English
In the city of Mantāvatī, of King Koñca and the chief queen, I was the daughter, Sumedhā, gladdened by the doers of the Dispensation. Virtuous, eloquent, learned, trained in the Buddha's Dispensation, approaching her parents, she said, "Both of you, listen. "I delight in Nibbāna, even if the state of becoming is impermanent, even if divine. How much more so are desires empty, with little enjoyment and much harm. "Desires are bitter, like venomous snakes, in which fools are infatuated. They, for a long time in hell, are tormented, suffering. "Evil-doers grieve, always increasing evil in states of woe. By body and by speech, and by mind, fools are unrestrained. "Those fools are unwise, senseless, overwhelmed by the origin of suffering. Not knowing when taught, they do not understand the Noble Truths. "Mother, the Truths taught by the Supreme Buddha, many, not knowing them, delight in becoming, desiring rebirth among the gods. "Even rebirth among the gods is impermanent in this impermanent state of becoming. Yet fools do not fear repeated birth. "There are four states of woe, and two destinations are obtained with difficulty. For those gone to states of woe, there is no renunciation in hells. "Both of you, permit me to go forth in the Dispensation of the Ten-Powered One. Unconcerned, I will strive for the abandoning of birth and death. "What is the use of delighting in becoming, which is a body-dwelling, unsubstantial? For the cessation of the craving for becoming, permit me, I will go forth. "The arising of Buddhas is rare, a moment not a moment has been gained. The virtues, the holy life, I will not defile as long as I live." Thus spoke Sumedhā to her parents: "I will not take food as a layperson, I will be as if gone to the power of death." The mother, distressed, wept. Her father, completely overwhelmed; Strove to make her conscious, fallen on the palace floor. 464. “Arise, my daughter, why grieve? You are given to Vāraṇavatī; King Anīkaratta, handsome, to him you are given. 465. “You will be chief queen, wife of King Anīkaratta; Morality, celibacy, renunciation are difficult, my daughter. 466. “In the kingdom, power, wealth, sovereignty, enjoyments are pleasant, you are young; Enjoy sensual pleasures, let marriage be yours, my daughter.” 467. Then Sumedhā said to them, “Do not speak of such worthless existences; Renunciation will be, or death for me, but never marriage. 468. “Why should I embrace a putrid, impure body, a foul-smelling, fearful corpse; A bag, often oozing, full of impurity? 469. “Why should I, knowing, (embrace) a body smeared with flesh and blood, a mass of worms; A dwelling place for worms, food for birds? Why should this body be given? 470. “It is carried to the charnel ground, soon the body, devoid of consciousness; Is cast away like a log, by disgusted relatives. 471. “Having cast it away in the charnel ground, they bathe, disgusted, after the meal; Even one’s own parents, what then of ordinary people? 472. “Dwelling in this worthless body, a mass of bones and sinews; Full of phlegm, excrement, and urine, this putrid body. 473. “If one were to dissect it, and make its inside outside; Unable to bear the stench, even one's own mother would be disgusted. 474. “The aggregates, elements, sense-bases, conditioned, rooted in birth, are suffering; Reflecting wisely, why should I desire marriage? 475. “Day by day, three hundred and ninety-nine spears might fall on the body; Even a hundred years of such torment is better, for thus suffering ends. 476. “I would undergo such torment, who Understanding thus the Teacher's word; 'Long is their wandering, for those repeatedly slain.' 477. Among gods and humans, In animal wombs, in asura bodies; Among ghosts and in hells, Countless slaughters are seen. 478. Many slaughters in hells, For one gone to perdition, being tormented; Even among gods there is no refuge, There is nothing beyond the bliss of Nibbāna. 479. They have attained Nibbāna, Who are engaged in the teaching of the Ten-Powered One; Without idleness they strive, For the abandoning of birth and death. 480. "Today, father, I will go forth, What good are insubstantial enjoyments? Desires are repulsive to me, Like vomit, like a palm-stump." 481. She spoke thus to her father, And Anīkaratta, to whom she was given; Approached Vāraṇavatī, When the time for the wedding arrived. 482. Then Sumedhā, having cut her thick, dark, soft hair with a sword; Having closed the palace, Attained the first jhāna. 483. And she, having attained that, And Anīkaratta had come to the city; And Sumedhā in the palace, Cultivated the perception of impermanence. 484. And she reflected, And Anīkaratta quickly ascended; His body adorned with jewels and gold, With clasped hands, he implored Sumedhā. 485. "In the kingdom, power, wealth, sovereignty, Enjoyments are pleasant, you are young; Enjoy sensual pleasures, Sensual happiness is rare in the world. 