The life and times of Luang Phaw Wat Paknam : หน้า 25/163

He lit three sticks of incense, pressed them between the palms of his hands and made the following resolution with heartfelt determination: "Don't let me die now! At least let me die in the yellow robe. If only I can ordain — I will remain in the monkhood until my days are done!" That day he escaped danger unscathed, but the vow he made was never to leave his mind. At first he kept his ambitions to himself. Later he began to discuss his plans with others. He planned to ordain but could not shrug off his responsibility to support the family. He needed to leave them enough savings to support themselves in his absence and calculated the rate of inflation from the surest indicator — the rise in the price of bananas. He set to work with a fervour in order to accumulate without delay, sufficient wealth for his mother to support herself and the family for the rest of their lives. Six months later, in May 1903, he loaded rice sacks onto his barges for the last time. He told the crew to make the trip to Bangkok on his behalf. He gave the most trusted of his crewmen the consum-mate authority to manage the rice deal. Sodh turned from the wharf a free man and entered Wat Songpinong as a postulant or 'nag.' He studied with Prapalad 'Yang,' the abbot of the temple, preparing himself for ordination. Sodh diligently studied the verses of ordination and the abbreviated monk's discipline. In July 1903, along with seven others, Sodh was ordained at Wat Songpinong and was given 1. We know of his intentions only because his thoughts were written down and found among his autobiographical papers. 28