English
Indeed, me, gone forth, peaceful, from home to homelessness; Thoughts assail me, these impudent ones from the Evil One. Sons of warriors, great archers, well-trained, firm in their bows; They might surround on all sides a thousand non-fleeing ones. Even if so many, or more, women were to come; They would not disturb me, for I am established in the Dhamma. Indeed, I heard this directly, from the Buddha, Kinsman of the Sun; The path leading to Nibbana, my mind delights in that. If, while I dwell thus, Evil One, you approach me; I will act, O Death, in such a way that you will not even see my path. Having abandoned discontent and delight, and all thoughts connected with home; He should not make any craving anywhere, that bhikkhu is without craving, without desire. Whatever here, on earth and in the sky, whatever form exists, immersed in the world; All that decays, is impermanent, understanding this, the liberated ones wander. People are greedy for attachments, in what is seen, heard, felt, and cognized; Here, remove desire, be unshaken, the sage who is not stained by these, they call him. Then, sixty (wrong views) with thoughts, unrighteous, are entrenched in ordinary people; But he does not go to any faction, nor is that bhikkhu one who holds to evil speech. The skillful one, long-practiced in concentration, not deceitful, astute, not envious; The sage has attained the peaceful state, fully extinguished, he awaits his time. Abandon conceit, Gotama, and abandon the path of conceit entirely; For he who is infatuated with the path of conceit, will long be remorseful. Stained by hypocrisy, people Struck by conceit, fall to hell; People grieve for a long time, Having gone to hell, struck by conceit. A monk never grieves, A conqueror of the path, rightly practiced; He experiences fame and happiness, They call him a giver of Dhamma, such is his nature. Therefore, here, without guile, diligent, Having abandoned hindrances, pure; Having abandoned conceit completely, Making an end through knowledge, tranquil. I am burning with sensual passion, My mind is burning up; Please tell me the way to extinguish it, Out of compassion, Gotama. Due to perversion of perception, Your mind is burning up; Avoid the sign, The beautiful, associated with passion. Cultivate the mind on the unbeautiful, One-pointed, well-composed; Let mindfulness of the body be yours, Be abundant in dispassion. Cultivate the signless, Abandon the underlying tendency of conceit; Then, by the full comprehension of conceit, You will wander tranquil. One should speak only that speech, By which one does not torment oneself; Nor harm others, That indeed is well-spoken speech. One should speak only pleasant speech, Which speech is welcomed; Which, not taking up evils, Speaks pleasantly to others. Truth indeed is immortal speech, This is an ancient law; In truth, in meaning, and in Dhamma, The good are said to be established. That speech which the Buddha speaks, Safe, for the attainment of Nibbāna; For the ending of suffering, That indeed is the supreme speech. Deep in wisdom, intelligent, Skilled in the path and not-path; Sāriputta, greatly wise, Teaches the Dhamma to monks. He teaches even concisely, He speaks even extensively; Like the sound of a mynah bird, His ready wit arises. To him, as he taught that, They listened to his sweet voice; With a charming, delightful, And pleasing sound; With uplifted and joyful minds, The bhikkhus lent their ears. Today, on the fifteenth, for purification, Five hundred bhikkhus have gathered; They have cut the bonds of fetters, Free from trouble, with rebirth exhausted, these sages. Just as a Wheel-turning King, Surrounded by his ministers; Goes around everywhere, This earth up to the ocean's edge. So too, the battle-victorious, The unsurpassed caravan leader; His disciples attend upon him, The three-knowledge holders, who have overcome death. All are sons of the Blessed One, There is no backsliding here; I salute the destroyer of the dart of craving, The Kinsman of the Sun. More than a thousand bhikkhus, Attend upon the Fortunate One; As he teaches the stainless Dhamma, Nibbāna, from which there is no fear. They listen to the pure Dhamma, Taught by the Perfectly Enlightened One; Truly, the Enlightened One shines, Foremost in the assembly of bhikkhus. "Nāga by name" are you, Blessed One, The seventh sage among sages; Having become like a great cloud, You shower your disciples. Having come forth from the dwelling by day, Desiring to see the Teacher; Your disciple, Great Hero, Vaṅgīsa, salutes your feet. He walks, having overcome Māra's wrong path, Having broken through the stakes; See him, the one who releases from bonds, Dividing it, like a black snake, into parts. Indeed, for crossing the flood, He declared the manifold path; And in that deathless state declared, The Dhamma-seers stand unshaken. The light-maker, having penetrated, Saw the transcendence of all standpoints; Having known and realized it, He taught the supreme to the ten directions. In the Dhamma thus well-taught, What heedlessness can there be for those who know the Dhamma? Therefore, in the teaching of that Blessed One, One should always train oneself diligently and reverently. The elder, who is enlightened after the Buddha, k Kondañña, with keen effort, Obtains pleasant abodes, and frequent solitude. 