Verses Sung in Praise of the Way to the Beyond

I will sing the praises of the Way to the Beyond, (said Venerable Piṅgiya).

Just as he saw it, so he declared it.

Unstained, of vast wisdom,

Free from desire, free from the jungle of craving, a true spiritual hero;

For what reason would he speak falsely?

For the one who has abandoned stains and delusion,

Who has abandoned conceit and denigration;

Come, I will voice

Words endowed with his praise.

The dispeller of darkness, awakened, with all-seeing vision,

Who has gone to the end of the world, having transcended all becoming;

Free of defilements, having abandoned all suffering,

Rightly called truth:I have attended upon him, brahmin.

Just as a bird, leaving a sparse thicket,

Might dwell in a forest of abundant fruit;

Even so, having left teachers of little vision,

I have arrived at a great ocean, like a swan.

Those who previously explained things to me,

Outside the dispensation of Gotama,

Saying, So it was, so it will be:

All that was merely hearsay,

All that only increased speculation.

He sits alone, dispelling the darkness,

Luminous, a maker of light;

Gotama, of vast understanding,

Gotama, of vast wisdom.

Who taught me the Dhamma,

Visible here and now, immediately effective,

The destruction of craving, free from distress,

Which has no comparison anywhere.

Why do you stay away from him,

Even for a moment, Piṅgiya;

From Gotama of vast understanding,

From Gotama of vast wisdom?

Who taught you the Dhamma,

Visible here and now, immediately effective,

The destruction of craving, free from distress,

Which has no comparison anywhere?

I do not stay away from him,

Even for a moment, brahmin;

From Gotama of vast understanding,

From Gotama of vast wisdom.

Who taught me the Dhamma,

Visible here and now, immediately effective,

The destruction of craving, free from distress,

Which has no comparison anywhere.

I see him with my mind as if with my eye,

Diligent night and day, brahmin;

Revering him, I pass the night,

Therefore I consider myself not absent from him.

Faith and joy, mind and mindfulness,

Do not depart from Gotama’s teaching;

Whichever direction the one of vast wisdom goes,

Right there I am inclined.

Since I am old and my strength is weak,

My body cannot physically go there;

But I constantly travel on the vehicle of my resolve,

For my mind, brahmin, is joined with him.

Lying in the mud, floundering,

I floated from island to island;

Then I saw the fully awakened one,

Who has crossed the flood, free of defilements.

Just as Vakkali was released by faith,

As were Bhadrāvudha and Āḷavi-Gotama;

Even so, you too should let loose your faith,

You will go, Piṅgiya, to the far shore of Death's domain.

I am all the more inspired,

Hearing the word of the sage;

The fully awakened one has drawn back the veil,

Unobstructed, possessed of ready realization.

Having directly known the higher gods,

He knows everything, the high and the low;

The Teacher puts an end to the questions

Of those who admit their doubts.

To the unshakeable, the unmovable,

Which has no comparison anywhere;

I will certainly go, I have no doubt about this.

Consider me as one whose mind is resolved.

The Chapter on the Way Beyond is the fifth.

Summary of the Discourses:

The Serpent, and also Dhaniya,

The Rhinoceros, and the Farmer;

Cunda, and then Downfall,

The Outcast, and What Should Be Done;

Hemavata the yakkha,

The Discourse on Victory, and the excellent Discourse on the Sage.

This first section, an excellent chapter,

Containing twelve discourses, well-arranged,

Taught by the stainless one with vision,

Is known as the excellent Chapter on the Serpent.

The Jewel, Carrion, Shame, and the Blessing,

Suciloma, Kapila, and the Way of the Brahmins;

The Boat, What Virtue?, and Arise!

Rāhula, and once again Vaṅgīsa.

Proper Wandering is also here,

And the excellent, well-arranged Discourse to Dhammika.

Containing fourteen discourses, the second:

They call it the excellent Minor Chapter.

The Going Forth, Striving, and Good Speech,

The Offering, and also Māgha;

Sabhiya, Keṇiya, and the Dart,

The excellent Vāseṭṭha, and Kālika.

The excellent, well-arranged Discourse to Nālaka,

And Observation as well.

Containing twelve discourses, the third:

Is known as the excellent Great Chapter.

Sensual Pleasures, the Octad on the Cave, and the Octad on the Corrupt,

The excellent Octad on the Pure, and the Octad on the Supreme;

Old Age, and the excellent, well-arranged Metteyya,

Pasūra, Māgaṇḍiya, and Before the Disintegration.

Quarrels and Disputes, and both Arrays,

Quickly, the Rod Assumed, and Sāriputta.

Containing sixteen discourses, the fourth:

They call it the excellent Chapter of the Octads.

In the delightful country of Magadha,

An excellent region inhabited by makers of merit,

At the excellent, well-laid-out Pāsāṇaka Shrine,

The Blessed One, the foremost of the assembly, dwelt.

When they had come together from both abodes,

In an assembly spanning twelve leagues,

Asked, it is said, by the sixteen brahmins,

Who were engaged in asking sixteen questions;

He fully revealed and imparted the Dhamma.

Full of phrasing that illuminates the meaning,

He taught the Dhamma that generates supreme safety;

For the welfare of the world, the Conqueror, supreme among two-footed beings,

Taught the excellent discourse, beautifully varied with many teachings;

As the cause for liberation from all defilements,

The supreme among two-footed beings taught the excellent discourse.

Endowed with right phrasing and meaningful words,

Profound with similes and clearly expressed in syllables,

The supreme light of knowing that investigates the world,

The supreme among two-footed beings taught the excellent discourse.

Stainless amid the stain of greed, supremely stainless,

Stainless amid the stain of hate, supremely stainless,

Stainless amid the stain of delusion, supremely stainless;

The supreme light of knowing that investigates the world,

The supreme among two-footed beings taught the excellent discourse.

Stainless amid the stain of defilements, supremely stainless,

Stainless amid the stain of bad conduct, supremely stainless;

The supreme light of knowing that investigates the world,

The supreme among two-footed beings taught the excellent discourse.

Regarding the taints, bonds, yokes, and defilements,

The hindrances, and the three stains;

As the cause for liberation from those defilements,

The supreme among two-footed beings taught the excellent discourse;

Which is stainless, dispelling all defilements,

The fading away of greed, unagitated, sorrowless;

The peaceful, sublime, and very-hard-to-see Dhamma:

The foremost of two-legged beings taught this excellent discourse.

Peaceful, with greed, hate, and sensuality broken;

Transcending the four wombs, the five destinies, and consciousness;

Release from the covering of delight in craving, from false shelter, and the creeper of existence:

The foremost of two-legged beings taught this excellent discourse.

Deep, hard to see, refined, and subtle,

To be experienced by the wise, profound in meaning,

Shattering worldly wandering through knowing:

The foremost of two-legged beings taught this excellent discourse.

A neck-garland of flowers of the ninefold teaching,

Classified by faculties, absorptions, and liberations,

The excellent vehicle upholding the eightfold path:

The foremost of two-legged beings taught this excellent discourse.

Stainless and completely pure like the moon,

Beautifully adorned with gems like the ocean,

Like a flower, with radiant energy like the sun:

The foremost of two-legged beings taught this excellent discourse.

Secure, auspicious, blissful, cool, and peaceful,

The supreme protection from death, the ultimate goal,

For the sake of seeing that fully peaceful state:

The foremost of two-legged beings taught this excellent discourse.

The Suttanipāta is complete.