Psalms of the Brethren CCXLIV: Revata

Since I went forth from home to homeless life,
Ne’er have I harboured conscious wish or plan
Un-Ariyan or linked with enmity.

Ne’er mine the quest, all this long interval; —
‘Let’s smite our fellow-creatures, let us slay,
Let them be brought to pain and misery.’

Nay, love I do avow, made infinite,
Well trained, by orderly progression grown,
Even as by the Buddha it is taught.

With all am I a friend, comrade to all,
And to all creatures kind and merciful;
A heart of amity I cultivate,
And ever in good will is my delight.

A heart that cannot drift or fluctuate
I make my joy; the sentiments sublime
That evil men do shun I cultivate.

Whoso hath won to stage of ecstasy
Beyond attention’s range of flitting sense,
He, follower of the Enlightened One Supreme,
To Ariyan silence straightway doth attain.

E’en as a mountain crag unshaken stands
Sure-based, a Brother with illusions gone
Like very mountain stands unwavering.

The man of blameless life, who ever seeks
For what is pure, doth deem some trifling fault,
That is no heavier than the tip of hair,
Weighty as [burden of the gravid] cloud.

E’en as a border city guarded well
Within, without, so guard ye well yourselves.
See that the Moment pass not vainly by.

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,

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 to lead the homeless life,
That highest Good have I accomplished,
And every bond and fetter is destroyed.

Work out your good with zeal and earnestness!
This is my [last] commandment unto you.
For lo! now shall I wholly pass away,
To me comes absolute enfranchisement.