From familiarity fear is born,
from household life arises dust;
no household, no familiar life—
such is the vision for the sage.Who, cutting down what has grown up,
plants not again, supplies no means for growth,
they call that Sage who fares alone;
great-seeker-seen-the-place-of-peace.Who has surveyed the grounds and lost the seeds,
and supplied no means for further growth,
is Sage seen to the end of birth and death,
logic abandoned and beyond reckoning.Truly have been known all resting-places
with no desires at all for any there—
that sage indeed, free from crowing, greed,
struggles not, gone to the further shore.Who is intelligent, knowing All, All overcome
among all the dharmas, one who cannot be sullied,
who All has abandoned, freed by craving’s end—
that one do the wise proclaim as a sage.In wisdom strong, in virtuous conduct established,
in concentration and enjoying jhāna,
free from all ties, aridity and the inflows—
that one do the wise proclaim as a sage.The vigilant sage who practises alone,
who unshaken is by blame or praise,
is as a lion that trembles not at sounds,
or as wind within a net cannot be caught,
or like a lotus flower by water not defiled,
leading other people but not by others led—
that one do the wise proclaim as a sage.Who though oppressed, is unmoving as a pile-post,
when others about oneself use speech extreme;
that one free from lust, sense-faculties restrained—
that one do the wise proclaim as a sage.Who is straight-minded as shuttle straightly moves,
and who conduct examines both the rough and the smooth,
and so who turns away from evil karma-making—
that one do the wise proclaim as a sage.Who with a mind restrained, evil does not do,
whether young, middle-aged or sage self-controlled,
who cannot be provoked nor others does provoke—
that one do the wise proclaim as a sage.Who lives upon almsfood by others donated,
receiving the first, the middle, or remainders at the end,
who then sings not owned praises, or hurtfully speak—
that one do the wise proclaim as a sage.The sage not practising indulgence in sex,
who even when youthful was not tied to anyone,
not indulgence in madness of wanton ways but free—
that one do the wise proclaim as a sage.True Knower of the universe, Seer of highest truth,
crossed the ocean’s flood, One Thus and unattached,
One who’s knots are cut, with no inflows left—
that one do the wise proclaim as a sage.The householder with wife, and the “not-mine-maker”
of strict practices—their living-ways not the same:
house-livers not restrained from taking others’ lives,
but the sage always guards other beings’ lives.In flight the crested peacock, turquoise-necked,
never the swiftness of the swan attains,
so a house-liver cannot match a bhikkhu,
a sage meditating in the woods.
snp.1.12 Suttanipata
The Sage Inwardly Silent
- Translator: Laurence Khantipalo Mills
The Sage
Peril stems from intimacy,dust comes from a home.
Freedom from home and intimacy:
that is the sage’s vision.
Having cut down what’s grown, they wouldn’t replant,
nor would they nurture what’s growing.
That’s who they call a sage wandering alone,
the great hermit has seen the state of peace.
Having assessed the fields and measured the seeds,
they wouldn’t nurture them with moisture.
Truly that sage who sees the ending of rebirth
has left logic behind and is beyond reckoning.
Understanding all the planes of rebirth,
not wanting a single one of them,
Truly that sage freed of greed
need not strive, for they have reached the far shore.
The champion, all-knower, so very intelligent,
unsullied in the midst of all things,
has given up all, freed in the ending of craving:
that’s who the wise know as a sage.
Strong in wisdom, with precepts and observances intact,
serene, loving absorption, mindful,
released from chains, kind, undefiled:
that’s who the wise know as a sage.
The diligent sage wandering alone,
is unaffected by blame and praise—
like a lion not startled by sounds,
like wind not caught in a net,
like water not sticking to a lotus.
Leader of others, not by others led:
that’s who the wise know as a sage.
Steady as a post in a bathing-place
when others speak endlessly against them,
freed of greed, with senses stilled:
that’s who the wise know as a sage.
Steadfast, straight as a shuttle,
horrified by wicked deeds,
discerning the just and the unjust:
that’s who the wise know as a sage.
Restrained, they do no evil,
young or middle-aged, the sage is self-controlled.
Irreproachable, he does not insult anyone:
that’s who the wise know as a sage.
When one who lives on charity receives alms,
from the top, the middle, or the leftovers,
they think it unworthy to praise or put down:
that’s who the wise know as a sage.
The sage lives refraining from sex,
even when young is not tied down,
refraining from indulgence and negligence, freed:
that’s who the wise know as a sage.
Understanding the world, the seer of the ultimate goal,
the poised one who has crossed the flood and the ocean,
has cut the ties, unattached and undefiled:
that’s who the wise know as a sage.
The two are not the same, far apart in lifestyle and conduct—
the householder providing for a wife, and the selfless one true to their vows.
The unrestrained householder kills other creatures,
while the restrained sage always protects living creatures.
As the crested blue-necked peacock flying through the sky
never approaches the speed of the swan,
so the householder cannot compete with the mendicant,
the sage meditating secluded in the woods.