Sutta Nipāta — Antologia de Discursos — 5.19 — Preserving the Way to the Far Shore

1“I shall keep reciting the Way to the Far Shore,”
said Venerable Piṅgiya, “which was taught as it was seen
by the immaculate one of vast intelligence.
He is desireless, unentangled, a spiritual giant:
why would he speak falsely?

2Come, let me extol
in sweet words of praise
the one who’s given up stains and delusions,
conceit and contempt.

3The Buddha, All-seer, dispeller of darkness,
has gone to world’s end, beyond all rebirths;
he is free of defilements, <j>and has given up all suffering,
the rightly-named one, brahmin, is revered by me.

4Like a bird that flees a little copse,
to roost in a forest abounding in fruit,
I’ve left the near-sighted behind,
like a swan come to a great river.

5Those who explained to me previously,
before Gotama’s teaching,
said ‘thus it was’ or ‘so it shall be’.
All that was just the testament of hearsay;
all that just fostered speculation.

6Alone, the dispeller of darkness
is brilliant, a beacon:
Gotama, vast in wisdom,
Gotama, vast in intelligence.

7He is the one who taught me Dhamma,
apparent in the present life, immediately effective,
the untroubled, the end of craving,
to which there is no compare.”

8“Why would you dwell apart from him
even for an hour, Piṅgiya?
From Gotama, vast in wisdom,
from Gotama, vast in intelligence?

9He is the one who taught you Dhamma,
apparent in the present life, immediately effective,
the untroubled, the end of craving,
to which there is no compare.”

10“I never dwell apart from him,
not even for an hour, brahmin.
From Gotama, vast in wisdom,
from Gotama, vast in intelligence.

11He is the one who taught me Dhamma,
apparent in the present life, immediately effective,
the untroubled, the end of craving,
to which there is no compare.

12Being diligent, I see him
in my mind’s eye day and night.
I spend the night in homage to him,
hence I think I dwell with him.

13My faith and joy and intent and mindfulness
never stray from Gotama’s teaching.
I bow to whatever direction
the one of vast wisdom heads.

14I’m old and feeble,
so my body cannot go there,
but I always travel in my thoughts,
for my mind, brahmin, is bound to him.

15Lying floundering in the mud,
I drifted from island to island.
Then I saw the Buddha,
the undefiled one who has crossed the flood.”

16“Just as Vakkali was committed to faith—
Bhadrāvudha and Gotama of Āḷavī too—
so too you should commit to faith.
You will go, Piṅgiya, beyond the domain of death.”

17“My confidence grows
as I hear the word of the sage,
the Buddha with veil cast off,
so kind and eloquent.

18Having directly known all about the gods,
he understands all top to bottom,
the Teacher who settles all questions
for those who admit their doubts.

19The unfaltering, the unshakable:
that to which there is no compare.
For sure I will go there, I have no doubt of that.
Remember me as one whose mind is made up.”

43The Anthology of Discourses is completed.