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Thig 3.4

Dantikā

Dantikātherīgāthā

from: The Book of the Threes

Dantikā

Leaving my day’s meditation
on Vulture’s Peak Mountain,
I saw an elephant on the riverbank
having just come up from his bath.

A man, taking a pole with a hook,
asked the elephant, “Give me your foot.”
The elephant presented his foot,
and the man mounted him.

Seeing a wild beast so tamed,
submitting to human control,
my mind became serene:
<em>that</em> is why I’ve gone to the forest!

Translation: German (Ayyā Sabbamittā), English (Bhikkhu Sujato). Source: SuttaCentral / Bilara (public domain, CC0).

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