The Renga on BuddhaDust
and
Other Verses of Appreciation
Those verses enclosed in boxes are from the Suttas and not in the Tanka style. We'll make this page a collection-place for versus in praise of Gotama the Awake and his Dhamma.
There has appeared in Magadha before thee
An unclean dhamma by impure minds devised.
Open this door of deathlessness, let them hear
Dhamma awakened to by the stainless one
As on a crag on crest of mountain standing
A man might watch the people far below,
E'en so do thou, O Wisdom fair, ascending,
O Seer of all, the terraced heights of truth,
Look down, from grief released, upon the peoples
Sunken in grief, oppressed with birth and age.
Arise, thou hero! Conqueror in the battle!
Thou freed from debt! Man of the caravan!
Walk the world over, let the Blessed One
Teach Dhamma. They who learn will grow."
— Brahmā Sahampati shortly after the Buddha's awakening, VP.02_mv.1-6: Horner, trans.
Tanka
The poem "BuddhaDust" that gave inspiration to the original name of this website is in the form of the antecedent to the Haiku called a "Tanka". The Tanka is constructed using five lines with 5,7,5,7, and 7 syllables respectively. The Tanka was originally conceived as a way to praise the Awakened and at one point it took the form of a dialog between poets who linked responses in a form called the Renga. You Awakeners out there inspired to praise Gotama are invited to revive this tradition. This thread on the Forum has now [Monday, February 11, 2013 4:19 AM] become this site's Renga.
Buddha Dust
Bits and scraps, crumbs, fine
Particles that drift down to
Walkers of The Walk.
Then: Thanks for that, Far-Seer!
Great 'Getter-of-the-Get'n!
— Obo
So he sits apart
Nobody's nothing nowhere
In all the three times
No time no place no it at
Unseen trackless he is free
— Andrew Taylor
Padumaɱ yathā kokanadaɱ sugandhaɱ||
Pāto siyā phullam avītagandhaɱ,||
Aṇgīrasaɱ passa virocamānaɱ||
Tapannam ādiccam iv'antalikkhe ti.|| ||
— SN 1.3.12 — Chandanangalika: Little Plough of the Moon
Like the red lotus, sweet-scented, full-blown,
At dawn of day, unspent its perfume's treasure,
Behold him! th'Angīrasa shedding radiance
As shines the sun filling all heaven with glory.
— Mrs. Rhys Davids, trans.
Ito bahiddhā pāsaṇñā diṭṭhīsu pasīdanti ye,||
Na tesaɱ dhammaɱ rocemi na te Dhammassa kovidā.|| ||
Atthi Sakyakule jāto Buddho appaṭipuggalo,||
Sabbābhibhū māranudo sabbattham aparājito,||
Sabbattha mutto asito sabbaɱ passati cakkhumā.|| ||
Sabbakammakkhayaɱ patto vimutto upadisaṇkhaye,||
So mayhaɱ Bhagavā satthā tassa rocemi sāsanan ti.|| ||
— SN 1.5.8 — Sister Sīsupacālā
Lo! in the princely Sākya clan is born
A Buddha peerless 'mong the sons of men,
Who all hath overcome, before whose face
Māra doth flee away, who everywhere
Unconquered stands, he that is wholly freed
And fetterless, the Seer who seeth all,
For whom all karma is destroyed, who in
The perishing of every germ that birth
Once more engenders, is at liberty!
This is the Exalted One, my Master he,
And his the system whereof I approve.
— Mrs. Rhys Davids, trans.
Sabbaɱ lokaɱ abhiññāya sabbaloke yathā tathaɱ,||
Sabbaloka-visaɱyutto sabbaloke anūpayo.|| ||
Sa ve sabbābhibhū dhīro sabbagantha-pamocano,||
Phuṭṭhassa paramā santi nibbānaɱ akutobhayaɱ.|| ||
"Esa khīṇāsavo Buddho anīgho chinnasaɱsayo,||
Sabbakammakkhayaɱ patto vimutto upadhisaṇkhaye.|| ||
Esa so Bhagavā Buddho esa sīho anuttaro,||
Sadevakassa lokassa brahmacakkaɱ pavattayī."|| ||
Iti deva-manussā ca ye Buddhaɱ saraṇaɱ gatā,||
Saṇgamma taɱ namassanti mahantaɱ vītasāradaɱ.|| ||
"Danto damayataɱ seṭṭho santo samayataɱ isī,||
Mutto mocayataɱ aggo tiṇṇo tārayataɱ varo"|| ||
Iti h'etaɱ namassanti mahantaɱ vītasāradaɱ,||
Sadevakasmiɱ lokasmiɱ n'atthi te paṭipuggalo ti.|| ||
— AN 4.23 — Unknown.
By comprehending all the world
In all the world just as it is,
From all the world is he released,
In all the world he clings to naught.
He is the all-victorious sage:
'Tis he who loosens every bond:
By him is reached the perfect peace
(Nibbāna) that is void of fear.
The Enlightened One, the passion-free,
Sinless, who hath cut off all doubts,
Hath reached the end of every deed,
Freed by removal of the base.
Exalted One, Enlightened he,
The lion he without compare.
For the deva-world and world of men
He caused the Brahma-wheel to roll.
Wherefore the devas and mankind
Who went for refuge to the Seer
Meeting shall pay him homage due,
The mighty one, of wisdom ripe.
"Tamed, of the tamed is he the chief:
Calmed, of the calm is he the sage:
Freed, of the freed topmost is he:
Crossed o'er, of them that crossed the best":
So saying shall they honour him
The mighty one, of wisdom ripe, -
"In the world of devas and mankind
None is there who can equal thee."'
— F.L. Woodward, trans.
Is there a man who careless, heedless dwells,
Craving in him will like a creeper grow.
He hurries hankering from birth to birth,
In quest of fruit like ape in forest tree.
Whom she doth overcome, - the shameful jade,
Craving, the poisoner of all mankind, -
Grow for him griefs as rank as jungle-grass.
But he who doth her down, - the shameful jade,
Hard to outwit, - from him griefs fall away
As from the lotus glides the drop of dew.
This word to you, as many as are here
Together come: May all success be yours!
Dig up the root of craving, as ye were
Bent on the quest of sweet usira root.
Let it not be with you that, ye the reed,
Māra the stream, he break you o'er and o'er!
Bring ye the Buddha-Word to pass; let not
This moment of the ages pass you by!
That moment lost, men mourn in misery.
As dust [mixed and defiled], is carelessness;
And dust-defilement comes through carelessness.
By earnestness and by the Lore ye hear,
Let each man from his heart draw out the spear.
—THAG 214, Mrs. Rhys Davids' translation.
The verses of Mālunkyā's Son after he has attained Arahantship.
