Verses of the Senior Monks 3.12

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Uttarapāla

I was, indeed, an astute scholar,

competent to think on the meaning.

The five kinds of sensual stimulation in the world,

so delusory, were my downfall.

Leaping into Māra’s domain,

I was struck by a powerful dart.

But I was able to free myself

from the trap laid by the King of Death.

I have given up all sensual pleasures;

all rebirths are shattered;

transmigration through births is finished;

now there’ll be no more future lives.