Buddhist nuns, eighteen thousand strong,
who were born in the Śākyan clan,
headed up by Yasodharā,
went up to him, the Sambuddha.All those eighteen thousand women
are superpower-possessors.
Worshipping the feet of the Sage,
they’re announcing their strength’s extent."Birth is destroyed, old age, disease,
and death is as well, O Great Sage;
Guide, we travel the peaceful path,
deathless and without defilement.If there’s trouble in the city,
even for everyone, Great Sage,
they all know our imperfections;
Leader, give us your forgiveness.”"Now display your superpowers,
doers of my dispensation;
to that extent cut off the doubt
among all of the assemblies.”"We’re Yasodharās, Great Hero;
desirable, speaking sweet words.
And in the home, O Great Hero,
we all were fixed as your chief queens.In your household, O Hero, we
were the leaders, the lords of all
of the women there, who numbered
one hundred thousand ninety six.All us women are endowed with
the virtues of beauty and grace;
youthful, well-spoken, we’re revered,
like gods are revered by people.All us eighteen thousand women,
born in the clan of the Śākyas,
are famous ones, Yasodharās,
the leaders of thousands back then.Beyond the essence of desire,
fixed as the essence of beauty,
we’re unmatched in terms of beauty
among other thousands, Great Sage.”Worshipping the Sambuddha, they
showed the Teacher superpowers.
They displayed great superpowers,
diverse, having various forms.Body big as the universe,
they made the continent up north
their heads; both other islands wings;
and made India their torsos;tail feathers: the southern ocean;
other feathers: varied rivers;
their eyes were the moon and the sun,
their crests were cosmic Mount Meru.In their beaks, mountain at world’s end,
they carried a tree with its roots.
Coming up to him, fanning him,
they’re worshipping the World’s Leader.Then they made themselves elephants,
likewise horses, mountains, oceans,
the moon and the sun, Mount Meru,
and Śakra, the king of the gods."We’re like Yasodharās, Hero;
We worship your feet, Eyeful One.
Through your majesty, Hero,
we’re perfected, Leader of Men.We’ve mastered the superpowers
like the “divine ear” element.
We’re also the masters, Great Sage,
of the knowledge in others’ hearts.We remember our former lives;
our “divine eyes” are purified.
All the defilements are destroyed;
we will not be reborn again.In meaning and in the Teaching,
etymology and preaching,
this knowledge of ours was produced
in your presence, O Great Hero.Our meeting with all the Buddhas,
the World-Lords, was displayed to you;
our extensive service to them
was for the sake of you, Great Sage.O Sage, recall the good karma,
which formerly was done by us;
that merit was heaped up by us
for the sake of you, Great Hero.We kept from misconduct, hindered
the nine impossible places;
we have sacrificed life itself
for the sake of you, Great Hero.We were given to be your wives,
several tens of billions of times.
We were not distressed about that,
for the sake of you, O Great Sage.We were given to do service,
several tens of billions of times.
We were not distressed about that,
for the sake of you, O Great Sage.We were given to provide food,
several tens of billions of times.
We were not distressed about that,
for the sake of you, O Great Sage.We have given you all our lives,
several tens of billions of times.
We’ll liberate ourselves from fear,
giving up our lives once more.Great Sage for your sake we do not
conceal the things of a woman,
numerous clothes of varied types,
ornaments affixed to our limbs.Wealth and grain have been given up,
villages and also small towns,
fields and sons and daughters as well
have been given up, O Great Sage.Elephants, horses, also cows,
slaves as well as servant-women
are given up beyond all count,
for the sake of you, O Great Sage.Whatever we are told to give
as alms to beggars, we give that;
we don’t witness any distress
from giving the ultimate gift.We have experienced dis-ease
of diverse types, beyond all count,
in this much-varied existence
for the sake of you, Great Hero.Attaining comforts, we don’t thrill;
We don’t get distressed by troubles.
Everywhere we remain balanced
for the sake of you, O Great Sage.After experiencing both
pleasure and pain along the way,
the Great Sage reached Awakening,
the Teaching for which Buddha strived.By you and by us there was much
meeting with the other World-Lords,
whether you’re the god Brahmā or
Gotama Buddha, World’s Leader.We performed a lot of service,
for the sake of you, O Great Sage;
while you sought the Buddha's Teaching,
we were always your attendants.One hundred thousand aeons and
four incalculable aeons
hence, Dīpaṅkara, Great Hero,
the Leader of the World was born.Someplace in a nearby country,
inviting him, the Thus-Gone-One,
happy-minded folks are cleaning
the road on which he is coming.At that time there was a brahmin,
known by the name of Sumedha.
He was making the road ready
for the All-Seer who was coming.At that time we all were maidens,
who had been born in brahmin clans;
we carried to that assembly
flowers grown in water, on land.Just then the Greatly Famed Buddha,
Dīpaṅkara, the Great Hero,
prophesied future Buddhahood
for that sage with a lofty mind.The earth together with its gods
was shaking, roaring and quaking,
as he was praising his karma
for that sage with a lofty mind.Divine maidens, human women,
we and the whole world with its gods,
worshipping with various things
to be offered, we made wishes.The Buddha with the name “Bright Lamp”
prophesied to them at that time:
“Who wished today, they’re going to be,
reborn together, face-to-face.”Rejoicing about Buddha’s speech,
we lived behaving in that way
the Buddha prophesied for us
numberless aeons ago.We brought pleasure to our minds when
that karma was well done by us;
we experienced countless wombs,
divine as well as human ones.Undergoing pleasure and pain,
among gods and human beings,
when our last rebirth was attained,
we were born in the Śākyan clan.Beautiful and very wealthy,
famous and likewise virtuous;
endowed with every attainment,
we’re much-honored among the clans.Riches, fame, hospitality,
and indulgence in worldly things –
they do not agitate our minds;
we have no fear from anything.We were appointed to attend
on what the Blessed One had said
within the harem of the king
in the kṣatriyan city then.We are women who are servants,
and those who feel pleasure and pain,
and women who declare the facts,
women who are compassionate.Well-practiced, the Teaching-practice;
that practice is not ill-practiced.
We’re at ease practicing Teaching,
in this world and in the other.After abandoning the home,
going forth into homelessness,
when eight months had not yet elapsed,
we attained the Four Noble Truths.Like the waves upon the ocean,
folks are bringing many varied
monastic robes and alms to eat,
requisites as well as lodgings.Our defilements are now burnt up;
all new existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
we are living without constraint.Being in Best Buddha's presence
was a very good thing for us.
The three knowledges are attained;
we have done what the Buddha taught!The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
we have done what the Buddha taught!Thus many sorts of suffering
and many types of happiness;
the pure life now has been achieved,
we have obtained all achievements.Woman who are giving themselves
for the merit of the Great Sage
attain companionship with him,
and unconditioned nirvana.The past is thoroughly destroyed,
and the present and the future;
all of our karma is destroyed:
we worship your feet, Eyeful One.”“What more can I say to women
who are going to nirvana?
Pacifying conditioned flaws
you should attain the deathless state.”
Thus indeed Eighteen Thousand Buddhist Nuns Headed Up by Yasodharā spoke these verses.
The legend of Eighteen Thousand Buddhist Nuns Headed Up by Yasodharā is finished
The Summary:
Kuṇḍalā, also Gotamī,
Dhammadinnā and Sakulā,
Excellent Nandā and Soṇā
Kapilāni, Yasodharā,
and the ten thousand Buddhist nuns
also the eighteen thousand nuns:
the verses that are counted here
number one hundred and forty
and also seventy-eight more.
The Kuṇḍalakesā Chapter, the Third