Verses of the Elder Bhikkhunīs

Chapter of the Threes

Verses of the Elder Ubbirī

“Mother, you cry in the forest for Jīvā.

Ubbirī, come to your senses!

Eighty-four thousand beings,

all with the name Jīvā,

were burnt in that cremation ground:

you sorrowed over all of them in the same way.”

“At last, you pulled out the thorn,

difficult to see, stuck in my heart.

Losing my daughter filled me with grief,

but now that grief is gone.

Today the thorn has been pulled out;

I am free of craving, fully quenched.

I go to the Sage for refuge

in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.”

The Elder Ubbirī