Thig 6.3 - Thig 6:3 Khemā
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Thig/thig6_3.html
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Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017
License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
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.

Thig 6:3 Khemā

In SN 5:4, a variation of the verse attributed to Māra, and the first verse attributed here to Sister Khemā, are included in a poem attributed to Sister Vijayā (see Thig 6:8). Sister Khema’s second verse is attributed to Sister Aḷavikā in SN 5:1. Her third verse also appears in Thig 7:2; its first half, in SN 5:3.

Māra:
“You, a beautiful young woman;
I, a young man, full of youth.
Come, Khemā,
let’s enjoy ourselves
    to the music of a five-piece band.”

Khemā:
“I’m disgusted, ashamed
of this putrid body—
disintegrating, dissolving.
    Sensual craving
        is rooted out.

Sensual pleasures
    are like swords & spears;
the aggregates,
    their executioner’s block.
What you call sensual delight
    is no delight for me.

Everywhere enjoyment
    is defeated;
the mass of darkness,
    burst.
So know, Evil One,
that you have been,
        End-maker,
    struck down.”

* * *

Paying homage to the zodiac stars,
tending the fire in the forest,
not knowing it as it actually was,
    fools, you conceived it
    as purity.
Whereas I
    am one who pays homage
    to the One Self-awakened,
    the utmost man.
I’m one who has done the Teacher’s bidding,
entirely released
from sufferings & stress.