I will praise the Going Forth,
how he went forth, the One with Eyes,
how he reasoned and chose the Going Forth.
“Household life is confining,
a realm of dust,
while going forth
is the open air.”
Seeing this, he went forth.

On going forth,
he avoided evil deeds in body.
Abandoning verbal misconduct,
he purified his livelihood.
Then he, the Buddha, went to Rājagaha,
the mountain fortress of the Magadhans,
and wandered for alms,
teeming with the foremost marks.
King Bimbisāra, standing in his palace, saw him,
and on seeing him, consummate in marks,
said this:
“Look at this one, sirs.
How handsome, stately, pure!
How consummate his demeanor!
Mindful, his eyes downcast, looking only a plow-length before him.
This one’s not like one
from a lowly lineage:
Have the royal messengers hurry
to see where this monk will go.”

They — the messengers dispatched —
followed behind him.
“Where will this monk go?
Where will his dwelling place be?”
As he went from house to house —
well-restrained, his sense-doors guarded,
mindful, alert —
his bowl filled quickly.
Then he, the sage, completing his alms round,
left the city, headed for Mount Paṇḍava.
“That’s where his dwelling will be.”
Seeing him go to his dwelling place,
three messengers sat down,
while one returned to tell the king.
“That monk, your majesty,
on the flank of Paṇḍava,
sits like a tiger, a bull,
a lion in a mountain cleft.”

Hearing the messenger’s words,
the noble-warrior king
straight away set out by royal coach,
for Mount Paṇḍava.
Going as far as the coach would go,
the noble-warrior king
got down from the coach,
went up on foot,
and on arrival sat down.
Sitting there,
he exchanged courteous greetings,
and after giving friendly greetings,
said this:
“Young you are, and youthful,
in the first stage of youth,
consummate in stature & coloring
like a noble-warrior by birth.
You would look glorious
in the vanguard of an army,
arrayed with an elephant squadron.
I offer you wealth : Enjoy it.
I ask your birth : Inform me.”

“Straight ahead, your majesty,
by the foothills of the Himalayas,
is a country consummate
in energy & wealth,
inhabited by Kosalans:
Solar by clan,
Sakyans by birth.
From that lineage I have gone forth,
but not in hope of sensuality.
Seeing the danger in sensuality
— and renunciation as rest —
I go to strive.

That’s where my heart delights.”

To me —
my mind resolute in exertion
near the river Nerañjarā,
making a great effort,
doing jhāna
to attain rest from the yoke —

Nāmuci[1] came,
speaking words of compassion:
“You are ashen, thin.
Death is in
your presence.
Death
has 1,000 parts of you.
Only one part
is your life.
Live, good sir!
Life is better.
Alive,
you can do
acts of merit.
Your living the holy life
and performing the fire sacrifice
will heap up much merit.
What use is exertion to you?
Hard to follow
— the path of exertion —
hard to do, hard
to sustain.”

Saying these verses,
Māra stood in the Awakened One’s presence.
And to that Māra, speaking thus,
the Blessed One
said this:

“Kinsman of the heedless,
Evil One,
come here for whatever purpose:
I haven’t, for merit,
even the least bit of need.
Those who have need of merit:
Those are the ones
Māra’s fit to address.

In me are
conviction
austerity,
persistence,
discernment.
Why, when my mind is resolute,
do you petition me
to live?
This wind could burn up
even river currents.
Why, when my mind is resolute,
shouldn’t my blood dry away?
As my blood dries up,
gall & phlegm dry up,
as muscles waste away,
the mind grows clearer;
mindfulness, discernment,
concentration stand
more firm.
Staying in this way,
attaining the ultimate feeling,[2]
the mind has no interest
in sensuality.
See:
a being’s
purity!

Sensual passions are your first army.
Your second is called Discontent.
Your third is Hunger & Thirst.
Your fourth is called Craving.
Fifth is Sloth & Torpor.
Sixth is called Cowardice.
Your seventh is Uncertainty.
Hypocrisy & Stubbornness, your eighth.
Gains, Offerings, Fame, & Status
wrongly gained,
and whoever would praise self
& disparage others:

That, Nāmuci, is your army,
the Dark One’s commando force.
A coward can’t defeat it,
but one having defeated it
gains bliss.

Do I carry muñja grass?[3]
I spit on my life.
Death in battle would be better for me
than that I, defeated,
survive.[4]
Sinking here, they don’t appear,
some brahmans & contemplatives.
They don’t know the path
by which those with good practices
go.

Seeing the bannered force
on all sides —
the troops, Māra
along with his mount —
I go into battle.
May they not budge me
from
my spot.
That army of yours,
that the world with its devas
can’t overcome,
I will smash with discernment —
as an unfired pot with a stone.
Making my resolve mastered,
mindfulness well-established,
I will go about, from kingdom to kingdom,
training many disciples.
They — heedful, resolute in mind,
doing my bidding —
despite your wishs, will go
where, having gone,
there’s no grief.”

“For seven years, I’ve dogged
the Blessed One’s steps,
but haven’t gained an opening
in the One Self-Awakened
& glorious.
A crow circled a stone
the color of fat
—’Maybe I’ve found
something tender here.
Maybe there’s something delicious’ —
but not getting anything delicious there,
the crow went away.
Like the crow attacking the rock,
I weary myself with Gotama.”

As he was overcome with sorrow,
his lute fell from under his arm.
Then he, the despondent spirit,
right there
disappeared.

The calm say that what is well-spoken is best;
second, that one should say
what is just, not unjust;
third, what’s endearing, not unendearing;
fourth, what is true, not false.

“Speak only the speech
that neither torments self
nor does harm to others.
That speech is truly well-spoken.

Speak only endearing speech,
speech that is welcomed.
Speech when it brings no evil
to others
is pleasant.

Truth, indeed, is deathless speech:
This is a primeval principle.
The goal and the Dhamma
— so say the calm —
are firmly established on truth.

The speech the Awakened One speaks,
for attaining unbinding,
rest,
for making an end
to the mass of stress:
That is the speech unsurpassed.”

“I’m not a brahman or king’s son,
not a merchant, or anyone at all.[2]
Comprehending the clan
of the run-of-the-mill,[3]
having nothing,
I wander by means of wisdom
in the world.
Wearing my outer robe,
I wander without home,
my hair shaven off,
my mind entirely unbound,
not adhering to people here.
You ask me
an inappropriate question
about clan.”

