Reading guide
A fall, described without embarrassment
The first verse reports the fall plainly: ‘overwhelmed by drowsiness, I left my dwelling... stepping up to the path for walking meditation, I fell to the ground right there’. No excuse is offered and no shame dwelt on — the second verse simply reports getting back up: ‘I rubbed my limbs, and again I stepped up on the path... serene inside myself’.
The same closing pair found at Thag 4.1
As at Thag 4.1 (Nāgasamāla), this poem's third and fourth verses — realization, disillusionment, a freed mind, the three knowledges attained — are word for word identical to that poem's ending, and to Thag 4.9 (Candana)'s as well. Three very different physical circumstances — a dancer glimpsed, a fall recovered from, a wife encountered — all arrive at the same eight lines.
A name that may match an already-translated visit
This site's own MN 128 describes the Buddha visiting ‘a fellow Sakyan, Bhagu’, staying alone in a village of child salt-miners, and giving him ‘an encouraging Dhamma talk’ before continuing on to Anuruddha's community. No comment on this specific poem confirms the identification, but a monk struggling alone with drowsiness, later composing a verse of quiet perseverance, fits comfortably beside a monk the Buddha found worth a personal visit and encouragement.
Key terms
The text
§1Overwhelmed by drowsiness, I left my dwelling. Stepping up to the path for walking meditation, I fell to the ground right there.
§2I rubbed my limbs, and again I stepped up on the path for walking meditation. I walked meditation up and down the path, serene inside myself.
§3Then the realization came upon me—the danger became clear, and I grew firmly disillusioned.
§4Then my mind was freed—behold the clear rightness of the teaching! I’ve attained the three knowledges, and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
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