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# Therigatha

## Chapter V -- The Fives

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V.2 -- Vimala, the Former Courtesan {vv. 72-76}
[Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]

> Intoxicated with my complexion
> figure, beauty, & fame;
> haughty with youth,
> I despised other women.
> Adorning this body
> embellished to delude foolish men,
> I stood at the door to the brothel:
> a hunter with snare laid out.
> I showed off my ornaments,
> and revealed many a private part.
> I worked my manifold magic,
> laughing out loud at the crowd.

> Today, wrapped in a double cloak,
> my head shaven,
> having wandered for alms,
> I sit at the foot of a tree
> and attain the state of no-thought.
> All ties -- human & divine -- have been cut.
> Having cast off all effluents,
> cooled am I, unbound.

V.4 -- Nanda's Vision {vv. 82-86}
[Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]

> "Sick, putrid, unclean:
> look, Nanda, at this physical heap.
> Through contemplation of the foul,
> develop your mind,
> make it one, well-centered.

> As this [your body], so that.
> As that, so this.
> It gives off a foul stench,
> the delight of fools."

> Considering it thus,
> untiring, both day & night,
> I, with my own discernment
> dissecting it,
> saw.

> And as I, heedful,
> examined it aptly,
> this body -- as it actually is --
> was seen inside & out.

> Then was I disenchanted with the body
> & dispassionate within:
> Heedful, detached,
> calmed was I.

> Unbound.

* * *

V.4 -- Nanda, The Half-sister of the Awakened One {vv. 82-86}
[Hellmuth Hecker/Sister Khema, trans. From Buddhist Women at the Time of The Buddha (WH 292/293), by Hellmuth Hecker, translated from the German by Sister Khema, (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1982). Copyright ©1982 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.]

> Sick, impure and foul as well,
> Nanda, see this congeries
> With the unlovely, develop mind
> Well-composed to singleness.

> As is that, thus will this likewise be.
> Exhaling foulness, evil smells,
> A thing it is enjoyed by fools.

> Diligently considering it,
> By day and night thus seeing it,
> With my own wisdom having seen,
> I turned away, dispassionate.

> With my diligence, carefully
> I examined the body
> And saw this as it really is --
> Both within and without.

> Unlusting and dispassionate
> Within this body then was I:
> By diligence from fetters freed,
> Peaceful was I and quite cool.

V.6 -- Mittakali {vv. 92-96}
[Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]

> Going forth through conviction
> from home into homelessness,
> I wandered this place & that,
> greedy for tribute & gains.
> Missing out on the foremost goal,
> I pursued a lowly one.
> Under the sway of defilements
> I surrendered the goal
> of the contemplative life.

> Then, sitting in my dwelling,
> I suddenly came to my senses:

> > I'm following a miserable path.
> > I'm under the sway of
> > craving.
> > Next to nothing, my life --
> > crushed
> > by aging & illness.
> > Before the body breaks apart,
> > I have no time
> > for heedlessness.

> After watching, as it actually was,
> the rising & falling of aggregates,
> I stood up with mind released,
> the Awakened One's bidding
> done.

V.8 -- Sona, Mother of Ten {vv. 102-106}
[Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]

> Ten children I bore
> from this physical heap.
> Then weak from that, aged,
> I went to a nun.
> She taught me the Dhamma:
> aggregates, sense spheres, & elements.
> Hearing her Dhamma,
> I cut off my hair & ordained.
> Having purified the divine eye
> while still a probationer,
> I know my previous lives,
> where I lived in the past.
> I develop the theme-less meditation,
> well-focused oneness.
> I gain the liberation of immediacy --
> from lack of clinging, unbound.
> The five aggregates, comprehended,
> stand like a tree with its root cut through.
> I spit on old age.
> There is now no further becoming.

* * *

V.8 -- Sona, with Many Children {vv. 102-106}
[Hellmuth Hecker/Sister Khema, trans. From Buddhist Women at the Time of The Buddha (WH 292/293), by Hellmuth Hecker, translated from the German by Sister Khema, (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1982). Copyright ©1982 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.]

> Ten children having borne
> from this bodily congeries,
> so I, now weak and old,
> approached a Bhikkhuni.

> The Dhamma she taught me --
> groups, sense-spheres and elements,
> I heard the Dhamma,
> and having shaved my hair, went forth.

> While still a probationer
> I purified the eye divine;
> Former lives I knew,
> and where I lived before.

> One-pointed, well-composed,
> the Signless I developed,
> immediately released,
> unclinging now and quenched!
> Knowing the five groups well,
> they still exist; but with their roots removed.
> Unmovable am I,
> on a stable basis sure,
> now rebirth is no more.

V.9 -- Bhadda Kundalakesa, the Former Jain Ascetic {vv. 107-111}
[Hellmuth Hecker/Sister Khema, trans. From Buddhist Women at the Time of The Buddha (WH 292/293), by Hellmuth Hecker, translated from the German by Sister Khema, (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1982). Copyright ©1982 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.]

