Vanasaṁyutta 1

Linked Discourses 9.1

1. In the Woods

Seclusion

1 So I have heard. At one time one of the mendicants was staying in the land of the Kosalans in a certain forest grove.

Now at that time that mendicant, during their day’s meditation, was thinking bad, unskillful thoughts to do with the domestic life. The deity haunting that forest had sympathy for that mendicant, and wanted what’s best for them. So they approached that mendicant wanting to stir them up, and addressed them in verse:

2 “You entered the woods desiring seclusion,

yet your mind strays to outward things.

As a person, dispel the desire for people;

then you’ll be happy, free of greed.

3 Give up discontent; be mindful;

let us remind you to be mindful.

The dusty abyss is so hard to cross;

don’t let sensual dust drag you down.

4 Just as a bird strewn with dirt

sheds that clingy dust with a shake;

so too, an energetic, mindful mendicant

sheds that clingy dust with a shake.”

5 Impelled by that deity, that mendicant was struck with a sense of urgency.