Verses on the Recital of the Way to the Beyond

“I will recite the Way to the Beyond,” said venerable Piṅgiya,
“as he saw it, so he explained: unstained, with great intelligence,
the one free from sense desire, the unentangled one, the Strong One, why should he speak falsely?
“Of the one who gave up stain and delusion, who gave up conceit and malevolence,
come now, I will proclaim this lyric which is endowed with beauty:
“The Buddha, the darkness-dispeller, the All-Seeing Visionary,
who has gone to the end of the world, transcended all of existence
given up all suffering, the one pollutant-free,
whose very name is truth—O brahmin, you are worshipped by me.
“Just as a bird who has given up a barren woodland,
might live in a forest which has much fruit,
so too I have given up those of little wisdom,
like a swan who has arrived at the great sea.
“Those who explained things to me in the past, before Gotama’s teaching,
saying ‘it was so, and so it will be’, all that was just hearsay,
all that just increased my thoughts.
“Alone sits the Darkness-Dispeller, the Bright One, the Light-Maker,
Gotama of Great Knowledge, Gotama of Great Intelligence.
“He who taught the Teaching to me, which is visible, not subject to time,
the end of craving, beyond calamity, for which there is nowhere a likeness.”
Bāvari: “Then why do you dwell apart from him, even for a second, Piṅgiya,
from Gotama of Great Knowledge, Gotama of Great Intelligence,
“He who taught the Teaching to you, which is visible, not subject to time,
the end of craving, beyond calamity, for which there is nowhere a likeness?”
“I would not dwell apart from him even for a second, brahmin,
from Gotama of Great Knowledge, Gotama of Great Intelligence,
“He who taught the Teaching to me, which is visible, not subject to time,
the end of craving, beyond calamity, for which there is nowhere a likeness.
“I see him in my mind as though with the eye,
as I dwell heedful night and day, brahmin.
“Revering him I make the night pass by,
for that reason I think there is no real dwelling apart.
“My confidence, happiness, mind, and mindfulness,
do not depart from Gotama’s teaching.
Whatever direction the One of Great Wisdom goes to
it is that very place that I am inclined.
“I am old, without strength and feeble,
because of that my body does not go there,
but by an effort of thought I always go,
for my mind, Brahmin, is joined to him.
“Lying down in a quagmire I was trembling,
I drifted from island to island,
then I saw the Sambuddha, the flood-crosser, the one pollutant-free.”
The Buddha said: “Just as Vakkali released his confidence—
and Bhadrāvudha, and Āḷavi-Gotama—
just like that you must release your confidence,
and you will go, Piṅgiya, beyond the realm of Death.”
“I am more and more sure about this, having heard the sage’s word,
the cover-remover, the Sambuddha, who is unhindered, assured in speech,
“Who knows the great gods, who has understood everything far and near,
the Teacher who makes an end to questions in those who have doubts, and make them known.
The Indestructible, the Unagitated, for which there is nowhere a likeness,
Surely I will go there, about this I have no doubt,
thus bear me in mind as one whose heart is intent on Nibbāna.”

The Discourse on Piṅgiya, the SixteenthThe Way to the Beyond is Finished