thig12.1:0.1Verses of the Senior Nuns 12.1
thig12.1:0.2The Book of the Sixteens
thig12.1:0.3Puṇṇikā
thig12.1:1.1“I used to be a water-carrier. Even when it was cold,
thig12.1:1.2I would always plunge into the water,
thig12.1:1.3afraid of my masters’ beatings,
thig12.1:1.4harassed by fear of abuse and anger.
thig12.1:2.1Brahmin, what are you afraid of,
thig12.1:2.2that you always plunge into the water,
thig12.1:2.3your limbs trembling
thig12.1:2.4in the freezing cold?”
thig12.1:3.1“Oh, but you already know,
thig12.1:3.2Madam Puṇṇikā, when you ask me:
thig12.1:3.3I am doing good deeds,
thig12.1:3.4to ward off the wickedness I have done.
thig12.1:4.1Whosoever young or old
thig12.1:4.2performs a wicked deed,
thig12.1:4.3by ablution in water they are
thig12.1:4.4released from their wicked deed.”
thig12.1:5.1“Who on earth told you this,
thig12.1:5.2one ignoramus to another:
thig12.1:5.3‘Actually, by ablution in water one is
thig12.1:5.4released from a wicked deed.’
thig12.1:6.1Would not they all go to heaven, then:
thig12.1:6.2all the frogs and the turtles,
thig12.1:6.3dragons, dolphins,
thig12.1:6.4and other water-dwellers too?
thig12.1:7.1Butchers of sheep and pigs,
thig12.1:7.2fishermen, animal trappers,
thig12.1:7.3bandits, executioners,
thig12.1:7.4and others of evil deeds:
thig12.1:7.5by ablution in water they too would be
thig12.1:7.6released from their wicked deeds.
thig12.1:8.1If these rivers had carried away
thig12.1:8.2your bad deeds in the past,
thig12.1:8.3they would also carry away your good deeds,
thig12.1:8.4from which you’d be prevented.
thig12.1:9.1Brahmin, the thing that you are afraid of,
thig12.1:9.2when you always plunge into the water,
thig12.1:9.3do not do that very thing,
thig12.1:9.4don’t let the cold harm your skin.”
thig12.1:10.1“I have been on the wrong path,
thig12.1:10.2and you’ve guided me to the noble path.
thig12.1:10.3Madam, I give to you
thig12.1:10.4this ablution cloth.”
thig12.1:11.1“Keep the cloth for yourself,
thig12.1:11.2I do not want it.
thig12.1:11.3If you fear suffering,
thig12.1:11.4if you don’t like suffering,
thig12.1:12.1then don’t do bad deeds
thig12.1:12.2either openly or in secret.
thig12.1:12.3If you should do a bad deed,
thig12.1:12.4or you’re doing one now,
thig12.1:13.1you won’t be freed from suffering,
thig12.1:13.2though you fly away and flee.
thig12.1:13.3If you fear suffering,
thig12.1:13.4if you don’t like suffering,
thig12.1:14.1go for refuge to the Buddha, the unaffected,
thig12.1:14.2to his teaching and to the Saṅgha.
thig12.1:14.3Undertake the precepts,
thig12.1:14.4that will be good for you.”
thig12.1:15.1“I go for refuge to the Buddha, the unaffected,
thig12.1:15.2to his teaching and to the Saṅgha.
thig12.1:15.3I undertake the precepts,
thig12.1:15.4that will be good for me.
thig12.1:16.1I used to be brahmin only by kin,
thig12.1:16.2today I truly am a brahmin!
thig12.1:16.3Master of the three knowledges, accomplished in wisdom,
thig12.1:16.4I’m a scholar, a bathed initiate.”