The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Aṅgaṇikabhāradvāja

thag3.1:1 Seeking purity the wrong way, I served the sacred fire in a grove. Not knowing the path to purity, I practiced endless mortification.

thag3.1:2 I’ve gained this happiness by means of happiness: behold the clear rightness of the teaching! I’ve attained the three knowledges and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

thag3.1:3 I used to be brahmin only by kin, but now I really am a brahmin! I am master of the three knowledges, <j>I’m a bathed initiate, I’m a scholar and a knowledge master.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Paccaya

thag3.2:1 I went forth five days ago, a trainee, my heart’s desire unfulfilled. I entered my dwelling and resolved in my heart:

thag3.2:2 I won’t eat; I won’t drink; I won’t leave my dwelling; nor will I lie down on my side— not until the dart of craving is plucked.

thag3.2:3 See my energy and vigor as I meditate like this! I’ve attained the three knowledges and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Bakkula

thag3.3:1 Whoever wishes to do afterwards what they should have done before has lost the causes for happiness, and afterwards they’re tormented by regrets.

thag3.3:2 You should only say what you would do; you shouldn’t say what you wouldn’t do. The wise will recognize one who talks without doing.

thag3.3:3 Oh! Extinguishment is so very blissful, as taught by the fully awakened Buddha: sorrowless, stainless, secure, where suffering all ceases.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Dhaniya

thag3.4:1 If you wish to live in happiness, longing for the ascetic life, don’t look down on the Saṅgha’s robes, or its food and drinks.

thag3.4:2 If you wish to live in happiness, longing for the ascetic life, stay in the Saṅgha’s lodgings like a snake making use of a mouse’s hole.

thag3.4:3 If you wish to live in happiness, longing for the ascetic life, develop this one quality: be content with whatever is offered.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Mātaṅgaputta

thag3.5:1 “It’s too cold, too hot, too late,” they say. When the young neglect their work like this, opportunities pass them by.

thag3.5:2 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.

thag3.5:3 With my chest I’ll thrust aside the grasses, vines, canes, the vetiver, rushes and reeds, and foster seclusion.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Khujjasobhita

thag3.6:1 “One of those monks who live in Pāṭaliputta— such brilliant speakers, and very learned— stands at the door: the old man, Khujjasobhita.

thag3.6:2 One of those monks who live in Pāṭaliputta— such brilliant speakers, and very learned— stands at the door: an old man, shivering in the gale.”

thag3.6:3 “By war well fought, by sacrifice well made, by victory in battle; by leading the spiritual life: that’s how one prospers in happiness.”

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Vāraṇa

thag3.7:1 Anyone among men who harms other creatures: that person will fall both from this world and the next.

thag3.7:2 But someone with a mind of love, sympathetic for all creatures: a person like that brims with much merit.

thag3.7:3 You should all train <j>to learn well-spoken words, to attend closely to ascetics, to sit alone in hidden places, and to settle the mind.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Vassika

thag3.8:1 I was the only one in my family who had faith and wisdom. It’s good for my relatives that I’m firm in principle, and ethical.

thag3.8:2 I curbed my family out of sympathy, telling them off out of love for my family and relatives. They performed a service for the monks

thag3.8:3 and then they passed away, finding happiness in the Garden. There, my brothers and mother enjoy all the pleasures they desire.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Yasoja

thag3.9:1 “With knobbly knees, thin and veiny, eating and drinking but little— this person’s spirit is undaunted.”

thag3.9:2 “Pestered by flies and mosquitoes in the wilds, the formidable forest, one should mindfully endure, like an elephant at the head of the battle.

thag3.9:3 A monk alone is like a great angel; a pair of monks are like angels; three are like a village; and more than that is a rabble.”

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Sāṭimattiya

thag3.10:1 In the past you had faith, today you have none. What’s yours is yours alone— I’ve done nothing wrong.

thag3.10:2 Faith is impermanent, fickle: or so I have seen. Passions wax and wane: why would a sage waste away on that account?

thag3.10:3 The meal of a sage is cooked bit by bit in this family or that. I’ll walk for alms, for my legs are strong.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Upāli

thag3.11:1 One newly gone forth, who has left their home out of faith, should mix with spiritual friends, who are tireless and pure of livelihood.

thag3.11:2 One newly gone forth, who has left their home out of faith, a mendicant staying in the Saṅgha, being wise, would train in monastic discipline.

thag3.11:3 One newly gone forth, who has left their home out of faith, skilled in what is appropriate and what is not, would wander undistracted.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Uttarapāla

thag3.12:1 I was, indeed, an astute scholar, competent to think on the meaning. The five kinds of sensual stimulation in the world, so delusory, were my downfall.

thag3.12:2 Leaping into Satan’s domain, I was struck by a powerful dart. But I was able to free myself from the trap laid by the King of Death.

thag3.12:3 I have given up all sensual pleasures; all bonds of becoming are shattered; the bondage of worldly life is finished; now I await only my return to God.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Abhibhūta

thag3.13:1 Listen up, all my relatives, those who have gathered here: I’ll teach you Dhamma! Painful is birth again and again.

thag3.13:2 Rouse yourselves, try harder! Devote yourselves to the instructions of the Buddha! Crush the army of death, as an elephant a hut of reeds.

thag3.13:3 Whoever shall meditate diligently in this teaching and training, giving up worldly craving, will make an end to suffering.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Gotama (2nd)

thag3.14:3 I know well these created states are insubstantial— conditioned, quivering, always in motion. When I understood that this is created in myself, mindful, I found peace.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Hārita (2nd)

thag3.15:1 Whoever wishes to do afterwards tasks they should have done before has lost the causes for happiness, and afterwards they’re tormented by regrets.

thag3.15:2 You should only say what you would do; you shouldn’t say what you wouldn’t do. The wise will recognize one who talks without doing.

thag3.15:3 Oh! Extinguishment is so very blissful, as taught by the fully awakened Buddha: sorrowless, stainless, secure, where suffering all ceases.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

Vimala (2nd)

thag3.16:1 Shunning bad friends, associate with the supreme individual. Stick to the advice he gave you, aspiring to unshakable happiness.

thag3.16:2 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.

thag3.16:3 Dwell with the noble ones who are secluded and determined and always energetic; the astute who practice absorption.