Uttarajjhayana 20

20.1

siddhāṇaṃ namo kiccā saṃjayāṇa ca bhāvao |
atthadhammagaiṃ taccaṃ aṇusaṭṭhiṃ suṇeha me ||

Having paid homage to the perfected souls and to the self-restrained in spirit, / listen to my instruction on the true path of Dharma and its meaning.

20.2

pabhūyarayaṇo rāyā seṇio magahāhivo |
vihārajattaṃ nijjāo maṃḍikucchiṃsi ceie ||

King Seṇiya, ruler of Magadha, who possessed abundant gems, / went forth on a pleasure ride to the shrine of Maṇḍikucchi.

20.3

nānādumalayāiṇṇaṃ nānāpakkhiniseviyaṃ |
nānākusumasaṃchannaṃ ujjāṇaṃ naṃdanovamaṃ ||

Filled with various trees and creepers, frequented by various birds, / covered with various flowers, the park was like Nandana.

20.4

tattha so pāsai sāhuṃ saṃjayaṃ susamāhiyaṃ |
nisannaṃ rukkhamūlammi sukumālaṃ suhoiyaṃ ||

There he saw a virtuous mendicant, self-restrained and well-collected, / seated at the foot of a tree, delicate and of noble appearance.

20.5

tassa rūvaṃ tu pāsittā rāiṇo tammi saṃjae |
accaṃtaparamo āsī aulo rūvavimhao ||

Beholding the form of that self-restrained one, the king / felt supreme, boundless wonder at his appearance:

20.6

aho! vaṇṇo aho! rūvaṃ aho! ajjassa somayā |
aho! khaṃtī aho! muttī aho! bhoge asaṃgayā ||

“Ah, his complexion! Ah, his form! Ah, the gentleness of the noble one! / Ah, his forbearance! Ah, his freedom from greed! Ah, his detachment from pleasures!”

20.7

tassa pāe u vaṃdittā kāūṇa ya payāhiṇaṃ |
nāidūramaṇāsanne paṃjalī paḍipucchaī ||

Having venerated his feet and walked around him clockwise, / standing neither too far nor too near, with cupped hands he questioned [him]:

20.8

taruṇo si ajjo! pavvaio bhogakālammi saṃjayā |
uvaṭṭhio si sāmanne eyamaṭṭhaṃ suṇemi tā ||

“You are young, noble one, gone forth in the season of pleasure, O self-restrained one; / you have undertaken monkhood—let me hear the reason for this.”

20.9

anāho mi mahārāya! nāho majjha na vijjaī |
anukaṃpagaṃ suhiṃ vāvi kaṃci nābhisamemahaṃ ||

“I am without a protector, great king; I have no protector. / Nor do I find anyone who feels compassion [for me] or is a friend.”

20.10

tao so pahasio rāyā seṇio magahāhivo |
evaṃ te iḍḍhimaṃtassa kahaṃ nāho na vijjaī ||

Then King Seṇiya, ruler of Magadha, laughed: / “How can one as endowed with fortune as you have no protector?

20.11

homi nāho bhayaṃtāṇaṃ bhoge bhuṃjāhi saṃjayā! |
mittanāīparivuḍo mānussaṃ khu sudullahaṃ ||

I will be the protector of your reverence; enjoy pleasures, O self-restrained one, / surrounded by friends and kinsmen; human birth is indeed very hard to attain!”

"My eyes ached as if a cruel enemy thrust a sharp tool in the hollow of my body.

20.12

appahā vi anāho vi seṇiyā! magahāhivā! |
appaṇā anāho saṃto kahaṃ nāho bhavissasi? ||

“You yourself are without a protector, Seṇiya, ruler of Magadha! / Being yourself without a protector, how will you become a protector?”

20.13

evaṃ vutto nariṃdo so susaṃbhaṃto suvimhio |
vayaṇaṃ assuyapuvvaṃ sāhuṇā vimhayannio ||

Addressed thus, the king was greatly confused and astonished; / hearing words never heard before from the virtuous mendicant, he was filled with amazement.

