Ottoken

Dhaniya the cattleman: “The rice is cooked, my milking done. I live with my people along the banks of the Mahi; my hut is roofed, my fire lit: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain.” The Buddha: “Free from anger, my rigidity gone, I live for one night along the banks of the Mahi; my hut’s roof is open, my fire out. So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain.” Dhaniya: “No mosquitoes or gadflies are to be found. The cows range in the marshy meadow where the grasses flourish. They could stand the rain if it came: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain.” The Buddha: “A raft, well-made, has been lashed together. Having crossed over, gone to the far shore, I’ve subdued the flood. No need for a raft is to be found: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain.” Dhaniya: “My wife is composed, not wanton, is charming, has lived with me long. I hear no evil about her at all: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain.” The Buddha: “My mind is composed, released, has long been nurtured, well tamed. No evil is to be found in me: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain.” Dhaniya: “I support myself on my earnings. My sons live in harmony, free from disease. I hear no evil about them at all: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain.” The Buddha: “I’m in no one’s employ,6 I wander the whole world on the reward [of my Awakening]. No need for earnings is to be found: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain.” Dhaniya: “There are cows, young bulls, cows in calf, & breeding cows, & a great bull, the leader of the herd: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain.” The Buddha: “There are no cows, no young bulls, no cows in calf or breeding cows, no great bull, the leader of the herd: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain.” Dhaniya: “The stakes are dug-in, immovable. The new muñja-grass halters, well-woven, not even young bulls could break: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain.” The Buddha: “Having broken my bonds like a great bull, like a great elephant tearing a rotting vine, I never again will lie in the womb: So if you want, rain-god, go ahead & rain.” The great cloud rained down straightaway, filling the lowlands & high. Hearing the rain-god pour down, Dhaniya said: “How great our gain that we’ve gazed on the Blessed One! We go to him, the One with Eyes, for refuge. May you be our teacher, Great Sage. My wife & I are composed. Let’s follow the holy life under the One Well-Gone. Gone to the far shore of aging & death, let’s put an end to suffering & stress.” Māra: “Those with children delight because of their children. Those with cattle delight because of their cows. A person’s delight comes from acquisitions, for a person with no acquisitions doesn’t delight.” The Buddha: “Those with children grieve precisely because of their children. Those with cattle grieve precisely because of their cows. A person’s grief comes from acquisitions, for a person with no acquisitions doesn’t grieve.”