Verses of the Elder Upacālā (THIG7.3)

Verses of the Elder Bhikkhunīs

Chapter of the Sevens

Verses of the Elder Upacālā

“I am mindful and of clear sight,

a bhikkhunī with well-developed spiritual powers.

I mastered the path of peace

that is not practiced by vile people.”

“Why don’t you appreciate being born?

When one is born, one enjoys sensual pleasures.

Enjoy the delights of sensual pleasures,

do not regret it later.”

“From birth there is death,

the severing of hands and feet,

flogging, imprisonment, and hardship;

when one is born, one undergoes suffering.

But the one who is born in the Sakyan clan,

Self-Enlightened and Unconquered,

taught me the Dhamma

that transcends birth;

Suffering, the origin of suffering,

the overcoming of suffering,

and the Noble Eightfold Path

leading to the appeasement of suffering.

After I heard his words,

I dwelled devoted to the teaching.

I obtained the three knowledges,

and completed the teaching of the Buddha.

In this way all fixation is annihilated,

the mass of darkness destroyed.

Thus be aware, Wicked One,

Death—you are destroyed!”

… The Elder Upacālā

The Chapter of the Sevens is finished.