English
Black, like the color of a bee, with curled tips, my hair once was; Now, by old age, it's like hemp-bark, the words of the Truth-speaker are not otherwise. Like a perfumed casket, filled with flowers, was my head-hair. Now, by old age, it smells like a wild dog, the words of the Truth-speaker are not otherwise. Like a well-planted forest, dense, adorned with combs and pins at the ends; Now, by old age, it is sparse here and there, the words of the Truth-speaker are not otherwise. Adorned with black braids, golden-banded, it shone, decorated with beautiful plaits. Now, by old age, the head is bald, the words of the Truth-speaker are not otherwise. Like lines well-drawn by a painter, my eyebrows once shone. Now, by old age, they hang down with wrinkles, the words of the Truth-speaker are not otherwise. Shining, very lovely, like gems, my eyes were deep blue and long. Now, by old age, they are afflicted and do not shine, the words of the Truth-speaker are not otherwise. My nose, like a well-formed peak, shone in the bloom of youth. Now, by old age, it is like a shriveled gourd, the words of the Truth-speaker are not otherwise. Like well-made, finished bracelets, my earlobes once shone. Now, by old age, they hang down with wrinkles, the words of the Truth-speaker are not otherwise. Like the color of jasmine buds, my teeth once shone. Now, by old age, they are broken and yellowed, the words of the Truth-speaker are not otherwise. Like a cuckoo roaming in a forest grove, I used to sing sweetly. Now, by old age, my voice falters here and there, the words of the Truth-speaker are not otherwise. Like a well-polished conch shell, my neck once shone. Now, by old age, it is broken and bent, the words of the Truth-speaker are not otherwise. Like round, strong door-bars, my two arms once shone. Now, by old age, they are like withered pāṭalī flowers, the words Adorned with fine rings of gold, My hands once shone; Now, with old age, they are like gnarled roots, The word of the Truth-speaker is otherwise not. 265. My two breasts, Full, round, and uplifted, once shone; Now, like waterless bags, they hang down, The word of the Truth-speaker is otherwise not. 266. My body, Like a well-polished golden plate, once shone; Now, it is covered with fine wrinkles, The word of the Truth-speaker is otherwise not. 267. My two thighs, Like the trunk of an elephant, once shone; Now, with old age, they are like bamboo stalks, The word of the Truth-speaker is otherwise not. 268. My shins, Adorned with fine golden anklets, once shone; Now, with old age, they are like sesame stalks, The word of the Truth-speaker is otherwise not. 269. My two feet, Like cotton-filled cushions, once shone; Now, with old age, they are cracked and wrinkled, The word of the Truth-speaker is otherwise not. 270. Such was this body, Decrepit, an abode of much suffering; A house of old age, its plaster fallen, The word of the Truth-speaker is otherwise not. … Ambapālī the Elder Nun …. 2. Rohinītherīgāthā 271. "Ascetics!" you sleep, "Ascetics!" you awaken; You praise only ascetics, Surely you will be an ascetic. 272. Abundant food and drink, You give to ascetics; Rohinī, now I ask, Why are ascetics dear to you? 273. Desiring no work, lazy, Living on what others give; Full of desires, craving sweets, Why are ascetics dear to you? 274. After a long time, father, You ask me about ascetics; I will praise to you Their wisdom, virtue, and effort. 275. Desiring work, not lazy, They do the best work; They abandon lust and hatred, Therefore ascetics are dear to me. 276. The three roots of evil, They shake off They are pure doers; All evil they have abandoned, therefore dear to me are these ascetics. 277. Their bodily action is pure, their verbal action likewise; Their mental action is pure, therefore dear to me are these ascetics. 278. Spotless like a conch-pearl, pure within and without; Full of wholesome qualities, therefore dear to me are these ascetics. 279. Learned, upholders of the Dhamma, noble, living by the Dhamma; They teach the meaning and the Dhamma, therefore dear to me are these ascetics. 280. Learned, upholders of the Dhamma, noble, living by the Dhamma; With one-pointed minds, mindful, therefore dear to me are these ascetics. 281. Far-reaching, mindful, speaking wisely, not arrogant; They know the end of suffering, therefore dear to me are these ascetics. 282. From whatever village they depart, they look back at nothing; They go without attachment, therefore dear to me are these ascetics. 283. They do not store in granaries, nor in pots, nor in baskets; They seek what is finished, therefore dear to me are these ascetics. 284. They do not accept gold, nor silver, nor money; They sustain themselves with what is present, therefore dear to me are these ascetics. 285. Gone forth from various families, and from various countries; They love one another, therefore dear to me are these ascetics. 