[369] When the wise man [knows], "Aging and death are suffering (dukkha)" —
wherein undiscerning worldlings are stuck —
and, fully understanding suffering, meditates, mindful (sato),
he finds no delight higher than that.
When he has abandoned craving (taṇhā) — the bringer of suffering,
the ensnarer, which brings on the suffering of the mass of proliferation —
and meditates, mindful,
he finds no delight higher than that.
When, with wisdom (paññā), he has touched the blissful
supreme path (magga) that proceeds by its twice four factors, the cleanser of all defilements,
and meditates, mindful,
he finds no delight higher than that.
When he develops the sorrowless, dust-free, unconditioned,
peaceful state — the cleanser of all defilements,
the severer of the bonds of the fetters (saññojana) —
he finds no delight higher than that.
When the cloud's thunder-drum rumbles in the sky,
and torrents crowd the pathway of the birds on every side,
and the bhikkhu, gone to a mountain cave, meditates,
he finds no delight higher than that.
When, seated on the bank of rivers strewn with flowers,
garlanded with the varied blooms of the woodland,
glad at heart he meditates,
he finds no delight higher than that.
When, at dead of night, in a deserted forest,
while the rain pours down and the fanged beasts roar,
the bhikkhu, gone to a mountain cave, meditates,
he finds no delight higher than that.
When, having stilled his own thoughts,
resorting to a cleft of the hills within the mountains,
free of anguish, rid of barrenness, he meditates,
he finds no delight higher than that.
When, happy — a destroyer of stain, barrenness, and sorrow —
unbarred, rid of the thicket, his darts removed,
having made an end of all taints (āsava), he meditates,
he finds no delight higher than that.
The Elder Bhūta.
Summary (Uddāna):
The Elder Bhūta, a seer of things as they are, alone like the horn of the rhinoceros,
is in the Book of the Nines; and these verses too are nine.
The Book of the Nines (Navakanipāta) is concluded.
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Theragāthā — The Book of the Tens (Dasakanipāta)
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.