Therigatha Verses of the Elder Nuns Retreat

Spirit Rock Insight Meditation Center

June 20th to 24th, 2018

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

Ayya Anandabodhi
Ayya Sanyacitta
Mahaprajapati Sundari Nanda
Homage to you, hero among buddhas, best of all beings, (Spoken by Buddha:)
You freed me from suffering,
Look at this body, Nanda, it’s sick, it’s dirty, it’s foul.
just as you did so many other people.
Use what is unpleasant to cultivate the mind,
All suffering is known, make it focused and attentive.
the craving that is suffering’s cause has been destroyed
The eightfold path of the noble ones has been travelled
(Buddha conjures up vision of a beautiful woman & aged it
And cessation reached:
The four noble truths before Nanda’s eyes. He continues:)
each one done. Your body is like this,
All done by me. and this is like your body.
It stinks of decay
I had already been a mother, as son,
A father, a brother and a grandmother. and only a fool would delight in it.
But not knowing things as they really are,
I was reborn and reborn, When you look at it this way,
never having enough.
day and night, always intently,
As soon as I saw the Bhagavan someday you will see –
I knew that this is my last body, breaking through with your own wisdom.
that the realm of birth is finished,
That now there is no rebirth for me. (Spoken by Sundarinanda:)
When I look at the disciples assembled together, This body was seen as it really is, inside and out,
energetic, resolute, always making an effort, as I examined it carefully and thoroughly.
I see that this is how Buddhas are rightly worshipped.
I became tired of the body, inwardly disinterested.
Mahamaya gave birth to Gautama for the sake of many,
to drive away the mass of suffering Diligent, released, at peace, free.
of all those struck down by sickness and death.
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Subha It deludes and increases defilements.
It brings many sorrows and is dangerous -
there is nothing you can count on in wealth.
I first heard the Buddha’s dharma when I was still young.
It was on a day when I was wearing clean clothes,
Men get excited near wealth and they get careless too.
and by my own effort
Their minds become dirty and
there was comprehension of the four noble truths.
wealth makes them ever at odds with each other
and they endlessly fight among themselves.
Right then I found that I had
a great dislike for all that my senses find pleasing.
Death and bondage, calamity and robbery,
I was afraid of my own body,
grief and lamentation – there are so many miseries
and I longed for freedom from it all.
for those who get caught among what pleases the senses.
I left my relatives, slaves and workers,
My relatives, you know that I have gone forth,
the rich villages and their fields,
that I have seen what is fearful in what pleases the senses.
everything pleasing and delightful.
So why are you trying to get me to go back to those pleasures
as if you were my enemies?
I left more than a little wealth, I went forth,
I went forward, with my faith like that,
Gold and money do not lessen
into the dharma that has been so well-taught.
the depravities that ooze from within,
urges that come from our senses are enemies,
So it is not right for me now,
butchers, foes who bind us with ropes.
when I desire nothing at all,
to come back again
My relatives, you know that I have gone forth,
to the silver and gold I have thrown away.
that my head is shaven and I wear a nun’s robe.
So why are you trying to get me to go back to those pleasures
Silver and gold don’t lead
as if you were my enemies?
to awakening and peace.
They are not fit for an ascetic,
Picking up as alms what others discard
they are a wealth that is not noble.
and wearing rags as a robe,
that is what suits me.
Wealth comes with greediness, makes your head spin.
It is all that is needed for someone homeless.

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 fetters, shackles to our actions.
Great sages have given up all pleasures of the senses,
divine and human pleasures. The urges of the senses are maddening, enticing,
They are free, in the place of peace, they trouble the mind, they are
they have attained constant happiness. a net laid out as a trap by Mara
Let me not even find something that pleases the senses, to defile beings.
no place of safety exists among them.
They are enemies, butchers, The urges of the senses are endless dangers,
the sufferings they bring do what large fires do. they bring many kinds of suffering and are a great poison.
They give little satisfaction and instead bring grief,
Greed is dangerous, fearful, they dry up the good opportunities that come.
destructive, it has thorns,
it is so very wrong, harmful too – On account of the urges of the senses,
it makes one stupid. I have ruined so much.
I will not go back to that again,
The urges that comes from the senses are trouble, now I will always take my delight in nirvana.
they are frightening, like a snake’s head.
Yet ordinary people, always blind, ever fools, Longing to become cool,
are still delighted by them. I did battle with the urges of the senses.
I will live diligent
Many people in the world are really fools. while the shackles of those urges pass away.
Because of the mud of what pleases the senses,
they have no idea where the bounds of birth and death are. I will go on that path
by which the great sages have reached nirvana.
On account of the urges of the senses, It is griefless, faultless, full of peace, straight –
humans happily follow the road the noble eightfold path.
to lives of misery (lower realms)
they bring sickness on themselves. (Spoken by the Buddha to praise Subha:)

That’s how the urges of the senses give us enemies, Look at Subha, the goldsmith’s daughter,
they are burning and defiling, she has become calm,
the bait in the snare of the world she meditates at the foot of a tree.