“But, sir, brahmans surely inquire of brahmans,
‘Are you among the brahmans?’”

“If you say you’re a brahman
and I’m not a brahman,
I ask you the three lines of the Sāvitti
and its twenty-four syllables.”[4]

“Because of what
did seers, men, noble warriors, & brahmans
— many of them here in the world —
(first) arrange sacrifices to devas?”

“Whoever has attained the end,
an attainer-of-knowledge,
should receive an oblation
at the time of a sacrifice,
his (sacrifice), I say, would succeed.”[5]

“So yes, our sacrifice will succeed
for we have seen an attainer-of-knowledge like you.
It’s from not seeing those like you
that someone else eats the sacrificial cake.”

“Therefore, brahman,
as you are seeking your benefit,
approach and ask.
Perhaps you may find here
one at peace, with no anger,
no desire, no affliction:
one with good wisdom.”

“I delight in sacrifice,
I desire to sacrifice,
but I don’t understand
where a sacrifice succeeds.
Teach me, sir. Tell me that.”

“In that case, brahman, lend ear.
I will teach you the Dhamma.
Don’t inquire about birth.[6]
Inquire about conduct.

As from wood, a fire is born,[7]
so a sage, even from lowly birth
— steadfast, restrained
through a sense of shame —
becomes a thoroughbred.

One tamed by truth,
endowed with self-control,
attained to the end of knowledge,
having fulfilled the holy life:
To him, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering,[8]
to him brahman aiming at merit
should sacrifice.

Those with well-restrained minds,
straight as a shuttle:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering,
to them a brahman aiming at merit
should sacrifice.

Those devoid of passion,
their faculties well-centered,
released like the moon
from the grasp of an eclipse:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering,
to them a brahman aiming at merit
should sacrifice.

Unattached, they wander in the world,
always mindful,
abandoning possessiveness:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering,
to them a brahman aiming at merit
should sacrifice.

Who, abandoning sensuality,
wanders victorious,
who knows the end
of birth & death,
totally unbound, cool
as a pool of water:
The Tathāgata deserves[9]
the sacrificial cake.
Consonant among the consonant,
far from the discordant,
the Tathāgata of infinite discernment,
not smeared here or beyond:
The Tathāgata deserves
the sacrificial cake.

In whom no deceptiveness dwells,
no conceit,
devoid of greed, un-
possessive, un-
desiring,
his anger dispelled,
his mind entirely unbound,
a brahman who has abandoned
the stain of grief:
The Tathāgata deserves
the sacrificial cake.

He has abandoned the homes of the mind,
has
no possessions at all,
no clinging here or beyond:
The Tathāgata deserves
the sacrificial cake.

Centered, he’s crossed
over the flood,
he knows the Dhamma
through the highest view,
effluents ended, bearing his last body:
The Tathāgata deserves
the sacrificial cake.

Whose effluent of becoming
and harsh speech
are destroyed, finished, do not exist —
he, an attainer-of-knowledge,
everywhere totally released[10]:
The Tathāgata deserves
the sacrificial cake.

Gone beyond snares,
for whom there are no snares,
who, among those attached to conceit,
is unattached to conceit,
comprehending stress

along with its field & its site[11]:
The Tathāgata deserves
the sacrificial cake.

Independent of desire,
seeing seclusion,[12]
gone beyond the views known by others,
who has
no supports
no mental objects[13]
at all:
The Tathāgata deserves
the sacrificial cake.

In whom, having understood them,
phenomena from high to low
are destroyed, finished, do not exist[14] —
at peace, released in the ending of clinging:
The Tathāgata deserves
the sacrificial cake.

Seeing the end & ending
of fetters & birth,
having dispelled the path of passion
without trace,
pure, faultless, stainless, clear:
The Tathāgata deserves
the sacrificial cake.

Who doesn’t contemplate
self by means of self,[15]
centered, straightened,
steadfast in mind,[16]
truly unperturbed,
free from rigidity, free
from doubt:
The Tathāgata deserves
the sacrificial cake.

Who has no conditions for delusion,
with knowledge & vision of all phenomena
he carries his last body,
having attained the unexcelled
self-awakening, auspicious —
to that extent is the purity of a spirit[17]:
The Tathāgata deserves
the sacrificial cake.”

“And may my offering
be a true offering
from having obtained
an attainer-of-knowledge like you.
As Brahmā is my witness,
may the Blessed One accept,
may the Blessed One eat,
my sacrificial cake.”

“What’s been chanted over with verses[18]
shouldn’t be eaten by me.
That’s not the nature, brahman,
of one who’s seen rightly.
What’s been chanted over with verses
Awakened Ones reject.
That being their Dhamma, brahman,
this is their way of life.
Serve with other food & drink
a fully-perfected great seer,
his effluents ended,
his anxiety stilled,
for that is the field
for one looking for merit.”

“It’s well, Blessed One, how I understand
who should eat the offering of one like me,
whom I should seek at the time of sacrifice
having received your advice.”

“Whose violence is fully gone,
whose mind is limpid,
whose sloth is dispelled
— fully released from sensuality —
one who has subdued boundaries,[19]
a master of birth & death,
a sage consummate in sagacity[20]:
When one like this has come to the sacrifice,
then, subduing scorn, with hands palm-to-palm
over the heart,
do homage.
Worship him with food & drink.
In this way the offerings will succeed.”

“Master, the Awakened One,
field of merit
unexcelled in all the world,
recipient for all the world[21]
deserves the sacrificial cake.
A gift given to you, master,
bears great fruit.

“I ask the magnanimous Gotama,
wearing ochre robes, wandering without home:
When a householder responsive to requests,
a master of giving,
makes a sacrifice in hopes of merit,
looking for merit,
giving food & drink to others here,
how is the offering purified
for the one making the sacrifice?”

“When a householder responsive to requests,
a master of giving,
makes a sacrifice in hopes of merit,
looking for merit,
giving food & drink to others here:
Such a person achieves his aim
in terms of the recipient.”

“When a householder responsive to requests,
a master of giving,
makes a sacrifice in hopes of merit,
looking for merit,
giving food & drink to others here:
Point out to me the recipient.”

