Verses of the Elder Bhikkhunīs

Chapter of the Sixes

Verses of the Elder Khemā

“You are young and beautiful,

I am also a young lad.

Come, Khemā, let’s have a good time

with heavenly music.”

“This putrid body,

diseased and brittle,

only brings trials and tribulations.

I have uprooted craving for sensual pleasures.

Sensual pleasures are like the handle of an axe,

and one’s khandhas the executioner’s block.

The sensual pleasures that you call appealing

no longer appeal to me.

In this way all fixation is annihilated,

the mass of darkness destroyed.

Thus be aware, Wicked One,

Death—you are destroyed!

I used to pay homage to constellations,

worshiping fire in the forest.

Ignorant of truth,

I was a fool with a misconception of purity.

But now I pay homage to the Buddha,

the most excellent of men.

Liberated from all suffering,

I follow the teaching of the Teacher.”

The Elder Khemā