1So I have heard. At one time one of the mendicants was staying in the land of the Kosalans in a certain forest grove.

Now at that time that mendicant, during their day’s meditation, was thinking bad, unskillful thoughts to do with the lay life. The deity haunting that forest had compassion for that mendicant, and wanted what’s best for them. So they approached that mendicant wanting to stir them up, and addressed them in verse:

2“You entered the woods desiring seclusion,
yet your mind wanders off to outward things.
As a person, you should dispel the desire for people.
Then you’ll be happy, free of greed.

3Mindful, give up discontent;
let us remind you of the way of the good.
The dusty abyss is so hard to cross;
don’t let sensual dust drag you down.

4Just as a bird strewn with dirt
sheds that clingy dust with a shake;
so too, an energetic, mindful mendicant
sheds that clingy dust with a shake.”

5Impelled by that deity, that mendicant was struck with a sense of urgency.

1Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ aññataro bhikkhu kosalesu vihārati aññatarasmiṁ vanasaṇḍe. Tena kho pana samayena so bhikkhu divāvihāragato pāpake akusale vitakke vitakketi gehanissite.

Atha kho yā tasmiṁ vanasaṇḍe adhivatthā devatā tassa bhikkhuno anukampikā atthakāmā taṁ bhikkhuṁ saṁvejetukāmā yena so bhikkhu tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā taṁ bhikkhuṁ gāthāhi ajjhabhāsi: 

2"Vivekakāmosi vanaṁ paviṭṭho,
Atha te mano niccharatī bahiddhā;
Jano janasmiṁ vinayassu chandaṁ,
Tato sukhī hohisi vītarāgo.

3Aratiṁ pajahāsi sato,
Bhavāsi sataṁ taṁ sārayāmase;
Pātālarajo hi duttaro,
Mā taṁ kāmarajo avāhari.

4Sakuṇo yathā paṁsukunthito,
Vidhunaṁ pātayati sitaṁ rajaṁ;
Evaṁ bhikkhu padhānavā satimā,
Vidhunaṁ pātayati sitaṁ rajan"ti.

5Atha kho so bhikkhu tāya devatāya saṁvejito saṁvegamāpādīti.