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Today is the eighth day since she went forth, faithful,
Patachara
she is beautiful because she has realised dharma,
Furrowing fields with ploughs,
taught by Uppalavanna, she knows
sowing seeds in the ground,
the Triple Knowledge
taking care of wives and children,
and she has left death behind.
young men find wealth.
Subha is a slave who has been freed,
So why have I not experienced freedom,
she now has no debt.
when I am virtuous and I do what the Teacher taught,
A nun who knows how to know well,
when I am not lazy and I am calm?
free from everything that held her back.
She has done what needs to be done
While washing my feet I made the water useful in another
and is free from the depravities that ooze from within.
way,
by concentrating on it moving from higher ground down.
(Those who compiled the text said:)
Indra, the lord of beings, used his powers
Then I held back my mind,
to come with a host of gods,
as one would do with a thoroughbred horse,
and he worshipped Subha, the goldsmith’s daughter.
and I took a lamp and went into the hut.

Sangha First I looked at the bed, then I sat on the couch,

I used a needle to pull out the lamp’s wick.
I gave up my house Just as the lamp went out, my mind was free.
and set forth into homelessness.
I gave up my child, my cattle
and all that I loved. ------------------
I gave up desire and hate.
My ignorance was thrown out. (Patachara’s words to a group of nuns)
I pulled out craving along with its root. Young men find wealth
Now I am quenched and still. taking sticks and threshing grain,
taking care of wives and children.

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Do what the Buddha taught,
there’s nothing to be sorry for after doing it. Keep company with good people,
Quick, wash the feet, sit down off to one side. wisdom increases for those who do.
Intent on calming the mind, do what the Buddha taught. By keeping company with good people
one is freed from every suffering.
(Spoken by Patachara’s students about themselves:)
They heard her words, what Patachara taught, One should know suffering,
they washed their feet, sat down off to one side, the origin of suffering and its cessation,
intent on calming the mind, they did what the Buddha the eightfold path.
taught.
Being a woman is suffering,
In the first watch of the night, they remembered their that has been shown by the Buddha,
previous lives, the tamer of those to be tamed.
in the middle watch, they cleansed the eye that sees the
invisible. Sharing a husband with another wife
In the last watch of the night, is suffering for some,
they split open the mass of mental darkness. while for others, having a baby just once
is more than enough suffering.
Standing up, they worshipped Patachara’s feet,
and they said, “Your advice has been done, Some women cut their throats,
We will live honouring you, like the thirty deities others take poison,
honouringIndra, who is unconquered by others in battle. some die in pregnancy
We know the three things that most don’t know, and then both mother and child experience miseries.
nothing fouls our hearts.”
(Kisagotami herself tells the story of Patachara)
‘About to deliver
Kisagotami while still on the way,
I found my husband dead
The Sage commended having good friends right there on the road.
for anyone anywhere in the universe. I gave birth
By keeping company with good friends before I reached home.’
even a fool becomes wise.

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The two sons of this wretched woman soon dead,
her husband dead too
Sumedha
right there on the road,
When I was Sumedha,
even while her mother, father and brother
the daughter of King Konca of Mantavati and his chief
were burned on one funeral pyre.
queen,
I was converted by those who live what the Buddha taught.
(Kisagotami continues about herself)
Wretched woman, your family is dead too,
Through them, I became virtuous, eloquent, learned,
suffering without end has been yours,
disciplined in the teaching of the Buddha,
your tears have flowed
and I came to my parents and said,
for thousands of births.
“May you both listen carefully.
After living in the midst of a cemetery
“I delight in nirvana,
the bodies of her sons now only something eaten,
everything about life is uncertain
family destroyed, despised by all, husband dead,
even if it is the life of a god,
she reached what is without death.
why would I delight in things not worth desiring,
things with so little pleasure and so much annoyance.
I followed the noble eightfold path
that goes to that which is without death.
“ Everything that the senses desire is bitter,
Nirvana is known at first hand,
but fools swoon over such poisonous things
I have seen myself in the mirror of the dharma.
only to end up in hell for a long time,
there they suffer and in the end they are destroyed.
Now I am someone
with depravities’ darts cut out,
“Such fools cannot control what they do
with burden laid down,
with their body, speech or mind,
who has done what needs to be done.
weeping wherever they are punished
for their own evil actions,
The nun Kisagotami
always increasing evil for themselves.
her mind freed,
said this.
“They are fools, unwise, heedless,
locked up in their own suffering as it arises,

