[469]
[Kāḷa:]
"Formerly I went with staff in hand; now I am a deer-hunter.
Because of longing (āsā) I have not been able to cross from the dreadful mire to the far shore.
"Thinking me utterly infatuated, Cāpā kept her boy amused;
having cut Cāpā's bond, I shall go forth as before."
[Cāpā:]
"Do not be angry with me, great hero! Do not be angry with me, great sage!
For one overcome by anger there is no purity — whence then austerity (tapo)?"
[Kāḷa:]
"I shall depart from Nāḷā. Who would dwell here at Nāḷā,
where women with the female form bind ascetics who live by the Dhamma?"
[Cāpā:]
"Come, Kāḷa, turn back! Enjoy sensual pleasures as before:
I am given over to your will, and so are all the kinsfolk I have."
[Kāḷa:]
"Even a fourth part of this that you speak of, Cāpā —
for a man in love with you, that would be a splendid thing indeed!"
[Cāpā:]
"Like a dark-boughed takkārī tree in flower on a mountain crest,
like a pomegranate sapling in full bloom, like a pāṭalī tree amid an island,
my limbs anointed with yellow sandalwood, clad in the finest cloth of Kāsi —
me, so beautiful as I am: why do you abandon me and go?"
[Kāḷa:]
"As a fowler seeks to snare a bird,
so [you seek me] with your captivating beauty — but you will not entrap me."
[Cāpā:]
"And this child-fruit of mine, Kāḷa, was begotten by you:
me, the mother of your son — why do you abandon me and go?"
[Kāḷa:]
"The wise abandon sons, then kinsfolk, then wealth;
great heroes go forth, as an elephant that has burst its bond."
[Cāpā:]
"Right now, with a stick or with a knife,
I will dash this son of yours to the ground —
grieving for your son, you will not go!"
[Kāḷa:]
"Even if you give the boy to the jackals and the dogs,
you wretch, you will never make me turn back again for the child's sake."
[Cāpā:]
"Well then, good sir: where will you go now, Kāḷa?
To what village or market town, to what city or royal capital?"
[Kāḷa:]
"Formerly we were leaders of companies — no ascetics, though we fancied ourselves ascetics —
and we wandered from village to village, through cities and royal capitals.
"But yonder is the Blessed One, the Buddha, by the river Nerañjarā,
teaching the Dhamma to living beings for the abandoning of all suffering (dukkha).
Into his presence I shall go: he shall be my Teacher."
[Cāpā:]
"Then convey my homage to the unsurpassed protector of the world;
and when you have circumambulated him, dedicate the offering (dakkhiṇā) [to me]."
[Kāḷa:]
"This can indeed be done by us, Cāpā, just as you say:
I shall now convey your homage to the unsurpassed protector of the world;
and when I have circumambulated him, I shall dedicate the offering [to you]."
Then Kāḷa departed toward the river Nerañjarā.
He saw the Fully Awakened One teaching the deathless state (amataṃ padaṃ):
suffering, the arising of suffering, the passing beyond suffering,
and the noble eightfold path (magga) that leads to the stilling of suffering.
Having venerated his feet and circumambulated him,
having dedicated [the offering] on Cāpā's behalf, he went forth into homelessness.
The three true knowledges (vijjā) have been attained;
the Buddha's teaching has been done.
Cāpā.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.