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Buddhism

Dhp 07 · Arahants

Thai temple painting: Prince Vessantara gives away the white elephant
Vessantara Jātaka, Chapter 2 (Himavanta Forest) · Thai, Rattanakosin, c. 1850–1870 · Walters Art Museum

In one who

has gone the full distance,

is free from sorrow,

is everywhere

fully released,

has abandoned all bonds:

no fever is found.

90

The mindful keep active,

don’t delight in settling back.

They renounce every home,

every home,

like swans taking off from a lake.

91

Not hoarding,

having comprehended food,

their pasture–emptiness

& freedom without sign:

their course,

like that of birds through space,

can’t be traced.

Effluents ended,

independent of nutriment,

their pasture–emptiness

& freedom without sign:

their trail,

like that of birds through space,

can’t be traced.

92-93*

He whose senses are steadied

like stallions

well-trained by the charioteer,

his conceit abandoned,

free of effluent,

Such:

even devas adore him.

Like the earth, he doesn’t react–

cultured,

Such,

like Indra’s pillar,

like a lake free of mud.

For him

–Such–

there’s no traveling on.

Calm is his mind,

calm his speech

& his deed:

one who’s released through right knowing,

pacified,

Such.

94-96*

The man

faithless / beyond conviction

ungrateful / knowing the Unmade

a burglar / who has severed connections

who’s destroyed

his chances / conditions

who eats vomit: / has disgorged expectations:

the ultimate person.

97*

In village or wilds,

valley, plateau:

that place is delightful

where arahants dwell.

98

Delightful wilds

where the crowds don’t delight,

those free from passion

delight,

for they’re not searching

for sensual pleasures.

99


Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence, for free distribution only. Source: dhammatalks.org (Metta Forest Monastery).

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