“Those who, unadhering,[1]
wander in the world, having nothing,
fully accomplished, their minds restrained:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering,
to them a brahman aiming at merit
should sacrifice.

Those who have cut all fetters & bonds,
tamed, released, with
no afflictions,
no desires:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering,
to them a brahman aiming at merit
should sacrifice.

Those released from all fetters & bonds,
tamed, released, with
no afflictions,
no desires:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering.

Having abandoned
passion, aversion, & delusion,
their holy life fulfilled,
their effluents ended:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering.
Those in whom no deceptiveness dwells,
no conceit,
their holy life fulfilled,
their effluents ended:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering.

Those devoid of greed,
unpossessive, undesiring,
their holy life fulfilled,
their effluents ended:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering.

Those who aren’t prey to cravings,
who wander without possessiveness,
having crossed over the flood:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering.

Those who, having abandoned sensuality,
wander without home,
their minds well-restrained,
straight as a shuttle:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering.

Those devoid of passion,
their faculties well-centered,
released like the moon
from the grasp of an eclipse:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering.

Having calmed themselves,
those devoid of passion, unprovoked,
who have no (future) destinations,
having abandoned them here:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering.

Having abandoned birth & death
without trace,
they have escaped all perplexity:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering.

They who, with themselves as refuge,
wander in the world,
having nothing, everywhere released:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering.

They who know here, as it really is —
‘This is the last birth,
there is no further becoming’:
To them, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering.

An attainer-of-knowledge,[2]
delighting in jhāna, mindful,
attained to self-awakening,
the refuge of many:
To him, at the right time,
you should bestow an offering,
to him a brahman aiming at merit
should sacrifice.”

“Yes, my question was not in vain.
You, Blessed One, have pointed out the recipient.
You know this here, as it really is,
because this Dhamma has been experienced by you.
When a householder responsive to requests,
a master of giving,
makes a sacrifice in hopes of merit,
looking for merit,
giving food & drink to others here:
Point out to me, Blessed One,
the consummation of the sacrifice.”

“Sacrifice, and while sacrificing, Māgha,
said the Blessed One,
make your mind clear everywhere.
For one sacrificing, the sacrifice is the object,
the support.[3]
Taking a stand there, he abandons faults.[4]
He — devoid of passion, subduing aversion,
developing a mind of goodwill
immeasurable,
day & night, continually heedful —
should pervade all the directions
immeasurably.”

“Who is purified? Released? Bound?
By means of what mind does one go
to the Brahmā world?
Say this, sage, when asked
by me who doesn’t know.
As the Blessed One is my witness,
I have seen Brahmā today,
for you are equal to Brahmā for us — it’s true!
How, shining one, does one reappear
in the Brahmā world?”

“Whoever sacrifices
with the threefold sacrifice consummation,[5]
such a one would achieve his aim
in terms of the recipient.
Having thus sacrificed rightly,
one responsive to requests
reappears, I say, in the Brahmā world.”[5

“Doubtful & uncertain, I have come
desiring to ask questions.
Put an end to them,
when asked them by me.
Answer me one-by-one,
in line with the Dhamma.”

“Sabhiya,” said the Blessed One,
“you have come from afar,
desiring to ask questions.
I will put an end to them,
when asked them by you.
I will answer you one-by-one,
in line with the Dhamma.”

“Having attained what
is one said to be a monk?
In what way is one composed?
And how is one said to be tamed?
How is one called ‘awakened’?
Answer, Blessed One, when I’ve asked you.”

“Having gone to total unbinding,
having crossed over doubt,
by means of the path accomplished by himself,
having abandoned becoming & non-becoming, having fulfilled [the task],
further - becoming ended:
He is a monk.[2]

Everywhere equanimous, mindful,
he harms no one in all the world.
A contemplative crossed over, limpid,
he has no swellings[3: He is composed.
Whose faculties are developed,
within & without,
with regard to all the world,[4]
disenchanted with this world & the next,
he awaits his time,[5] developed: He’s tamed.
Having evaluated all theories,
the wandering-on,
dying & reappearing,
having done away with dust & blemish
— pure —
he has attained the ending of birth:
He is called awakened.”[6]

“Having attained what
is one said to be a brahman?
In what way is one a contemplative,
and how is one ‘washed’?
How is one called a nāga?
Answer, Blessed One, when I’ve asked you.”

“Having banished all evils,[7]
well-centered, stainless,
firm in mind,
gone entirely beyond
the wandering-on,
independent, Such:
He’s called a brahman.

Calmed, having abandoned
good & evil,
dustless, having known
this world & the next,
gone beyond birth & death,
he is truly called a contemplative[8] —
Such.
Having washed off all evils
within & without, in all the world,
with regard to the theories
of beings human & divine,
he goes to no theory:
He’s said to be ‘washed.’[9]

He does no misdeed[10]
at all in the world.
Having escaped all fetters & bonds,
freed, he’s everywhere un-
attached,
truly he’s called a nāga —
Such.”

“Whom do the awakened
call a field-victor?
In what way is one skilled
and how is one wise?
And how is one called
by the name of ‘sage’?
Answer, Blessed One, when I’ve asked you.”

“Having examined all fields[11] —
heavenly, human, and fields of the Brahmās —
freed from the root bonds of all fields,
he’s truly called a field-victor —
Such.

Having examined all storehouses[12] —
heavenly, human, storehouses of Brahmās —
freed from the root bonds of all storehouses,
he’s truly called skillful —
Such.

Having examined all white flowers[13]
within & without,
one of pure discernment
gone beyond dark & bright,
he’s truly called wise —
Such.

Knowing false & true Dhamma
within & without, in all the world,
he is worshipped by beings
human & divine.
Having transcended snares & nets,
he is a sage.”

“Having attained what
is one said to be
an attainer-of-knowledge?
In what way is one well-tested,
and how is one persistent?
Why is one named a thoroughbred?
Answer, Blessed One, when I’ve asked you.”

“Having examined all knowledges —
those of brahmans, those of contemplatives —
devoid of passion for all feelings,[14]
gone beyond knowledge:
He’s an attainer-of-knowledge.

Having tested objectification[15]
& name-&-form,
within & without, the root of disease,
freed from the root bond of disease,
he’s truly called well-tested —
Such.

Abstaining from all evils,
gone beyond the suffering of hell,
he’s one with persistence.
He, with persistence, exertion,
is rightly called a hero[16] —
Such.

