Thig 5.12 - Canda: The Beggar
Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/thig/thig.05.12.than.html
License: CC-BY-NC-4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Copyright: ©1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
License notice: The text of this page ("Canda: The Beggar", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions.
Attribution: ©1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. The text of this page ("Canda: The Beggar", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Transcribed from a file provided by the translator. Last revised for Access to Insight on 30 November 2013. How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Canda: The Beggar" (Thig 5.12), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/thig/thig.05.12.than.html .
Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded.
Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed.

Before, I had fallen on evil times: no husband, no children, no relatives, friends, no way to obtain clothing & food. So, taking a staff & bowl in hand, begging for alms from house to house, feverish from the cold & heat, I wandered for seven full years. Then seeing a nun obtaining food & drink, I approached her & said: "Let me go forth into homelessness." She, Patacara, from sympathy, let me go forth; then, exhorting me, urged me on to the highest goal. Hearing her words, I did her bidding. Her exhortation was not in vain. I'm a three-knowledge woman, fermentation-free.