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 fell asleep during the day’s meditation. 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:
“Get up, mendicant! Why lie down?
What’s the point in sleeping?
How can the afflicted slumber
when injured by an arrow strike?You should amplify the faith
that led you to go forth
from the home life to homelessness.
Don’t fall under the sway of slumber.”
The monk:
“Sensual pleasures are impermanent and unstable,
but idiots still fall for them.
Among those who are bound,they’re free and unattached:
why bother a renunciate?By removing desire and greed,
by going beyond ignorance,
that knowledge has been perfectly cleansed:
why bother a renunciate?By breaking ignorance with knowledge,
by the ending of defilements,
they’re sorrowless, unstressed:
why bother a renunciate?Energetic, resolute,
always staunchly vigorous,
aspiring to extinguishment:
why bother a renunciate?”
Note: Here we have another case of a deva with good intentions, but not knowing the full situation. The statements that the monk makes indicate that he has already attained stages of enlightenment.
Read Saṁyutta Nikāya 9.2 Upaṭṭhānasutta: Getting Up by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net. Or listen on PaliAudio.com or SC-Voice.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.