[Verse 1]
When gain arrives, do not be bound,
When loss appears, stay on the ground.
Praise and blame may rise and fall,
Wisdom sees beyond them all.
[Verse 2]
Let loving-kindness fill the heart,
Let anger fade and fall apart.
Be a friend to every living thing,
Let compassion be the song you sing.
[Chorus]
Like water resting on the lotus leaf,
Let go of craving, let go of grief.
Fame and fortune come and go,
Praise and blame will rise and flow.
Stand like a mountain, calm and strong,
Let wisdom guide your heart along.
Through every change the world may bring,
Let peace within remain your king.
[Verse 3]
Wisdom deep as the ocean wide,
Needs no pride and has no side.
Better truth without a name
Than empty praise and borrowed fame.
[Bridge]
Do not cling to pleasure,
Do not fear the pain.
What rises will pass,
Nothing will remain.
Let desire and anger cease,
Walk the quiet road to peace.
[Final Chorus]
Like water resting on the lotus leaf,
Free from craving, free from grief.
When worldly winds begin to blow,
The steady heart will never bow.
With loving-kindness, wisdom bright,
Walk from darkness into light.
Let go, awaken, and be free—
This is the path to peace within.
The Cuddasaka Nipāta: Revata and Godatta on Loving-Kindness, Wisdom, and Freedom from Worldly Winds
The Theragāthā, Pali Canon Volume 26, Sutta Piṭaka Volume 18, Khuddaka Nikāya
The Cuddasaka Nipāta of the Theragāthā contains the verses of two elders, Venerable Revata and Venerable Godatta, fourteen verses each, making twenty-eight verses in total. Their teachings emphasize loving-kindness, non-harming, mindfulness, wisdom, freedom from attachment, and the ability to remain steady amid the changing conditions of worldly life.
Venerable Revata: The Power of Loving-Kindness
Venerable Revata describes his life after ordination as one in which he did not entertain harmful thoughts toward other beings. Instead, he cultivated boundless loving-kindness, becoming a friend and benefactor to all living beings and rejoicing in non-harming.
The commentary identifies him as Khadiravaniya Revata and explains that these verses describe his practice from the time of his ordination through his final liberation. After attaining arahantship, he returned to the forest and dwelled in the happiness of meditative attainments and the divine abidings.
His teaching presents loving-kindness not as weakness, but as a powerful form of mental strength. A mind free from hatred does not need to retaliate even when circumstances are difficult or others misunderstand it.
A Mind Steady Like a Mountain
Revata compares the mind free from delusion to a solid mountain that does not tremble. He also compares self-protection through mindfulness to a fortified frontier city guarded both inside and outside. He urges practitioners to protect themselves in the same way and not allow precious moments to pass without purpose.
This teaching remains highly relevant today. We cannot control everything that happens around us, but we can train the mind to understand thoughts, emotions, and impulses without being controlled by them.
Neither Clinging to Life nor Seeking Death
Revata also presents a profound attitude toward death. He says that he does not rejoice in death and does not delight in continued existence. Instead, he waits mindfully for the appropriate time, like a worker waiting for the end of a working day.
The commentary explains this in the context of one who has completed the task of the spiritual path, laid down the burden, removed craving leading to renewed existence, and brought the fetters to an end.
This is not a teaching encouraging death. Rather, it describes freedom from attachment to both life and death—the mind of one who remains mindful and undisturbed by what cannot ultimately be avoided.
Venerable Godatta: From Merchant to Liberated Sage
The commentary tells a striking story about Venerable Godatta. Before becoming a monk, he was a merchant who traveled with a large caravan of carts carrying goods. One day, an incident involving an ox pulling a cart caused him to reflect deeply on the consequences of harming living beings. He became disenchanted with such a life, abandoned his wealth, ordained, practiced insight meditation, and eventually attained arahantship.
The story demonstrates how an ordinary event can become a turning point when examined with wisdom. A person who truly reflects can transform a moment of experience into a doorway to liberation.
Wisdom Like an Ocean
Godatta compares a person rich in wisdom to an ocean full of water. Such a person does not look down upon others. True wisdom, therefore, does not produce arrogance; it produces humility and understanding.
This principle challenges a common worldly measure of success. Wealth, status, recognition, and popularity may change from one day to another, while wisdom has a deeper value because it transforms the way the mind relates to the world.
Freedom from the Eight Worldly Conditions
Godatta teaches about the eight worldly conditions: gain and loss, fame and disrepute, praise and blame, pleasure and pain.
The untrained mind rises when it receives what it wants and falls when it encounters what it dislikes. The wise mind, however, is not controlled by these changing conditions.
One of the most memorable images is that of a drop of water on a lotus leaf. The water rests on the leaf without becoming attached to it. In the same way, the liberated mind does not cling to gain, loss, fame, blame, praise, pleasure, or pain.
Righteousness Is Greater Than Unrighteous Gain
Godatta also challenges conventional ideas of success. Losing wealth through righteous conduct is better than gaining wealth through unrighteous means. A knowledgeable person without status is better than an ignorant person with status, and criticism from the wise may be more valuable than praise from fools.
The message is clear: ethical integrity and wisdom are more important than reputation, possessions, or social approval.
The Goal: Supreme Peace
At the conclusion of the verses, Godatta describes those who have abandoned sensual desire and anger, whose minds are peaceful, who are no longer attached to the world, and who have overcome attraction and aversion. They cultivate the seven factors of awakening, the five spiritual faculties, and the five powers, reaching supreme peace and liberation.
Taken together, the teachings of Revata and Godatta present a coherent path:
Loving-kindness removes hostility. Wisdom removes delusion. Mindfulness prevents heedlessness. And letting go frees the mind from dependence on worldly conditions.
Key Teachings of the Cuddasaka Nipāta
Loving-kindness — cultivate goodwill and avoid harming living beings.
Mindfulness and clear comprehension — remain aware and do not waste precious moments.
Heedfulness — protect the mind as carefully as a fortified city.
Wisdom — do not measure human worth by wealth, status, or praise.
Equanimity toward worldly conditions — do not rise and fall with gain and loss.
Abandoning sensual desire and anger — cultivate a peaceful and liberated mind.
The cultivation of the path — develop the factors of awakening, spiritual faculties, and powers toward supreme peace.
The Cuddasaka Nipāta therefore offers a timeless message: we may not control whether life brings gain or loss, praise or blame, pleasure or pain—but we can train the mind not to become a slave to them.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น