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Translators: sujato and soma

Verses of the Senior Nuns 2.1 Verses of the Elder Bhikkhunīs

Dukanipāta
The Book of the Twos
Chapter of the Twos

Abhirūpanandātherīgāthā

Abhirūpanandā Verses of the Elder Abhirūpanandā

“Āturaṁ asuciṁ pūtiṁ,
Nandā, see this bag of bones as
“Nandā, see this body as diseased,

passa nande samussayaṁ;
diseased, filthy, and rotten.
impure, and rotten.

Asubhāya cittaṁ bhāvehi,
With mind unified and serene,
Cultivate awareness of the unattractive

ekaggaṁ susamāhitaṁ.
meditate on the ugly aspects of the body.
with a well-collected, one-pointed mind.

Animittañca bhāvehi,
Meditate on the signless,
Develop objectless meditation;

mānānusayamujjaha;
give up the underlying tendency to conceit;
give up the underlying tendency toward conceit.

Tato mānābhisamayā,
and when you comprehend conceit,
Once you fully understand conceit,

upasantā carissasī”ti.
you will live at peace.
you will walk in peace.”

Itthaṁ sudaṁ abhirūpanandā therī gāthāyo abhāsitthāti.
That is how the Buddha regularly advised the trainee nun Nandā with these verses.
Thus the Bhagavant often exhorts the trainee Abhirūpanandā with these verses.