1256. What a disciple should attain, who follows the Teacher's instruction; All that has been attained by him, who is diligent and trains himself. 1257. Kondañña, of great power, the three-knowledge master, skilled in mind-reading, The Buddha's heir, bows at the Teacher's feet. 1258. Seated by the side of a mountain, the sage, who has crossed over suffering; Disciples attend upon him, those with the three knowledges, who have overcome death. 1259. Moggallāna, of great psychic power, follows them with his mind; Investigating their minds, which are liberated and without substratum. 1260. Thus, endowed with all excellent qualities, the sage who has crossed over suffering; Endowed with many excellent aspects, they attend upon Gotama. 1261. As the moon in a cloudless sky, shines, and the sun, free from blemish; So too, Angirasa, you, great sage, outshine all the world in glory. 1262. Formerly, we wandered, absorbed in poetry, from village to village, from town to town; Then we saw the Fully Awakened One, who had crossed over all phenomena. 1263. He taught me the Dhamma, the sage who had crossed over suffering; Having heard the Dhamma, we were gladdened, faith arose in us. 1264. Having heard his words, and having understood the aggregates, sense bases, And elements, I went forth into homelessness. 1265. Truly, for the welfare of many, Tathāgatas arise; For women and men, who are followers of the teaching. 1266. Truly, for their welfare, the sage attained enlightenment; For monks and nuns, who have seen the end of craving. 1267. Well taught by the Seer, the Buddha, kinsman of the sun; Are the four noble truths, out of compassion for living beings. 1268. Suffering, the origin of suffering, and the overcoming of suffering; And the noble eightfold path, leading to the cessation of suffering. 1269. Thus these things were taught, and I have seen them as they are; My true goal has been attained, what was to be done has been done. The teaching of Dhamma. 1270. “Welcome indeed it was for me, in the presence of my Buddha; Among the well-analyzed doctrines, I attained that which is supreme. 1271. “I have reached the perfection of higher knowledge, the faculty of hearing is purified; I am endowed with the three knowledges, attained psychic powers, skilled in mind-reading. 1272. “I ask the Teacher, of incomparable wisdom, who in this very life cuts off doubts; A bhikkhu died in Aggāḷava, renowned, famous, with a mind fully extinguished. 1273. “Nigrodhakappa was his name, given by you, O Bhagavā, to that brahmin; He, seeking liberation, worshipped you and wandered, with aroused energy, seeing the firm Dhamma. 1274. “That disciple, O Sakka, all of us too, wish to know, O All-Seeing One; Our ears are attentive for listening, you are our Teacher, you are unsurpassed.” 1275. “Cut off our doubt, tell us this, declare the fully extinguished one, O greatly wise one; Speak in our midst, O All-Seeing One, like Sakka, the thousand-eyed god among devas. 1276. “Whatever bonds there are here, paths of delusion, belonging to ignorance, sources of doubt; Reaching the Tathāgata, they do not exist, for this is the supreme eye of humans. 1277. “If a person never, like the wind, were to scatter a cloud mass; The whole world would be enveloped in darkness, even the luminous ones would not shine forth. 1278. “The wise become illuminators, that, O hero, I believe of you; We have approached the knowing Vipassin, reveal Kappa to us in the assemblies. 1279. “Quickly utter a sweet, sweet speech, like a swan, raising its neck, gently cooing; With a clear, well-articulated voice, all of us, attentive, will listen to you. 1280. “Having completely abandoned birth and death, having suppressed and purified, I will declare the Dhamma; For ordinary people, it is not according to their will, but according to calculation it is…” of the Tathāgatas. 1281. “This declaration of yours is perfect, grasped by one of perfectly straight wisdom; This is my last salutation, do not delude me, O wise one of peerless wisdom. 1282. “Having known the noble Dhamma, higher and higher, do not delude me, O wise one of peerless energy; As one parched by the heat desires water in summer, I long for your teaching, pour it forth! 1283. “Was the holy life lived by Kappāyano for a purpose, not in vain? Did he become extinguished, or was there a remainder? Let us hear how he was freed. 1284. “‘He cut off craving for name-and-form here, (Thus said the Blessed One) the stream of Māra, long-cherished;