach unity.¹⁵⁴

 

 

 

272 “If one would do what should be done,
One should firmly exert oneself. <112>
For a slack wanderer’s life
Only scatters more dust.

 

 

 

273 “Better left undone is the misdeed,
A deed that later brings repentance.
Better done is the good deed
Which when done is not repented.

 

 

274 “As kusa-grass, wrongly grasped,
Only cuts one’s hand,
So the ascetic life, wrongly taken up,
Drags one down to hell.

 

 

275 “Any deed that is slackly done,
Any corrupted vow,
A holy life that breeds suspicion,
Does not yield great fruit.”¹⁵⁵

 

276–80 “‘Having exerted oneself, cut the stream!… [50] …
Does not yield great fruit.’

 

 

281 “Let homage be to you, the Buddha!
O hero, you are everywhere released.
I have fallen into captivity,
So please be my refuge.”

 

 

282 “Candimā has gone for refuge
To the Tathāgata, the Arahant.
Release Candimā, O Rāhu,
Buddhas have compassion for the world.”

 

 

283 “Why, Rāhu, did you come in a hurry?
Why did you release Candimā?
Having come as if in shock,
Why do you stand there frightened?”

 

 

 

284 “My head would have split in seven parts,
While living I would have found no ease,
If, when chanted over by the Buddha’s verse,
I had not let go of Candimā.” [51]

 

 

285 “Let homage be to you, the Buddha!
O hero, you are everywhere released.
I have fallen into captivity,
So please be my refuge.” <116>

 

 

286 “Suriya has gone for refuge
To the Tathāgata, the Arahant.
Release Suriya, O Rāhu,
Buddhas have compassion for the world.

 

 

 

287 “While moving across the sky, O Rāhu,
Do not swallow the radiant one,
The maker of light in darkness,
The disk of fiery might in the gloom.
Rāhu, release my child Suriya.”¹⁵⁹

 

 

288 “Why, Rāhu, did you come in a hurry?
Why did you release Suriya?
Having come as if in shock, <117>
Why do you stand there frightened?”

 

 

 

289 “My head would have split in seven parts,
While living I would have found no ease,
If, when chanted over by the Buddha’s verses,
I had not let go of Suriya.”

 

 

290 “They will surely reach to safety
Like deer in a mosquito-free marsh,
Who, having attained the jhānas,
Are unified, discreet, mindful.”¹⁶⁰

 

 

291 “They will surely reach the far shore
Like a fish when the net is cut,
Who, having attained the jhānas,
Are diligent, with flaws discarded.”¹⁶¹

 

 

292 “Happy indeed are those human beings
Attending on the Fortunate One,
Applying themselves to Gotama’s Teaching,
Who train in it with diligence.”¹⁶³ <119>

 

 

 

293 “When the course of teaching is proclaimed by me,
[O Veṇhu,” said the Blessed One,]
“Those meditators who train therein,
Being diligent at the proper time,
Will not come under Death’s control.”

 

 

294 “A bhikkhu should be a meditator,
One who is liberated in mind,
If he desires the heart’s attainment,
Bent on that as his advantage.
Having known the world’s rise and fall, <120>
Let him be lofty in mind and unattached.”

 

 

295 “I ask you, Gotama, broad of wisdom—
Unobstructed is the Blessed One’s knowledge and vision:
[53]
What is he like whom they call virtuous?
What is he like whom they call wise?
What is he like who has passed beyond suffering?
What is he like whom the devatās worship?”

 

 

 

296 “One virtuous, wise, of developed mind,
Concentrated, mindful, enjoying jhāna,
For whom all sorrows are gone, abandoned,
A taint-destroyer bearing his final body:

 

 

 

297 It is such a one that they call virtuous, <121>
Such a one that they call wise,
Such a one has passed beyond suffering,
Such a one the devatās worship.”

 

298 “Who here crosses over the flood,
Unwearying by day and night?
Who does not sink in the deep,
Without support, without a hold?”¹⁶⁴

 

 

 

299 “One always perfect in virtue,
Endowed with wisdom, well concentrated,
One energetic and resolute
Crosses the flood so hard to cross.

 

 

 

300 “One who desists from sensual perception,
Who has overcome the fetter of form, <122>
Who has destroyed delight in existence—
He does not sink in the deep.”¹⁶⁵

 

301 “As if smitten by a sword,
As if his head were on fire,
A bhikkhu should wander mindfully
To abandon sensual lust.”