One truly whose bonds are cut
within & without,
freed from all the root bonds of snares,
truly he’s called a thoroughbred —
Such.”

“Having attained what
is one said to be learned?
In what way is one noble,
and how is one a person of good conduct?
Why is one named a wanderer?
Answer, Blessed One, when I’ve asked you.”

“Having heard, having directly known
every Dhamma
for the sake of direct knowing[17]
in the world,
whatever is blameworthy or blameless,
having conquered, free of doubt,
released
everywhere, everywhere
without trouble,
one is said to be learned.[18]
Having cut attachments & effluents,
knowing, he does not come to lie in the womb,
dispelling mud
and the three types of perception,[19
he goes to no theory:
He is called noble.

Whoever here has attained attainment
with regard to good conduct,
all-skillful, who has learned the Dhamma,
unattached
everywhere,
everywhere his mind released,
he has no irritation:
He is one of good conduct.
Avoiding whatever action there is
that ripens in suffering & stress
— above, below, and even all around
in the middle —
one who goes about, comprehending,
he has put an all-around end to
deceptiveness, conceit,
greed, anger,
name-&-form:
He’s called a wanderer,
attained to attainment.”[20]

“One Deeply Discerning,
you have crossed over the flood of darkness
of the three & sixty views leading downward,[21]
dependent on the teachings of contemplatives,
dependent on perceptions
& words of perceptions.
You have gone to the end,
you have gone to the further shore
of suffering & stress.
You are a noble one,
rightly self-awakened.
I would imagine that you
have ended the effluents.
Brilliant, thoughtful,
of abundant discernment,
ender of suffering,
you have brought me across.

When you learned of my doubt,
you brought me across my uncertainty.
Homage to you, sage attained
to the attainment of sagacity’s ways.
Free from rigidity, Kinsman of the Sun,
you’re composed.

The doubt I had before,
you have answered, One with Eyes.
Yes, you are a sage, rightly
self-awakened. You have
no hindrances. Your despairs
are fallen down, cut from the stem.
Cooled, attained to self-control,
steadfast, enduring in truth:
In your words, Nāga of nāgas, great hero,
all devas — including Nāradas and Pabbatas[22] —
delight.
Homage to you, O thoroughbred man,
Homage to you, O superlative man,[23]
in the world with its devas
there’s no one to compare with you.[24]
You : Awakened.
You : Teacher.
You : Sage who has conquered Māra.
You : Having cut obsessions,
having crossed over,
bring this generation across.
Your acquisitions transcended,
your effluents torn apart,
you are a lion
free of clinging,
your fear & terror abandoned.
As a lovely lotus
is not smeared by water,
you are not smeared
by good or evil.

Extend your feet, hero:
Sabhiya venerates them,
the feet of the Teacher.[25

“Did you say, ‘Awakened,’ master Keṇiya?”
“I said, ‘Awakened,’ master Sela.”
“Did you say, ‘Awakened,’ master Keṇiya?”
“I said, ‘Awakened,’ master Sela.”

“Perfect your body, shining well,
well-born, lovely to look at,
Blessed One, you have a golden complexion,
you have white teeth, you’re vigorous.
The characteristics of a well-born man,
the marks of a Great Man,
are all present in your body.
Clear your eyes, good your face,
imposing, splendid, straight upright:
In the midst
of a community of contemplatives
you shine like the sun.
A monk with skin resembling gold
is admirable to look at,
but what use is the contemplative state
for you, so superlative in appearance?
You deserve to be a king,
a wheel-turner,[3] lord of charioteers,
conqueror of the four quarters,
sovereign lord of the Jambu grove.[4]
Noble warriors, feudal lords, & kings
are your devotees.
King of kings, monarch of human beings:
Rule, Gotama!”

“I am a king, Sela: a Dhamma king unexcelled.
I turn the wheel with Dhamma —
the wheel whose turning
can’t be stopped.”

“You claim to be rightly self-awakened,
a Dhamma king unexcelled.
But who, master, is your general,
the disciple right below the teacher?
Who keeps rolling
the Dhamma-wheel set rolling by you?”

“The wheel set rolling by me
the unexcelled Dhamma-wheel:
Sāriputta keeps it rolling
taking after the Tathāgata.[5]
What should be directly know
has been directly known,
what should be developed, developed,
what should be abandoned, abandoned[6]:
Therefore, I’m awakened, brahman.
Subdue your doubt about me.
Be decided, brahman.
It’s hard often to gain
sight of the Rightly Self-Awakened.
I am one
whose appearance in the world
is hard often to gain:
Rightly Self-Awakened,
an arrow-remover unexcelled.
Brahmā-become, without compare,
crusher of Māra’s armies,
having overmastered all enemies,
I rejoice, with no fear
from anywhere.”

“Observe carefully, masters,
how he speaks, this One with Eyes,
arrow-remover, great hero:
He roars like a lion in the forest.
Brahmā-become, without compare,
crusher of Māra’s armies:
Who,
even one of a dark birth,[7]
on seeing him,
would not have confidence?
Whoever wants to may follow me.
Whoever doesn’t may go.
I will here go forth
in the presence of the one
of foremost discernment.”,

“If, master, you thus delight
in the message
of the Rightly Self-Awakened One,
we, too, will here go forth
in the presence of the one
of foremost discernment.”

“These three hundred brahmans
request, with hands palm-to-palm
over the heart:
We will follow the holy-life,
Blessed One, in your presence.”

“The holy-life is well-expounded,
to be seen here-&-now, timeless,
where the Going-forth is not in vain
for a heedful person who trains.”

“The fire oblation is the chief of sacrifices,
the Sāvitti, the chief of Vedic hymns,[8]
a king, chief among human beings,
the ocean, chief among rivers,
the moon, chief of the zodiac stars,
the sun, chief of things that burn,[9]
and for those who sacrifice, wishing for merit,
the Saṅgha, truly,
is chief.

