PSALMS OF THE BRETHREN
Canto I.
Psalms of Single Verses
Part III
XXI
Nigrodha
Translated from the Pali by Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids.
Public Domain
He in this Buddha-age was reborn in an eminent brahmin's family at Sāvatthī. And on the day when Jeta Grove was presented, he saw the majesty of the Buddha and was satisfied, so that he entered the Order. When he had stirred up insight, he soon became able to exercise the six forms of supernormal thought. And pondering, in the bliss of fruition, on the advantages of the doctrine which leads us away from rebirth, he uttered this verse as the expression of aññā:
[21] No fear have I of fearsome things, for He,
Our Master, knoweth well th' ambrosial lore.[1]
The Path where fear nowise a footing finds,
Along that Path the brethren hold their way.
[1] Lit., 'skilled, learned in ambrosia,' amātā, the most frequent synonym for Nibbāna. The Path is the Ariyan Eightfold Path (Commentary).
