[354] 1. I shall extol the going forth (pabbajjā),
how the One with Vision (cakkhumā) went forth,
how he, investigating,
approved the going forth.
"Cramped is this household life,
a realm of dust,"
and "The going forth is the open air" —
seeing thus, he went forth.
Having gone forth, he avoided
evil action with the body;
having abandoned verbal misconduct,
he purified his livelihood.
The Buddha went to Rājagaha,
to Giribbaja of the Magadhans;
he betook himself there for alms,
abounding in excellent marks.
Bimbisāra saw him,
standing as he was upon his palace;
seeing him endowed with the marks,
he spoke this matter:
"Observe this one, sirs:
handsome, stately, pure,
accomplished too in conduct,
and he looks but a plough-yoke's length ahead;
"his eyes downcast, mindful (satimā) —
this is no one from a low family.
Let the royal messengers run forth:
where will the bhikkhu go?"
Those royal messengers, dispatched,
followed behind him:
"Where will the bhikkhu go?
Where will his dwelling be?"
Walking on unbroken alms round, house to house,
his sense-doors guarded, well restrained,
he quickly filled his bowl,
clearly comprehending (sampajāno), mindful.
Having walked his alms round,
the sage (muni), departing from the city,
betook himself to Paṇḍava:
"Here will my dwelling be."
Seeing that he had gone to his dwelling,
the three messengers sat down to wait;
and one messenger, returning,
informed the king:
"That bhikkhu, great king,
is seated on the front side of Paṇḍava,
like a tiger or a bull,
like a lion in a mountain cave."
Hearing the messenger's word,
the khattiya set out in haste
with a fine chariot
toward Mount Paṇḍava.
Having driven as far as the ground served for carriages,
the khattiya alighted from the carriage,
approached on foot,
and, having reached him, sat down.
Having sat down, the king exchanged greetings,
then talk of courtesies;
and having concluded that talk,
he spoke this matter:
"You are young, a tender youth,
a lad in the first prime of life,
endowed with beauty of complexion and stature,
like a khattiya of high birth,
"adorning the van of the army
at the head of a company of elephants.
I offer you riches — enjoy them!
And, being asked, declare your birth (jāti)."
"Straight ahead, O King,
on the flank of the Himavant,
there is a country endowed with wealth and energy (vīriya),
belonging to one whose home is among the Kosalans.
"Ādiccas by clan,
Sākiyas by birth —
from that family I have gone forth,
not longing for sensual pleasures.
"Having seen the danger in sensual pleasures,
having seen renunciation as security,
I shall go on to strive:
herein my mind delights."
The Pabbajjā Sutta, the first.
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In the Sutta Nipāta, the second [sutta] of the third [chapter], the Great Chapter (Mahāvagga): the Padhāna Sutta.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.