1. Vanavagga
1. In the Woods
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Ekaṁ samayaṁ aññataro bhikkhu kosalesu viharati aññatarasmiṁ vanasaṇḍe.
At one time one of the mendicants was staying in the land of the Kosalans in a certain forest grove.
Tena kho pana samayena so bhikkhu yaṁ sudaṁ pubbe ativelaṁ sajjhāyabahulo viharati so aparena samayena appossukko tuṇhībhūto saṅkasāyati.
Now at that time that mendicant had previously been spending too much time rehearsing. But some time later they adhered to passivity and silence.
Atha kho yā tasmiṁ vanasaṇḍe adhivatthā devatā tassa bhikkhuno dhammaṁ asuṇantī yena so bhikkhu tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā taṁ bhikkhuṁ gāthāya ajjhabhāsi:
Not hearing the teaching, the deity haunting that forest approached that mendicant, and addressed them in verse:
“Kasmā tuvaṁ dhammapadāni bhikkhu,
“Mendicant, why don’t you recite <j>passages of the teaching,
Aññāya nikkhepanamāhu santo”ti.
this, good people say, <j>is the laying down by complete understanding.”