“This is the eighth day
since coming for refuge,
One with Eyes.
Blessed One,
for seven nights,
we have tamed ourselves
with your message.
You : Awakened.
You : Teacher.
You : Sage who has conquered Māra.
You : Having cut obsessions,
having crossed over,
bring this generation across.
Your acquisitions transcended,
your effluents torn apart,
you are a lion
free of clinging,
your fear & terror abandoned.
These three hundred monks
stand with hands palm-to-palm
over the heart.
Extend your feet, hero:
The nāgas venerate them,
the feet of the Teacher.”[10]

Without sign,
unknown
— the life here of mortals —
difficult,
short,
tied up with pain.
For there’s no way
by which those who are born
will not die.
Beings are subject
to death
even when they attain
old age.

Like ripe fruits
whose downfall, whose danger
is falling,
so for mortals, once born,
the constant danger
is death.

As clay vessels made by a potter
all end up broken,
so too life
heads to death.[1]
Young & old
wise & foolish:
All
come under the sway of death;
all
have death as their end.

For those overcome by death,
gone to the other world,
father cannot shelter son,
nor relatives a relative.
See: Even while relatives are looking on,
wailing heavily,
mortals are
one
by
one
led away
like cows to the slaughter.
In this way is the world afflicted
with aging & death,
and so the enlightened don’t grieve,
knowing the way of the world.

“You don’t know the path
of his coming or going:
seeing neither end,
you lament in vain.”[2]

If, by lamenting,
— confused,
harming yourself —
any use could be gained
the prudent would do it as well.
But not by weeping & grief
do you gain peace of awareness.
Pain
arises all the more. Your body
is harmed.
You grow thin,
pale,
harming yourself
by yourself.
Not in that way
are the dead protected.
Lamentation’s in vain.
Not abandoning grief, a person
suffers all the more pain.
Bewailing one whose time is done,
you fall under the sway of grief.

Look at others
going along,
people arriving
in line with their actions:
falling under the sway of death,
beings simply
shivering here.

For however they imagine it,
it always turns out
other than that.
That’s the type of (their) separation.
See the way of the world.

Even if a person lives a century
— or more —
he’s parted
from his community of relatives,
he abandons his life
right here.

So, having heard the arahant,
subduing lamentation,
seeing the dead one whose time is done,
[think,] “I can’t fetch him back.”[3]
Just as one would put out
a burning refuge
with water,
so does the enlightened one —
discerning,
skillful,
& wise —
blow away any arisen grief,
like the wind, a bit of cotton fluff.

Seeking your own happiness,
you should pull out your own arrow:
your own
lamentation,
longing,
& sorrow.[4]
With arrow pulled out,
independent,
attaining peace of awareness,
all grief transcended,
griefless you are
unbound.

Master, we’re acknowledged & self-proclaimed
as masters of the three knowledges[1]:
I, a student of Pokkharasāti,
this one, of Tārukka.
Whatever is taught
by masters of the three knowledges,
in that we are adept —
grammarians & philologists,
on a par with our teachers in recitation.

We have a dispute, Gotama,
on the topic of birth.
Bhāradvāja says that one is a brahman
through birth,
I say through action.[2]
Know this, One with Eyes.
Neither of us can win over the other.
We come, asking the master
reputed to be self-awakened.
As people going
with hands palm-to-palm over the heart
pay homage, venerating
the moon when it’s just past new,
in the same way in the world, Gotama,
we ask Gotama, the Eye arisen in the world:
Is one a brahman through birth
or is it through action?
Tell us, who don’t know,
how we might know a brahman.”

“I will answer you step-by-step
as it really is.
Animals are divided by nature,
for their species differ, one from another.[3]
You know grasses & trees,
even though they don’t proclaim themselves:
Their distinguishing markings are made by nature,
for their species differ, one from another.
Then beetles & moths, down to white ants:
Their distinguishing markings are made by nature,
for their species differ, one from another.
You know four-footed beasts,
small & large:
Their distinguishing markings are made by nature,
for their species differ, one from another.
You know belly-footed, long-backed snakes:
Their distinguishing markings are made by nature,
for their species differ, one from another.
Then you know fish in the water, with water their range:
Their distinguishing markings are made by nature,
for their species differ, one from another.
Then you know birds, with wings as their vehicles,
coursing through the sky:
Their distinguishing markings are made by nature,
for their species differ, one from another.

While these species
have many distinguishing marks
made by nature,
human beings don’t
have many distinguishing marks
made by nature:
not through hair or head
not through ears or eyes,
not through face or nose,
not through mouth or lips,
not through neck or shoulders,
not through belly or back,
not through buttocks or chest,
not through groin or intercourse,
not through hands or feet,
not through fingers or nails,
not through calves or thighs,
not through complexion or voice.
Their distinguishing mark is not made by nature
as it is for other species.
In human beings that’s not found
individually in their bodies,
but their identification is described
in terms of convention:
Whoever, among human beings,
makes a living by guarding cows,
you know him thus, Vāseṭṭha,
as a farmer, not as a brahman.
Whoever, among human beings,
makes a living through various crafts,
you know him thus, Vāseṭṭha,
as a craftsman, not as a brahman.
Whoever, among human beings,
makes a living through trade,
you know him thus, Vāseṭṭha,
as a merchant, not as a brahman.
Whoever, among human beings,
makes a living by serving others,
you know him thus, Vāseṭṭha,
as a servant, not as a brahman.
Whoever, among human beings,
makes a living through stealing,
you know him thus, Vāseṭṭha:
This is a thief, not a brahman.
Whoever, among human beings,
makes a living through arrow & sword,
you know him thus, Vāseṭṭha,
as a soldier, not as a brahman.
Whoever, among human beings,
makes a living through priesthood,
you know him thus, Vāseṭṭha,
as a sacrificer, not as a brahman.
Whoever, among human beings,
makes a living partaking of city & state,
you know him thus, Vāseṭṭha,
as a king, not as a brahman.

