Thig 6.7 — Verses of the Elder Guttā

English translation by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu.

Translation

Text

Thig 6:7 Guttā

[The Buddha admonished me:]
Guttā, devote yourself to the goal
for which you went forth,
having discarded [hope]
for a dear son of your own.1
  Don’t fall under the sway
  of the mind.

Hoodwinked by mind,
beings in love with Māra’s realm,
  roam
through the many-birth wandering-on,
      unknowing.

Abandoning these lower fetters, nun—
  sensual desire, ill will,
  self-identity views,
  grasping at habits & practices,
  and uncertainty as the fifth—
  you won’t come
  to this again.

Forsaking passion, conceit,
  ignorance, & restlessness
  —cutting through [all] the fetters—
  you will make an end
of suffering & stress.

Discarding birth & wandering-on,
comprehending further becoming,
  free from hunger
in the right-here-&-now
you will go about
  totally calmed.

Note

1. Reading hitvā puttaṁ visuṁ piyaṁ with the Burmese edition.