Theragāthā — Versos dos Monges Anciãos — 6.9 — Jenta, the High Priest’s Son

1I was drunk with the pride of birth
and wealth and authority.
I wandered about intoxicated
with my own gorgeous body.

2No one was my equal or my better—
or so I thought.
I was such an arrogant fool,
stuck up, waving my own flag.

3I never paid homage to anyone:
not even my mother or father,
nor others esteemed as respectable.
I was stiff with pride, lacking regard for others.

4When I saw the foremost leader,
the most excellent of charioteers,
shining like the sun
at the fore of the mendicant Saṅgha,

5I discarded conceit and vanity,
and, with a clear and confident heart,
I bowed down with my head
to the supreme among all beings.

6The conceit of superiority <j>and the conceit of inferiority
have been given up and eradicated.
The conceit “I am” is cut off,
and every kind of conceit is destroyed.