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even when someone tries to teach them, I will not defame the holy life.”
they are oblivious, not realizing
that they are living out the noble truths. The Sumedha said to her mother and father,
“I will not eat any more food as a householder,
“Mother, most people cannot understand if I do not receive permission to go forth,
these truths taught by the Buddha, I will be in your home, but I might as well be dead.”
they take pleasure in everything about life
and they long to be born among gods. Her mother suffered and cried
and her father’s face was covered with tears,
“Even birth among gods is uncertain, they tried to reason with Sumedha
it is only birth in another place just as impermanent, who had fallen to the palace floor.
but somehow fools are not terrified
of being born again and again, “Get up, child, what are these tears for?
You are already promised in marriage,
“There are four places of punishment you have been given to handsome King Anikadatta
and two other ones where we are somehow reborn. who is in Varanavati.
There is no going forth from hell
once you are there to be punished. “You will be the wife of King Anikadatta,
his chief queen, and remember, child,
“Give me permission, both of you, to go forth now keeping moral precepts, living the holy life,
in the teachings of the Buddha, the one with ten powers, going forth, all that is hard to do.
I do not have other responsibilities and I will exert myself
to make an end of birth and death. “In kingship, there is authority, wealth, power,
things to enjoy and happiness.
“I am finished with delighting in just being alive, You are a young girl, enjoy the pleasures of the body
I am finished too with the misfortune of having a body. and enjoy wealth. Let your wedding take place, child.”
Give me permission and I will go forth
for the sake of ending the craving for existence. Sumedha answered them,
“It’s not like that at all, existence is worthless,
“When Buddhas appear I will either go forth or I will die,
bad luck can be avoided and good luck can be had; but I won’t get married.
for as long as I live, I will keep my moral precepts,

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“Why should I cling, like a worm,
to a body that will only turn into a corpse, it is all rooted in birth and is the condition for suffering,
a sack always oozing, frightening, stinking so why would I want to get married?
foul and putrid, filled with foul things?
“Even if three hundred new swords were to cut my body
“I certainly know what the body is like. day after day for a hundred years,
It is repulsive, a corpse, food for birds and worms, it would be worth it
covered with flesh and blood, if it brought an end to suffering.
so why is it to be given in marriage?
“Anyone would put this carnage to themselves
“This body will soon be carried, once they understood the instruction of the teacher,
without consciousness, to the cemetery, samsara is long for those
it will be discarded like a log who are born again and again
by disgusted relatives. only to be killed again and again.

“After they have thrown it away as food for others, “There is no end
even one’s own mother and father, disgusted, wash themselves to the carnage that occurs in samsara,
and it has to be even more disgusting for everyone. among gods and humans,
among animals, asuras and hungry ghosts, and also in hell.
“People cling to this body,
even though it has no essence, “There is so much carnage
and is only a tangle of bones and sinews, for those who are in hells for punishment,
a foul body filled with spit, tears, faeces, and urine. but even for gods there is no safe place.
There is nothing better than the happiness of nirvana.
“If one’s own mother were to open it up
and pull what is inside of it outside, “Those who have reached nirvana
even she would not be able to stand the stench are the ones who are disciplined
and would be disgusted by it. by the teaching of the one with ten powers
living at ease, they strive to end birth and death.
“If I consider carefully what makes a person,
the senses and their objects, the basic elements “Today, Father, I will go renounce,
that make up everything,” I see that all of it is constructed, what good are insubstantial pleasures?

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I am fed up with what pleases the senses, do not be sad yourself, you are making your parents suffer.”
all of it is like vomit,
like a palm-tree with its top cut off. But Sumedha knew that the urges of the senses lead nowhere
and her delusions about the world were gone.
While she was speaking in this way to her father, She began to speak, “You should not delight
Anikadatta, to whom she was promised in marriage, in the pleasures of the senses, look at the dangers in them.
arrived in the city of Varanavati at the time set for the
wedding. “Mandhata was a king of the known world,
no one had more wealth or pleasure than him,
Right at that moment, Sumedha cut her hair, but even he died unsatisfied,
black, thick , and soft, with a knife, his wants unfulfilled.
she went inside the palace and closed herself inside it
and closed herself inside herself into the first jhana. “Even if it were to rain every kind of jewel,
enough to fill the ten directions,
Anikadatta had reached the city still there would be no satisfying the desires of the senses.
at the same time that she went into that happy state, Humans always die unsatisfied.
inside the palace, Sumedha developed
her perceptions of impermanence. “The pleasures of the senses are like a slaughterhouse,
they are like a snake’s head, they burn like a torch,
While she was focusing her attention on meditation, they give as much pleasure as a skeleton.
Anikadatta entered the palace in a hurry,
his body even more beautiful with jewels and gold, “The pleasures of the senses are impermanent
and he entreated Sumedha respectfully. inconstant, they come with sufferings,
they are strong poisons, a hot iron ball down the throat,
“In kingship, there is authority, wealth, power, they are the root of pain, and suffering is their fruit.
things to enjoy and happiness.
You are a young girl, “The pleasures of the senses are like the fruits of a tree,
enjoy the pleasures of the body, like pieces of meat, pain is what they are,
happiness for the body is rare in this world. the pleasures of the senses deceive like a dream,
they are like borrowed goods.
“The kingdom is bestowed on you,
enjoy what is meant to be enjoyed, and be generous, “The pleasures of the senses are like swords and stakes,

