5.11. Patacara's Thirty Students (THIG5.11)

[Patacara taught:]
"Taking the pestle,
young men grind the corn.
Supporting their wives & children,
they gather up wealth.

Do the Awakened One's bidding,
which, having done,
you'll have no regret.
Intent on tranquillity of awareness,
do the Awakened One's bidding.
Quickly:
Having washed your feet,
go sit to one side."

Hearing these words,
Patacara's bidding,
they washed their feet
and retired to one side.
Intent on tranquillity of awareness,
they did the Awakened One's bidding.

In the first watch of the night,
they recollected their previous lives.
In the middle watch,
purified the divine eye.
In the last,
burst the mass of darkness.
Getting up, they bowed down to her feet.

"We have done your bidding.
Like the thirty devas honoring Indra,
unvanquished in battle,
we — three-knowledge women,
fermentation-free —
will continue honoring you."

Translated from the Pali by: Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

©2005 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. The text of this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.

Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, www.accesstoinsight.org

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Ayya Kathrin Vimalañāṇī.