Buddhism

Thig 5:2 · Vimalā, the Former Courtesan

Thai temple painting: Prince Vessantara gives away the white elephant — Vessantara Jātaka, Chapter 2 (Himavanta Forest) · Thai, Rattanakosin, c. 1850–1870 · Walters Art Museum

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.

See also: AN 7:48; Thag 6:9

Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence, for free distribution only. Source: dhammatalks.org (Metta Forest Monastery).