20.14

assā hatthī manussā me puraṃ aṃteuraṃ ca me |
bhuṃjāmi mānuse bhoge āṇāissariyaṃ ca me ||

“Horses, elephants, and men are mine, and my city and inner apartment; / I enjoy human pleasures, and mine is sovereign authority.

20.15

erise saṃpayaggammi savvakāmasamappie |
kahaṃ anāho bhavai? mā hu bhaṃte! musaṃ vae ||

In such pinnacle of fortune, provided with all objects of desire, / how can one be without a protector? Reverend sir, do not speak falsely!”

20.16

na tumaṃ jāṇe anāhassa atthaṃ potthaṃ va patthivā |
jahā anāho bhavaī sanāho vā narāhivā! ||

“You do not know the meaning or text of 'without a protector', O king, / or how one comes to be without a protector, or with a protector, ruler of men!

20.17

suṇeha me mahārāya! avvakkhitteṇa ceyasā |
jahā anāho bhavaī jahā me ya pavattiyaṃ ||

Listen to me, great king, with an undistracted mind, / to how one is without a protector, and how it happened to me.

20.18

kosaṃbī nāma nayarī purāṇapurabheyaṇī |
tattha āsī piyā majjha pabhūyadhaṇasaṃcao ||

There is a city named Kosambī, excelling ancient cities; / there lived my father, who had accumulated abundant wealth.

20.19

paḍhame vae mahārāya! aulā me acchiveyaṇā |
ahotthā viulo dāho savvaṃgesu ya patthivā ||

In my first stage of life, great king, I had an agonizing eye pain, / and a severe burning sensation arose in all my limbs, O king.

20.20

satthaṃ jahā paramatikkhaṃ sarīravivaraṃtare |
pavesejja arī kuddho evaṃ me acchiveyaṇā ||

Just as an enraged enemy would thrust a very sharp weapon / into the interior of the body, so was my eye pain.

20.21

tiyaṃ me aṃtaricchaṃ ca uttamaṃgaṃ ca pīḍaī |
iṃdāsaṇisamā ghorā veyaṇā paramadāruṇā ||

My sacrum, my inner organs, and my head were tormented; / the pain was terrible, equal to Indra’s thunderbolt, extremely dreadful.

"In the back, the heart, and the head, I suffered dreadful and very keen pains equal to a stroke of lightning.

20.22

uvaṭṭhiyā me āyariyā vijjāmaṃtatigicchagā |
abīyā satthakusalā maṃtamūlavisārayā ||

Masters of medical science, spells, and herbs attended me, / peerless, skilled in texts, adept in spells and roots.

20.23

te me tigicchaṃ kuvvaṃti cāuppāyaṃ jahāhiyaṃ |
na ya dukkhā vimoyaṃti esā majjha anāhayā ||

They performed treatment for me with its four limbs properly, / yet they could not release me from pain: this was my state of being without a protector.

20.24

piyā me savvasāraṃ pi dijjāhi mama kāraṇā |
na ya dukkhā vimoei esā majjha anāhayā ||

My father would have given even all his substance on my account, / yet he could not release me from pain: this was my state of being without a protector.

20.25

māyā ya me mahārāya! puttasogaduhaṭṭiyā |
na ya dukkhā vimoei esā majjha anāhayā ||

And my mother, great king, afflicted with grief and sorrow for her son, / could not release me from pain: this was my state of being without a protector.

20.26

bhāyaro me mahārāya! sagā jeṭṭhakaniṭṭhagā |
na ya dukkhā vimoyaṃti esā majjha anāhayā ||

My brothers, great king, born of the same womb, elder and younger, / could not release me from pain: this was my state of being without a protector.

