Thag 5.7 - Gayākassapa
Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato
Source: https://suttacentral.net/thag5.7/en/sujato
License: CC0-1.0

Verses of the Senior Monks 5.7
The Book of the Fives
Chapter One
Gayākassapa
Three times a day—
morning, midday, and evening—
I plunged into the water at Gayā
for the Gayā spring festival.
“Any bad things I’ve done
in previous lives,
I’ll now rinse away right here”—
such was the view I used to hold.
Having heard the fine words,
a passage meaningful and principled,
I rationally reflected
on the true, essential goal.
I’ve washed away all bad things;
I’m stainless, clean, pristine;
the pure heir of the pure one,
a bosom son of the Buddha.
When I plunged into the eightfold stream,
all bad things were rinsed away.
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.