Dhammapada Verse 302
Vajjiputtakabhikkhu Vatthu
Duppabbajjam durabhiramam
duravasa ghara dukha
dukkho' samanasamvaso
dukkhanupatitaddhagu
tasma na caddhagu siya
na ca dukkhanupatito siya.
Verse 302: It is hard to become a bhikkhu; it is hard to be happy in the
practice of a bhikkhu. The hard life of a householder is painful; to live with
those of a different temperament is painful. A traveller in samsara is
continually subject to dukkha; therefore, do not be a traveller in samsara; do
not be the one to be subject to dukkha again and again.
The Story of the Bhikkhu from the Country of the Vajjis
While residing at the Veluvana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (302) of
this book, with reference to a bhikkhu from Vesali, a city in the country of the
Vajjis.
On the night of the full moon day of Kattika, the people of Vesali celebrated
the festival of the constellations (Nakkhatta) on a grand scale. The whole city
was lit up, and there was much merry-making with singing, dancing, etc. As he
looked towards the city, standing alone in the monastery, the bhikkhu felt
lonely and dissatisfied with his lot. Softly, he murmured to himself,
"There can be no one whose lot is worse than mine". At that instant,
the spirit guarding the woods appeared to him, and said, "those beings in
niraya envy the lot of the beings in the deva world; so also, people envy the
lot of those who live alone in the woods." Hearing those words, the bhikkhu
realized the truth of those words and he regretted that he had thought so little
of the lot of a bhikkhu.
Early in the morning the next day, the bhikkhu went to the Buddha and
reported the matter to him. In reply, the Buddha told him about the hardships in
the life of all beings.
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
| Verse 302: It is hard to become a bhikkhu; it is hard
to be happy in the practice of a bhikkhu. The hard life of a
householder is painful; to live with those of a different temperament
is painful. A traveller in samsara is continually subject to dukkha;
therefore, do not be a traveller in samsara; do not be the one to be
subject to dukkha again and again.
|
At the end of the discourse the bhikkhu attained arahatship.