20.27

bhaiṇīo me mahārāya! sagā jeṭṭhakaniṭṭhagā |
na ya dukkhā vimoyaṃti esā majjha anāhayā ||

My sisters, great king, born of the same womb, elder and younger, / could not release me from pain: this was my state of being without a protector.

20.28

bhāriyā me mahārāya! anurattā aṇuvvayā |
aṃsupunnehiṃ nayanehiṃ uraṃ me parisiṃcaī ||

My wife, great king, loving and obedient, / bathed my chest with eyes full of tears.

20.29

annaṃ pānaṃ ca ṇhāṇaṃ ca gaṃdhamallavilevaṇaṃ |
mae nāyamaṇāyaṃ vā sā bālā novabhuṃjaī ||

Food, drink, bathing, perfumes, garlands, and unguents— / whether known or unknown to me, that young woman would not enjoy [them].

20.30

khaṇaṃ pi me mahārāya! pāsāo vi na phiṭṭaī |
na ya dukkhā vimoei esā majjha anāhayā ||

Not even for a moment, great king, did she leave my side, / yet she could not release me from pain: this was my state of being without a protector.

20.31

tao haṃ evamāhaṃsu dukkhamā hu puṇo puṇo |
veyaṇā anubhaviuṃ je saṃsārammi anaṃtae ||

Then I said to myself: 'It is painful indeed, again and again, / to experience the pains that exist in the endless cycle of rebirth.

20.32

saiṃ ca jai muccejjā veyaṇā viulā io |
khaṃto daṃto nirāraṃbho pavvae anagāriyaṃ ||

If only I should once be freed from this intense pain, / then forbearing, restrained, free from worldly enterprise, I will go forth into homelessness.'

20.33

evaṃ ca ciṃtaittāṇaṃ pasutto mi narāhivā! |
pariyaṭṭaṃtīe rāīe veyaṇā me khayaṃ gayā ||

Having reflected thus, I fell asleep, O king; / and as the night turned, my pain came to an end.

20.34

tao kalle pabhāyammi āpucchittāṇa baṃdhave |
khaṃto daṃto nirāraṃbho pavvaio'nagāriyaṃ ||

Then at daybreak on the morrow, taking leave of my relatives, / forbearing, restrained, free from worldly enterprise, I went forth into homelessness.

20.35

tato haṃ nāho jāo appaṇo ya parassa ya |
savvesiṃ ceva bhūyāṇaṃ tasāṇa thāvarāṇa ya ||

Thenceforth I became a protector to myself and to others, / and to all beings, both mobile and immobile.

20.36

appā naī veyaraṇī appā me kūḍasāmalī |
appā kāmaduhā dheṇū appā me naṃdanaṃ vanaṃ ||

The soul is the river Vaitaraṇī, the soul is my Kūṭaśālmalī tree; / the soul is the wish-fulfilling cow, the soul is my Nandana forest.

20.37

appā kattā vikattā ya duhāṇa ya suhāṇa ya |
appā mittamamittaṃ ca duppaṭṭhiyasupaṭṭhio ||

The soul is the maker and unmaker of both pains and pleasures; / the soul is a friend or an enemy, according as it is ill-directed or well-directed.

20.38

imā hu annā vi anāhayā nivā! tamegacitto nihuo suṇehi |
niyaṃṭhadhammaṃ lahiyāṇa vī jahā soyaṃti ege bahukāyarā narā ||

Hear also of this other kind of being without a protector, O king, quiet with a single-pointed mind: / how even after obtaining the Nirgrantha Dharma, some men, very cowardly, grieve.

20.39

jo pavvaittāṇa mahavvayāiṃ sammaṃ no phāsayaī pamāyā |
aniggahappā ya rasesu giddhe na mūlao chiṃdai baṃdhanaṃ se ||

He who, having gone forth, does not properly touch the great vows out of negligence, / unrestrained in self and greedy for tastes, does not cut his fetter from the root.