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like disease, like an abscess, painful and hurtful when counting the bones that just one being has had.
they are like a pit of burning coals,
the root of pain, fearful and fatal. “If the whole continent of Jambudvipa
were broken up into little balls
The pleasures of the senses bring many sufferings, the size of small fruits,
those who know call them hindrances, the number of them would still be less
you should go, than the number of mothers and grandmothers you have
I myself don’t trust existence. had.

“What can another do for me “Think about all the grass, sticks, and leaves there are,
when his own head is on fire? even if they were broken into smaller pieces
When old age and death are right behind one, they would still be less than the fathers and grandfathers you
one must try to end them.” have had.

At that point, Sumedha opened the door “Remember the blind turtle in the eastern sea
and saw her mother and father, and also Anikadatta and the hole in the yoke floating in another ocean
all seated on the floor, crying, remember how the turtle put his head through the yoke,
and she said this to them: that is our chances of having a human birth.

“Samsara is long for fools “Remember the body, it has no essence inside,
and for those who cry over and over a misfortune in itself, no more than a ball of foam,
over the death of a father look at what makes a person, it is all impermanent,
or the killing of a brother or their own death. think of the hells filled with carnage.

“When you remember samsara “Remember all those who keep on filling cemeteries,
as it really is for beings, remember to fear becoming a ‘crocodile’
remember the tears, the mothers’ milk, the blood, remember the four noble truths.
the mountain of bones of those born again and again.
“When you could taste sweet ambrosia,
“Think of the oceans when remembering the tears, why would you want to taste the five bitter things?
the mothers’ milk, and the blood, And the pleasures of the senses
think of Mt. Vipula are actually more bitter than the five bitter things.

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 like a low-caste person does to a dog.
“When the sweet ambrosia of the deathless exists,
why would you want the pleasures of the senses that are “If you get yoked to the pleasures of the senses,
painful? you will experience no end of suffering,
All the delights of the senses burn, are rotten, so many sadnesses of the mind,
troubled, and are seething. so give up such unreliable pleasures.

“When friends exist, “When there can be no aging,

why would you want the pleasures of the senses why would anyone want the pleasures of the senses,
that are only so many enemies? since aging itself is in their midst,
They are like kings, thieves, floods, and disliked people just as sickness and death always come together with birth?
in how harmful they are to you.
“This is something that has no old age, it has no death,
“When freedom exists, why would anyone want this is the sorrow-less state,
imprisonment and execution? without old age and death,
In the pleasures of the sense, people experience without enmity, without crowding,
the sufferings of bondage and beatings against their will. without failure, without fear, without trouble.

“A bundle of grass, when set on fire, “This state without death has been attained by many,
burns the one who holds it and does not let go, it should be attained today by us,
the pleasures of the senses are like torches the one who applies himself easily can,
that will not let go of anyone who held them. but it is not possible for one who does not strive.”

“Why abandon a big happiness As Sumedha spoke, she took no delight

because of the little happiness that the urges of the senses in the constructed appearances of the world,
promise? but finally to convince Anikadatta,
Do not suffer later like the puthulomafish she threw the hair she had cut off on the floor.
who swallows the hook just to eat the bait.
Anikadatta stood up and joined his hands respectfully,
“When among those things that please the senses, he asked her father to allow Sumedha to go forth
control what the senses urge, just as a dog is held by a chain, so she could see nirvana and the four noble truths.
otherwise the urges of the senses will kick you about

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Allowed to go by her mother and father, “Those who trust the teaching
she went forth, frightened as she was by the sorrows that of the one who has perfect wisdom
otherwise had to come and do what he teaches,
and she realized the six higher powers and the highest fruit they become disgusted with existence,
while she was still being trained. and turning away from it,
they set themselves free.”
The attainment of nirvana for that king’s daughter
was marvellous and unusual
but equally so was what she said about her previous
existences: Dhammadinna
“When the Lord Buddha Konagamana was She who has given rise to the wish for freedom
in a new residence in a monastery, and is set on it, shall be clear in mind.
I was one of three woman friends One whose heart is not caught in the pleasures of the senses,
who gave a vihara to him one who is bound upstream, will be freed.

