Uttarajjhayana 8

8.1

adhuve asāsayaṃmi saṃsāraṃmi dukkhapaurāe |
kiṃ nāma hojja taṃ kammayaṃ jeṇāhaṃ doggaiṃ na gacchejjā ||

[Thinking:] 'In this impermanent, non-eternal cycle of rebirth, full of suffering,
what indeed might be that action by which I would not go to a miserable realm?'

By what acts can I escape a sorrowful lot in this unstable ineternal Samsâra, which is full of misery?

8.2

vijahittu puvvasaṃjogaṃ na siṇehaṃ kahiṃci kuvvejjā |
asineha sinehakarehiṃ dosapaosehiṃ muccae bhikkhū ||

Having abandoned former attachments, he should not form affection anywhere;
free from affection, a monk is freed from fondness, aversion, and hatred that cause attachment.

8.3

to nāṇadaṃsaṇasamaggo hiyanissesāe savvajīvāṇaṃ |
tesiṃ vimokkhaṇaṭṭhāe bhāsaī munivaro vigayamoho ||

Then, endowed with knowledge and faith, for the welfare and final liberation of all living beings,
for their complete release, the supreme sage, freed from delusion, spoke.

8.4

savvaṃ gaṃthaṃ kalahaṃ ca vippajahe tahāvihaṃ bhikkhū |
savvesu kāmajāesu pāsamāṇo na lippaī tāī ||

A monk of such a kind should abandon all worldly ties and quarrels; / observing all kinds of desires, the protector is not tainted.

8.5

bhogāmisadosavisanne hiyanisseyasabuddhivoccatthe |
bāle ya maṃdie mūḍhe bajjhaī macchiyā va khelaṃmi ||

Sunk in the fault of worldly pleasures, devoid of understanding beneficial to the highest good, / foolish, dull-witted, and deluded, he is caught fast like a fly in spit.

8.6

dupariccayā ime kāmā no sujahā adhīrapurisehiṃ |
aha saṃti suvvayā sāhū je taraṃti ataraṃ vaṇiyā va ||

Difficult to renounce are these desires, not easily abandoned by unsteady men; / yet there are virtuous mendicants of excellent vows who cross over what is hard to cross, like merchants [over the sea].

8.7

samaṇā mu ege vayamāṇā pāṇavahaṃ miyā ayāṇaṃtā |
maṃdā nirayaṃ gacchaṃti bālā pāviyāhiṃ diṭṭhīhiṃ ||

Some calling themselves śramaṇas, not knowing that killing living beings is forbidden, / foolish and sluggish, go to hell through their sinful views.

8.8

na hu pāṇavahaṃ anujāne muccejja kayāi savvadukkhāṇaṃ |
evāriehiṃ akkhāyaṃ jehiṃ imo sāhudhammo pannatto ||

One who approves of killing living beings could never be liberated from all suffering; / so it has been declared by the noble ones who expounded this Dharma of virtuous mendicants.

8.9

pāṇe ya nāivāejjā se samie tti vuccaī tāī |
tao se pāvayaṃ kammaṃ nijjāi udagaṃ va thalāo ||

He should not destroy living beings: he is called circumspect and a protector; / then his sinful karma departs from him like water from dry land.

8.10

jaganissiehiṃ bhūehiṃ tasanāmehiṃ thāvarehiṃ ca |
no tesimārabhe daṃḍaṃ manasā vayasā kāyasā ceva ||

Toward the living beings that inhabit the world, both mobile and immobile, / he should not direct violence with mind, speech, or body.

8.11

suddhesaṇāo naccāṇaṃ tattha ṭhavejja bhikkhū appāṇaṃ |
jāyāe ghāsamesejjā rasagiddhe na siyā bhikkhāe ||

Having known the pure searches [for food], a monk should establish himself therein; / he should seek food merely to sustain life, and not be greedy for tasty food in his begging.

8.12

paṃtāṇi ceva sevejjā sīyapiṃḍaṃ purāṇakummāsaṃ |
adu vukkasaṃ pulāgaṃ vā javaṇaṭṭhāe nisevae maṃthuṃ ||

He should take only coarse food: cold alms-bowl food, old boiled beans, / or dry bread, chaff, or flour, consuming it only to sustain life.

8.13

je lakkhaṇaṃ ca suviṇaṃ ca aṃgavijjaṃ ca je pauṃjaṃti |
na hu te samaṇā vuccaṃti evaṃ āyariehiṃ akkhāyaṃ ||

Those who practice [interpreting] bodily marks, dreams, and the science of bodily signs, / are not called śramaṇas; so it has been declared by the ācāryas.

8.14

iha jīviyaṃ aniyamettā pabbhaṭṭhā samāhijoehiṃ |
te kāmabhogarasagiddhā uvavajjaṃti āsure kāe ||

Having failed to restrain their lives here, fallen from the practices of concentration, / greedy for the pleasures and tastes of desires, they are reborn in the body of an asura.

8.15

tatto vi ya uvaṭṭittā saṃsāraṃ bahuṃ anupariyaḍaṃti |
bahukammalevalittāṇaṃ bohī hoi sudullahā tesiṃ ||

Departing even from there, they wander through the vast cycle of rebirth; / stained with the smear of much karma, enlightenment is very hard for them to attain.

8.16

kasiṇaṃ pi jo imaṃ loyaṃ paḍipuṇṇaṃ dalejja ikkassa |
teṇāvi se na saṃtusse ii duppūrae ime āyā ||

Even if someone were to give this entire filled world to a single person, / he would still not be satisfied by it: so difficult to satisfy is the soul.

8.17

jahā lāho tahā loho lāhā loho pavaḍḍhaī |
domāsakayaṃ kajjaṃ koḍīe vi na niṭṭhiyaṃ ||

As the gain, so the greed; greed increases from gain: / what could have been done with two māṣas was not finished even with a crore.

8.18

no rakkhasīsu gijjhejjā gaṃḍavacchāsu'ṇegacittāsu |
jāo purisaṃ palobhittā khellaṃti jahā va dāsehiṃ ||

He should not lust after demonesses, fickle-minded women with swelling breasts, / who, having enticed a man, toy with him as though with slaves.

8.19

nārīsu nopagijjhejjā itthī vippajahe anagāre |
dhammaṃ ca pesalaṃ naccā tattha ṭhavejja bhikkhū appāṇaṃ ||

He should not lust after women; a homeless mendicant should abandon women; / and knowing the lovely Dharma, a monk should establish himself therein.

8.20

ii esa dhamme akkhāe kavileṇaṃ ca visuddhapanneṇaṃ |
tarihiṃti je u kāhiṃti tehiṃ ārāhiyā duve loga || –tti bemi ||

Thus this Dharma was proclaimed by Kapila of purified intellect; / those who will practice it will cross over, and both worlds will be won by them. — So I speak.