20.40

āuttayā jassa na atthi kāi iriyāe bhāsāe tahesaṇāe |
āyāṇanikkhevaduguṃchaṇāe na vīrajāyaṃ anujāi maggaṃ ||

He who has no care in walking, in speaking, or likewise in seeking alms, / in taking up and putting down, and in excreting, does not follow the path born of heroes.

20.41

ciraṃ pi se muṃḍaruī bhavittā athiravvae tavaniyamehi bhaṭṭhe |
ciraṃ pi appāṇaṃ kilesaittā na pārae hoī hu saṃparāe ||

Though he has long had a shaven head, unstable in vows, fallen from austerities and rules, / though he has long afflicted himself, he will not cross over to the other shore in the hereafter.

20.42

polle va muṭṭhī jaha se asāre ayaṃtie kūḍakahāvaṇe vā |
rāḍhāmaṇī veruliyappagāse amahagghae hoi ya jāṇaesu ||

Like an empty fist that is worthless, or an unstamped counterfeit coin, / or a piece of glass shining like a beryl, it is of little value among those who know.

20.43

kusīlaliṃgaṃ iha dhāraittā isijjhayaṃ jīviya vūhaittā |
asaṃjae saṃjayalappamāṇe vinidhāyamāgacchai se ciraṃ pi ||

Bearing here the external mark of poor conduct, using the flag of sages as a livelihood, / unrestrained while claiming to be restrained, he comes to destruction for a long time.

20.44

visaṃ tu pīyaṃ jaha kālakūḍaṃ haṇāi satthaṃ jaha kuggahīyaṃ |
ese va dhammo visaovavanno haṇāi veyāla ivāvivanno ||

Just as kālakūṭa poison when drunk kills, just as a weapon when wrongly seized kills, / so does this Dharma, turned into poison, destroy, like a vetāla when mishandled.

20.45

je lakkhaṇaṃ suviṇa pauṃjamāṇe nimittakoūhalasaṃpagāḍhe |
kuheḍavijjāsavadārajīvī na gacchaī saraṇaṃ taṃmi kāle ||

One who practices marks and dreams, immersed in curiosity about omens, / living by sorcery, spells, and domestic doors, finds no refuge at that time.

20.46

tamaṃtameneva u se asīle sayā duhī vippariyāsuvei |
saṃdhāvaī naragatirikkhajoṇiṃ monaṃ virāhettu asāhurūve ||

Entering into utter darkness, of bad moral conduct, always miserable, he meets with ruin; / having violated the sage's conduct, one of false mendicant appearance runs to the wombs of hells and animals.

20.47

uddesiyaṃ kīyagaḍaṃ niyāgaṃ na muṃcaī kiṃci anesaṇijjaṃ |
aggī vivā savvabhakkhī bhavittā io cuo gacchai kaṭṭu pāvaṃ ||

He does not refrain from food specially prepared, bought, or brought for him, or anything improper to seek; / becoming all-devouring like fire, departing from here after doing evil, he goes [to hell].

20.48

na taṃ arī kaṃṭhachettā karei jaṃ se kare appaṇiyā durappā |
se nāhiī maccumuhaṃ tu patte pacchānutāveṇa dayāvihūṇo ||

An enemy cutting one's throat does not do what an evil self does to oneself; / when he has reached the mouth of death, destitute of compassion, he will understand with remorse.

20.49

naraṭṭhiyā naggaruī u tassa je uttamaṭṭhaṃ vivajjāsameī |
ime vi se natthi pare vi loe duhao vi se jjhijjai tattha loe ||

Useless is the longing for nakedness of him who turns away from the highest goal; / he has neither this world nor the next; his reward is ruined in both worlds.

20.50

emevahāchaṃdakusīlarūve maggaṃ virāhettu jinuttamāṇaṃ |
kurarī vivā bhogarasānugiddhā niraṭṭhasoyā pariyāvameiṃ ||

In this way, one who is self-willed and of bad conduct, having violated the path of the supreme Jinas, / like an osprey greedy for the taste of pleasure, meets with suffering, mourning in vain.

