Vanavaccha Thera

The Forest Calls

TheGentleLaw Community

Vanavaccha Thera’s verses celebrate this love of solitude and the deep peace that arises in nature.

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The Poem

Pāli:
Araññavanapatthāni, pantāni senāsanāni ca;
Eko ramaṃ vanamhiṁ'va, ādāya phalaṭṭhāni ca.

English Translation:
In forests and remote wildernesses,
In lonely resting places,
I delight, like a wild deer,
Taking fruits and roots as food.

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Vanavaccha Thera, whose name literally means "Forest-Speaker" or "One Conversant with the Forest," exemplifies the monastic ideal of withdrawing into nature to deepen meditation and insight. His verse speaks to the joy of living simply and alone, relying on the land without burdening others.

The imagery he uses, a deer roaming free in the forest, captures a sense of naturalness and ease, an effortless alignment with the rhythms of the natural world.

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