Theragāthā — Versos dos Monges Anciãos — 14.1 — Revata of the Acacia Wood

1Since I’ve gone forth
from the lay life to homelessness,
I’ve not been aware of any thought
that is ignoble and hateful.

2“May these beings be killed!
May they be slaughtered! May they suffer!”—
I’ve not been aware of any such thought
in all this long while.

3I have been aware of loving-kindness,
limitless and well-developed;
gradually consolidated
as it was taught by the Buddha.

4I’m friend and comrade to all,
sympathetic for all beings!
I develop a mind of love,
always delighting in harmlessness.

5The unfaltering, the unshakable:
I gladden that mind.
I develop a divine meditation,
which reprobates do not cultivate.

6When in a meditation free of placing the mind,
a disciple of the Buddha
is at that moment blessed
with noble silence.

7As a rocky mountain
is unwavering and well grounded,
so when delusion ends,
a monk, like a mountain, doesn’t tremble.

8To the man who has not a blemish,
who is always seeking purity,
even a hair-tip of evil
seems as big as a stormcloud.

9As a frontier city
is guarded inside and out,
so you should ward yourselves—
don’t let the moment pass you by.

10I don’t long for death;
I don’t long for life;
I await my time,
like a worker waiting for their wages.

11I don’t long for death;
I don’t long for life;
I await my time,
aware and mindful.

12I’ve served the Teacher
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
The heavy burden is laid down,
the leash to existence is eradicated.

13I’ve attained the goal
for the sake of which I went forth
from the lay life to homelessness—
the ending of all fetters.

14Persist with diligence:
this is my instruction.
Come, I’ll be fully quenched—
I’m liberated in every way.