Vajjiputta Sutta

The Vajjian Princeling

translated from the Pali by

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

On one occasion a certain monk, a Vajjian princeling, was dwelling near Vesali in a forest thicket. And on that occasion an all-night festival was being held in Vesali. The monk — lamenting as he heard the resounding din of wind music, string music, & gongs coming from Vesali, on that occasion recited this verse:

I live in the wilderness all alone like a log cast away in the forest. On a night like this, who could there be more miserable than me?

Then the devata inhabiting the forest thicket, feeling sympathy for the monk, desiring his benefit, desiring to bring him to his senses, approached him and addressed him with this verse:

As you live in the wilderness all alone like a log cast away in the forest, many are those who envy you, as hell-beings do, those headed for heaven. The monk, chastened by the devata, came to his senses.