“As a result of that, we were born among gods

ten times, one hundred times,
Khema
one thousand times, ten thousand times,
who can say how many times (Spoken by Mara to Khema)
we were born among humans just from that gift. You are young and beautiful and so am I,
come, Khema, let’s enjoy each other, make music together.
“When we were born among gods, we had great powers,
and it was the same when we were born among humans, Khema replied:
I was even the chief queen, the gem of a woman, This foul body, sick, so easily broken,
for a king who was a lord of the whole world. vexes and shames me.
My craving for sex has been rooted out.
“That gift was the root cause for my sense of peace
in the teachings of the Buddha, The pleasures of sex are like swords and stakes.
that first encounter with that previous Buddha The body, senses and the mind
led to nirvana for me who delighted in his dharma. Just the chopping block on which they cut.
what you call the delights of sexual pleasure

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are no delights for me now. Your mind is disturbed, mine is not,
you are impure, I am not,
What you take as pleasure are not for me, my mind is free wherever I am.
the mass of mental darkness is split open. Why do you keep me from my way?
Know this, evil one, you are defeated, you are finished. The rake:
You honour the stars, You are young and innocent,
look to them for guidance. how can going forth be right for you?
You tend the fire in the forest. Come on, get rid of that yellow robe.
Fools, you thought all that could be relied on, let’s enjoy each other in this forest,
while all the while not knowing what really is. its flowers all in bloom.

But I honour the Buddha, best of all men. The air is sweet,
By doing what the Buddha taught the trees are erect, their pollen is everywhere,
I am freed from all sufferings. come on, the beginning of spring is the season for happiness,
let’s enjoy each other in this forest,
its flowers all in bloom.
Subha of the Jivakamba Grove
The trees are covered in flowers
As the nun Subha entered the beautiful Jivakamba Grove, a like body-hairs standing on end,
rake grabbed her and Subha said this to him: they seem to moan in pleasure when the breeze blows,
what delights of love will there be for you
Subha: if you go into the forest all by yourself ?
Friend, it is not right for a man
to touch a woman who has gone forth, You want to go into the vast forest without a girlfriend,
why do you keep me from my way? it is frightening and lonely,
filled with herds of wild beasts,
I am in a pure state, without blemish, it echoes with the choruses of female elephants excited by a
it is the disciple taught by the Sugata male.
my teacher’s instruction,
instruction that I revere, You will stand out , wandering about in the forest,
why do you keep me from my way? like a doll of gleaming gold
or like a beautiful nymph in Chittaratha.

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What should I call you, when nothing compares to you, when you look at this body,
you are exquisite, so lovely in those good clothes filled as it is with things that have already died,
and with your fine Kasi shawl. destined as it is to fall apart only to fill a cemetery?

I would be at your command The rake:

if we were to live together in the forest, I see your eyes! They are like the eyes of a fawn,
no one is more dear to me than you, they are like the eyes of a kinnariin a mountain cave.
lady with the bashful eyes of a kinnari. Seeing your eyes only increases my delight
in getting ready to make love to you.
If you do what I suggest, you will be happy.
Come, make a home with me, Those eyes! Seeing them
you will live in the safety of a palace like blue lotus buds on your golden face
let women wait on you. only increases my desire
in getting ready to make love to you.
Wrap yourself in these Kasi shawls,
put on some make-up and perfume, Even after you have gone far away,
while I get all sorts of adornments, I will remember you and your eyes,
gold, gems, and pearls, for you. your long eyelashes, your pure gaze,
lady with the bashful eyes of a kinnari,
Climb into this new bed, it’s so luxurious, there is nothing better than your eyes.
it’s sweet-smelling from sandalwood,
beautiful, it has spreads, throws and covers, Subha:
and above it is a pure-white canopy. You lust after a daughter of the Buddha.
You must want to go where no one else has gone,
Or, holy one, would you rather go to old age want the moon as a toy,
with your body untouched, and want to jump over Mt. Meru too.
like a blue lotus that rises from the water
but is untouched by human hands? In this world with its gods
there is nothing that I desire;
Subha: If something I would desire exist,
You really are out of your mind. I do not know what it is,
What is it that you see whatever it may be, the path of my teacher

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has destroyed the urge for it down to the root. what would you fix your mind on there?

