PSALMS OF THE BRETHREN
Canto I.
Psalms of Single Verses
VIII
Vīra
Translated from the Pali by Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids.
Public Domain
Reborn in this Buddha-age at Sāvatthī, in the family of a minister to King Pāsenadi, he was named Vīra.[1] And when, as befitted his name, he had acquired athletic accomplishments, he became a warrior. Marrying with his parents' consent, a son was born to him. Thereupon, [14] seeing the trouble in the perpetuation of life,[2] he left the world in anguish, and putting forth every effort soon acquired sixfold abhiññā. Now when, as arahant, he was living in the bliss of fruition, his former wife tried to lure him back in various ways. But the venerable Vira said:
'This woman, desiring to seduce me, is like one wishing to shake Mount Sineru[3] with the wing of a gnat.' And he showed her how futile it was by his psalm:
[8] Once hard to tame, by taming now is tamed
Vira, from doubts released, content, serene;
Victor is Vira, free from creeping dread;
His is the goal supreme, and steadfast strength.
The woman, hearing him, was deeply moved, and thought:
'My husband has won to this-what good is domestic life to me ?' And she went forth among the Sisters, and soon acquired the Three-fold Lore.[4]
[1] Heroic, strong. Pāsenadi was King of Kosala, of the same age as the Buddha (Majjh. Nik., ii. 124).
[2] Lit., in Saṇsāra, 'continual going on.' Cf. XCIX.
[3] See Sisters, verse 384. Pronounced Sīne'ru.
[4] Cf. p. 29, n. 1. This triple Acquisition forms three of the six forms of abhiññā, or supernormal thought, p. 32, n. 1.
