( The Buddha // 12. Kasi Bhāradvāja, Brāhmanasamyutta, Sagāthāvagga, Samyutta Nikāya, Pali Canon )
Faith is the seed, austerity the rain,
Wisdom my yoke and plough;
Virtue is the pole, mind the yoke tie,
Mindfulness is my ploughshare and goad.
Guarded in body, guarded in speech,
Controlled in my appetite for food,
I use truth as my weeding-hook,
And gentleness as my unyoking.
Energy is my beast of burden,
Carrying me to security from bondage.
It goes ahead without stopping
To where, having gone, one does not sorrow.
In such a way this ploughing is done
Which has the eternal life as its fruit.
Having finished this work of ploughing,
One is released from all suffering.