V : The To-the-Far-Shore Chapter (Pṅrṅyana Vagga)
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('â', To the Far Shore.â As he saw, so he taught— stainless, of deep intelligence, the Nṅga with no sensuality, no forest3: For what reason would he tell a lie? His delusion & stains left behind; left behind, his hypocrisy, conceit: Let me praise his beautiful words. He who is truly described as dispeller of darkness, awakened, All-around Eye, gone to the end of the cosmos,4 all his becoming transcended, effluent-free, his stress all abandoned: He is served by me. As a bird leaving a scrubby grove would dwell in a forest abundant in fruit, even so, I have left those of next-to-no vision, have arrived like a swan at a large lake. In the past, before hearing Gotamaâs message, when anyone explained ),
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('â', It is,â ),
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('â', It will be,â all that was hearsay, quotation marks. All that promoted conjecture and gave me no pleasure.5 Sitting alone— the dispeller of darkness, shining, bringer of light, Gotama of deep knowledge, Gotama of deep intelligence: He taught me the Dhamma timeless, visible here-&-now, the ending of craving, calamity-free, whose likeness is nowhere at all." Bṅvarī: "Piṃgiya, for even a moment can you stay apart from him— Gotama of deep knowledge, Gotama of deep intelligence, who taught you the Dhamma timeless, visible here-&-now, the ending of craving, calamity-free, whose likeness is nowhere at all?" Ven. Piṃgiya: "No, brahman, not even for a moment can I stay apart from him— Gotama of deep knowledge, Gotama of deep intelligence, who taught me the Dhamma timeless, visible here-&-now, the ending of craving, calamity-free, whose likeness is nowhere at all. I see him with my heart as if with my eye— heedful, brahman, by day & by night. I spend the night paying homage to him, and that way, as it were, not staying apart. My conviction, rapture, mindfulness, & heart, donât stray from Gotamaâs message. To whatever direction he goes, the one deeply discerning, to that direction I bow down. I am old, my stamina frail, which is why my body doesnât run away to there. But through the machine of my resolves I constantly go, for my heart, brahman, is connected to him. Floundering in the mud, I swam from island to island, but then I saw the One Self-Awakened, crossed over the flood, effluent-free. ),
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('â', As Vakkali has shown his conviction6— as Bhadrṅvudha & ṅḍavi Gotama too— so will you show your conviction, Piṃgiya. You will go beyond the realm of death.â I feel confidence all the more, having heard the words of the sage, his roof opened-up, self-awakened, quick-witted, free from rigidity. Knowing the supreme devas,7 he knows all dhammas, from high to low: the Teacher who puts an end to the questions of those admitting their doubt. To the untaken-in, unshaken,8 whose likeness is nowhere at all: Yes, I will go there. Iâve no doubt about that. Remember me thus as one whose mind is decided. vv. 1124–1149 Notes 1. See SN 22:39–42. 2. According to SnA, the sixteen brahmans, after their questions were answered, requested and received the Going-forth and Acceptance. After that, Piṃgiya, now Ven. Piṃgiya, received permission from the Buddha to return to Bṅvarī to report the results of their trip. 3. Reading nikkṅmo nibbano nṅgo with the Sri Lankan and Burmese versions, a reading confirmed by Nd II. The Thai version has nibbuto, "unbound," instead of nibbano. The PTS version has nṅtho, "protector," instead of nṅgo. According to Nd II, "no forest" here means free from the forests of passion, aversion, delusion, resentment, and all other unskillful mental fabrications. See Dhp 283. 4. See SN 35:82, SN 35:116, and AN 4:45. 5. The phrase, "and gave me no pleasure," appears in the Thai edition but not the others. 6. According to Nd IIA, to show conviction means to attain arahantship through the strength of conviction. The expression also occurs in SN 6:1, where it seems to have a more general meaning. Ven. Vakkaliâs story appears in SN 22:87. At AN 1:147 (1:208) the Buddha cites him as foremost among the monks in being decisive in his conviction. Bhadrṅvudha is apparently the same Bhadrṅvudha in Sn 5:12. ṅḍavi Gotama is mentioned nowhere else in the Canon. 7. In AN 8:71 (AN 8:64 in the PTS reckoning), the Buddha states that he did not claim full awakening until his knowledge of the deva world was complete. 8. See MN 131. See also: SN 55:23 - --> - - - -