Theragāthā (Psalms of the Brethren)

Arranging a robe over my shoulder, the color of young mango sprouts, I entered the village for alms sitting on an elephant’s neck!

But when I dismounted from the elephant, I was struck with a sense of urgency. I burned with shame, but then I found peace, and attained the ending of defilements.

This chap, “Rag-rice”, he sure is a rag! Into the vase of freedom from death, <j>polished and overflowing, sufficient teaching has been poured; the path to build up absorptions has been laid out.

Don’t nod off, Rag— I’ll smack your ear! You know no limit, nodding off in the midst of the Saṅgha!

Oh, the Buddhas! Oh, the Dhammas! Oh, the accomplishments of the Teacher! Here a disciple may realize such a teaching for themselves.

Through countless eons they obtained substantial forms. This is their last, their very final body in the transmigration through births and deaths; now there’ll be no more future lives.

The young monk who is devoted to the teaching of the Buddha, wakeful while others sleep— his life is not in vain.

So let the wise devote themselves to faith, ethical behavior, confidence, and insight into the teaching, remembering the instructions of the Buddhas.

Whose faculties have become serene, like horses tamed by a charioteer? With conceit and defilements given up, who is such as envied by even the gods?

My faculties have become serene, like horses tamed by a charioteer. With conceit and defilements given up, I am such as envied by even the gods.

“Your skin is nasty but your heart is good; Mogharāja, you’re always immersed in 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.”

One should not suspend others from the Saṅgha, <j>nor raise objections against them; and neither disparage nor raise one’s voice against <j>one who has crossed to the further shore. One should not praise oneself among the assemblies, not restless, measured in speech, <j>and true to your vows.

For one who sees the meaning <j>so very subtle and fine, who is skilled in thought and placid in manner, who has cultivated mature ethics— it’s not hard to gain extinguishment.

The peacocks cry out with their fair crests and tails, their lovely blue necks and fair faces, <j>their beautiful song and their call. This broad earth is lush with grass and dew, and the firmament is full of beautiful clouds.

One practicing absorption is happy in mind, <j>and their appearance is uplifting; going forth in the teaching of the Buddha <j>is easy for a good person. Realize that supreme state that does not pass, so very pure, subtle, and hard to see.

The conceited mind, addicted to pleasure, impales itself on its own stake. It always goes where there’s a stake, a chopping board.

I declare you the loser mind! I declare you the insidious mind! You’ve found the Teacher so hard to find— don’t lead me away from the goal.

Transmigrating for such a long time, I’ve cycled through various states of rebirth, not seeing the noble truths, a blind, unenlightened person.

But when I became heedful, transmigrations were mown down. All states of rebirth are cut off; now there’ll be no more future lives.

Beneath the Bodhi Tree, bright green and growing, being mindful, my perception became one with the Buddha.

It’s been thirty one eons since I gained that perception; and it’s due to that perception that I’ve attained the ending of defilements.

Seeking purity the wrong way, I served the sacred fire in a grove. Not knowing the path to purity, I practiced endless mortification.

I’ve gained this happiness by means of happiness: behold the clear rightness of the teaching! I’ve attained the three knowledges and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

I used to be brahmin only by kin, but now I really am a brahmin! I am master of the three knowledges, <j>I’m a bathed initiate, I’m a scholar and a knowledge master.

I went forth five days ago, a trainee, my heart’s desire unfulfilled. I entered my dwelling and resolved in my heart:

I won’t eat; I won’t drink; I won’t leave my dwelling; nor will I lie down on my side— not until the dart of craving is plucked.

See my energy and vigor as I meditate like this! I’ve attained the three knowledges and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

Whoever wishes to do afterwards what they should have done before has lost the causes for happiness, and afterwards they’re tormented by regrets.

You should only say what you would do; you shouldn’t say what you wouldn’t do. The wise will recognize one who talks without doing.

Oh! Extinguishment is so very blissful, as taught by the fully awakened Buddha: sorrowless, stainless, secure, where suffering all ceases.

