PSALMS OF THE BRETHREN
Canto I.
Psalms of Single Verses
LXVI
Meghiya
Translated from the Pali by Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids.
Public Domain
[Pali]
Reborn in this Buddha-age at Kapilavatthu, in the family of a Sākiyan raja, he was named Meghiya.[1] When grown up, he entered the Order and ministered to the Exalted One while he was residing at Calika on the River Kimikālā. And seeing a pleasant mango-wood he desired to dwell there. Twice the Exalted One refused, but at his third request, let him go. There, however, being consumed by evil thoughts as by flies, he got no concentration of mind, so he returned and told the Master. The latter said, 'When the heart, Meghiya, is not ripe for emancipation, five things conduce thereto,' and admonished him.[ed1] Whereupon Meghiya attained arahantship, and announced his aññā in this verse:
[66] He, the great Hero, counselled me, whose mind
Hath all transcended that our minds may know.
And I, hearing the Norm, held close to Him
In loving pupillage and piety.[2]
The threefold wisdom have I made my own,
And all the Buddha's ordinance is done.
[1] Meaning 'cloudy,' 'cloud-like,' a name of happier augury in India than in more humid climates. Told more fully in Udāna, IV., i.
[2] More literally, 'dwelt near him having loved, or being devoted to.' But the idiom, to leave the world dwelling 'near' a Teacher implies the relation of pupillage.
[ed1] AN 9.3 1. A Dhamma friend; 2. mastering ethical conduct; 3. talk on wanting little, contentment, solitude, effort, ethical conduct, serenity, wisdom, liberation, knowledge and freedom; 4. living whole-heartedly single-mindedly intent on attainment of awakening; 5. penetrating knowledge of the orgin and passing away of phenomena and the 8-fold Way.
