Monday, May 7, 2012

Vimala's Verses


Intoxicated with my complexion
figure, beauty, & fame;
haughty with youth,
I despised other women.
Adorning this body
embellished to delude foolish men,
I stood at the door to the brothel:
a hunter with snare lid out.
I showed off my ornaments,
and revealed many a private part.
I worked my manifold magic,
laughing out loud at the crowd.

Today, wrapped in a double cloak,
my head shaven,
having wandered for alms,
I sit at the foot of a tree
and attain the state of no-thought.
All ties - human & divine - have been cut.
Having cast off all effluents,
cooled am I, unbound.

Original source: "Vimala: The Former Courtesan" (Therigatha 5.2), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 8 August 2010. Link: Vimala: The Former Courtesan

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