Thi Ap 39Ambapālī

– Therīpadāna

– The Legends of the Therīs

39. Ambapālī

Walt 1307 The Great Sage was Phussa Buddha,

like a garland of speckled rays.

I was that Buddha’s own sister,

born in Buddha’s kṣatriyan clan. Verse 1

Walt 1308 Having listened to his Teaching,

with a mind that was very clear,

giving him a large alms-giving

I aspired to achieve beauty. Verse 2

Walt 1309 Thirty-one aeons in the past,

Sikhi, Chief Leader of the World,

arose, the Bright Lamp of the World,

the Three Worlds’ Refuge, the Victor. Verse 3

Walt 1310 I’m then born in a brahmin clan,

in lovely Āruṇa City.

Angered about something, I cursed

a nun with liberated mind. Verse 4

Walt 1311-1312 Misbehaved like a prostitute,

I dirtied the dispensation.

Having thus cursed the nun like that,

because of that evil karma,

I went to a horrific hell,

full of terrible suffering.

Fallen from there, again reborn

human, I was an ascetic. Verse 5-6

Walt 1313 For ten thousand different lifetimes,

I was fixed in prostitution;

thus I was not freed from evil,

as though I’d eaten strong poison. Verse 7

Walt 1314 In Kassapa’s dispensation,

I practiced celibate nunhood .

Due to that karma, I was born

in the city of the thirty. Verse 8

Walt 1315 When my last rebirth was attained,

come to be spontaneously,

I was born amidst mango boughs;

therefore I was “Mango-Guarded.” Verse 9

Walt 1316 Along with ten million beings,

gone forth in the dispensation,

I attained the unshaking state,

Buddha’s legitimate daughter. Verse 10

Walt 1317 I’ve mastered the superpowers

like the “divine ear” element.

I’m also a master, Great Sage,

of the knowledge in others’ hearts. Verse 11

Walt 1318 I remember my former lives;

my “divine eye” is purified.

All the defilements are destroyed;

I will not be reborn again. Verse 12

Walt 1319 In meaning and in the Teaching,

etymology and preaching,

this knowledge of mine was produced

in your presence, O Great Hero. Verse 13

Walt 1320 My defilements are now burnt up;

all new existence is destroyed.

Like elephants with broken chains,

I am living without constraint. Verse 14

Walt 1321 Being in Best Buddha's presence

was a very good thing for me.

The three knowledges are attained;

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 15

Walt 1322 The four analytical modes,

and these eight deliverances,

six special knowledges mastered,

I have done what the Buddha taught! Verse 16

Thus indeed the bhikkhunī Ambapālī spoke these verses.

The legend of the bhikkhunī Ambapālī is finished

Translated by Jonathan S. Walters .

Whitman College, 2017

Legends of the Buddhist Saints (Apadāna) is released under the Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license.

This is the first-ever complete translation of Apadāna into a Western language.

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