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Thig 5.2 — Vimala: The Former Courtesan

translated from the Pāli by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Intoxicated with my complexion figure, beauty, & fame; haughty with youth, I despised other women. Adorning this body embellished to delude foolish men, I stood at the door to the brothel: a hunter with snare laid out. I showed off my ornaments, and revealed many a private part. I worked my manifold magic, laughing out loud at the crowd. Today, wrapped in a double cloak, my head shaven, having wandered for alms, I sit at the foot of a tree and attain the state of no-thought. All ties — human & divine — have been cut. Having cast off all effluents, cooled am I, unbound.
Copyright © 1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. The text of this page (“Vimala: The Former Courtesan”, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. From Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013.