Thig 2.11 min read

Abhirūpanandā

Abhirūpanandātherīgāthā

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

0.1Therīgāthā 2.1Verses of the Senior Nuns 2.1
0.2DukanipātaThe Book of the Twos

0.3AbhirūpanandātherīgāthāAbhirūpanandā

1.1“Āturaṁ asuciṁ pūtiṁ,Nandā, see this bag of bones as1.2passa nande samussayaṁ;diseased, filthy, and rotten.1.3Asubhāya cittaṁ bhāvehi,With mind unified and serene,1.4ekaggaṁ susamāhitaṁ.meditate on the ugly aspects of the body.
2.1Animittañca bhāvehi,Meditate on the signless,2.2mānānusayamujjaha;give up the tendency to conceit;2.3Tato mānābhisamayā,and when you comprehend conceit,2.4upasantā carissasī”ti.you will live at peace.

3.1Itthaṁ sudaṁ abhirūpanandā therī gāthāyo abhāsitthāti.That is how the Buddha regularly advised the trainee nun Nandā with these verses.¹

Translator’s notes

The MS edition is apparently alone in taking the nun as a bhikkhunī and as the speaker of the verses. It’s odd that no variants are recorded, especially given that even the parent edition (VRI) says she is a sikkhamānā. Perhaps this is a rare instance of a simple oversight in MS.
↩ thig2.1:3.1