PSALMS OF THE BRETHREN

Canto I.
Psalms of Single Verses

CXI
Jenta

Translated from the Pali by Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids.

Public Domain

[Pali][than][olds]

 

He was reborn in this Buddha-age in the kingdom of Magadha at the village of Jenta, as the son of the raja of a district.^[1] While still young, his mind, impelled by maturity of conditions, inclined to leaving the world, and he turned the matter over and wondered what he should do. So doubting he heard the Master preach. From that day he became devoted to the religious life, and entered the Order. Happily working and with swift insight, he realized arahantship; then reflecting on his attainment and how he had been perplexed, he joyously uttered this verse:

[111] Hard is the life without the world, and hard
In sooth to bear house life. Deep is the Norm;
Hard too is wealth to win. Thus difficult
The choice of one or other how to live.
Behoves me bear unceasingly in mind
[And see in everything] Impermanence.

 

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^[1] Maṇḍalikarājassa. Cf. p. 83, n. 5.