I do not see that there could be anything worth desiring, My body parts are like that,
the path has destroyed the urge for things down to the root; they don’t exist without smaller bits,
if something does exist that I might feel an urge for, and the body itself doesn’t exist without those parts –
the urge for it is like an ember that jumps from a fire pit only what would you fix your mind on there?
to go out,
like a bowl of poison that evaporates untouched. You saw some figures painted on a wall,
coloured with yellow that makes their bodies seem lifelike,
There may be people who have not thought things through, but what you saw is the opposite of what you think,
maybe there are others who have not seen the teacher, you thought you saw humans when none are there.
you should lust after one of them,
but to try to seduce someone who knows and you will suffer. Blind one, you run after things that are not there,
things that are like a magician’s illusion
My mindfulness stands firm or a tree of gold seen in a dream.
in the middle of scolding and praising,
happiness and suffering, Eyes are just little balls in various shapes.
knowing that what is constructed is foul, With its tears, an eye is a bubble of water between the
my mind does not get stuck anywhere. eyelids,
like a little ball of lac in the hollow of a tree,
I am a disciple of the Sugata, and milky mucus comes out of it.
traveling in the vehicle that can only go on the eightfold path.
The dart is pulled out, Spoken by those who compiled the Scriptures:
the depravities that ooze out from within are wasted away, Then the one who was so pleasing to look at,
I am happy that I have gone to a deserted place. her mind unattached and with no regard for her eyes,
gouged it out and gave it to that man, saying,
I have seen painted dolls and puppets dancing about, “Here, take the eye, it’s yours.”
held up and held together by sticks and strings.
His sexual passion ended right there forever
When the sticks and strings are cut, and he begged her forgiveness saying,
let go of, thrown away, and scattered, “Holy one, be whole again, this won’t happen again.
broken into bits that can’t be seen –

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“Wronging a person is like embracing fire,
it’s as if I handled a poisonous snake,
Chapa
be whole again, forgive me.”
(Repeating at the time of her enlightenment a dialogue with her
husband:)
That nun who was freed went to where the Buddha was,
Husband:
and when she saw the beautiful signs of his excellence on his
In the past
body,
wasn’t it me who carried the ascetic’s staff ?
her eye became as it was before.
Now I am a deer-hunter,
unable to get out of this foul mud
Bhadda Kapilani and reach the other shore
because of desire.
Kassapa is the Buddha’s son and heir,
well-settled in heart. Confident that I would remain infatuated,
He knows his previous lives, my wife gave all her attention to our son, to make him happy.
he sees heaven and hell. But once I cut my tie to her
I will renounce again.
He has ended rebirth, perfected higher knowledge,
he is a sage, he has become a real Brahman Chapa:
because he possesses the three knowledges. Please don’t be angry with me, big man.
Great sage, don’t get mad.
In this same way, Bhadda Kapilani There is no purity of mind
possesses the three knowledges, for one overcome with anger.
she has left death behind. From where will self-control come?
She bears this body, knowing it is her last.
Husband:
Once we were husband and wife, I will leave Nala.
but seeing the danger in the world, we both went forth. Who can live here in Nala?
We removed our defiling compulsions, Virtuous ascetics get trapped
we became cool, free. by the physical beauties of women.

Chapa:

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Come here, good-looking, just stay, leave behind children,
enjoy whatever you want relatives and wealth.
like you used to do with me. Great ascetics renounce the world
I will be at your command, like an elephant breaking its tether.
and so will my relatives.
Husband: Chapa:
Chapa, if there were only one-quarter I shall knock this son of yours
of what you just said flat to the ground,
that would be more than enough use a stick or knife on him,
for any man in love with you. and then from grief for the child
you won’t go.
Chapa:
If you go, leaving me behind, Husband:
who will physically enjoy this body of mine Even if you give that child
adorned with sandalwood, to jackals or dogs,
covered with the best cloths from Kasi. you will not make me turn around,
you wretched baby-maker.
Husband:
You want to catch me, Chapa:
like the fowler with his snare for birds. Good luck to you then good-looking,
You will not trap me but where will you go,
with your fetching body. to what village or town,
to what city or capital?
Chapa:
And what about this child, Husband:
born because of you? Once I was a leader of others,
Who are you leaving all proud that we were ascetics
when you leave me, even when we really weren’t.
the one who has this child? We went from town to town,
to cities and the capital.
Husband:
Those who are wise The Lord, the Buddha, is near

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right by the Neranjara River, Having worshipped his feet
where he is teaching the dharma and circumambulated,
that leads to the ending of all suffering he dedicated the merit to Chapa
for all beings. and went forth to the homeless state....

I will go to where he is
and he will be my teacher. Ambapali
You too should speak praise
about the supreme lord of the world. The hairs on my head were once curly,
black like the colour of bees.
And you too should honour him by circling around him, Now that I am old
and give him the gift that he is due. it is like the hemp of trees.
This is what is possible for us – This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth.
say it is so, for both you and me.
The hair on my head was once scented
Chapa: like a perfumed box filled with flowers.
I too shall speak praise Now because of old age
about the supreme lord of the world, it smells like rabbit fur.
and having honoured him by circumambulating, This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth.
I will give him the gift that is due.
It was beautiful, held up in bunches by pins
Those who compiled the Scriptures said: like a thick and well-planted forest grove.
And so her handsome husband left Now because of old age
for the Neranjara River, it is sparse and thin.
where he saw the Buddha teaching This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth.
about the deathless place that is sweet as nectar.
My head was beautiful, decorated with braids,
About suffering and its arising, adorned with gold amidst the masses of black.
about the overcoming of suffering, Now because of old age
and the noble eightfold path It has become bald.
that ends with suffering ended. This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth.