I don’t call one a brahman
for being born of a mother
or sprung from a womb.
He’s called a ‘bho-sayer’
if he has anything at all.
But someone with nothing,
who clings to no thing:
He’s what I call
a brahman.[4]
Having cut every fetter,
he doesn’t get ruffled.
Beyond attachment,
unshackled:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
Having cut the strap & thong,
cord & bridle,
having thrown off the bar,[5]
awakened:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
He endures — unangered —
insult, assault, & imprisonment.
His army is strength;
his strength, forbearance:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
Free from anger,
duties observed,
principled, with no overbearing pride,
trained, a ‘last-body’:
He’s what I call
a brahman.[6]
Like water on a lotus leaf,
a mustard seed on the tip of an awl,
he doesn’t adhere to sensual pleasures:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
He discerns right here,
for himself,
on his own,
his own

ending of stress.[7]
Unshackled, his burden laid down:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
Wise, deeply
discerning, astute
as to what is the path
& what’s not;
his ultimate goal attained:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
Uncontaminated
by householders
& houseless ones alike;
living with no home,
with next to no wants:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
Having put aside violence
against beings fearful or firm,
he neither kills nor
gets others to kill:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
Unopposing among opposition,
unbound among the armed,
unclinging among those who cling:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
His passion, aversion,
conceit, & contempt,
have fallen away —
like a mustard seed
from the tip of an awl:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
He would say
what’s
non-grating,
instructive,
true —
abusing no one:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
Here in the world
he takes nothing not - given
— long, short,
large, small,
attractive, not:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
His longing for this
& for the next world
can’t be found;
free from longing, unshackled:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
His attachments,
his homes,
can’t be found.
He, through knowing,[8]
is unperplexed,
has reached a footing
in the deathless[9]:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
He has gone
beyond attachment here
for both merit & evil —
sorrowless, dustless, & pure:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
Spotless, pure like the moon
— limpid & calm —
his delights, his becomings,
totally gone:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
He has made his way past
this hard-going path:
delusion, wandering-on.
He’s crossed over,
has gone beyond,
is free from want,
from perplexity,
absorbed in jhāna,
through no-clinging
unbound:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
Whoever, abandoning sensual passions here,
would go forth from home —
his sensual passions, becomings,
totally gone:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
Whoever, abandoning craving here,
would go forth from home —
his cravings, becomings,
totally gone:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
Having left behind
the human bond,
having made his way past
the divine,
from all bonds unshackled:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
Having left behind
delight & displeasure,
cooled, with no acquisitions —
a hero who has conquered
all the world,
every world
He’s what I call
a brahman.
He knows in every way
beings’ passing away,
and their re-
arising;
unattached, awakened,
well-gone:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
He whose course they don’t know
— devas, gandhabbas, & human beings[10] —
his effluents ended, an arahant:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
He who has nothing
— in front, behind, in between —
the one with nothing
who clings to no thing:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
A splendid bull, conqueror,
hero, great seer —
free from want,
awakened, washed:
He’s what I call
a brahman.
He knows his former lives.
He sees heavens & states of woe,
has attained the ending of birth[11]:
He’s what I call
a brahman.

For this is a convention in the world:
the name & clan determined,
come into being from common consent,
here & there determined.
Taking a position unknowingly
for a long time obsessively
, those who don’t know
say that one is a brahman by birth.
Not by birth is one a brahman,
not by birth a non-brahman.
By action is one a brahman.
By action one is a non-brahman.
By action is one a farmer.
By action one is a craftsman.
By action is one a merchant.
By action one is a servant.
By action is one a thief.
By action one is a soldier.
By action is one a sacrificer.
By action one is a king.
The wise see action in this way
as it has come to be,
seeing dependent co-arising,
cognizant of action’s results.
Through action the world rolls on.
People roll on through action.
In action are beings held bound together,
as in a linchpin,
a chariot traveling along.
Through austerity, the holy life,
through restraint & self-control:
That’s how one is a brahman.
That’s a brahman
unexcelled.

Consummate in the three knowledges,[12]
further - becoming ended, at peace:
Know, Vāseṭṭha: That’s Brahmā, that’s Sakka,[13]
for those who directly know.”

“Surely, when a person is born,
an axe is born in his mouth,
with which he cuts himself —
the fool saying a bad statement.
Whoever praises one deserving censure
or censures one deserving praise,
accumulates wickedness[6 with his mouth,
and in that wickedness
finds no ease.
Next to nothing is the bad throw
when one loses money at dice.
But great is the bad throw
when one gets angered
at those well-gone.
For one hundred thousand Nirabbudas
and thirty-six and five Abbudas,
one who maligns noble ones,
directing his words & heart toward evil,
goes to hell.[7]

He goes to hell,
the one who asserts
what didn’t take place,
as does the one
who, having done,
says, ‘I didn’t.’
Both—low-acting people —
there become equal:
after death, in the place beyond.[8]

Whoever harasses
an innocent man,
a man pure, without blemish:
The evil comes right back to the fool
like fine dust
thrown against the wind.[9]

One devoted to the strings of greed
slanders others with his words:
faithless, stingy, miserly, mean,
devoted to divisive tales.

You with your hard road of a mouth,
untrue, ignoble,
destroyer of progress,
evil, doer of wrong,
lowest of men, wicked, degenerate:
Don’t speak a lot here.
You are headed to hell.
You scatter dust
to your harm.
You, an offender,
malign the good,
and, having engaged
in many sorts of bad conduct
are going for a long time
to the pit.
For no one’s action is annihilated.
Surely its owner gets it back.
An offender, the fool,
sees suffering for himself
in the next world.

He goes to the place set with iron spikes,
the sharp-bladed iron stake,
where the food, as is fitting,
resembles a ball of heated iron.
When they [the hell-wardens]
speak, they don’t speak lovingly.
They [the hell beings] can’t run away.
They’re not going to shelter.
They lie on ashes strewn about.
They enter a blazing mass of fire.
Tying them up with nets,
they [the hell-wardens] strike them
with hammers made of iron.
Truly, they go to a blind darkness
that spreads out like a fog.
Then they enter a copper pot,
a blazing mass of fire,
in which they cook for a long, long time,
bobbing up & down in a mass of fire.
There the offender then cooks
in a mixture of blood & pus.
In whatever direction he leans to rest
he festers at the touch.
There the offender then cooks
in an ooze where worms live,
and there is no shore to which he can go,
for the cooking pots all around
are all the same.
Then they enter
the sharp sword-leaf forest
where their limbs are cut off.
Seizing them by the tongue with a hook,
they [the hell-wardens] strike them,
dragging them back & forth.
Then they come to the Vettaraṇin,[10]
hard to cross,
with sharp blades, razor blades,
and there they fall in,
the fools,
evil-doers having done
evil deeds.
There, while they wail,
voracious black & spotted dogs,
jackals, & flocks of ravens chew on them.
Vultures & crows pick at them.
How hard, indeed, is this way of life there
that offending people come to see.[11]
So, for the remainder of life here,
a person, heedful, should do his duty.
Those loads of sesame seeds
compared to the Paduma hell
have been calculated by those who know
as five times ten thousand crores,[12]
plus twelve times one hundred more.
The length of the hells of suffering
described here
is how long [the hell-beings]
will have to dwell there.
So when in the company of those
who are pure, admirable, excellent,
one should constantly guard
one’s words & heart.

