I. RENUNCIATION
‘Get thee away from life-lust, from conceit,
From ignorance, and from distraction’s craze;
Sunder the bonds; so only shalt thou come
To utter end of Ill. Throw off the Chain
Of birth and death—thou knowest what they mean.
So, free from craving, in this life on earth,
Thou shalt go on thy way calm and serene.’—The Buddha.
Psalms of the Early Buddhists, I. lvi
(Mrs. Rhys Davids’ Translation).
II. VICTORY
‘But anguish crept upon me, even me,
Whenas I pondered in my little cell:
Ah me! how have I come into this evil road.
Into the power of Craving have I strayed!
Brief is the span of life yet left to me;
Old age, disease, hang imminent to crush.
Now ere this body perish and dissolve,
Swift let me be; no time have I for sloth.
And contemplating, as they really are,
The Aggregates of Life that come and go,
I rose and stood with mind emancipate!
For me the Buddha’s words had come to pass’.—
Mittakalī, a Brāhmin Bhikkhunī.
Psalms of the Early Buddhists, I. xliii
(Mrs. Rhys Davids’ Translation).