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Once my eyebrows were beautiful at times my voice cracks.
like the contour lines drawn by a good artist. This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth.
Now because of old age
they are bent out of shape by wrinkles. Once my neck was beautiful
This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth. like a polished and smooth conch shell.
Now because of old age
My eyes were black and innocent it is bent and misshapen.
like jewels that are beautiful and brilliant. This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth.
Now struck by old age, they do not shine.
This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth. Once my arms were beautiful
like the round iron crossbars for holding doors shut.
When I was young, my nose was beautiful, Now because of old age
it was delicate, high, and was perfect for my face. they are grey like the bark of the patali tree.
Now because of old age This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth.
it is like a trip of wet leather.
This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth. Once my hands were both beautiful
decorated with smooth rings made of gold.
My earlobes were beautiful Now because of old age,
like well-crafted bracelets, finished to perfection. they are like tree-roots and root-vegetables.
Now because of old age This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth.
they are bent out of shape by wrinkles.
This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth. Once my breasts were beautiful,
full, round, close together, high.
Once my teeth were beautiful, Now they sag down
they looked like plantain buds. like empty water-bags made of leather.
Now because of old age This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth.
they are broken and yellow.
This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth. Once my body was beautiful,
like a polished slab of gold.
Once I could sing sweetly Now it is covered
like a cuckoo moving in a dense forest. with very fine wrinkles.
Now because of old age This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth.

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Once my thighs were beautiful I decorated this body -
like the trunk of an elephant. decked out it made fools mutter.
Now because of old age A prostitute at the door,
they are like bamboo sticks. like a hunter spreading out the snare.
This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth.
I flashed my ornaments
Once my calves were beautiful as if I was showing my hidden parts.
decorated with smooth anklets made of gold. I created illusion for people,
Now because of old age, all the while sneering at them.
they are like sesame switches.
This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth. Today I collected alms,
head shaved, covered with outer robe,
Once my feet were beautiful, now seated at the foot of the tree.
so soft they seemed filled with cotton. What i get has nothing to do with schemes.
Now because of old age
they are wrinkled, callused and cracked. All ties are cut, whether human or divine.
This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth. I have thrown away all that fouls the heart.
I have become cool, free.
This body was once like that,
now feeble with age and fallen from its pride.
It is the home of many sufferings, Anopama
like an old house, the plaster falling down.
This is the teaching of one who speaks the truth. I was born in a good family
with great wealth and many possessions.
Good looking, I was Megha’s very own daughter.
Vimala I lived up to my name ‘without compare’.

Intoxicated by my good looks, I was sought after by princes,

by my body, my beauty and my reputation. coveted by sons of millionaires,
Haughty because of my youth, until one sent my father a message:
I looked down on other women. “Give me Anopama.

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 Spoken by Bodhi:
“I will give eight what your daughter Anopama You are so lovely, lady Isidasi, none of your youth is lost,
weighs in gold and silver as bride price.” what did you see that was so wrong
that it made you intent on renunciation?
I saw the Buddha, supreme in the world, unsurpassed. Spoken by those who compiled the Scriptures:
I worshipped his feet, then I came near on one side. When in that secluded place she was called to account,
Isadasi, who was skilled as a preacher, said,
Gautama taught me the dharma out of kindness toward me, “Listen, Bodhi, to how I went forth.”
and sitting there, I became one who would not return again.
Isadasi:
I cut my hair and went forth to homelessness. My father was an eminent man of wealth in Ujjeni,
Today is the seventh night since craving was destroyed for he was virtuous too.
me. I was his only daughter, dear to him,
a pleasure to him, the focus of his kindness.

Isidasi Then suitors came from Saketa to ask for me,

all from a noble family,
Spoken by those who compiled the Scriptures: among them was another eminent man of great wealth.
In Pataliputta, the city named after a flower Father gave me as a daughter-in-law to him.
and which is in the finest part of the earth,
there were two nuns, each with excellent qualities, I waited on my mother-in-law and my father-in-law,
each from good families in the Sakya clan. morning and night, I placed my head on their feet,
I honoured them just as I had been taught.
Isidasi was one and the nun Bodhi was the other,
each virtuous and learned, I would get flustered if I saw
they delighted in meditation and study, the sisters of my husband,
all defiling compulsions destroyed. his brothers, or his servants,
even if I saw my husband himself,
After they ate their alms and washed their bowls, and I would give up my seat.
while sitting happily in a secluded place,
they sang out these important words. I tried to please them with all sorts of food and drinks,
I brought in whatever delicacy was available

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and gave each whatever was preferred. I want to leave, I don’t need your permission to go.”

