Verses of the Senior Monks 12.2

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1. Verses of the Senior Monks 12.2
2. The Book of the Twelves
3. Chapter One
4. Sunīta
5. I was born in a low-class family.
6. We were poor, with little to eat.
7. My job was lowly—
8. I threw out the old flowers.
9. Shunned by people,
10. I was disregarded and held in contempt.
11. I humbled my heart
12. and paid respects to many people.
13. Then I saw the Buddha
14. at the fore of the mendicant Saṅgha;
15. the great hero
16. was entering the capital city of the Magadhans.
17. I dropped my flail
18. and approached to pay homage.
19. Out of sympathy for me,
20. the supreme man stood still.
21. When I had paid homage at the Teacher’s feet,
22. I stood to one side
23. and asked the supreme being
24. for the going-forth.
25. Then the Teacher, being sympathetic,
26. and having sympathy for the whole world,
27. said to me, “Come, monk!”
28. That was my ordination.
29. Staying alone in the wilderness,
30. meditating tirelessly,
31. I have completed what the Teacher taught,
32. just as the victor advised me.
33. In the first watch of the night,
34. I recollected my past lives.
35. In the middle watch,
36. I purified my clairvoyance.
37. In the last watch,
38. I shattered the mass of darkness.
39. At the end of the night,
40. as the sunrise drew near,
41. Indra and the Divinity came
42. and revered me with joined hands.
43. “Homage to you, O thoroughbred!
44. Homage to you, supreme among men!
45. Since your defilements are ended,
46. you, good fellow, are worthy of a religious donation.”
47. When he saw me honored
48. by the assembly of gods,
49. the Teacher smiled
50. and said the following:
51. “By fervor and spiritual practice,
52. by restraint and by self-control:
53. that’s how to become a brahmin,
54. this is the supreme brahmin.”