20.51

soccāṇa mehāvi subhāsiyaṃ imaṃ anusāsanaṃ nānuguṇovaveyaṃ |
maggaṃ kusīlāṇa jahāya savvaṃ mahāniyaṃṭhāṇa vae paheṇaṃ ||

Having heard this well-spoken instruction endowed with various virtues, the wise person, / having abandoned entirely the path of the ill-behaved, should walk by the path of the great Nirgranthas.

20.52

carittamāyāraguṇannie tao anuttaraṃ saṃjama pāliyāṇaṃ |
nirāsave saṃkhaviyāṇa kammaṃ uvei ṭhāṇaṃ viuluttamaṃ dhuvaṃ ||

Then, endowed with the virtues of conduct and proper practice, having observed supreme self-restraint, / free from influxes, having destroyed karma, he attains the vast, supreme, and eternal abode.

20.53

evuggadaṃte vi mahātavodhaṇe mahāmunī mahāpainne mahāyase |
mahāniyaṃṭhijjamiṇaṃ mahāsuyaṃ se kāhae mahayā vitthareṇaṃ ||

In this way, the great ascetic, rich in great penance, the great sage, of great resolve and great renown, / expounded in great detail this great scripture, the Great Nirgrantha [lecture].

20.54

tuṭṭho ya seṇio rāyā iṇamudāhu kayaṃjalī |
anāhattaṃ jahābhūyaṃ suṭṭhu me uvadaṃsiyaṃ ||

And King Śreṇika, pleased, spoke this with folded hands: / "The nature of being without a protector has been truly and properly shown to me.

20.55

tujjhaṃ suladdhaṃ khu manussajammaṃ lābhā suladdhā ya tume mahesī! |
tubbhe sanāhā ya sabaṃdhavā ya jaṃ bhe ṭhiyā magge jinuttamāṇaṃ ||

Truly well-attained by you is human birth, and gains have been well-acquired by you, O great sage! / You are endowed with a protector and kin, in that you stand upon the path of the supreme Jinas.

20.56

taṃ si nāho anāhāṇaṃ savvabhūyāṇa saṃjayā! |
khāmemi te mahābhāga! icchāmi anusāsiuṃ ||

You are the protector of the unprotected, of all living beings, O self-restrained one! / I ask your forgiveness, O fortunate one! I wish to be instructed.

20.57

pucchiūṇa mae tubbhaṃ jjhāṇaviggho u jo kao |
nimaṃtio ya bhogehiṃ taṃ savvaṃ marisehi me ||

Whatever obstacle to meditation was caused by me in questioning you, / and that you were invited with pleasures—forgive me all that!"

20.58

evaṃ thuṇittāṇa sa rāyasīho anagārasīhaṃ paramāi bhattie |
saoroho ya sapariyaṇo ya dhammānuratto vimaleṇa ceyasā ||

Having praised thus the lion of homeless mendicants with supreme devotion, that lion of kings, / together with his harem and his retinue, was devoted to Dharma with a pure mind.

When the lion of kings had thus, with the greatest devotion, praised the lion of houseless monks, he, together with his wives, servants, and relations, became a staunch believer in the Law, with a pure mind.

20.59

ūsasiyaromakūvo kāūṇa ya payāhiṇaṃ |
abhivaṃdaūṇa sirasā aiyāo narāhivo ||

With hair bristling in joy, having made circumambulation, / and having bowed down with his head, the ruler of men departed.

20.60

iyaro vi guṇasamiddho tiguttigutto tidaṃḍavirao ya |
vihaga iva vippamukko viharai vasuhaṃ vigayamoho || –tti bemi ||

The other, too, abundant in virtues, guarded by the three controls and abstaining from the three punishments, / wandering over the earth free from delusion, lived like a liberated bird. — Thus I say.