[Punnika:]
I'm a water-carrier, cold,
always going down to the water
from fear of my mistresses' beatings,
harrassed by their anger & words.But you, Brahman,
what do you fear
that you're always going down to the water
with shivering limbs, feeling great cold?[The Brahman:]
Punnika, surely you know.
You're asking one doing skillful kamma
& warding off evil.Whoever, young or old, does evil kamma
is, through water ablution,
from evil kamma set free.[Punnika:]
Who taught you this
— the ignorant to the ignorant —
'One, through water ablution,
is from evil kamma set free?'In that case, they'd all go to heaven:
all the frogs, turtles,
serpents, crocodiles,
& anything else that lives in the water.Sheep-butchers, pork-butchers,
fishermen, trappers,
thieves, executioners,
& any other evil doers,
would, through water ablution,
be from evil kamma set free.If these rivers could carry off
the evil kamma you've done in the past,
they'd carry off your merit as well,
and then you'd be
completely left out.Whatever it is that you fear,
that you're always going down to the water,
don't do it.
Don't let the cold hurt your skin."[The Brahman:]
I've been following the miserable path, good lady,
and now you've brought me
back to the noble.
I give you this robe for water-ablution.[Punnika:]
Let the robe be yours. I don't need it.
If you're afraid of pain,
if you dislike pain,then don't do any evil kamma,
in open, in secret.
But if you do or will do
any evil kamma,you'll gain no freedom from pain,
even if you fly up & hurry away.
If you're afraid of pain,
if you dislike pain,go to the Awakened One for refuge,
go to the Dhamma & Sangha.
Take on the precepts:
That will lead to your liberation.[The Brahman:]
I go to the Awakened One for refuge;
I go to the Dhamma & Sangha.
I take on the precepts:
That will lead to my liberation.Before, I was a kinsman to Brahma;
now, truly a brahman.
I'm a three-knowledge man.
consummate in knowledge,
safe & washed clean.
thig.12.1 Therigatha
Punnika and the Brahman
- Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu
- Editor: Ayya Kathrin Vimalañāṇī
Puṇṇikā
“I used to be a water-carrier. Even when it was cold,I would always plunge into the water,
afraid of my mistresses’ beatings,
harassed by fear of abuse and anger.
Brahmin, what are you afraid of,
that you always plunge into the water,
your limbs trembling
in the freezing cold?”
“Oh, but you already know,
Madam Puṇṇikā, when you ask me:
I am doing good deeds,
to ward off the wickedness I have done.
Whosoever young or old
performs a wicked deed,
by ablution in water they are
released from their wicked deed.”
“Who on earth told you this,
one ignoramus to another:
‘Actually, by ablution in water one is
released from a wicked deed.’
Would not they all go to heaven, then:
all the frogs and the turtles,
gharials, crocodiles,
and other water-dwellers too?
Butchers of sheep and pigs,
fishermen, animal trappers,
bandits, executioners,
and others of evil deeds:
by ablution in water they too would be
released from their wicked deeds.
If these rivers washed away
the bad deeds of the past,
then they’d also wash off goodness,
and thereby you would be excluded.
Brahmin, the thing that you are afraid of,
when you always plunge into the water,
do not do that very thing,
don’t let the cold harm your skin.”
“I have been on the wrong path,
and you’ve guided me to the noble path.
Madam, I give to you
this ablution cloth.”
“Keep the cloth for yourself,
I do not want it.
If you fear suffering,
if you don’t like suffering,
then don’t do bad deeds
either openly or in secret.
If you should do a bad deed,
or you’re doing one now,
you won’t be freed from suffering,
though you fly away and flee.
If you fear suffering,
if you don’t like suffering,
go for refuge to the Buddha, the poised,
to his teaching and to the Sangha.
Undertake the precepts,
that will be good for you.”
“I go for refuge to the Buddha, the poised,
to his teaching and to the Sangha.
I undertake the precepts,
that will be good for me.
In the past I was related to Brahmā,
today I truly am a brahmin!
I am master of the three knowledges, accomplished in wisdom,
I’m a scholar and a bathed initiate.”
The Book of the Sixteens is finished.