Psalms of the Brethren CCXL: Sankicca

What is the gain for thee, dear lad, to dwell
During the rains within the distant woods,
Like Ujjuhana, marshy, jungle-crowned?
Sweeter for thee Verambha, Cave of Winds,
Since they who meditate must dwell apart.

E’en as the wind of the monsoon blows up
And all around the cloud-wrack, in the rains,
[So in the forest lone, remote, arise]
The thoughts that with detachment harmonize,
And all my spirit whelm and overspread.

’Twas the dun-feathered one, in charnel-field
Going his rounds, that made to rise in me
Clear thought about this body, passion-purged.

Moreover, he whom others need not guard,
He too who hath no others whom to guard: —
Even the bhikkhu, dwells in happy ease,
Regardless of what men desire and love.

Crags where clear waters lie, a rocky world,
Haunted by black-faced apes and timid deer,
Where ’neath bright blossoms run the silver streams: —
Those are the highlands of my heart’s delight.

I’ve dwelt in forests and in mountain caves,
In rocky gorges and in haunts remote,
And where the creatures of the wild do roam;

But never mine the quest, with ill-will fraught,
Ungentle and ignoble: — ‘Let us hunt,
Let’s slay these creatures, let us work them ill!’

The Master hath my fealty and love,
And all the Buddha’s bidding hath been done.
Low have I laid the heavy load I bore
Cause for rebirth is found in me no more.

The Good for which I bade the world farewell,
And left the home a homeless life to lead,
That highest Good have I accomplished,
And every bond and fetter is destroyed.

With thought of death I dally not, nor yet
Delight in living. I await the hour,
Like any hireling who hath done his task.

With thought of death I dally not, nor yet
Delight in living. I await the hour
With mind discerning and with heedfulness.