Theragāthā 136

Verses of the Senior Monks 2.16

The Book of the Twos

Chapter Two

Mahākāḷa

1 There’s a big black woman who looks like a crow.

She broke off thigh-bones, first one then another;

she broke off arm-bones, first one then another;

she broke off a skull like a curd-bowl, and then

arranged them and sat nearby.

2 When an ignorant person builds up attachments,

that dullard returns to suffering again and again.

So let one who understands

not build up attachments:

may I never again lie with a broken skull!