The Book of the Twos

Chapter One

Uttara (1st)

thag2.1:1 No life is permanent, and no conditions last forever. The aggregates arise and pass away, again and again.

thag2.1:2 Knowing this danger, I have no craving for worldly life. I’ve escaped all sensual pleasures, and attained the ending of defilements. That is how these verses were recited by the senior venerable Uttara.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter One

Bhāradvāja the Alms-Gatherer

thag2.2:1 You can’t live by fasting, but food doesn’t lead to peace of heart. Seeing how this bag of bones is sustained by food, I wander, seeking.

thag2.2:2 They know it’s just a swamp, this homage and veneration in respectable families. Honor is a subtle dart, hard to extract, and hard for a reprobate to give up. That is how these verses were recited by the senior venerable Bhāradvāja the Alms-Gatherer.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter One

Valliya (2nd)

thag2.3:1 A monkey went up to the little hut with five doors. He circles around, knocking on each door, again and again.

thag2.3:2 Stand still monkey, don’t run! Things are different now; you’ve been caught by wisdom— you won’t go far.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter One

Gaṅgātīriya

thag2.4:1 My hut on the bank of the Ganges is made from three palm leaves. My alms-bowl is a funeral pot, my robe is cast-off rags.

thag2.4:2 In my first two rainy seasons I spoke only one word. In my third rainy season the mass of darkness was shattered.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter One

Ajina

thag2.5:1 Even a master of the three knowledges, undefiled, conqueror of death, is looked down upon for being unknown by ignorant fools.

thag2.5:2 But any individual here who gets food and drink is honored by them, even if they are of bad character.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter One

Meḷajina

thag2.6:1 When I heard the Teacher speaking Dhamma, I wasn’t aware of any doubt in the all-knowing, unconquered one,

thag2.6:2 the caravan leader, the great hero, the most excellent of charioteers. I have no doubt in the path or practice.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter One

Rādha

thag2.7:1 Just as rain seeps into a poorly roofed house, lust seeps into an undeveloped mind.

thag2.7:2 Just as rain doesn’t seep into a well roofed house, lust doesn’t seep into a well-developed mind.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter One

Surādha

thag2.8:1 The cycle of worldly craving is ended for me; the victor’s instruction is fulfilled; what they call a “net” is given up; the leash to existence is eradicated.

thag2.8:2 I’ve attained the goal for the sake of which I went forth from the lay life to homelessness— the ending of all fetters.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter One

Gotama (1st)

thag2.9:1 Sages sleep at ease when they’re not bound to women. For the truth is hard to find among them and one must always be guarded.

thag2.9:2 Sensual pleasure, you’ve been slain! We’re not in your debt any more. Now we go to extinguishment, where there is no sorrow.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter One

Vasabha

thag2.10:1 First one kills oneself, then one kills others. One kills oneself, really dead, like one who kills birds using a dead bird as a decoy.

thag2.10:2 A brahmin’s color is not on the outside; a brahmin is colored on the inside. Whoever harbors bad deeds is truly a dark one, Sujampati.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Two

Mahācunda

thag2.11:1 It’s from eagerness to learn that learning grows; when you’re learned, wisdom grows; by wisdom, you know the goal; knowing the goal brings happiness.

thag2.11:2 You should frequent remote lodgings and practice to be released from fetters. If you don’t find enjoyment there, live in the Saṅgha, self-protected and mindful.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Two

Jotidāsa

thag2.12:1 People who act harshly— attacking people, binding them with rope, hurting them in all kinds of ways— they’re treated in the same way; their deeds don’t vanish.

thag2.12:2 Whatever deeds a person does, whether good or bad, they are the heir to each and every deed they do.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Two

Heraññakāni

thag2.13:1 The days and nights rush by, and then life is cut short. The life of mortals wastes away, like the water in tiny streams.

thag2.13:2 But while doing bad deeds the fool doesn’t realize— it’ll be bitter later on; for the result will be bad for them.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Two

Somamitta

thag2.14:1 If you’re lost in the middle of a great sea, and you clamber up on a little log, you’ll sink. So too, a person who lives well sinks by relying on a lazy person. Hence you should avoid such a lazy person who lacks energy.

thag2.14:2 Dwell with the noble ones who are secluded and determined and always energetic; the astute who practice absorption.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Two

Sabbamitta

thag2.15:1 People are attached to people; people depend on people; people are hurt by people; and people hurt people.

thag2.15:2 So what’s the point of people, or those born of people? Go, abandon these people, who’ve hurt so many people.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Two

Mahākāḷa

thag2.16:1 There’s a big black woman who looks like a crow. She broke off thigh-bones, first one then another; she broke off arm-bones, first one then another; she broke off a skull like a curd-bowl, and then arranged them and sat nearby.

thag2.16:2 When an ignorant person builds up attachments, that dullard returns to suffering again and again. So let one who understands <j>not build up attachments: may I never again lie with a broken skull!

