PSALMS OF THE BRETHREN
Canto I.
Psalms of Single Verses
LXXII
Ātuma
Translated from the Pali by Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids.
Public Domain
Now he was reborn in this Buddha-age at Sāvatthī, as the son of a councillor, and was named Ātuma. When he was adolescent his mother proposed to find him a wife, and consulted with kinsfolk. But he, being impelled by the fullness of conditions, said: 'What have I to do with house-ways? Now will I leave the world.' But though he went [73] to the Brethren and was ordained, yet did his mother seek to corrupt his pious wish. Then he declared his inclination in this verse:
[72] As the new bamboo-stem, even when grown
To its full knotted height, can scarce emerge,
So I by all this bringing home of brides -
Give me your leave! Gone forth e'en now am I.
And even as he stood speaking to his mother, insight grew in him, and casting off the defilements,[1] he became an arahant.
[1] Kilesā. This is as general a term, especially in the Commentaries, as is, in Christian writings, the word 'sin.' See Bud. Psy., p. 327, n.
