V : The To-the-Far-Shore Chapter  (Pārāyana Vagga)

Whoever would practice

as the Awakened One taught

concerning each of these questions,

would go from the near shore to the far—

would go from the near shore to the far

developing the path supreme.

The path is for going beyond,

and so it’s called “To the Far Shore.”

Ven. Piṅgiya:2

“I will recite ‘To the Far Shore.’

As he saw, so he taught—

stainless, of deep intelligence,

the Nāga with

no sensuality,

no forest3:

For what reason would he tell a lie?

His delusion & stains

left behind; left behind,

his hypocrisy, conceit:

Let me praise his beautiful words.

He who is truly described

as

dispeller of darkness,

awakened,

All-around Eye,

gone to the end of the cosmos,4

all his becoming transcended,

effluent-free,

his stress all abandoned:

He is served by me.

As a bird leaving a scrubby grove

would dwell in a forest abundant in fruit,

even so, I have left those of next-to-no vision,

have arrived

like a swan at a large lake.

In the past,

before hearing Gotama’s message,

when anyone explained ‘It is,’ ‘It will be,’

all that was hearsay,

quotation marks.

All that promoted conjecture

and gave me no pleasure.5

Sitting alone—

the dispeller of darkness,

shining, bringer of light,

Gotama of deep knowledge,

Gotama of deep intelligence:

He taught me the Dhamma

timeless, visible here-&-now,

the ending of craving,

calamity-free,

whose likeness is nowhere at all.”

Bāvarī:

“Piṅgiya, for even a moment

can you stay apart from him—

Gotama of deep knowledge,

Gotama of deep intelligence,

who taught you the Dhamma

timeless, visible here-&-now,

the ending of craving,

calamity-free,

whose likeness is nowhere at all?”

Ven. Piṅgiya:

“No, brahman, not even for a moment

can I stay apart from him—

Gotama of deep knowledge,

Gotama of deep intelligence,

who taught me the Dhamma

timeless, visible here-&-now,

the ending of craving,

calamity-free,

whose likeness is nowhere at all.

I see him with my heart

as if with my eye—

heedful, brahman, by day & by night.

I spend the night paying homage to him,

and that way, as it were,

not staying apart.

My conviction, rapture,

mindfulness, & heart,

don’t stray from Gotama’s message.

To whatever direction he goes,

the one deeply discerning,

to that direction I bow down.

I am old, my stamina frail,

which is why my body doesn’t run away to there.

But through the machine of my resolves

I constantly go,

for my heart, brahman, is connected to him.

Floundering in the mud,

I swam from island to island,

but then I saw the One Self-Awakened,

crossed over the flood, effluent-free.

‘As Vakkali has shown his conviction6—

as Bhadrāvudha & Āḷavi Gotama too—

so will you show your conviction, Piṅgiya.

You will go beyond the realm of death.’

I feel confidence all the more,

having heard the words of the sage,

his roof opened-up, self-awakened,

quick-witted, free from rigidity.

Knowing the supreme devas,7

he knows all dhammas, from high to low:

the Teacher who puts an end

to the questions

of those admitting

their doubt.

To the untaken-in, unshaken,8

whose likeness is nowhere at all:

Yes, I will go there.

I’ve no doubt about that.

Remember me thus

as one whose mind

is decided.