Vajjiputtattheragāthā
Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral
1.1“Rukkhamūlagahanaṁ pasakkiya,You’ve left for the jungle, the root of a tree,11.2Nibbānaṁ hadayasmiṁ opiya;having laid extinguishment in your heart.21.3Jhāya gotama mā ca pamādo,Meditate, Gotama, don’t be negligent!31.4Kiṁ te biḷibiḷikā karissatī”ti.What use is this hullabaloo to you?
1.5… Vajjiputto thero ….
The earlier verse of Vajjiputta (Thag 1.61) is also about the monastic love of the forest, and it is not clear if these are different people.
In the parallel at SN 9.5:2.2, both Norman here and Bodhi read osiya (“having laid”), which agrees with the commentarial gloss.
This verse is spoken by a deity at SN 9.5:2.2, but here it is evidently addressed to Ānanda by a Vajjian monk (or a monk called Vajjiputta). The Pali commentary says this occurred shortly after the Buddha’s passing. Ānanda, still only a stream-enterer, was striving for arahantship before the First Council, but got caught up in consoling the distraught layfolk. The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya agrees, adding that Vajjiputta was Ānanda’s attendant at the time. Following the exhortation, Ānanda meditated till late at night, then mindfully lay down to rest. When his feet were lifted off the floor, but his head not yet on his pillow, he became awakened (Rockhill, The Life of the Buddha, p. 155). The Pali Vinaya recounts the same events, but does not mention this verse (Kd 21:1.6.1).
