The Discourse about Upasena (UD4.9)

Thus I heard: At one time the Gracious One was dwelling near Rājagaha, in Bamboo Wood, at the Squirrels’ Feeding Place. Then when venerable Upasena Vaṅgantaputta had gone into hiding, into seclusion, this reflection arose in his mind:

“There are certainly gains for me, it is certainly a good gain for me, that my teacher is the Gracious One, the Worthy One, the Perfect Sambuddha, and that I have gone forth from the home to homelessness in such a well explained Dhamma and Discipline, and that my companions in the spiritual life are virtuous, of good character, and that I have fulfilled the virtuous precepts, and that I am composed, and that my mind is one pointed, and that I am a Worthy One, pollutant-free, and that I am of great power, of great majesty. My life has been fortunate, and my death will be fortunate.”

Then the Gracious One, knowing with his mind the reflection in venerable Upasena Vaṅgantaputta’s mind, on that occasion uttered this exalted utterance:

“He whom life does not torment, who does not grieve at the end in death,
If that firm one is one who has seen the state of peace, in the midst of grief he does not grieve.

“For the monk who has cut off the craving for continuity, whose mind is at peace,
Having totally destroyed the round of births, for him there is no continuation in existence.”

Translated by Bhikkhu Ānandajoti from the Buddha Jayanthi Tripitaka text. Version 2.2, revised February 2008.

The text and translation, together with detailed notes and discussions, may be found in multiple formats on the translator’s website, Ancient Buddhist Texts.

Used by kind permission of Bhikkhu Ānandajoti.

The original translation was released under the following licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.