Thig 13:5 Subhṅ the Goldsmithâs Daughter

- suttas - - evening talks - short morning talks - lectures - guided meditations - talk collections - other themes - chants - - - - à¹à¸à¸¢ - Franā§ais - Espaā±ol - - Portuguāªs - РÑÑÑкий - - - УкÑаÑнÑÑка Submit Search - Home - Suttas - KN - Thig - Thig 13:5 Subhṅ the Goldsmithâs Daughter ## Browse Suttas Go to Theragṅthṅ index Thag index ## Thig 13:5  Subhṅ the Goldsmithâs Daughter "I was a child, with clean clothes, when I first heard the Dhamma. And within me, heedful, was a break-through to the truth. Then I arrived at an enormous dissatisfaction with all sensuality. Seeing the danger in self-identity, I longed only for renunciation. Leaving my circle of relatives, slaves, workers, prosperous villages & fields, delightful, enticing possessions, I went forth, abandoning not-insignificant wealth. Having gone out through conviction in the well-taught true Dhamma, it wouldnât be proper for me— aspiring to nothingness— having cast off gold & silver to take them back. Gold & silver donât buy awakening, donât buy peace. This [gold] isnât proper for contemplatives. This isnât noble wealth. This is greediness, intoxication, delusion, bondage to dust, suspicion, many troubles. Thereâs no lasting stability here. Itâs to this extent that many, many men —heedless, their hearts defiled— opposing one another, create conflicts, murder, bondage, calamity, loss, grief, & lamentation. Many misfortunes are seen for those head-over-heels in sensuality. So, my relatives: Why do you, like enemies, try to bind me to sensuality? You know Iâve gone forth, seeing the danger in sensuality. Gold coin & bullion canât put an end to effluents. Sensuality is an enemy, a murderer, hostile, arrows & bonds. So, my relatives: Why do you, like enemies, try to bind me to sensuality? You know Iâve gone forth with shaven head, wrapped in a patchwork cloak. Leftover alms-scraps, gleanings, a robe made from cast-off cloth: Thatâs whatâs proper for me— the requisites of one with no home. The great seers have rejected sensuality, both human & divine. Released are they, in the place of security. Arrived are they, in unshaken ease. So may I not come into union with sensuality, in which no shelter is found. Itâs an enemy, a murderer —sensuality— painful, like a mass of flame. Greed: an obstacle,1 fearful, threatened, full of thorns, very discordant, a great cause of delusion. Sensuality: a frightening attack, like a snakeâs head in which fools delight— blinded, run-of-the-mill. Because many people in the world are stuck in the mud of sensuality, unknowing, they donât realize the ending of birth & death. Many people follow the path to bad destinations because of sensuality, bringing disease on themselves. Thus sensuality creates enemies. It burns, is defiled. Itâs the bait of the world, constraining, the bondage of death, maddening, deceptive, agitating the mind. Itâs a net cast by Mṅra for the defilement of living beings: with endless drawbacks, much pain, great poison, giving little enjoyment, creating conflict, drying up the good side [of the mind]. I, having cast off2 much trouble like this caused by sensuality, will not return to it, as I always delight in unbinding. Doing battle with sensuality in hopes of the cool state, I will stay heedful, finding delight3 in the ending of fetters. I follow the path— eightfold, straight, griefless, stainless, secure— over which great seers have crossed." See this Subhṅ, the goldsmithâs daughter, standing firm in the Dhamma, entering the imperturbable state,4 doing jhṅna at the foot of a tree. This is the eighth day of her going forth confident, beautiful through the true Dhamma. Trained by Uppalavaṃṃṅ,5 sheâs a three-knowledge woman6 whoâs left death behind; freed from slavery, debtless, a nun with developed faculties,7 set loose from all ties, her task done, effluent-   free. Sakka, lord of beings, with his community of devas, approaching her through supranormal power, pays homage to her: Subhṅ the goldsmithâs daughter. Notes 1. Reading paripantho with the Burmese, Sinhalese, and PTS editions. The Thai edition has aparisuddho, "impure." 2. Reading hitvṅ with the Thai edition. The other editions have katvṅ, "done." 3. Reading ratṅ, delighting, with the Thai edition. The Sinhalese and PTS read tesaṃ, so that the line means "in the ending of their fetters"; the Burmese edition reads sabba-, so that the line means, "in the ending of all fetters." 4. See MN 106. 5. A student of the Buddha, declared by him to be the foremost nun in terms of her supranormal powers. See SN 5:5. 6. See Thag 4:8, note 2. 7. This can mean that she has achieved restraint over her sense faculties, or that she has fully developed the faculties of conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration, and discernment. See. SN 48:10 and AN 4:37. See also: MN 13–14; MN 54 - --> - - - -