Asita the seer, in his mid-day meditation,
saw the Group of Thirty —

Sakka[1] the king, and devas dressed in pure white
exultant, ecstatic —
holding up banners, cheering wildly,
& on seeing the devas so joyful & happy,
having paid his respects, he said:

“Why is the deva community
so wildly elated?
Why are they holding up banners
& waving them around?
Even after the war with the Asuras
— when victory was the devas’,
the Asuras defeated —
even then there was nothing hair-raising like this.
Seeing what marvel
are the devas so joyful?
They whistle,
they sing,
play music,
clap their hands,
dance.
So I ask you, who live on Mount Meru’s summit.
Please dispel my doubt quickly, dear sirs.”

“The Bodhisatta, the foremost jewel,
unequaled,
has been born for welfare & happiness
in the human world,
in a town in the Sakyan countryside,
Lumbini.
That’s why we’re contented, so wildly elated.
He, the highest of all beings,
the ultimate person,
a bull among men, highest of all people,
will set turning the Wheel [of Dhamma]
in the forest named after the seers,
like a strong, roaring lion,
the conqueror of beasts.”

Hearing these words,
Asita quickly descended [from heaven]
and went to Suddhodana’s dwelling.
There, taking a seat, he said to the Sakyans:
“Where is the prince?
I, too, want to see him.”
The Sakyans then showed
to the seer named Asita
their son, the prince,
like gold aglow,
burnished by a most skillful smith
in the mouth of the furnace,
blazing with glory, flawless in color.
On seeing the prince blazing like flame,
pure like the bull of the stars
going across the sky
— the burning sun,
released from the clouds of autumn —
he was exultant, filled with abundant rapture.
The devas held in the sky
a many-spoked sunshade
of a thousand circles.
Gold-handled whisks
waved up & down,
but those holding the whisks & the sunshade
couldn’t be seen.

The coiled-haired seer
named Dark Splendor,
seeing the boy, like an ornament of gold
on the red woolen blanket,
a white sunshade held over his head,
received him, joyful in mind & pleased.
And on receiving the bull of the Sakyans,
longingly, the master of mantras & signs
exclaimed with a confident mind:
“This one is unsurpassed,
the highest of the biped race.”

Then, foreseeing his own imminent departure,
he, dejected, shed tears.
On seeing him weeping,
the Sakyans asked:
“But surely there will be
no danger for the prince?”
On seeing the Sakyans’ concern
he replied, “I foresee for the prince
no harm.
Nor will there be any danger for him.
This one’s not insignificant: Be assured.
This prince will touch
the ultimate self-awakening.
He, seeing the utmost purity,
will set rolling the Wheel of Dhamma
through sympathy for the welfare of many.
His holy life will spread far & wide.

But as for me,
my life here has no long remainder.
My death will take place before then.
I won’t get to hear
the Dhamma of this one with the peerless role.
That’s why I’m stricken,
afflicted, & pained.”

He, having brought the Sakyans
abundant rapture,
the follower of the holy life
left the inner chamber and,
out of sympathy for his nephew,
urged him on toward the Dhamma
of the one with the peerless role:
“When you hear from another the word,
‘Awakened One,’
or ‘Attaining self-awakening,
he lays open the path of the Dhamma,’
go there and, asking him yourself,
follow the holy life
under that Blessed One.”

Instructed by the one
whose mind was set on his benefit,
Such,
seeing in the future the utmost purity,
Nālaka, who had laid up a store of merit,
awaited the Victor expectantly,
guarding his senses.
On hearing word of the Victor’s
turning of the foremost wheel,
he went, he saw
the bull among seers. Confident,
he asked the foremost sage
about the utmost sagacity,
now that Asita’s forecast
had come to pass.

“Now that I know
Asita’s words to be true,
I ask you, Gotama,
you who have gone
to the beyond of all dhammas.
I’m intent on the homeless life;
I long for the almsround.
Tell me sage, when asked,
the highest state of sagacity.”

“I’ll teach you
a sagacity hard to do,
hard to master.
Come now, I’ll tell you.
Be steadfast. Be firm.
Practice even-mindedness,
for in a village
there’s praise & abuse.
Ward off any flaw in the heart.
Go about calmed & not haughty.
High & low things will come up
like fire-flames in a forest.
Women seduce a sage.
May they not seduce you.[2]
Abstaining from sexual intercourse,
abandoning various sensual pleasures,
be unopposed, unattached,
to beings moving & still.
‘As I am, so are these.
As are these, so am I.’
Drawing the parallel to
yourself,
neither kill nor get others to kill.
Abandoning the wants & greed
where people run-of-the-mill are stuck,
practice with vision,
cross over this hell.

Stomach not full,
moderate in food,
modest,
not being greedy,
always not hungering for wants:
One without hunger
is one who’s unbound.

Having gone on his almsround, the sage
should then go to the forest,
approaching the root of a tree,
taking a seat.
The enlightened one, intent on jhāna,
should find delight in the forest,
should practice jhāna at the foot of a tree,
attaining his own satisfaction.
Then, at the end of the night,
he should go to the village,
not delighting in an invitation
or gift from the village.
Having gone to the village,
the sage should not go
forcing his way among families.
Cutting off chatter,
he shouldn’t utter a scheming word.
‘I got something,
that’s fine.
I got nothing,
that, too, is good.’
Being such with regard to both,
he returns to the very same tree.
Wandering with his bowl in hand
— not dumb,
but seemingly dumb —
he shouldn’t despise a piddling gift
nor disparage the giver.
High & low are the practices
proclaimed by the contemplative.
They don’t go twice to the further shore.
This [unbinding] isn’t sensed only once.[3]
In one who has no attachment —
the monk who has cut the stream,[4]
abandoning what is
& isn’t a duty —
no fever is found.