 

 

 

302 “As if smitten by a sword,
As if his head were on fire,
A bhikkhu should wander mindfully
To abandon identity view.”

 

 

303 “Always frightened is this mind,
The mind is always agitated [54]
About unarisen problems
And about arisen ones.
If there exists release from fear,
Being asked, please declare it to me.”¹⁶⁷

 

 

 

304 “Not apart from enlightenment and austerity,
Not apart from restraint of the sense faculties,
Not apart from relinquishing all,
Do I see any safety for living beings.”¹⁶⁸

 

 

310 “Life is swept along, short is the life span;
No shelters exist for one who has reached old age.
Seeing clearly this danger in death,
One should do deeds of merit that bring happiness.”

 

 

 

311 “Life is swept along, short is the life span;
No shelters exist for one who has reached old age.
Seeing clearly this danger in death,
A seeker of peace should drop the world’s bait.”

 

 

312 “This indeed is that Jeta’s Grove,
The resort of the Order of seers,
Dwelt in by the Dhamma King,
A place that gives me joy.

 

 

 

313 “Action, knowledge, righteousness,
Virtue, an excellent life:
By this are mortals purified, <127>
Not by clan or wealth.

 

 

 

314 “Therefore a person who is wise,
Out of regard for his own good, [56]
Should carefully examine the Dhamma:
Thus he is purified in it.

 

 

315 “Sāriputta truly is endowed with wisdom,
With virtue and with inner peace.
Even a bhikkhu who has gone beyond
At best can only equal him.”

 

316–19 “‘This indeed is that Jeta’s Grove, ... <128> At best can only equal him.’

 

 

320 “One should associate only with the good;
With the good one should foster intimacy.
Having learnt the true Dhamma of the good,
One becomes better, never worse. <130>

 

 

 

321 “One should associate only with the good;
With the good one should foster intimacy.
Having learnt the true Dhamma of the good,
Wisdom is gained, but not from another.

 

 

 

322 “One should associate only with the good;
With the good one should foster intimacy.
Having learnt the true Dhamma of the good,
One does not sorrow in the midst of sorrow.

 

 

323 “One should associate only with the good;
With the good one should foster intimacy. [57]
Having learnt the true Dhamma of the good,
One shines amidst one’s relations.

 

 

324 “One should associate only with the good;
With the good one should foster intimacy.
Having learnt the true Dhamma of the good,
Beings fare on to a good destination.

 

 

325 “One should associate only with the good;
With the good one should foster intimacy.
Having learnt the true Dhamma of the good,
Beings abide comfortably.” <131>

 

326 “One should associate only with the good;
With the good one should foster intimacy.
Having learnt the true Dhamma of the good,
One is released from all suffering.”

 

 

327 “Foolish people devoid of wisdom
Behave like enemies towards themselves.
They go about doing evil deeds
Which yield only bitter fruit.

 

 

 

328 “That deed is not well performed
Which, having been done, is then repented,
The result of which one experiences
Weeping with a tearful face.

 

 

 

329 “But that deed is well performed
Which, having been done, is not repented,
The result of which one experiences
Joyfully with a happy mind.”¹⁷³ <132>

 

330 “One should promptly do the deed
One knows leads to one’s own welfare;
The thinker, the wise one, should not advance
With the reflection of the carter.

 

 

 

331 “As the carter who left the highway,
A road with an even surface,
And entered upon a rugged bypath
Broods mournfully with a broken axle—

 

332 “So the fool, having left the Dhamma
To follow a way opposed to Dhamma,
When he falls into the mouth of Death
Broods like the carter with a broken axle.”¹⁷⁴

 

 

333 “They always take delight in food,
Both devas and human beings.
So what sort of spirit could it be
That does not take delight in food?”

 

 

 

334 “When they give out of faith
With a heart of confidence,
Food accrues to [the giver] himself
Both in this world and the next.

 

 

 

335 “Therefore, having removed stinginess,
The conqueror of the stain should give a gift.
Merits are the support for living beings
[When they arise] in the other world.” [58]

 

336–37 “‘When they give out of faith ... <134>
[When they arise] in the other world.’

 

 

338 “‘When they give out of faith
With a heart of confidence,
Food accrues to [the giver] himself
Both in this world and the next.