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Two

Tissa (3rd)

thag2.17:1 A shaven one wrapped in the outer robe gets many enemies when they receive food and drink, clothes and bedding.

thag2.17:2 Knowing this danger, this great fear in honors, a mendicant should wander mindful, with few possessions, not festering.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Two

Kimbila (2nd)

thag2.18:1 In the Park of the East-Raftered Hall the Sakyan friends, having given up great wealth, are happy with the scraps in their bowls.

thag2.18:2 Energetic, resolute, always staunchly vigorous; having given up mundane delights, they enjoy the delights of the Dhamma.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Two

Nanda

thag2.19:1 Because of focusing on the wrong things, I was addicted to ornamentation. I was vain, fickle, racked by desire for pleasures of the senses.

thag2.19:2 But with the help of the Buddha, the Kinsman of the Sun, so skilled in means, I practiced rationally and extracted attachment to continued existence from my mind.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Two

Sirima

thag2.20:1 If others praise one who has no immersion, they praise in vain, as one has no immersion.

thag2.20:2 If others criticize one who does have immersion, they criticize in vain, as one does have immersion.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Three

Uttara (2nd)

thag2.21:1 I’ve fully understood the aggregates; I’ve eradicated craving; I’ve developed the factors of awakening, I’ve attained the ending of defilements.

thag2.21:2 Having fully understood the aggregates, having plucked out the weaver of the web, having developed the factors of awakening, being undefiled, I will be fully extinguished.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Three

Bhaddaji

thag2.22:1 There was a king named Panāda who had a sacrificial post all golden. Its height was sixteen times its width, and the top was a thousandfold.

thag2.22:2 It had a thousand panels and a hundred ball-caps, all adorned with banners, and made of sun gold. There danced the centaurs, numbering seven times six thousand.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Three

Sobhita

thag2.23:1 As a monk, mindful and wise, empowered and full of energy, I reflected on ages gone by in a single night.

thag2.23:2 Developing the four mindfulness meditations, the seven factors of awakening, <j>and the eightfold path, I reflected on ages gone by in a single night.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Three

Valliya (3rd)

thag2.24:1 The duty of one whose energy is strong; the duty of one who longs to wake up: that I’ll do, I won’t fail— see my energy and vigor!

thag2.24:2 Teach me the path, the direct route whose objective is freedom from death. I’ll know it with wisdom, as the Ganges knows the ocean.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Three

Vītasoka

thag2.25:1 The barber approached to shave my head. I picked up a mirror and examined my body.

thag2.25:2 My body appeared hollow; I once was blind, but the darkness disappeared. My fancy hairdo has been cut off: now I await only my return to God.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Three

Puṇṇamāsa (2nd)

thag2.26:1 I gave up the five hindrances for the sake of sanctuary from the yoke. I took Dhamma as a mirror for knowing and seeing myself.

thag2.26:2 I examined this body, all of it, inside and out. Internally and externally my body appeared hollow.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Three

Nandaka (1st)

thag2.27:1 Though a fine thoroughbred may stumble, it soon stands firm again. It gains even more urgency, and draws its load undeterred.

thag2.27:2 Even so is one accomplished in vision, a disciple of the Buddha. Remember me as a thoroughbred, the Buddha’s bosom son.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Three

Bharata

thag2.28:1 Come, Nandaka, let’s go to visit our preceptor. We’ll roar our lion’s roar before the best of Buddhas.

thag2.28:2 The sage gave us the going forth out of compassion, so we could realize the ending of all fetters— now we have reached that goal.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Three

Bhāradvāja

thag2.29:1 This is how the wise roar: like lions in mountain caves, heroes, triumphant in battle, having vanquished Satan with his legions.

thag2.29:2 I’ve served the Teacher; I’ve honored the Dhamma and the Saṅgha; I’m happy and joyful, because I’ve seen my son free of defilements.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Three

Kaṇhadinna

thag2.30:1 I regularly sat close by true persons and learnt the teaching. What I learned, I practiced, the direct route whose objective is freedom from death.

thag2.30:2 I’ve slain the desire for continued existence, it won’t be found in me again. It was not, and it won’t be in me, and it isn’t found in me now.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Four

Migasira

thag2.31:1 When I had gone forth in the teaching of the Buddha, while letting go, I rose up; escaping the sensual realm.

thag2.31:2 Then, as the supreme one looked on, my mind was freed. My freedom is unshakable with the ending of all fetters.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Four

Sivaka

thag2.32:1 Houses are impermanent— on and on, life after life. I’ve been searching for the house-builder— painful is birth again and again.

thag2.32:2 I’ve seen you, house-builder! You won’t build a house again. Your rafters are all broken, your ridgepole is shattered. My mind is without boundaries: in this very life it will dissipate.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Four

Upavāṇa

thag2.33:1 The perfected one, the Holy One in the world, the sage is afflicted by winds. If there’s hot water, give it to the sage, brahmin.

thag2.33:2 I wish to bring it to the one who is esteemed by the estimable, honored by the honorable, and venerated by the venerable.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Four

Isidinna

thag2.34:1 I’ve seen lay disciples <j>who have memorized discourses, saying, “Sensual pleasures are impermanent”. But they’re obsessed with jeweled earrings, concerned for their partners and children.

