Theragatha
Chapter XVII — The Thirties
260
Ānanda (Excerpt)
Translated from the Pali by Hellmuth Hecker and Sister Khema.
For free distribution only.
[Ānanda:]
[1024] 82,000 Teachings from the Buddha
I have received;
2,000 more from his disciples;
Now, 84,000 are familiar to me.
[1025] Who nothing has heard and nothing understood,
He ages only oxen-like:
His stomach only grows and grows,
But his insight deepens not.
[1026] Who has much heard and learned,
But does despise him who is poor in learning,
Is like one blind who holds a lamp.
So must I think of such a one.
[1027] Thou follow him who has heard much,
Then what is heard shall not decline.
This is the tap-root of the holy life;
Hence a Dhamma-guardian thou should'st be!
[1028] Knowing what comes first and last,
Knowing well the meaning, too,
Skilful in grammar and in other items,
The well-grasped meaning he examines.
[1029] Keen in his patient application,
He strives to weigh the meaning well.
At the right time he makes his effort,
And inwardly collects his mind.
§
[1034] All the quarters are bedimmed
And the Dhamma is not clear to me,
Indeed my noble friend has gone
And all about seems dark.
[1035] The friend has passed away,
The Master, too, has gone.
There is no friendship now that equals this:
The mindfulness directed bodywards.
[1036] The old ones now have passed away,
The new ones do no please me much,
Today alone I meditate
Like a bird gone to its nest.
§
[1037] Through a full 25 years
As long as I have been in higher training
I have never had a thought of lust:
See, how powerfully the Dhamma works.
§
[1046]Then was there terror, and the hair stood up, when he,
The all-accomplished one, the Buddha, passed away.
§
[1049] The virtuous, wise man,
The hero strong and ever resolute,
The guardian of the word so true,
Ānanda found extinction now.
