(Galaxy Vault) Is a Crow a surprisingly intelligent "avian ape" smaller than a Raven?
Mahakala
Ven. Thanissaro (trans) edited by Wisdom Quarterly (Thag 2.16 PTS: Thag 151-152)A swarthy woman,
[preparing a corpse for cremation]
crow-like and enormous,
breaking one thigh then the other,
breaking one arm then the other,
cracking open the head
like a claypot of curds,
sits with them heaped up beside her.
Whoever, unknowing,
makes acquisitions,
that fool
returns over and over
to disappointment and suffering.
Discerning,
making no acquisitions,
may I never again lie
with my head cracked open.
Sankicca
Ven. Thanissaro (trans) edited by Wisdom Quarterly (Thag 11.1 PTS: Thag 597-607)
What do you want in the woods, my boy?
You're like a bird [1] exposed to the rain.
Monsoons refresh you.
Seclusion is for those in meditative absorption (jhana).
As monsoon winds drive the clouds during the rainy season,
so thoughts concerning seclusion
impel me.
A black crow, making its home in a charnel ground
[of corpses], inspires within me
mindfulness
—
rooted in dispassion for —
the body [2].
One whom others guard not,
who do not guard others,
such a monastic who lies down in ease,
unconcerned
with sensual passions.
With clear waters and massive boulders,
frequented by monkeys and deer,
covered with moss and water weeds,
such rocky crags
refresh me.
I have lived in wildernesses,
canyons, and caves,
isolated dwellings
frequented by predator and prey,
but never have I known
an ignoble, aversive resolve:
"May these beings
be destroyed,
be slaughtered,
fall into pain."
The Teacher has been served by me;
The Awakened One's bidding I have done;
This heavy load I have laid down;
The guide to becoming [3] uprooted.
And the goal for which I set forth
from the home life into the left-home life
I have reached:
the end
of all fetters.
I delight not in death, delight not in living.
I await my time
like a worker his wages.
I delight not in death, delight not in living.
I await my time
mindful, alert.
NOTES
- 1. Ujjuhaana. The Commentary offers two interpretations for this word. The first is that it is a hill covered with jungle and many streams that tend to overflow during the rainy season. The other is that it is the name of a bird that can stay comfortable even when exposed to cold, wind, and rain. The second alternative has been chosen here. K.R. Norman speculates that the term could be written ujjahaana, in which case it would be the present participle for a verb meaning "abandoned or cast off." However, none of the manuscripts support this speculation.
- 2. In other words, the sight of the crow taking up residence in skulls and other body parts provided a chastening perspective on how the mind takes up residence in the body [for each rebirth in the sensual sphere].
- 3. The guide to becoming [rebirth, relinking, rearising, reappearing, being reborn] is craving.
- See also: Thag 5.8; Thag 14.1; Thag 18.
