Prince Five-Weapons: a past life story

He whose heart is not stuck,*A prince is named “Five-Weapons” after a prophecy when he was born. The prophecy was fulfilled when, on returning from his studies in Takkasilā in Gandhāra, he encountered a ferocious native spirit (yakkha) in a forest and fought it with five weapons. Each attack only stuck him tighter to the monster’s shaggy coat. The monster, recognizing his courage, let him go. | The five weapons are the arrow (sara), sword (khagga), javelin (kaṇaya), hammer (muggara), and lance (kunta). But his real weapon is the vajira (“diamond” or “thunderbolt”), which is the weapon of knowledge.a man of intrepid mind,*The warrior gets “stuck” or “bound” (allīna) to his adversary, in what can be read as a metaphor for violence: one who lives by the sword is “bound” to the kamma of killing, becoming the same as those who they fight. The otherwise unrelated verse is linked to the story through the contrasting image of the mind that is “not bound” (alīna), a word that can also mean “intrepid, unwearying, brave”. In this verse and the next, the double meanings are intended by the poet, so I use the different meanings in each line.develops skillful qualitiesfor the sake of sanctuary from the yoke.Gradually he would attainthe ending of all fetters.

“Yo alīnena cittena, alīnamanaso naro; Bhāveti kusalaṁ dhammaṁ, yogakkhemassa pattiyā; Pāpuṇe anupubbena, sabbasaṁyojanakkhayan”ti.

He whose heart is not stuck,*A prince is named “Five-Weapons” after a prophecy when he was born. The prophecy was fulfilled when, on returning from his studies in Takkasilā in Gandhāra, he encountered a ferocious native spirit (yakkha) in a forest and fought it with five weapons. Each attack only stuck him tighter to the monster’s shaggy coat. The monster, recognizing his courage, let him go. | The five weapons are the arrow (sara), sword (khagga), javelin (kaṇaya), hammer (muggara), and lance (kunta). But his real weapon is the vajira (“diamond” or “thunderbolt”), which is the weapon of knowledge.“Yo alīnena cittena, a man of intrepid mind,*The warrior gets “stuck” or “bound” (allīna) to his adversary, in what can be read as a metaphor for violence: one who lives by the sword is “bound” to the kamma of killing, becoming the same as those who they fight. The otherwise unrelated verse is linked to the story through the contrasting image of the mind that is “not bound” (alīna), a word that can also mean “intrepid, unwearying, brave”. In this verse and the next, the double meanings are intended by the poet, so I use the different meanings in each line.alīnamanaso naro; develops skillful qualitiesBhāveti kusalaṁ dhammaṁ, for the sake of sanctuary from the yoke.yogakkhemassa pattiyā; Gradually he would attainPāpuṇe anupubbena, the ending of all fetters.sabbasaṁyojanakkhayan”ti.