Ja 242 Sunakhajātaka
The Story about (the Gnawing) Dog
In the present the monks are talking about a dog who had been brought up near to their monastery, been sold and taken away, but quickly found his way back home. The Buddha told a similar story from the past of a dog who was tied on a leash, but bit through it when his new owners slept and made his escape.
1. Bālo vatāyaṁ sunakho yo varattaṁ na khādati,
The foolish dog does not chew his way through this strap,
Bandhanā ca pamuñceyya, asito ca gharaṁ vaje ti.
You could be free from bonds, gnawing you could go home.
Tattha,
In this connection, you could be free means you could be made free; This is the causative form of the same word. or, this is a reading. It seems the commentator is unsure whether to take pamoceyya as a definition, or as an alternative reading.
Asito ca gharaṁ vaje ti,
Gnawing you could go home,
asito suhito hutvā, attano vasanaṭṭhānaṁ gaccheyya.
having gnawed Asita is a word with many meanings, in this context I take it it is a past participle of the verb asati, eat; but here we need to say something closer to gnawed or chewed through. away satisfactorily, you could go to your own dwelling place.
2. Aṭṭhitaṁ me manasmiṁ me, atho me hadaye kataṁ,
In my mind I am steadfast, I have fixed my heart,
Kālañ-ca paṭikaṅkhāmi yāva passupatū jano ti.
I await the time when the folk have fallen asleep.
Tattha, aṭṭhitaṁ me manasmiṁ me ti,
In this connection, in my mind I am steadfast,
yaṁ tumhe kathetha:
you must say this:
Taṁ mayā adhiṭṭhitam-eva manasmiṁ yeva me etaṁ,
The determination in my mind is just this,
atho me hadaye katan-ti,
I have fixed my heart,
atha ca pana me tumhākaṁ vacanaṁ hadaye katam-eva.
and now all your words have become fixed in my heart.
Kālañ-ca paṭikaṅkhāmī ti kālaṁ paṭimānemi.
I await the time means I wait for the time.
Yāva passupatū jano ti,
When the folk have fallen asleep,
yāvāyaṁ mahājano passupatu, Cst: pasupatu, which appears to be a mistake. niddaṁ okkamatu,
when this great people have fallen asleep, will have dropped into sleep,
tāvāhaṁ kālaṁ paṭimānemi.
I am waiting for that time.
Itarathā hi: “Ayaṁ sunakho palāyatī” ti, ravo uppajjeyya,
Otherwise: “This dog runs away,” and should a roar arise,
tasmā rattibhāge sabbesaṁ suttakāle,
from there in the night-time when everyone is lying down,
cammayottaṁ khāditvā, palāyissāmī ti.
having chewed through this leather strap, I will run away.