286. Indeed, for our benefit, sister, you were born in this family, Rohini; Faithful in the Buddha, and in the Dhamma, and with strong reverence for the Sangha. 287. You indeed know this, the unsurpassed field of merit; These ascetics accept offerings even from us. 288. Established here, our sacrifice will be abundant; If you fear suffering, if suffering is displeasing to you. 289. Go for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha of such ones; Undertake the precepts, that will be for your benefit. 290. I go for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha of such ones; I undertake the precepts, that will be for my benefit. 291. Formerly I was a kinsman of Brahmā, now I am a brahmin; I am one with the three knowledges, a learned one. I am a knower of the Vedas, a cleansed one. 3. Cāpātherīgāthā 292. A stick-bearer he was before, now he is a hunter of deer. From the terrible swamp of craving, he could not get across. 293. Thinking me to be drunk, Cāpā made her son happy. Having cut Cāpā's bond, I shall go forth again. 294. Do not be angry with me, great hero, do not be angry with me, great sage. For one overcome by anger, there is no purity, how then ascetic practice? 295. I shall depart from the snare, for anger dwells in the snare, Binding with the form of a woman, the ascetics who live by the Dhamma. 296. Come, Kāḷa, turn back, enjoy sensual pleasures as before. I am subject to you, and so are my relatives. 297. From this, Cāpā, a fourth part, as you speak to me. For a man enamored of you, that would indeed be great. 298. Like a Kāḷaṅginī creeper, a Takkārī in full bloom on a mountain top; like a flowering pomegranate branch, or a Pāṭalī tree on an island. 299. My limbs smeared with yellow sandalwood, wearing the finest Kāsī cloth; that me, beautiful and peaceful, whom do you abandon and go? 300. Like a fowler wishes to bind a bird, with your alluring form, you will not hinder me. 301. And this fruit of a son for me, Kāḷa, produced by you; that me, having a son and peaceful, whom do you abandon and go? 302. The wise abandon sons, then relatives, then wealth; the great heroes go forth, like an elephant breaking its bonds. 303. Now this son of yours, with a stick or a knife, or I will dash him to the ground, so that you do not go due to sorrow for your son. 304. If you give the son to jackals, or to dogs; you will not, by the deed of a son, make me turn back again. 305. Well then, good sir, where will you go, Kāḷa? To which village or market town, city or capital? 306. We were formerly householders, not ascetics, but considering ourselves ascetics. ino; From village to village we wandered, in cities and royal capitals. 307. “This indeed is the Blessed One, the Buddha, by the Nerañjarā River. For the abandoning of all suffering, he teaches the Dhamma to beings. I will go to his presence, he will be my Teacher.” 308. “Now you should offer homage to the unsurpassed Lord of the world. And having circumambulated him, you should tell him of Dakkhiṇā.” 309. “This indeed is obtainable by us, just as you speak to me. Now I will offer homage to the unsurpassed Lord of the world. And having circumambulated him, I will tell him of Dakkhiṇā.” 310. Then Kāḷa departed, towards the Nerañjarā River. He saw the Fully Awakened One, teaching the deathless state. 311. Suffering, the origin of suffering, and the transcending of suffering; and the Noble Eightfold Path, leading to the cessation of suffering. 312. Having paid homage at his feet, and having circumambulated him, and having told Cāpā, I went forth into homelessness. The three knowledges have been attained, the Buddha's teaching has been done. … Cāpā the Elder Nun …. 4. The Verses of Sundarī the Elder Nun 313. “Your dead children, lady, you were eating before. You, by day and by night, grieved exceedingly. 314. “But now, having eaten all your hundred children, brahmin woman, Vāseṭṭhī, by what means do you not grieve so much?” 315. “Many hundreds of children, and hundreds of kinsfolk, have been eaten in the past, both by me and by you, brahmin. 316. “I, having known the escape from birth and from death, do not sorrow, do not weep, nor do I grieve.” 317. “Wonderful indeed, Vāseṭṭhī, you speak such words! Whose Dhamma have you understood, that you speak such a speech?” 318. “This Fully Awakened One, brahmin, towards the city of Mithilā, for the abandoning of all suffering, teaches the Dhamma to beings. 319. “Having heard the Dhamma of that Arahant, brahmin, the Dhamma free from defilements, There having understood the True Dhamma, I dispelled the sorrow for my son.” 320. “So I too will go to the city of Mithilā; Perhaps that Blessed One will release me from all suffering.” 321. The brahmin saw the Buddha, freed, without substrata; The sage, gone to the far shore of suffering, taught him the Dhamma. 322. Suffering, the origin of suffering, and the overcoming of suffering; And the Noble Eightfold Path, leading to the cessation of suffering.