thig13.5:0.1Verses of the Senior Nuns 13.5
thig13.5:0.2The Book of the Twenties
thig13.5:0.3Subhā, the Smith’s Daughter
thig13.5:1.1“I was so young, my clothes so fresh,
thig13.5:1.2at that time I heard the teaching.
thig13.5:1.3Being diligent,
thig13.5:1.4I comprehended the truth;
thig13.5:2.1and then I became profoundly dispassionate
thig13.5:2.2toward all sensual pleasures.
thig13.5:2.3Seeing fear in substantial reality,
thig13.5:2.4I longed for renunciation.
thig13.5:3.1Giving up my family circle,
thig13.5:3.2bonded servants and workers,
thig13.5:3.3and my flourishing village fields,
thig13.5:3.4so delightful and pleasant,
thig13.5:4.1I went forth;
thig13.5:4.2all that is no small wealth.
thig13.5:4.3Now that I’ve renounced in faith like this,
thig13.5:4.4in the true teaching so well proclaimed,
thig13.5:5.1since I desire to have nothing,
thig13.5:5.2it would not be appropriate
thig13.5:5.3to take back gold and currency,
thig13.5:5.4having already got rid of them.
thig13.5:6.1Currency or gold
thig13.5:6.2doesn’t lead to peace and awakening.
thig13.5:6.3It doesn’t befit an ascetic;
thig13.5:6.4it’s not the wealth of the noble ones;
thig13.5:7.1it’s greed and vanity,
thig13.5:7.2confusion and growing decadence,
thig13.5:7.3dubious and troublesome—
thig13.5:7.4there is nothing lasting there.
thig13.5:8.1Depraved and heedless,
thig13.5:8.2unenlightened folk, their hearts corrupt,
thig13.5:8.3fight each other,
thig13.5:8.4creating conflict.
thig13.5:9.1Killing, caging, misery,
thig13.5:9.2loss, grief, and lamentation;
thig13.5:9.3those sunk in sensual pleasures
thig13.5:9.4see many disastrous things.
thig13.5:10.1My family, why do you urge me on
thig13.5:10.2to pleasures, as if you were my enemies?
thig13.5:10.3You know I’ve gone forth,
thig13.5:10.4seeing fear in sensual pleasures.
thig13.5:11.1It’s not due to gold, coined or uncoined,
thig13.5:11.2that defilements come to an end.
thig13.5:11.3Sensual pleasures are enemies and killers,
thig13.5:11.4hostile forces that bind you to thorns.
thig13.5:12.1My family, why do you urge me on
thig13.5:12.2to pleasures, as if you were my enemies?
thig13.5:12.3You know I’ve gone forth,
thig13.5:12.4shaven, wrapped in my outer robe.
thig13.5:13.1Leftovers as gleanings,
thig13.5:13.2and cast-off rags as robes—
thig13.5:13.3that’s what’s fitting for me,
thig13.5:13.4the essentials of the homeless life.
thig13.5:14.1Great seers expel sensual pleasures,
thig13.5:14.2both human and heavenly.
thig13.5:14.3Safe in their sanctuary, they are freed,
thig13.5:14.4having found unshakable happiness.
thig13.5:15.1May I not encounter sensual pleasures,
thig13.5:15.2for no shelter is found in them.
thig13.5:15.3Sensual pleasures are enemies and killers,
thig13.5:15.4as painful as a mass of fire.
thig13.5:16.1This is a roadblock, a threat,
thig13.5:16.2full of distress and thorns;
thig13.5:16.3it is a blind spot, uneven,
thig13.5:16.4a great gateway to confusion.
thig13.5:17.1Hazardous and terrifying,
thig13.5:17.2sensual pleasures are like a cobra’s head,
thig13.5:17.3where fools delight,
thig13.5:17.4the blind ordinary folk.
thig13.5:18.1Stuck in the swamp of sensuality,
thig13.5:18.2there are so many ignorant in the world.
thig13.5:18.3They know nothing of the end
thig13.5:18.4of rebirth and death.
thig13.5:19.1Because of sensual pleasures,
thig13.5:19.2people jump right on to the path that goes to a bad place.
thig13.5:19.3So many walk the path
thig13.5:19.4that brings disease onto themselves.
thig13.5:20.1That’s how sensual pleasures create enemies;
thig13.5:20.2they are so tormenting, so corrupting,
thig13.5:20.3trapping beings with worldly pleasures of the flesh,
thig13.5:20.4they are nothing less than the bonds of death.
thig13.5:21.1Maddening, enticing,
thig13.5:21.2sensual pleasures derange the mind.
thig13.5:21.3For the corruption of beings,
thig13.5:21.4swiftly ensnared by Māra.
thig13.5:22.1Sensual pleasures are infinitely dangerous,
thig13.5:22.2they’re full of suffering, a terrible poison;
thig13.5:22.3offering little gratification, they’re makers of strife,
thig13.5:22.4withering bright qualities away.
thig13.5:23.1Since I’ve created so much ruination
thig13.5:23.2because of sensual pleasures,
thig13.5:23.3I will not relapse to them again,
thig13.5:23.4but will always delight in extinguishment.
thig13.5:24.1Having once made strife for the sake of sensual pleasures,
thig13.5:24.2now I am longing for that cool state.
thig13.5:24.3I shall meditate diligently
thig13.5:24.4for the ending of all fetters.
thig13.5:25.1Sorrowless, stainless, secure—
thig13.5:25.2I follow that path,
thig13.5:25.3the straight noble eightfold way
thig13.5:25.4by which the seers have crossed over.”
thig13.5:26.1“Look at this: Subhā the smith’s daughter,
thig13.5:26.2standing firm in the teaching.
thig13.5:26.3She has entered the imperturbable state,
thig13.5:26.4meditating at the root of a tree.
thig13.5:27.1It’s just eight days since she went forth,
thig13.5:27.2the faithful one, grace of the true teaching.
thig13.5:27.3Guided by Uppalavaṇṇā,
thig13.5:27.4she is master of the three knowledges, conqueror of death.
thig13.5:28.1This one is freed from slavery and debt,
thig13.5:28.2a nun with faculties developed.
thig13.5:28.3Unyoked from all yokes,
thig13.5:28.4she has completed the task and is free of defilements.”
thig13.5:29.1Thus did Sakka, lord of all creatures,
thig13.5:29.2along with a host of gods,
thig13.5:29.3having come by their psychic powers,
thig13.5:29.4honor Subhā, the smith’s daughter.