If you wish to live in happiness, longing for the ascetic life, don’t look down on the Saṅgha’s robes, or its food and drinks.

If you wish to live in happiness, longing for the ascetic life, stay in the Saṅgha’s lodgings like a snake making use of a mouse’s hole.

If you wish to live in happiness, longing for the ascetic life, develop this one quality: be content with whatever is offered.

“It’s too cold, too hot, too late,” they say. When the young neglect their work like this, opportunities pass them by.

But one who considers heat and cold as no more than blades of grass— he does his duties as a man, and his happiness never fails.

With my chest I’ll thrust aside the grasses, vines, canes, the vetiver, rushes and reeds, and foster seclusion.

“One of those monks who live in Pāṭaliputta— such brilliant speakers, and very learned— stands at the door: the old man, Khujjasobhita.

One of those monks who live in Pāṭaliputta— such brilliant speakers, and very learned— stands at the door: an old man, shivering in the gale.”

“By war well fought, by sacrifice well made, by victory in battle; by leading the spiritual life: that’s how one prospers in happiness.”

Anyone among men who harms other creatures: that person will fall both from this world and the next.

But someone with a mind of love, sympathetic for all creatures: a person like that brims with much merit.

You should all train <j>to learn well-spoken words, to attend closely to ascetics, to sit alone in hidden places, and to settle the mind.

I was the only one in my family who had faith and wisdom. It’s good for my relatives that I’m firm in principle, and ethical.

I curbed my family out of sympathy, telling them off out of love for my family and relatives. They performed a service for the monks

and then they passed away, finding happiness in the Third Heaven. There, my brothers and mother enjoy all the pleasures they desire.

“With knobbly knees, thin and veiny, eating and drinking but little— this person’s spirit is undaunted.”

“Pestered by flies and mosquitoes in the wilds, the formidable forest, one should mindfully endure, like an elephant at the head of the battle.

A monk alone is like the supreme Divinity; a pair of monks are like gods; three are like a village; and more than that is a rabble.”

In the past you had faith, today you have none. What’s yours is yours alone— I’ve done nothing wrong.

Faith is impermanent, fickle: or so I have seen. Passions wax and wane: why would a sage waste away on that account?

The meal of a sage is cooked bit by bit in this family or that. I’ll walk for alms, for my legs are strong.

One newly gone forth, who has left their home out of faith, should mix with spiritual friends, who are tireless and pure of livelihood.

One newly gone forth, who has left their home out of faith, a mendicant staying in the Saṅgha, being wise, would train in monastic discipline.

One newly gone forth, who has left their home out of faith, skilled in what is appropriate and what is not, would wander undistracted.

I was, indeed, an astute scholar, competent to think on the meaning. The five kinds of sensual stimulation in the world, so delusory, were my downfall.

Leaping into Māra’s domain, I was struck by a powerful dart. But I was able to free myself from the trap laid by the King of Death.

I have given up all sensual pleasures; all rebirths are shattered; transmigration through births is finished; now there’ll be no more future lives.

Listen up, all my relatives, those who have gathered here: I’ll teach you Dhamma! Painful is birth again and again.

Rouse yourselves, try harder! Devote yourselves to the instructions of the Buddha! Crush the army of death, as an elephant a hut of reeds.

Whoever shall meditate diligently in this teaching and training, giving up transmigration, will make an end to suffering.

Transmigrating, I went to hell, and to the ghost realm time and again. Many times I dwelt long in the animal realm, so full of pain.

I was also reborn as a human, and from time to time I went to heaven. I’ve stayed in realms <j>of luminous form and formlessness, among the neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient, <j>and the non-percipient.

I know well these created states are insubstantial— conditioned, quivering, always in motion. When I understood that this is created in myself, mindful, I found peace.

Whoever wishes to do afterwards tasks they should have done before has lost the causes for happiness, and afterwards they’re tormented by regrets.

