thig.5.9 Therigatha

Bhadda Kundalakesa: The Former Jain Ascetic

I traveled before in a single cloth,
With shaven head, covered in dust,
Thinking of faults in the faultless,
While in the faulty seeing no faults.

When done was the day's abiding,
I went to Mount Vulture Peak
And saw the stainless Buddha
By the Order of Bhikkhus revered.

Then before Him my hands in añjali
Humbly, I bowed down on my knees.
"Come, Bhadda," He said to me:
And thus was I ordained.

Debt-free, I traveled for fifty years
In Anga, Magadha and Vajji,
In Kasi and Kosala, too,
Living on the alms of the land.

That lay-supporter — wise man indeed —
May many merits accrue to him!
Who gave a robe to Bhadda for
Free of all ties is she.

- Translator: Dr. Hellmuth Hecker, Ayya Khema

- Editor: Ayya Kathrin Vimalañāṇī

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Bhaddā of the Curly Hair

My hair mown off, covered in mud,
I used to wander wearing just one robe.
I saw fault where there was none,
and was blind to the actual fault.
Leaving my day’s meditation
on Vulture’s Peak Mountain,
I saw the stainless Buddha
at the fore of the mendicant Saṅgha.
I bent my knee and bowed,
and in his presence raised my joined palms.
“Come Bhaddā,” he said;
that was my ordination.
“I’ve wandered among the Aṅgans and Magadhans,
the Vajjīs, Kāsīs, and Kosalans.
I have eaten the almsfood of the nations
free of debt for fifty years.”
“O! He has made so much merit!
That lay follower is so very wise.
He gave a robe to Bhaddā,
who is released from all ties.”