[587] **"Thus I, having abandoned those of little vision, have arrived at the great water like a swan"** — herein, **"thus" (evaṃ)** is the term that brings the simile to completion.
**"Having abandoned those of little vision"**: the brahmin Bāvarī, and those others who were his teachers, were — in comparison with the Buddha, the Blessed One — of little vision, of limited vision, of slight vision, of inferior vision, of low vision, of paltry vision. Having abandoned, forsaken, passed beyond, and thoroughly transcended those brahmins of little vision, of limited vision, of slight vision, of inferior vision, of low vision, of paltry vision, I attained, found, and obtained the Buddha, the Blessed One — of foremost vision, of best vision, of distinguished vision, of supreme vision; the excellent one, the unequalled, the equal of the unequalled, without counterpart, without a peer among persons; the deva surpassing devas, the bull of men, the lion among men, the nāga among men, the thoroughbred among men, the leader-bull among men, the burden-bearer among men; the possessor of the ten powers (dasabala), the Steadfast One (tādī).
Just as a swan might reach, find, and obtain a great lake made by human hands, or the lake Anotatta, or the great ocean — imperturbable, of measureless waters — even so I, the brahmin Piṅgiya, attained, found, and obtained the Buddha, the Blessed One: imperturbable, of measureless splendour, of knowledge (ñāṇa) fully broken open, with eye unveiled, skilled in the divisions of wisdom, who has attained the analytic insights (paṭisambhidā), who has reached the four grounds of self-confidence (vesārajja), resolved upon the pure, inwardly white and bright, who speaks nothing twofold, the Steadfast One, whose claims are true; not limited but great, deep, immeasurable, hard to fathom, abounding in treasures, like unto the ocean, endowed with the six-factored equanimity; peerless, vast, immeasurable — him, such a one, the foremost proclaimer among those who proclaim, as Sineru among mountains, as the garuḷa among birds, as the lion among beasts, as the ocean among waters — the supreme Victor. Thus: "Thus I, having abandoned those of little vision, have arrived at the great water like a swan."
Therefore the Elder Piṅgiya said:
As a bird, having left a scanty wood,
might dwell in a forest abounding in fruit,
even so I, having abandoned those of little vision,
have arrived at the great water, like a swan.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.