Buddhism

Thag 2:37 · Soṇa Poṭiriyaputta

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

It’s not for sleeping,

the night garlanded

with zodiac stars.

The night, for one who knows,

is for staying awake.

If I were to fall from my elephant’s shoulder,

and a tusker trampled me,

death in battle would be better for me,

than that I, defeated,

survive.

See also: Sn 3:2

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).