Mātaṅgaputta (THAG3.5)

Verses of the Senior Monks 3.5

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Mātaṅgaputta

“It’s too cold, too hot,

too late,” they say.

When the young neglect their work like this,

opportunities pass them by.

But one who considers heat and cold

as no more than blades of grass—

he does his duties as a man,

and his happiness never fails.

With my chest I’ll thrust aside

the grasses, vines, canes,

the vetiver, rushes and reeds,

and foster seclusion.