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# Theragatha

## Chapter VI -- The Sixes

### (Selected suttas)

Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

VI.6 -- Sappadasa {vv. 405-410}

> Twenty five years since my going forth,
> and no peace of awareness
> -- not a finger-snap's worth --
> attained.
> Having gained no oneness of mind,
> I was wracked with lust.
> Wailing, with my arms upheld,
> I ran amok from my dwelling --
> "Or... or shall I take the knife?
> What's the use of life to me?
> If I were to renounce the training,
> what sort of death would I have?"
> So, taking a razor,
> I sat down on a bed.
> And there was the razor,
> placed ready to cut my own vein,
> when apt attention arose in me,
> the drawbacks appeared,
> disenchantment stood
> at an even keel:

> With that, my heart was released.
> See the Dhamma's true rightness!
> The three knowledges
> have been attained;
> the Awakened One's bidding,
> done.

VI.9 -- Jenta, the Royal Chaplain's Son {vv. 423-428}

> I was
> drunk with the intoxication
> of my birth, wealth, & sovereignty.
> Drunk with the intoxication
> of my body's build, coloring, & form,
> I wandered about,
> regarding no one
> as my equal or better,
> foolish, arrogant, haughty,
> my banner held high.
> I -- disrespectful, arrogant, proud --
> bowed down to no one,
> not even mother,
> father,
> or those commonly held
> in respect.

> Then -- seeing the ultimate leader,
> supreme, foremost of charioteers,
> like a blazing sun,
> arrayed with a squadron of monks --
> casting away pride & intoxication
> through an awareness serene & clear,
> I bowed down
> my
> head
> to him, supreme
> among all living beings.

> Haughtiness & contempt
> have been abandoned
> -- rooted out --
> the conceit "I am" is extracted,
> all forms of pride, destroyed.

VI.10 -- Sumana the Novice {vv. 429-434}

> When I was seven
> & newly gone forth,
> having conquered with my power
> the great powerful serpent,
> I was fetching water for my preceptor
> from the great lake, Anotatta,[1]
> when the Teacher saw me & said:

> "Look, Sariputta, at that one,
> the young boy coming there,
> carrying a pot of water,
> well-centered within,
> his practices -- inspiring;
> his bearing -- admirable.
> He's Anuruddha's novice,
> mature in his powers,
> made thoroughbred by a thoroughbred,
> good by one who is good,
> tamed by Anuruddha,
> trained by one whose task
> is done.

> He, having reached the highest peace
> & realized the unshakable,
> Sumana the novice
> wants this:
> 'Don't let anyone know me.'"

> Note:

> 1. Anotatta: A fabulous lake located in the Himalayas, famed for the purity of its cool waters. Sumana would have had to use his psychic powers to fetch water from there. [Go back]

Revised: Fri 12 April 2002