"I was a child, with clean clothes,
when I first heard the Dhamma.
And within me, heedful,
was a break-through to the truth.Then I arrived
at an enormous dissatisfaction
with all sensuality.
Seeing the danger
in self-identity,
I longed only
for renunciation.Leaving my circle of relatives,
slaves, workers,
prosperous villages & fields,
delightful, enticing possessions,I went forth,
abandoning not-insignificant wealth.
Having gone out through conviction
in the well-taught true Dhamma,it wouldn't be proper for me —
aspiring to nothingness —
having cast off gold & silver
to take them back.Gold & silver
don't buy Awakening,
don't buy peace.
This [gold] isn't proper for contemplatives.
This isn't noble wealth.This is
greediness, intoxication,
delusion, bondage to dust,
suspicion, many troubles.
There's no lasting stability here.It's to this extent that many, many men
— heedless, their hearts defiled —
opposing one another, create
conflicts, murder, bondage,calamity, loss, grief, & lamentation.
Many misfortunes are seen
for those head-over-heels in sensuality.So, my relatives:
Why do you, like enemies,
try to bind me to sensuality?
You know I've gone forth,
seeing the danger in sensuality.Gold coin & bullion
can't put an end to fermentations.
Sensuality is an enemy,
a murderer,
hostile, arrows & bonds.So, my relatives:
Why do you, like enemies,
try to bind me to sensuality?
You know I've gone forth
with shaven head, wrapped in a patchwork cloak.Leftover alms-scraps, gleanings,
a robe made from cast-off cloth:
That's what's proper for me —
the requisites of one with no home.The great seers have rejected sensuality,
both human & divine.
Released are they, in the place of security.
Arrived are they, in unshakeable ease.So may I not come into union
with sensuality, in which no shelter is found.
It's an enemy, a murderer
— sensuality —
painful, like a mass of flame.Greed:
an obstacle, fearful, threatened,
full of thorns,
very out-of-tune,
a great cause of delusion.Sensuality:
a frightening attack,
like a snake's head
in which fools delight —
blinded, run-of-the-mill.Because many people in the world
are stuck in the mud of sensuality,
unknowing,
they don't realize the end of birth & death.Many people follow the path
to bad destinations
because of sensuality,
bringing disease on themselves.Thus sensuality creates enemies.
It burns, is defiled.
It's the bait of the world,
constraining, the bondage of death,maddening, deceptive, agitating the mind.
It's a net cast by Mara
for the defilement of living beings:with endless drawbacks, much pain,
great poison,
giving little enjoyment, creating conflict,
drying up the good side [of the mind].I, having caused much trouble like this
because of sensuality,
will not return to it,
as I always delight in Unbinding.Doing battle with sensuality
in hopes of the cool state,
I will stay heedful, finding delight
in the ending of fetters.I follow the path —
eightfold, straight,
griefless, stainless, secure —
over which great seers
have crossed."See this Subha, the goldsmith's daughter,
standing firm in the Dhamma,
entering the imperturbable state,
doing jhana at the foot of a tree.This is the eighth day of her going forth
confident, beautiful through the true Dhamma.
Trained by Uppalavanna,
she's a three-knowledge woman
who's left death behind;freed from slavery, debtless,
a nun with developed faculties,
set loose from all ties,
her task done,
fermentation- free.Sakka, lord of beings,
with his community of devas,
approaching her through supranormal power,
pays homage to her:
Subha the goldsmith's daughter.
thig.13.5 Therigatha
Subha: The Goldsmith's Daughter
- Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu
- Editor: Ayya Kathrin Vimalañāṇī
Subhā, the Smith’s Daughter
“I was so young, my clothes so fresh,at that time I heard the teaching.
Being diligent,
I comprehended the truth;
and then I became profoundly dispassionate
towards all sensual pleasures.
Seeing fear in identity,
I longed for renunciation.
Giving up my family circle,
bonded servants and workers,
and my flourishing villages and lands,
so delightful and pleasant,
I went forth;
all that is no small wealth.
Now that I’ve gone forth in faith like this,
in the true teaching so well proclaimed,
since I desire to have nothing,
it would not be appropriate
to take back gold and money,
having already got rid of them.
Money or gold
doesn’t lead to peace and awakening.
It doesn’t befit an ascetic,
it’s not the wealth of the noble ones;
it’s just greed and vanity,
confusion and growing decadence,
dubious, troublesome—
there is nothing lasting there.
Depraved and heedless,
unenlightened folk, their hearts corrupt,
fight each other,
creating conflict.
Killing, caging, misery,
loss, grief, and lamentation;
those sunk in sensual pleasures
see many disastrous things.
My family, why do you urge me on
to pleasures, as if you were my enemies?
You know I’ve gone forth,
seeing fear in sensual pleasures.
It’s not due to gold, coined or uncoined,
that defilements come to an end.
Sensual pleasures are enemies and murderers,
hostile forces that bind you to thorns.
My family, why do you urge me on
to pleasures, as if you were my enemies?
You know I’ve gone forth,
shaven, wrapped in my outer robe.
Leftovers as gleanings,
and cast-off rags as robes—
that’s what’s fitting for me,
the essentials of the homeless life.
Great hermits expel sensual pleasures,
both human and divine.
Safe in their sanctuary, they are freed,
having found unshakable happiness.
May I not encounter sensual pleasures,
for no shelter is found in them.
Sensual pleasures are enemies and murderers,
as painful as a bonfire.
Greed is an obstacle, a threat,
full of anguish and thorns;
it is out of balance,
a great gateway to confusion.
Hazardous and terrifying,
sensual pleasures are like a snake’s head,
where fools delight,
the blind ordinary folk.
Stuck in the swamp of sensuality,
there are so many ignorant in the world.
They know nothing of the end
of rebirth and death.
Because of sensual pleasures,
people jump right on to the path that goes to a bad place.
So many walk the path
that brings disease onto themselves.
That’s how sensual pleasures create enemies;
they are so tormenting, so corrupting,
trapping beings with the world’s material delights,
they are nothing less than the bonds of death.
Maddening, enticing,
sensual pleasures derange the mind.
They’re a snare laid by Māra
for the corruption of beings.
Sensual pleasures are infinitely dangerous,
they’re full of suffering, a terrible poison;
offering little gratification, they’re makers of strife,
withering bright qualities away.
Since I’ve created so much ruination
because of sensual pleasures,
I will not relapse to them again,
but will always delight in quenching.
Fighting against sensual pleasures,
longing for that cool state,
I shall meditate diligently
for the ending of all fetters.
Sorrowless, stainless, secure:
I’ll follow that path,
the straight noble eightfold way
by which the hermits have crossed over.”
“Look at this: Subhā the smith’s daughter,
standing firm in the teaching.
She has entered the imperturbable state,
meditating at the root of a tree.
It’s just eight days since she went forth,
full of faith in the beautiful teaching.
Guided by Uppalavaṇṇā,
she is master of the three knowledges, conqueror of death.
This one is freed from slavery and debt,
a nun with faculties developed.
Detached from all attachments,
she has completed the task and is free of defilements.”
Thus did Sakka, lord of all creatures,
along with a host of gods,
having come by their psychic powers,
honor Subhā, the smith’s daughter.
The Book of the Twenties is finished.