PSALMS OF THE BRETHREN
Canto II.
Psalms of Two Verses
CXXXI
Cunda the Great
Translated from the Pali by Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids.
Public Domain
[Pali]
Reborn in this Buddha-age in the kingdom of Magadha, at Naḷaka village, as the son of the brahminee Rūpasari, [119] and younger brother of Sāriputta,[1] he followed the latter into the Order, and after arduous, strenuous effort won arahantship. And glorying in his attainment and in solitude of life, he uttered this psalm:
[141] The will to learn maketh of learning growth;
Learning[2] makes insight grow, and by insight
We know the Good; known Good brings bliss along.
[142] Seek ye the lonely haunts remote from men.[3]
Practise the life of liberty from Bonds.
If there ye come not by your heart's desire,
Dwell with the Brethren, mindful and controlled.
[1] Cf. Saṃy., iv. 251; v. 161; Psalms, I., p. 96. With his brother he visits Channa (Majjh., iii. 263; Saṃy., iv. 55). He was one of the nine or ten chief Theras. Three discourses are ascribed to him in the Aṇguttara Nikāya, addressed to the bhikkhus, and preaching modesty and mutual tolerance, especially between the erudite and the more mystically inclined (iii. 355).
[2] Lit., hearing, significant of an era of oral instruction and mnemonic recording.
[3] The Master's own advice to him (Majjh., i. 46).