You should only say what you would do; you shouldn’t say what you wouldn’t do. The wise will recognize one who talks without doing.

Oh! Extinguishment is so very blissful, as taught by the fully awakened Buddha: sorrowless, stainless, secure, where suffering all ceases.

Shunning bad friends, associate with the supreme individual. Stick to the advice he gave you, aspiring to unshakable happiness.

If you’re lost in the middle of a great sea, and you clamber up on a little log, you’ll sink. So too, a person who lives well sinks by relying on a lazy person. Hence you should avoid such a lazy person who lacks energy.

Dwell with the noble ones who are secluded and determined and always energetic; the astute who practice absorption.

Adorned with jewelry and all dressed up, with garlands, and sandalwood makeup piled on, along the main street is a lady— a dancer dancing as the music plays.

I entered for alms, and while walking along I glanced at her, adorned with jewelry and all dressed up, set up like a snare of death.

Then the realization came upon me— the danger became clear, and I grew firmly disillusioned.

Then my mind was freed— behold the clear rightness of the teaching! I’ve attained the three knowledges and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

Overwhelmed by drowsiness, I left my dwelling. Stepping up to the path for walking meditation, I fell to the ground right there.

I rubbed my limbs, and again I stepped up on the path for walking meditation. I walked meditation up and down the path, serene inside myself.

Then the realization came upon me— the danger became clear, and I grew firmly disillusioned.

Then my mind was freed— behold the clear rightness of the teaching! I’ve attained the three knowledges, and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

When others do not understand, let us, who do understand this, restrain ourselves in this regard; for that is how conflicts are laid to rest.

And when those who don’t understand behave as though they were immortal, those who understand the Dhamma are like the healthy among the sick.

Any lax act, any corrupt observance, or suspicious spiritual life, is not very fruitful.

Whoever has no respect for their spiritual companions is as far from true Dhamma as the firmament from the earth.

Curse you mortal frame, you stink! You’re on Māra’s side, you fester! O body, you have nine streams that are flowing all the time.

Don’t think much of mortal frames; don’t disparage the Realized Ones. They’re not even aroused by heaven, let alone by humans.

But those who are fools and simpletons, with bad advisors, wrapped in delusion, that kind of person is aroused by bodies, when Māra has laid down the snare.

Those in whom greed, hate, and ignorance have faded away; such people are not aroused by bodies, they’ve cut the strings, unbound.

For fifty-five years I wore dust and dirt. Eating one meal a month, I tore out my hair and beard.

I stood on one foot; I shunned seats; I ate dried-out dung; I didn’t accept food set aside for me.

I did many deeds of this kind, which lead to a bad destination. Swept away by a great flood, I went to the Buddha for refuge.

See the going for refuge! Behold the clear rightness of the teaching! I’ve attained the three knowledges and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

It was so welcome for me during the Gayā spring festival to see the Awakened One teaching the supreme Dhamma.

He was glorious, the tutor of a community, a leader who had realized the highest. In all the world with its gods, he was the victor of unequaled vision.

A great giant, a great hero, a great light free of defilement. With the utter ending of all defilements, the Teacher fears nothing from any quarter.

For a long time, sadly, I was corrupted, fettered by the bond of wrong view. That Blessed One, Senaka, released me from all ties.

Hurrying when it’s time to dawdle; dawdling when it’s time to hurry; being so disorganized a fool falls into suffering.

Their good fortune wastes away like the moon in the waning fortnight. They become disgraced and alienated from their friends.

Dawdling when it’s time to dawdle; hurrying when it’s time to hurry; being so well organized, an astute person comes into happiness.

Their good fortune flourishes like the moon in the waxing fortnight. They become famous and respected, not alienated from their friends.

I am known as “Fortunate Rāhula”, because I’m accomplished in both ways: I am the son of the Buddha, whose eye sees clearly in all things.

Since my defilements have ended, since there are no more future lives— I’m perfected, worthy of offerings, master of the three knowledges, <j>seer of freedom from death.