Thig 13.2 - Thig 13:2 Rohiṇī
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Thig/thig13_2.html
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Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017
License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Publisher references (not part of the sutta): See also: SN 7:17; Sn 1:4
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.

Thig 13:2 Rohiṇī

Rohiṇī’s father:
You go to sleep saying,
    “Contemplatives.”
You wake up,
    “Contemplatives.”
You praise only
    contemplatives.
No doubt you will be
    a contemplative.

Abundant food & drink
you give to contemplatives.
Now, Rohiṇī, I ask you:
    Why do you hold
    contemplatives dear?

They don’t like to work,
they’re lazy,
living off what’s given by others,
full of hankerings,
wanting delicious things:
    Why do you hold
    contemplatives dear?

Rohiṇī:
For a long time, father,
you’ve quizzed me
about contemplatives.
I’ll praise to you
their
    discernment,
    virtue,
    endeavor.

They do like to work,
they’re not lazy.
They do the best work:
They abandon
passion & anger.
    That’s why I hold
    contemplatives dear.

They rid themselves
of the three evil roots,1
doing pure actions.
All their evil’s
abandoned.
    That’s why I hold
    contemplatives dear.

Clean their bodily action,
so is their verbal action.
Clean their mental action:
    That’s why I hold
    contemplatives dear.

Spotless, like mother of pearl,
pure within & without,
perfect in clear qualities:
    That’s why I hold
    contemplatives dear.

Learned, maintaining the Dhamma,
noble, living the Dhamma,
they teach the goal
& the Dhamma:
    That’s why I hold
    contemplatives dear.

Learned, maintaining the Dhamma,
noble, living the Dhamma,
with unified minds
& mindful:
    That’s why I hold
    contemplatives dear.

Traveling far, mindful,
giving counsel unruffled,
they discern the end
of suffering:
    That’s why I hold
    contemplatives dear.

When they leave any village
they don’t turn to look back
at anything.
How free from concern
they go!
    That’s why I hold
    contemplatives dear.

They don’t store in a granary,
pot,
or basket.
They hunt [only]
for what’s already cooked:
    That’s why I hold
    contemplatives dear.

They take neither silver,
nor gold,
nor money.
They live off whatever is present:
    That’s why I hold
    contemplatives dear.

Having gone forth
from different families
& from different countries,
still they hold
one another dear:
    That’s why I hold
    contemplatives dear.

Rohiṇī’s father:
Rohiṇī, truly for our benefit
were you born in our family.
You have conviction
in the Buddha & Dhamma,
and strong respect
for the Saṅgha.

You truly discern
this field of merit
unexcelled.
These contemplatives will receive
our offering, too,
for here we’ll set up
our abundant sacrifice.

Rohiṇī:
If you’re afraid of pain,
if you dislike pain,
go to the Buddha for refuge,
go to the Dhamma & Saṅgha.
Take on the precepts:
    That will lead
    to your benefit.

Rohiṇī’s father:
I go to the Buddha for refuge;
I go to the Dhamma & Saṅgha.
I take on the precepts:
    That will lead
    to my benefit.

* * *
Before, I was a kinsman to Brahmā;
now, truly a brahman.
I’m a three-knowledge man & safe,
consummate in knowledge,
    washed clean.

Note

1. The three unskillful roots are greed, aversion, and delusion. See DN 2, MN 9, and AN 3:66.