thig10.1:0.1Verses of the Senior Nuns 10.1
thig10.1:0.2The Book of the Elevens
thig10.1:0.3Kisāgotamī
thig10.1:1.1“Pointing out how the world works,
thig10.1:1.2the sages have praised good friendship.
thig10.1:1.3Associating with good friends,
thig10.1:1.4even a fool becomes astute.
thig10.1:2.1Associate with true persons,
thig10.1:2.2for that is how wisdom grows.
thig10.1:2.3Should you associate with true persons,
thig10.1:2.4you would be freed from all suffering.
thig10.1:3.1And you would understand suffering,
thig10.1:3.2its origin and cessation,
thig10.1:3.3the eightfold path,
thig10.1:3.4and so the four noble truths.”
thig10.1:4.1“‘A woman’s life is painful,’
thig10.1:4.2explained the Buddha, guide for those fit to train,
thig10.1:4.3‘and for a co-wife it’s especially so.
thig10.1:4.4After giving birth just once,
thig10.1:5.1some women even cut their own throat,
thig10.1:5.2while delicate ladies take poison.
thig10.1:5.3Being guilty of killing a person,
thig10.1:5.4they both undergo ruin.’”
thig10.1:6.1“I was on the road, near to giving birth,
thig10.1:6.2when I saw my husband dead.
thig10.1:6.3I gave birth there on the road
thig10.1:6.4before I’d reached my own house.
thig10.1:7.1My two children have died,
thig10.1:7.2and on the road my husband lies dead— oh woe is me!
thig10.1:7.3Mother, father, and brother
thig10.1:7.4all burning up on the same pyre.”
thig10.1:8.1“Oh woe is you whose family is lost,
thig10.1:8.2the suffering you have undergone has no measure;
thig10.1:8.3you have been shedding tears
thig10.1:8.4for many thousands of lives.”
thig10.1:9.1“While staying in the charnel ground,
thig10.1:9.2I saw my son’s flesh being eaten.
thig10.1:9.3With my family destroyed, condemned by all,
thig10.1:9.4and my husband dead, I realized freedom from death.
thig10.1:10.1I’ve developed the noble eightfold path
thig10.1:10.2leading to freedom from death.
thig10.1:10.3I’ve realized extinguishment,
thig10.1:10.4as seen in the mirror of the Dhamma.
thig10.1:11.1I’ve plucked out the dart,
thig10.1:11.2laid down the burden, and done what needed to be done.”
thig10.1:11.3The senior nun Kisāgotamī,
thig10.1:11.4her mind released, said this.