[296] 3. Having laid down the rod toward all beings,
not harming a single one among them,
one should not wish for a son — how then for a companion?
One should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
For one given to association, affections arise;
following upon affection, this suffering (dukkha) comes to be.
Seeing the danger (ādīnava) born of affection,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Sympathizing with friends dear to his heart,
his mind bound, a man neglects the goal.
Seeing this peril in intimacy,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
As a sprawling bamboo thicket is entangled,
so is concern for sons and wives;
but like a bamboo shoot, clinging to nothing,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
As a deer unbound in the forest
goes wherever it wishes for pasture,
so a discerning man, looking to freedom,
should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
In the midst of companions there is consultation —
in staying, in standing, in going, in journeying;
looking to the freedom that is not coveted,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
In the midst of companions there are play and delight,
and toward sons love is abundant;
loathing separation from what is dear,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
At home in the four quarters and without hostility,
content with whatever comes one's way,
an endurer of dangers, undismayed,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Hard to please are even some who have gone forth,
as are householders dwelling at home;
having become unconcerned about the sons of others,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Having cast off the marks of a householder,
like a koviḷāra tree whose leaves have fallen,
a steadfast one, having cut the householder's bonds,
should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
If one should find a prudent companion,
a fellow wayfarer, of good conduct and steadfast,
then, overcoming all dangers,
one should wander with him, glad at heart and mindful (satimā).
If one should not find a prudent companion,
a fellow wayfarer, of good conduct and steadfast,
then, like a king abandoning the realm he has conquered,
one should wander alone, like a mātaṅga elephant in the forest.
Surely we praise the excellence of companions:
companions superior or equal should be resorted to.
Not finding these, eating only blameless food,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Having seen gleaming [bracelets] of gold,
well wrought by a goldsmith's son,
clashing together, the two of them, upon the arm,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
"Thus, were I joined with a second,
there would be talk, or else attachment."
Seeing this peril in the time to come,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
For sensual pleasures, variegated, sweet, delightful,
in form after form churn up the mind (citta);
seeing the danger in the cords of sensual pleasure (kāmaguṇa),
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
"This is for me calamity and boil and disaster,
disease and dart and peril."
Seeing this peril in the cords of sensual pleasure,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Cold and heat, hunger and thirst,
wind and sun, gadflies and creeping things —
having endured all these,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
As an elephant, massive-shouldered, lotus-marked, lofty,
abandoning the herds,
dwells in the forest as it pleases,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
It is impossible for one who delights in company
to touch even temporary liberation (sāmayikā vimutti):
having heeded the word of the Kinsman of the Sun (Ādiccabandhu),
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Gone beyond the contortions of views,
arrived at the fixed course, having gained the path (magga),
[knowing:] "Knowledge (ñāṇa) has arisen in me; I am not to be led by others,"
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Without greed, without deceit, without thirst,
without denigration, with dross and delusion smelted away,
having become free of longing toward the whole world,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
One should avoid an evil companion,
who shows what is unprofitable, entrenched in the wrong way;
one should not oneself consort with one engrossed and heedless.
One should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
One should resort to a friend of great learning, a bearer of the Dhamma,
eminent, gifted with ready understanding;
having known one's goals and dispelled doubt,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Setting no store by play, delight,
or sensual happiness in the world, paying them no regard,
abstaining from adornment, a speaker of truth,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Having left behind son and wife, father and mother,
riches and grain and relatives,
and sensual pleasures one and all,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
"This is a tie; the happiness here is slight;
the gratification is little; the suffering here is greater;
this is a boil" — knowing thus, a thoughtful man
should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Having burst the fetters (saṃyojana),
as a fish in the water tears the net,
as fire does not return to what is burnt,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
With eyes downcast, not restless of foot,
with faculties (indriya) guarded, with mind protected,
not oozing [with lust], not burning [with defilement],
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Having cast off the marks of a householder,
like a pārichatta tree whose leaves have fallen,
having gone forth clad in the ochre robe,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Showing no greed for flavors, not wanton,
supporting no other, walking on unbroken alms round,
with mind not bound to this family or that,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Having abandoned the five obstructions (āvaraṇa) of the mind,
having expelled all its corruptions (upakkilesa),
independent, having cut off the fault of affection,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Having turned one's back on pleasure and pain,
and, earlier still, on joy and grief,
having gained equanimity (upekkhā) and purified calm,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
With energy (vīriya) aroused for attaining the supreme goal (paramattha),
with mind unshrinking, of no indolent habit,
firm in exertion, endowed with steadfastness and strength,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Not neglecting seclusion and meditation (jhāna),
constantly practicing in accordance with the Dhamma among dhammas,
comprehending the danger in states of existence,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Aspiring to the destruction of craving (taṇhā), heedful,
neither dull nor dumb, learned, mindful,
one who has comprehended the Dhamma, assured, possessed of exertion,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Like a lion unalarmed at sounds,
like the wind not caught in a net,
like a lotus unsmeared by water,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
As a lion, mighty of fang, king of beasts,
ranges overpowering and vanquishing,
so should one resort to remote lodgings (senāsana)
and wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Cultivating in due season loving-kindness (mettā),
equanimity, compassion (karuṇā), liberation (vimutti),
and altruistic joy (muditā), unopposed by the whole world,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Having abandoned lust (rāga), hatred (dosa), and delusion (moha),
having burst the fetters,
untrembling at the exhaustion of life,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
People keep company and render service for a motive;
friends without a motive are hard to find today.
Wise for their own advantage, people are impure:
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
The Khaggavisāṇa Sutta, the third.
In the Suttanipāta, the fourth of the Uragavagga: the Kasibhāradvāja Sutta.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.