[377] 1.
What is your purpose in the forest, dear boy,
like an ujjuhāna bird in the rains?
Are the Verambha gales¹ delightful to you?
For seclusion (paviveka) is for those who meditate.
As the Verambha wind in the rainy season
drives away the clouds,
perceptions (saññā) bound up with seclusion
come showering over me.
The black one, born from an egg,
ranging with the charnel ground (sīvathikā) for his haunt,
arouses in me mindfulness (sati)
regarding this body, grounded in dispassion (virāga).
He whom others do not guard,
and who does not guard others—
that bhikkhu indeed sleeps at ease,
free of longing for sensual pleasures.
With clear waters and broad crags,
thronged with monkeys and deer,
covered over with water-moss—
those rocks delight me.
I have dwelt in wildernesses,
in mountain clefts and caves,
in remote lodgings,
in places haunted by beasts of prey.
"May these living beings be struck down, be slain,
may they come to suffering (dukkha)"—
no such intention do I know in myself,
ignoble, bound up with hatred (dosa).
The Teacher has been served by me,
the Buddha's teaching has been fulfilled;
the heavy burden has been laid down,
the conduit to existence has been rooted out.
That goal for the sake of which I went forth²
from home into homelessness—
that goal of mine has been attained:
the destruction of all fetters (saṃyojana).
I do not long for death,
I do not long for life;
I await my time,
as a hired servant awaits his wages.
I do not long for death,
I do not long for life;
I await my time,
clearly comprehending (sampajāno) and mindful.
The Elder Saṅkicca.
Summary (Uddāna)
In the Book of Elevens the Elder Saṅkicca stands alone,
his task accomplished, free from taints (āsava);
and the verses are exactly eleven.
The Book of Elevens (Ekādasaka-nipāta) is concluded.
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The Theragāthā: The Book of Twelves (Dvādasaka-nipāta)
[Notes to the Pali text: ¹ Burmese ed.: verambhā. ² Burmese and European eds.: yassa catthāya.]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.