Jenta, the High Priest’s Son

Thag 6.9 · Purohitaputtajentattheragāthā

Golden bamboo leaves rest among living green stems in a shaded grove.

I was drunk with the pride of birth and wealth and authority. I wandered about intoxicated with my own gorgeous body.
No one was my equal or my better—or so I thought. I was such an arrogant fool, stuck up, waving my own flag.
I never paid homage to anyone: not even my mother or father, nor others esteemed as respectable. I was stiff with pride, lacking regard for others.
When I saw the foremost leader, the most excellent of charioteers, shining like the sun at the fore of the mendicant Saṅgha,
I discarded conceit and vanity, and, with a clear and confident heart, I bowed down with my head to the supreme among all beings.
The conceit of superiority and the conceit of inferiority have been given up and eradicated. The conceit “I am” is cut off, and every kind of conceit is destroyed.

Connections

Collection & context

TheragāthāThe collection containing this text
The Pāli canonCanonical collection in which this edition is preserved
Theravāda traditionsTransmission and study context
The early Buddhist communityHistorical and traditional setting

Books

Handful of Leaves: an Anthology from the Sutta PiṭakaEarly Buddhist discourses; Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (translator and compiler) · Included in anthology

About this edition

Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato and Jessica Walton · SuttaCentral · CC0

This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.

Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.