 

 

 

339 “‘Therefore, having removed stinginess,
The conqueror of the stain should give a gift.
Deeds of merit are the support for living beings
[When they arise] in the other world.’” [60]

 

 

340–52 “Seven bhikkhus reborn in Avihā
Have been fully liberated.…”
... (verses 340–52 = verses 170–82, in 1:50) <138–41>…
Both now inwardly developed,
Bearers of their final bodies. [61]

 

 

353 “In the past the bhikkhus lived happily,
The disciples of Gotama.
Without wishes they sought their alms,
Without wishes they used their lodgings.
Having known the world’s impermanence,
They made an end to suffering.

 

 

 

354 “But now like headmen in a village
They make themselves hard to maintain.
They eat and eat and then lie down, <142>
Infatuated in others’ homes. ¹⁷⁸

 

 

 

355 “Having reverently saluted the Saṅgha,
I here speak only about some:
They are rejected, without protector,
Become just like the dead.¹⁷⁹

 

 

356 “My statement is made with reference
To those who dwell in negligence.
As for those who dwell in diligence,
To them I humbly pay homage.”

 

359 “Time flies by, the nights swiftly pass;
The stages of life successively desert us.
Seeing clearly this danger in death,
One should do deeds of merit that bring happiness.”

 

 

 

360 “Time flies by, the nights swiftly pass;
The stages of life successively desert us. [63]
Seeing clearly this danger in death,
A seeker of peace should drop the world’s bait.” <146>

 

 

361 “Having four wheels and nine doors,
Filled up and bound with greed,
Born from a bog, O great hero!
How does one escape from it?”

 

 

 

362 “Having cut the thong and the strap,
Having cut off evil desire and greed,
Having drawn out craving with its root:
Thus one escapes from it.”

 

 

363 “He is widely known to be a wise man,
Sāriputta, who is free of anger;
Of few wishes, gentle, tamed,
The seer adorned by the Teacher’s praise.”

 

 

364 “He is widely known to be a wise man,
Sāriputta, who is free of anger;
Of few wishes, gentle, tamed,
Developed, well tamed, he awaits the time.”¹⁸⁹

 

 

365 “In injuring and killing here,
In beating and extortion,
Kassapa did not recognize evil
Nor see any merit for oneself.
He indeed taught what is worthy of trust:
That teacher deserves esteem.”¹⁹¹

 

 

366 “By austerity and scrupulousness <153>
He attained complete self-restraint.
He abandoned contentious talk with people,
Refrained from falsehood, a speaker of truth.
Surely such a one does no evil.”¹⁹³

 

 

367 “A scrupulous discerning bhikkhu,
Well restrained by the four controls,
Explaining what is seen and heard:
Surely, he could not be a sinner.”¹⁹⁴

 

 

368 “Pakudhaka Kātiyāna and the Nigaṇṭha,
Along with Makkhali and Pūraṇa:
Teachers of companies, attained to ascetic stature:
They were surely not far from superior men.”¹⁹⁵ <154>

 

 

369 “Even by howling along the wretched jackal
Remains a vile beast, never the lion’s peer.
So though he be the teacher of a group,
The naked ascetic, speaker of falsehood,
Arousing suspicion by his conduct,
Bears no resemblance to superior men.”¹⁹⁶ [67]

 

 

370 “Those engaged in austerity and scrupulousness,
Those protecting their solitude,
And those who have settled on form,
Delighting in the world of devas: <155>
Indeed, these mortals instruct rightly
In regard to the other world.”

 

 

371 “Whatever forms exist here or beyond,
And those of luminous beauty in the sky,
All these, indeed, you praise, Namuci,
Like bait thrown out for catching fish.”¹⁹⁸

 

 

372 “Vipula is called the best of mountains
Among the hills of Rājagaha,
Seta, the best of snow-clad mountains,
The sun, the best of travellers in the sky.

 

373 “The ocean is the best body of water,
The moon, the best of nocturnal lights, <156>
But in this world together with its devas
The Buddha is declared supreme.”

 

 

141 Devaputtameans literally “son of the devas,” but since devas are depicted as arising in their celestial abodes by way of spontaneous birth, I translate the compound simply as “young deva.”

144 Well-spoken counsel (subhāsitassa). Spk interprets this to mean that one should train oneself in just the fourfold good conduct of speech (see below 8:5; also MN I 288,1-22), (and in talk) concerning the Four Noble Truths, the ten suitable topics of discussion (see MN III 113,25-31), and the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment. It seems to me more likely the purport is that one should train in accordance withgood counsel.