thag2.34:2 To be honest, they don’t know Dhamma, even though they say <j>“Sensual pleasures are impermanent”. They don’t have the power to cut their lust, so they cling to children, wives, and wealth.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Four

Sambulakaccāna

thag2.35:1 The heavens rain, the heavens pour, I’m staying alone in a frightful hole. But while I’m staying alone in that frightful hole, I’ve no fear, no dread, no goosebumps.

thag2.35:2 This is my normal state while staying alone in a frightful hole: I’ve no fear, no dread, no goosebumps.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Four

Nitaka

thag2.36:1 Whose mind is like a rock, steady, never trembling— free of desire for desirable things, not getting annoyed when things are annoying? From where will suffering strike one whose mind is developed like this?

thag2.36:2 My mind is like a rock, steady, never trembling— free of desire for desirable things, not getting annoyed when things are annoying. From where will suffering strike me whose mind is developed like this?

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Four

Soṇapoṭiriya

thag2.37:1 Night, with her garland of stars, is not only for sleeping. For those who know, this night is really for waking.

thag2.37:2 Were I to fall from the back of an elephant, trampled by the tuskers that follow, better for me to die in battle, than to live on in defeat.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Four

Nisabha

thag2.38:1 One who’s given up the five sensual stimuli, so pleasing and delightful, and who’s left the home life out of faith— let them make an end to suffering!

thag2.38:2 I don’t long for death; I don’t long for life; I await my time, aware and mindful.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Four

Usabha (2nd)

thag2.39:1 Arranging a robe over my shoulder, the color of young mango sprouts, I entered the village for alms sitting on an elephant’s neck!

thag2.39:2 But when I dismounted from the elephant, I was struck with a sense of urgency. I burned with shame, but then I found peace, and attained the ending of defilements.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Four

Kappaṭakura

thag2.40:1 This chap, “Rag-rice”, he sure is a rag! Into the vase of freedom from death, <j>polished and overflowing, sufficient teaching has been poured; the path to build up absorptions has been laid out.

thag2.40:2 Don’t nod off, Rag— I’ll smack your ear! You know no limit, nodding off in the midst of the Saṅgha!

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Five

Kassapa the Prince

thag2.41:1 Oh, the Buddhas! Oh, the Dhammas! Oh, the accomplishments of the Teacher! Here a disciple may realize such a teaching for themselves.

thag2.41:2 Through countless eons they obtained substantial forms. This is their last, their very final body in this passage through life and death; now I await only my return to God.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Five

Dhammapāla

thag2.42:1 The young monk who is devoted to the teaching of the Buddha, wakeful while others sleep— his life is not in vain.

thag2.42:2 So let the wise devote themselves to faith, ethical behavior, confidence, and insight into the teaching, remembering the instructions of the Buddhas.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Five

Brahmāli

thag2.43:1 Whose faculties have become serene, like horses tamed by a charioteer? With conceit and defilements given up, who is such as envied by even the angels?

thag2.43:2 My faculties have become serene, like horses tamed by a charioteer. With conceit and defilements given up, I am such as envied by even the angels.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Five

Mogharāja

thag2.44:1 “Your skin is nasty but your heart is good; Mogharāja, you’re always immersed in samādhi. But in the nights of winter, so dark and cold, how will you get by, monk?”

thag2.44:2 “I’ve heard that all the Magadhans have an abundance of grain. I’ll make my bed under a thatched roof, just like those who live in comfort.”

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Five

Visākhapañcālaputta

thag2.45:1 One should not suspend others from the Saṅgha, <j>nor raise objections against them; and neither disparage nor raise one’s voice against <j>one who has crossed to the further shore. One should not praise oneself among the assemblies, not restless, measured in speech, <j>and true to your vows.

thag2.45:2 For one who sees the meaning <j>so very subtle and fine, who is skilled in thought and placid in manner, who has cultivated mature ethics— it’s not hard to gain extinguishment.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Five

Cūḷaka

thag2.46:1 The peacocks cry out with their fair crests and tails, their lovely blue necks and fair faces, <j>their beautiful song and their call. This broad earth is lush with grass and dew, and the firmament is full of beautiful clouds.

thag2.46:2 One practicing absorption is happy in mind, <j>and their appearance is uplifting; going forth in the teaching of the Buddha <j>is easy for a good person. Realize that supreme state that does not pass, so very pure, subtle, and hard to see.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Five

Anūpama

thag2.47:1 The conceited mind, addicted to pleasure, impales itself on its own stake. It always goes where there’s a stake, a chopping board.

thag2.47:2 I declare you the loser mind! I declare you the insidious mind! You’ve found the Teacher so hard to find— don’t lead me away from the goal.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Five

Vajjita

thag2.48:1 Wandering for such a long time, I’ve passed through various states of error, not seeing the noble truths, a blind, unenlightened person.

thag2.48:2 But when I became heedful, wanderings were mown down. All states of bondage are cut off; now I await only my return to God.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Five

Sandhita

thag2.49:1 Beneath the Bodhi Tree, bright green and growing, being mindful, my perception followed the Buddha.

thag2.49:2 It’s been a very long time since I gained that perception; and it’s due to that perception that I’ve attained the ending of defilements.