I’ll teach you
sagacity: Be like a razor’s edge.
Pressing tongue against palate,
restrain your stomach.
Neither be lazy in mind,
nor have many thoughts.
Be free of raw stench,[5]
independent,
having the holy life as your aim.
Train in solitude
& the contemplative’s task,
Solitude
is called
sagacity
. Alone, you truly delight
& shine in the ten directions.

On hearing the fame of the enlightened
— those who practice jhāna,
relinquishing sensuality —
my disciple should foster
all the more
shame & conviction.

Know from the rivers
in clefts & in crevices:
Those in small channels flow
noisily,
the great
flow silent.

Whatever’s deficient
makes noise.
Whatever is full
is quiet.
The fool is like a half-empty pot;
one who is wise, a full lake.[6

A contemplative who speaks a great deal
endowed with meaning:
Knowing, he teaches the Dhamma;
knowing, he speaks a great deal.
But he who,
knowing, is restrained,
knowing, doesn’t speak a great deal:
He is a sage
worthy of sagehood
. He is a sage,
his sagehood attained.”

“Those who don’t discern stress,
what brings stress into play,
& where it totally stops,
without trace;
who don’t know the path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
lowly
in their awareness-release
& discernment-release,
incapable
of making an end,
they’re headed
to birth & aging.

But those who discern stress,
what brings stress into play,
& where it totally stops,
without trace;
who discern the path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
consummate
in their awareness-release
& discernment-release,
capable
of making an end,
they aren’t headed
to birth & aging.[1]

“From acquisition as cause
the many forms of stress
come into being in the world.
Whoever, unknowing,
makes acquisitions
— the dullard —
comes to stress
again & again.

Therefore, discerning,
you shouldn’t create acquisitions
as you stay focused on
the birth & origin of stress.”

“Those who journey the wandering-on
through birth & death, again & again,
in this state here
or anywhere else,
that destination is simply through ignorance.
This ignorance is a great delusion
whereby they have wandered-on
a long, long time.
While beings immersed in clear knowing
don’t go to further becoming.

“Any stress that comes into play
is all from fabrication
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of fabrication,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from fabrication
as a requisite
condition —
with the tranquilizing of all fabrication,
with the stopping of perception:
That’s how there is
the ending of stress.
Knowing this as it actually is,
an attainer-of-knowledge
sees rightly.
Seeing rightly,
the wise —
conquering the fetter of Māra —
go to no further becoming.

“Any stress that comes into play
is all from consciousness
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of consciousness,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from consciousness
as a requisite
condition —
with the stilling of consciousness, the monk
free from hunger
is totally unbound.

“For those overcome by contact,
flowing along in the stream of becoming,
following a miserable path,
the ending of fetters
is far away.
While those who comprehend contact,
delighting in stilling through discernment,
they, by breaking through contact,
free from hunger,
are totally unbound.

“Knowing that
whatever is felt —
pleasure, pain,
neither pleasure nor pain,
within or without —
is stressful;
seeing
its deceptive nature,
its dissolving,
its passing away
at each contact,
each
contact,
he knows it right there:
With just the ending of feeling,
there is no stress
coming into play.

“With craving his companion, a man
wanders on a long, long time.
Neither in this state here
nor anywhere else
does he go beyond
the wandering-on.
Knowing this drawback —
that craving brings stress into play —
free from craving,
devoid of clinging,
mindful, the monk
lives the mendicant life.”[3]

“From clinging as a requisite condition
comes becoming.
One who has come into being
goes
to stress.
There is death
for one who is born.
This is the coming into play
of stress.
Thus, with the ending of clinging, the wise
seeing rightly,
directly knowing
the ending of birth,
go to no further becoming.

“Any stress that comes into play
is all from arousal
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of arousal,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from arousal
as a requisite
condition —
with the relinquishing
of all arousal,
a monk released in non-arousal,
his craving for becoming crushed,
his mind at peace,
his wandering-on in birth totally ended:
He has no further becoming.

“Any stress that comes into play
is all from nutriment
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of nutriment,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from nutriment
as a requisite
condition —
comprehending all nutriment,
independent of all nutriment,[6] rightly seeing freedom from disease through the total ending of effluents, judiciously associating, a judge, he, an attainer-of-knowledge, goes beyond judgment, beyond classification.[7]

“Any stress that comes into play
is all from what is perturbed
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of what is perturbed,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from what is perturbed
as a requisite
condition —
the monk thus renouncing perturbance,
putting a stop to fabrications,
free from perturbance, free
from clinging,
mindful he lives
the mendicant life.

“One independent
doesn’t
waver.
One dependent,
clinging
to this state here
or anywhere else,
doesn’t go beyond
the wandering-on.
Knowing this drawback —
the great danger in
dependencies —
in-
dependent,
free from clinging,
mindful the monk
lives the mendicant life.[8]

Those beings headed to forms,
and those standing in the formless,
with no knowledge of cessation,
return to further becoming.

But, comprehending form,
not taking a stance in formless things,
those released in cessation
are people who’ve left death behind.[9]

“See the world, together with its devas,
supposing not-self to be self.
Entrenched in name-&-form,
they suppose that ‘This is true.’
In whatever terms they suppose it
it turns into something other than that,[10]
and that’s what’s false about it:
Changing,
it’s deceptive by nature.
Undeceptive by nature
is unbinding[11]:
That the noble ones know
as true.
They, through breaking through
to the truth,
hunger-free,
are totally unbound.

“All sights, sounds, smells, tastes,
tactile sensations, & ideas
that are welcome,
appealing,
agreeable —
as long as they’re said
to exist,
are supposed by the world
together with its devas
to be bliss.
But when they cease,
that’s supposed by them
to be stress.
The stopping of self-identity
is viewed by the noble ones
as bliss.
This, when seen,
runs counter
to the whole world.

What others say is blissful,
the noble ones say is stress.
What others say is stressful,
the noble know as bliss.
See the Dhamma, hard to understand!
Here those who don’t know
are confused.
For those who are veiled,
it’s darkness,
blindness
for those who don’t see.
But for the good it is blatant
, like light for those who see.

Though in its very presence,
they don’t understand it —
dumb animals, unadept in the Dhamma.
It’s not easy
for those overcome
by passion for becoming,
flowing along
in the stream of becoming,
falling under Māra’s sway,[12]
to wake up
to this Dhamma.

Who, apart from the noble,
is worthy to wake up
to this state? —
the state that,
through rightly knowing it,
they totally unbind,
effluent-free.”