Verses of the Senior Monks 12.2

The Book of the Twelves

Chapter One

Sunīta

I was born in a low-class family.

We were poor, with little to eat.

My job was lowly—

I threw out the old flowers.

Shunned by people,

I was disregarded and held in contempt.

I humbled my heart

and paid respects to many people.

Then I saw the Buddha

at the fore of the mendicant Saṅgha;

the great hero

was entering the capital city of the Magadhans.

I dropped my flail

and approached to pay homage.

Out of sympathy for me,

the supreme man stood still.

When I had paid homage at the Teacher’s feet,

I stood to one side

and asked the supreme being

for the going-forth.

Then the Teacher, being sympathetic,

and having sympathy for the whole world,

said to me, “Come, monk!”

That was my ordination.

Staying alone in the wilderness,

meditating tirelessly,

I have completed what the Teacher taught,

just as the victor advised me.

In the first watch of the night,

I recollected my past lives.

In the middle watch,

I purified my clairvoyance.

In the last watch,

I shattered the mass of darkness.

At the end of the night,

as the sunrise drew near,

Indra and the Divinity came

and revered me with joined hands.

“Homage to you, O thoroughbred!

Homage to you, supreme among men!

Since your defilements are ended,

you, good fellow, are worthy of a religious donation.”

When he saw me honored

by the assembly of gods,

the Teacher smiled

and said the following:

“By fervor and spiritual practice,

by restraint and by self-control:

that’s how to become a brahmin,

this is the supreme brahmin.”