SN 9.9 - Vajjiputta Sutta: The Vajjian Princeling
Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn09/sn09.009.than.html
License: CC-BY-NC-4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Copyright: ©1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
License notice: The text of this page ("Vajjiputta Sutta: The Vajjian Princeling", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions.
Attribution: ©1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. The text of this page ("Vajjiputta Sutta: The Vajjian Princeling", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Transcribed from a file provided by the translator. Last revised for Access to Insight on 30 November 2013. How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Vajjiputta Sutta: The Vajjian Princeling" (SN 9.9), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn09/sn09.009.than.html .
Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded.
Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed.

On one occasion a certain monk, a Vajjian princeling, was dwelling near Vesali in a forest thicket. And on that occasion an all-night festival was being held in Vesali. The monk — lamenting as he heard the resounding din of wind music, string music, & gongs coming from Vesali, on that occasion recited this verse:

 I live in the wilderness all alone like a log cast away in the forest. On a night like this, who could there be more miserable than me? 

Then the devata inhabiting the forest thicket, feeling sympathy for the monk, desiring his benefit, desiring to bring him to his senses, approached him and addressed him with this verse:

 As you live in the wilderness all alone like a log cast away in the forest, many are those who envy you, as hell-beings do, those headed for heaven. 

The monk, chastened by the devata, came to his senses.

See also: SN 9.1; SN 9.14.