thag.5.7 Theragatha

Gayākassapa

Three times a day—
morning, midday, and evening—
I plunged into the water at Gayā
for the Gayā spring festival.
“Whatever bad things I’ve done
in previous lives,
I’ll now wash away right here”—
such was the view I used to hold.
Having heard the fine words,
a passage meaningful and principled,
I properly reflected
on the true, essential goal.
I’ve washed away all bad things;
I’m stainless, clean, pristine;
the pure heir of the pure one,
a true-born child of the Buddha.
When I plunged into the eightfold stream,
all bad things were washed away.
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.