151 At AN IV 449-51 the Venerable Ānanda gives a detailed explanation of the verse. Readings of the aorists in pādas b and c differ among the various eds., but without affecting the meaning. Spk explains that there are two kinds of confinement (sambādha): confinement by the five hindrances and confinement by the five cords of sensual pleasure, the former being intended here. The opening pleasure, the former being intended here. The opening (okāsa) is a name for jhāna. In the analysis given by Ānanda, however, confinement and the opening are explained sequentially: first the five cords of sensual pleasure are called confinement and the first jhāna the opening; then vitakka-vicāra are confinement and the second jhāna the opening; and so on, culminating in the destruction of the āsavasas the final opening.

165 In pāda c, I read with Ee1 and SS nandībhavaparikkhīṇo, as against Be, Se, and Ee2 nandīrāgaparikkhīṇo (in both text and Spk). Spk’s gloss on nandīrāga here (tayo kammābhisaṅkhārā ) corresponds so closely to its gloss on nandībhava in v. 2 (see n. 8) that we might well suppose the original text available to the commentator read -bhava- rather than -rāga-. Sn 175 also reads -bhava-, as does the version of the verse cited at Nett 146,22.

166Spk: This young deva had been playing in the Nandana Grove together with his retinue of a thousand nymphs. Five hundred nymphs had climbed up a tree and were singing and throwing down flowers when they suddenly expired and were immediately reborn in the Avı̄ci hell. When the young deva realized they were missing and discovered they had been reborn in hell, he examined his own vital force and saw that he himself and the other five hundred nymphs were due to die in seven days and to take rebirth in hell. Hence, in utter fear, he came to the Buddha seeking consolation.

168 I read pāda a with Be: nāññatra bojjhā tapasā. The reading bojjhaṅga-tapasā, in Se and Ee1 & 2, may have crept into the text from the commentarial paraphrase in Spk, which is most intelligible in the Be reading: Nāññatra bojjhā tapasā ti bojjhaṅgabhāvanañ ca tapoguṇañ ca aññatra muñcitvā sotthiṃ na passāmi. Spk-pṭ lends further support to this reading by glossing bojjhā with bodhito and explaining it as an ablative. The Skt version cited at Ybhūś 5:2 has jñānatapaso(Enomoto, CSCS, p. 8).

179 In pāda b, I read vadāmahaṃ, with Be, Se, and Ee2, as against Ee1 vandāmahaṃ. Ee1 has the former reading in the parallel v. 794b.

182 Spk glosses loka with dukkhasaccaand each of the other terms by way of the other three noble truths. Thus the Buddha shows: “I do not make known these four truths in external things like grass and wood, but right here in this body composed of the four great elements.”

184 These words of praise are spoken by the Buddha himself of Sāriputta at MN III 25,6-10. Spk explains: Wise (paṇḍita) designates one who possesses the four kinds of skilfulness (kosalla)—in the elements, in the sense bases, in dependent origination, and in what is possible and impossible (MN III 62,4-6).

185Spk: When the Tathāgata and the Elder Ānanda had praised the Elder Sāriputta thus, the devas in 10,000 world systems rose up and praised him with the same sixteen terms. Then the young deva Susı̄ma, who had formerly (as a human being) been a pupil of Sāriputta, decided to approach the Blessed One with his own retinue and recite the same praise of his preceptor.

189 I read pāda d with SS thus: kālaṃ kaṅkhati bhāvito sudanto. This reading is suggested by VĀT, who writes: “The third word has been removed by Be and Se, no doubt in the belief that it is a Śloka pāda (failing, however, to regularize the cadence). But if one takes it as an Aupacchandasaka pāda there is no need to remove anything. Confirmation is got from Sn 516, the alteration of sa danto to sudantobeing appropriate for the different contexts.”

193 The verse alludes to Makkhali’s style of ascetic practice but, strangely, makes no mention of his doctrines. Spk explains his austerity (tapa) as bodily mortification and his scrupulousness (jigucchā) as the loathing of evil [Spk-pṭ: the undertaking of the vow of nudity, etc., in the belief that this is the way to eliminate evil]. This explanation shows that Spk regards tapojigucchā here as a collective dvanda compound, “austerity andscrupulousness,” and so I have rendered it. Sv III 834,37, however, commenting on

198 Namuci is a name of Māra, which Spk-pṭ (to 4:1) explains as meaning “he does not free” (na muci): vaṭṭadukkhato aparimuttapaccayattā namuci; “He is called Namuci because he does not let one get free from the suffering of the round.” Spk paraphrases the Buddha’s remark: “Just as a fisherman throws out bait at the end of a hook for the purpose of catching fish, so, by praising these forms, you throw them out in order to catch living beings.” See 35:230.