Verses on Dhamma 92

92

yesaṃ sannicayo n' atthi ye pariññātabhojanā /
suññato animitto ca vimokho yesaṃ gocaro /
ākāse va sakuntānaṃ gati tesaṃ durannayā. //

Men who have no riches, who live on recognised food, who have perceived void and unconditioned freedom (Nirvâna), their path is difficult to understand, like that of birds in the air.
[91. Satîmanto, Sanskrit smrimantah, 'possessed of memory,' but here used in the technical sense of sati, the first of the Bodhyangas. See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 797. Clough translates it by 'intense thought,' and this is the original meaning of smar, even in Sanskrit. See Lectures on the Science of Language, vol, ii. p. 332.
Uyyuñganti, which Buddhaghosa explains by 'they exert themselves,' seems to me to signify in this place 'they depart,' i.e. they leave their family, and embrace an ascetic life. See note to verse 235. See also Rhys Davids, Mahâparinibbâna-sutta, Sacred Books of the East, vol. xi. p. 22.