> I traveled before in a single cloth,
> With shaven head, covered in dust,
> Thinking of faults in the faultless,
> While in the faulty seeing no faults.
> When done was the day's abiding,
> I went to Mount Vulture Peak
> And saw the stainless Buddha
> By the Order of Bhikkhus revered.
> Then before Him my hands in añjali
> Humbly, I bowed down on my knees.
> "Come, Bhadda," He said to me:
> And thus was I ordained.
> Debt-free, I traveled for fifty years
> In Anga, Magadha and Vajji,
> In Kasi and Kosala, too,
> Living on the alms of the land.
> That lay-supporter -- wise man indeed --
> May many merits accrue to him!
> Who gave a robe to Bhadda for
> Free of all ties is she.

V.10 -- Patacara {vv. 112-116}
[Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]

[I thought:]

> "Plowing the field with plows,
> sowing the ground with seed,
> supporting their wives & children,
> young men gather up wealth.

> So why is it that I,
> consummate in virtue,
> a doer of the teacher's bidding,
> don't gain Unbinding?
> I'm not lazy or proud."

> Washing my feet, I noticed
> the
> water.

> And in watching it flow from high
> to
> low,
> my heart was composed
> like a fine thoroughbred steed.

> Then taking a lamp, I entered the hut,
> checked the bedding,
> sat down on the bed.

> And taking a pin, I pulled out the wick:
> Like the flame's unbinding
> was the liberation
> of awareness.

* * *

V.10 -- Patacara, Preserver of the Vinaya {vv. 112-116}
[Hellmuth Hecker/Sister Khema, trans. From Buddhist Women at the Time of The Buddha (WH 292/293), by Hellmuth Hecker, translated from the German by Sister Khema, (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1982). Copyright ©1982 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.]

> With plows the fields are plowed;
> With seed the earth is sown;
> Thus wives and children feed;
> So young men win their wealth.

> Then why do I, of virtue pure,
> Doing the Master's Teaching,
> Not lazy nor proud,
> Nibbana not attain?

> Having washed my feet,
> Then I watched that water,
> Noticing the foot-water
> Flowing from high to low.
> With that the mind was calmed
> Just as a noble, thoroughbred horse.

> Having taken my lamp,
> I went into my hut,
> Inspected the sleeping-place,
> Then sat upon the couch.

> Having taken a pin,
> I pushed the wick right down, and
> Just as the lamp went out,
> So all delusion of the heart went too.

V.11 -- Patacara's Thirty Students {vv. 117-121}
[Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]

[Patacara taught:]

> "Taking the pestle,
> young men grind the corn.
> Supporting their wives & children,
> they gather up wealth.
> Do the Awakened One's bidding,
> which, having done,
> you'll have no regret.
> Intent on tranquillity of awareness,
> do the Awakened One's bidding.
> Quickly:
> Having washed your feet,
> go sit to one side."

> Hearing these words,
> Patacara's bidding,
> they washed their feet
> and retired to one side.
> Intent on tranquillity of awareness,
> they did the Awakened One's bidding.
> In the first watch of the night,
> they recollected their previous lives.
> In the middle watch,
> purified the divine eye.
> In the last,
> burst the mass of darkness.
> Getting up, they bowed down to her feet.

> "We have done your bidding.
> Like the thirty devas honoring Indra,
> unvanquished in battle,
> we -- endowed with the three knowledges,
> effluent-free --
> will continue honoring you."

* * *

V.11 -- Patacara's Thirty Students {vv. 117-121}
[Hellmuth Hecker/Sister Khema, trans. From Buddhist Women at the Time of The Buddha (WH 292/293), by Hellmuth Hecker, translated from the German by Sister Khema, (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1982). Copyright ©1982 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.]

> Having taken flails,
> Young men thresh the corn.
> Thus wives and children feed;
> So young men win their wealth.
> So likewise as to Buddha's Teachings,
> From doing which there's no remorse.
> Quickly cleanse your feet
> And sit you down alone.
> Devote yourselves to calm of mind,
> And thus do Buddha's Teachings.
> When they heard these words --
> Patacara's instructions,
> Having washed their feet,
> They sat down, each one alone,
> Devoted themselves to calm of mind.
> And thus followed the Buddha's Teachings.
> In the night's first watch
> Past births were remembered;
> In the middle watch of the night
> The eye divine was purified;
> In the night's last watch
> They rent asunder the mass of gloom.
> Having risen, they bowed at her feet,
> Her instructions having done;
> We shall live revering you
> Like the thirty gods to Indra,
> Undefeated in war.
> We are with triple knowledge true
> And gone are all the taints.

V.12 -- Canda, the Beggar {vv. 122-126}
[Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]

> Before, I had fallen on evil times:
> no husband, no children,
> no relatives, friends,
> no way to obtain clothing & food.
> So, taking a staff & bowl in hand,
> begging for alms from house to house,
> feverish from the cold & heat,
> I wandered for seven full years.
> Then seeing a nun
> obtaining food & drink,
> I approached her & said:
> "Let me go forth into homelessness."

> She, Patacara, from sympathy,
> let me go forth;
> then, exhorting me,
> urged me on to the highest goal.
> Hearing her words,
> I did her bidding.
> Her exhortation was not in vain.
> Endowed with the three knowledges,
> I'm effluent-free.

Revised: Tue 16 April 2002