Therīgāthā 56

Verses of the Senior Nuns 6.7

The Book of the Sixes

Guttā

1 Guttā, you have given up your child,

your wealth, and all that you love.

Foster the goal for which you went forth;

do not fall under the mind’s control.

2 Beings deceived by the mind,

playing in Māra’s domain,

ignorant, they journey on,

transmigrating through countless rebirths.

3 Sensual desire and ill will,

and substantialist view;

misapprehension of precepts and observances,

and doubt as the fifth.

4 O nun, when you have given up

these lower fetters,

you won’t come back

to this world again.

5 And when you’re rid of desire,

conceit, ignorance, and restlessness,

having cut the fetters,

you’ll make an end to suffering.

6 Having wiped out transmigration,

and fully understood rebirth,

hungerless in this very life,

you will live at peace.