486. "The kingdom is given to you, Enjoy the pleasures, give donations; Do not be sad, Your parents are distressed." 487. Sumedhā, not desiring sensual pleasures, free from delusion, Said this to him: "Do not delight in sensual pleasures, See the danger in sensual pleasures. 488. King Mandhātā, ruler of the four continents, Was a path for enjoyers of sensual pleasures; Unsatisfied, he passed away, His desires were not fulfilled. 489. Even if seven jewels were to rain down, Raining in all ten directions; There is no satisfaction for desires, Unsatisfied, one dies. Then the people. 490. “Desires are like a sword and a spear, desires are like a serpent’s head; They burn like a torch, they are like a skeleton of bones. 491. “Desires are impermanent, unstable, full of much suffering, greatly poisonous; Like a heated iron ball, they are rooted in pain, with painful fruits. 492. “Desires are like the fruits of a tree, they are painful like a piece of flesh; They are like a dream, deceptive, desires are like borrowed things. 493. “Desires are like a spear and a stake, a disease, a boil, a pain, a torment; They are like a pit of glowing coals, a root of pain, fear, slaughter. 494. “Thus desires are full of much suffering, declared as obstacles; Go, I have no trust in the Blessed One for myself. 495. “What will another do for me, when my own head is burning? When old age and death pursue, one should strive for their destruction.” 496. Opening the door, I saw my parents and the army sitting on the ground, weeping, and I said this: 497. “Long is the wandering of fools, weeping again and again; In the beginningless round of existence, at the death of a father, the slaying of a brother, and one’s own slaying. 498. “Remember the tears, milk, and blood, from the beginningless round of existence; Remember the accumulation of bones of beings wandering on. 499. “Remember the four oceans filled with tears, milk, and blood; Remember the accumulation of bones for one eon, equal to a vast amount. 500. “For one wandering in beginningless existence, the earth of Jambudīpa brought forth; Small balls the size of a jujube seed, are not enough for mothers, and mothers of mothers. 501. “Remember the grass, wood, branches, and leaves, brought forth from beginningless existence; Small pieces four fingers long, are not enough for fathers, and fathers of fathers. 502. “Remember the blind turtle in the eastern ocean, and the yoke-hole in the western; Remember its head being put through, as a simile for gaining human birth. 503. “Remember the form of the body, which is like a lump of foam, without essence; See the impermanent aggregates, remember hell.” in great harm. 504. “Remember the cutting of the throat, again and again in those various births; Remember the fear of the crocodile, remember the Four Noble Truths. 505. “When the Deathless exists, why do you drink the five pungent things? All sensual pleasures, indeed, are more pungent than the five pungent things. 506. “When the Deathless exists, what are sensual pleasures to you, which are burning? All sensual pleasures, indeed, are blazing, boiling, trembling, tormenting. 507. “When there is no rival, what are sensual pleasures to you, which have many rivals? Shared with kings, fire, thieves, and water, sensual pleasures have many rivals. 508. “When liberation exists, what are sensual pleasures to you, in which there is killing and bondage? Indeed, those who are not content with sensual pleasures experience the pains of killing and bondage. 509. “A burning grass torch burns him who grasps it, not him who lets go; Sensual pleasures are like a torch, they burn those who do not let go of them. 510. “For the sake of a little, do not abandon great happiness for sensual pleasure; Do not, like a large-scaled fish, swallow the hook and afterwards suffer. 511. “Restrain yourself from sensual pleasures, like a dog tied with a chain; Sensual pleasures will make you like a hungry dog to outcasts. 512. “Bound to sensual pleasures, you will experience immeasurable suffering and many mental displeasures; Renounce these impermanent sensual pleasures. 513. “When the ageless exists, what are sensual pleasures to you, in which there is old age? Seized by death and sickness, are all beings everywhere. 514. “This is ageless, this is deathless, this is the ageless, deathless, sorrowless state; Without rivals, without obstruction, unfaltering, fearless, without torment. 515. “This Deathless has been attained by many, and it is still attainable today; Whoever applies himself wisely, but it cannot be done by one who does not strive.” 516. Thus spoke Sumedhā, finding no delight in conditioned things; Admonishing the one who was not yet a monk, and her hair… Sumedha spoke to me. 517. Having arisen, unattached, With joined palms, she begged her father: "Release Sumedha, To go forth, to see the truth of liberation." 518. Released by mother and father,