[295] 2.
"My rice is cooked, my milking is done," (thus said Dhaniya the cowherd)
"I dwell together with my own people beside the bank of the Mahī;
my hut is thatched, my fire is kindled —
so, if you wish, pour down, O sky!"
"I am free from anger, rid of barrenness of mind (khila)," (thus said the Blessed One)
"I dwell for one night beside the bank of the Mahī;
my hut is open, my fire is quenched —
so, if you wish, pour down, O sky!"
"No gadflies or mosquitoes are found here," (thus said Dhaniya the cowherd)
"the cows range in the riverside meadow where the grass grows lush;
even the rain, when it comes, they will endure —
so, if you wish, pour down, O sky!"
"A raft indeed was bound, well made," (thus said the Blessed One)
"crossed over, gone beyond, the flood (ogha) removed,
there is no need of a raft —
so, if you wish, pour down, O sky!"
"My wife is obedient, not wanton," (thus said Dhaniya the cowherd)
"long has she lived with me, and she is pleasing;
of her I hear no evil at all —
so, if you wish, pour down, O sky!"
"My mind (citta) is obedient, liberated," (thus said the Blessed One)
"long developed and well tamed;
no evil, moreover, is found in me —
so, if you wish, pour down, O sky!"
"I am supported by my own earnings," (thus said Dhaniya the cowherd)
"and my sons, dwelling with me, are free from illness;
of them I hear no evil at all —
so, if you wish, pour down, O sky!"
"I am no one's hireling," (thus said the Blessed One)
"by what I have won I wander in all the world;
there is no need of wages —
so, if you wish, pour down, O sky!"
"There are cows, there are suckling calves," (thus said Dhaniya the cowherd)
"there are cows in calf and breeding cows too;
and there is also a bull, the lord of the herd —
so, if you wish, pour down, O sky!"
"There are no cows, no suckling calves," (thus said the Blessed One)
"no cows in calf, nor breeding cows;
nor is there a bull, the lord of the herd —
so, if you wish, pour down, O sky!"
"The stakes are driven in, unshakable," (thus said Dhaniya the cowherd)
"the halters of muñja grass are new and well fashioned;
not even the suckling calves will be able to break them —
so, if you wish, pour down, O sky!"
"Like a bull that has torn its bonds," (thus said the Blessed One)
"like an elephant that has burst a rotten creeper,
I shall not come again to lie in a womb —
so, if you wish, pour down, O sky!"
Filling the low land and the high,
the great cloud rained down at that very moment.
Hearing the sky as it rained,
Dhaniya spoke this:
"No small gain indeed is ours,
in that we have seen the Blessed One.
We go to you for refuge, O One with Vision (cakkhumā);
be our Teacher, O Great Sage!
My wife and I, obedient,
would live the holy life (brahmacariya) under the Sublime One (Sugata);
gone beyond birth and death (jātimaraṇa),
may we become makers of an end of suffering (dukkha)!"
"One with sons delights in his sons," (thus said Māra the Evil One)
"the cattle-owner likewise delights in his cattle;
for acquisitions (upadhi) are a man's delight —
he who is without acquisitions does not delight."
"One with sons sorrows over his sons," (thus said the Blessed One)
"the cattle-owner likewise sorrows over his cattle;
for acquisitions are a man's sorrow —
he who is without acquisitions does not sorrow."
The Dhaniya Sutta, the second.
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In the Suttanipāta, the third [discourse] of the Uragavagga: the Khaggavisāṇa Sutta.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.