5.12. Canda: The Beggar (THIG5.12)

Before, I had fallen on evil times:
no husband, no children,
no relatives, friends,
no way to obtain clothing & food.

So, taking a staff & bowl in hand,
begging for alms from house to house,
feverish from the cold & heat,
I wandered for seven full years.

Then seeing a nun
obtaining food & drink,
I approached her & said:
"Let me go forth into homelessness."

She, Patacara, from sympathy,
let me go forth;
then, exhorting me,
urged me on to the highest goal.

Hearing her words,
I did her bidding.
Her exhortation was not in vain.
I'm a three-knowledge woman,
fermentation-free.

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.