thig11.1:0.1Verses of the Senior Nuns 11.1
thig11.1:0.2The Book of the Twelves
thig11.1:0.3Uppalavaṇṇā
thig11.1:1.1“The two of us were co-wives,
thig11.1:1.2though we were mother and daughter.
thig11.1:1.3I was struck with a sense of urgency,
thig11.1:1.4so astonishing and hair-raising!
thig11.1:2.1Curse those filthy sensual pleasures,
thig11.1:2.2so nasty and thorny,
thig11.1:2.3where we, both mother and daughter,
thig11.1:2.4had to be co-wives together.
thig11.1:3.1Seeing the danger in sensual pleasures,
thig11.1:3.2seeing renunciation as sanctuary,
thig11.1:3.3I went forth in Rājagaha
thig11.1:3.4from the lay life to homelessness.
thig11.1:4.1I know my past lives;
thig11.1:4.2my clairvoyance is clarified;
thig11.1:4.3I encompass the minds of others;
thig11.1:4.4my clairaudience is purified;
thig11.1:5.1I’ve realized the psychic powers,
thig11.1:5.2and attained the ending of defilements.
thig11.1:5.3I’ve realized the six kinds of direct knowledge,
thig11.1:5.4and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
thig11.1:6.1I created a four-horsed chariot
thig11.1:6.2using my psychic powers.
thig11.1:6.3Then I bowed at the feet of the Buddha,
thig11.1:6.4the glorious protector of the world.”
thig11.1:7.1“You’ve come to this sal tree all crowned with flowers,
thig11.1:7.2and stand at its root all alone.
thig11.1:7.3But you have no male companion with you—
thig11.1:7.4silly girl, aren’t you afraid of rascals?”
thig11.1:8.1“Even if 100,000 rascals like this
thig11.1:8.2were to gang up,
thig11.1:8.3I’d stir not a hair nor tremble.
thig11.1:8.4What could you do to me all alone, Māra?
thig11.1:9.1I’ll vanish,
thig11.1:9.2or I’ll enter your belly;
thig11.1:9.3I could stand between your eyebrows
thig11.1:9.4and you still wouldn’t see me.
thig11.1:10.1I’m the master of my own mind,
thig11.1:10.2I’ve developed the bases of psychic power well.
thig11.1:10.3I’ve realized the six kinds of direct knowledge,
thig11.1:10.4and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
thig11.1:11.1Sensual pleasures are like swords and spears;
thig11.1:11.2the aggregates are their chopping block.
thig11.1:11.3What you call erotic delight
thig11.1:11.4is now no delight for me.
thig11.1:12.1Relishing is banished in every respect,
thig11.1:12.2and the mass of darkness is shattered.
thig11.1:12.3So know this, Wicked One:
thig11.1:12.4you’re beaten, terminator!”