Up and about at an early hour, After they heard that, my parents-in-law asked me,
I would come to the house and pause at the door, “What have you been up to?
after washing my hands and feet Open up, tell what really happened.”
I would come to my husband with my hands folded.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, I never hurt him,
I brought a comb and an ornament, I never even said an untoward word,
a box of eye ointment, and a mirror, what should I do when my husband hates me so much?”
and I groomed my own husband well,
as a servant would. They took me back to my father’s house unhappily,
not understanding what had happened, they said,
I cooked rice in milk for him, then washed his bowl myself, “While watching over our son, we lost Lakshmi incarnate”
I looked after my husband, like a mother would for her only
son. Then Father gave me to a rich man from a second family.
That eminent man of wealth got me but with only half the
My husband only did me wrong, dowry.
while I was virtuous, not lazy and submissive,
he only humiliated me when I waited on him lovingly. I lived in his house for just a month,
virtuous, innocent, attending to his wants,
He would say to his mother and father, but he treated me more like a slave than a wife.
“ I want to leave, I don’t need your permission to go,
I will not live with Isidasi, My father than spoke to an ascetic wandering for alms,
I don’t want to live in the same house as her.” a man who had tamed himself and could tame others.
“Be my daughter’s husband in my house,
“Don’t speak like that, son, throw away the rags you are wearing and your bowls.”
Isidasi is wise and beautiful,
she gets up early and is not lazy, He lived with us for two weeks before he said to Father,
what don’t you like, son?” “Give me back the rags and the bowl, I will wander for alms
again.”
“It’s not that she hurts me, it’s just that I can’t stand her,
I hate her and I have had enough, Father said to him, and then my mother and all my relatives,

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“What hasn’t been done for you? Just say it and she will do experience.”
it.”
I honored my parents and then all of my relatives,
He replied,” Whatever I can do for myself is enough for me, I went forth and seven days later
I don’t want to live in the same house as Isidasi.” I knew the three things that most don’t know.

No one stopped him when he went off and I was left alone, I know my last seven births and what caused
I thought, “Either I sneak off to die or I will go forth.” all that has happened to me in this life,
I will tell that to you, listen carefully to it.
The Jinadatta, wandering for food, came to Father’s house,
it was obvious that she was disciplined, learned and virtuous. I was once a wealthy goldsmith in Erakaccha city,
but my youth made my head spin,
As soon as I saw her, I got up from my seat and gave it to and I had sex with the wife of another.
her;
when she had sat, I bowed to her feet and gave her food. When I died, I cooked in hell for a long time,
and then rising from there, I entered the womb of a monkey.
I tried to please her will all sorts of foods and drinks,
I brought in whatever delicacy was available, A great monkey, the leader of the troop,
and then I said, “Madam, I wish to go forth.” castrated me when I was seven days old,
this was the karmic fruit for adultery.
Father immediately said to me, “Child, you can practice
the Buddha’s teaching here at home, be satisfied It was in the Sindhava forest where I died,
with giving food and drink to ascetics and the twice-born.” and then I entered the womb of a one-eyed, lame goat.

I started to cry and showing my respect with my hands As a goat, I was castrated,
joined together, and I was always afflicted by vermin,
I said to Father, “ I have done evil children rode me for twelve years,
and I must destroy that karma.” all for my adultery.

Father relented and said, “ May you attain awakening, After my death as a goat, I was given birth by a cow
the highest dhamma and freedom as well, belonging to a cattle-trader, a calf with the red color of lac,
may you attain everything that has the best of humans I was castrated when I was twelve months old.

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I had to draw carts, plows, and wagons,
I was blind, always afflicted, and unhealthy, all for my
Dhamma
adultery.
Wandering about for alms,
but weak, leaning on a stick with limbs shaking,
After my death as a bullock, I was born on the street,
I fell to the ground right there,
in the household of a slave,
and seeing the danger [misery] in the body,
I was neither male or female,
I was the third sex, all for my adultery. my heart was freed.

I died when I was thirty and was reborn a carter’s daughter,

in a family that was miserable and poor, always
under attack from many creditors.

When the interest that was owed had accumulated and was
large,
a caravan-leader took me from the house by force,
and dragged me away crying.

His son Giridasa noticed that I had reached puberty

in my sixteenth year and he claimed me as his own.

He already had another wife,

someone virtuous, of good qualities, with a good reputation,
she loved her husband, but I made her hate me.

So it was all the fruit of my karma,

when they all threw me away and left,
even when I waited on them like a slave,
but now I have put an end to all that. Translated by Charles Hallisey
Therigatha: Poems of the First Buddhist Women
Murty Classical Library of India

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