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The Victor named Padumuttara, possessed of vision into all dhammas, the Leader, arose one hundred thousand aeons ago.
At that time I was born at Haṃsavatī in the family of a rich merchant (seṭṭhi), a family gleaming with manifold jewels, and I was endowed with great happiness.
Having approached that Great Hero, I listened to his teaching of the Dhamma; then, confidence having arisen in me, I went to the Victor for refuge.
Having gained my mother's and father's leave, I invited the Guide, and for seven days I fed him together with his disciples.
And when the seven days had passed, the Charioteer of Men established a bhikkhunī, supreme among those of great wisdom, in the foremost position (etadagga).
Hearing that, I was gladdened; doing honor once more to that Great Sage, prostrating myself, I aspired to that position.
Then that Victor said to me: "May your aspiration succeed! The service done by you to me together with the Saṅgha bears immeasurable fruit.
"One hundred thousand aeons from now there will be a Teacher in the world, sprung from the Okkāka clan, Gotama by name.
"An heir in his Dhamma, a true-born child formed by the Dhamma, having attained the foremost position, she shall be Khemā by name."
By that deed well done, and by my intention and aspiration, on abandoning the human body I went to Tāvatiṃsa.
Passing away thence, I went to Yāma; thence I went to Tusita; thence to Nimmānarati; and I went to the city of Vasavattī.
Wherever I was reborn, through the impetus of that deed, right there I held the rank of chief queen of kings.
Passing away thence, in the human state I held the rank of chief queen of wheel-turning monarchs (cakkavatti) and of kings of realms.
Having enjoyed prosperity among gods and among men, happy everywhere, I wandered on through many aeons.
Ninety-one aeons ago Vipassī, Leader of the World, arose, lovely to behold, one who saw with insight into all dhammas.
Approaching him, the Leader of the World, the Charioteer of Men, and hearing the sublime Dhamma, I went forth into homelessness.
For ten thousand years I lived the holy life (brahmacariya) in that Hero's dispensation, given to meditative exertion, of great learning,
skilled in the mode of conditions (paccayākāra), confident in the four truths, refined, an eloquent preacher, one who practiced the Teacher's instruction.
Passing away thence, I was reborn in Tusita, a glorious one; there, by the fruit of my holy life, I outshone the others.
Wherever I was reborn, I was of great possessions and great wealth, intelligent, beautiful of form, and with a well-disciplined retinue too.
Through that deed and that devotion to the Victor's dispensation, all attainments were easily won by me, dear to my heart.
Whoever became my husband — and wherever I went — no one ever slighted me: such was the fruit of my practice.
In this auspicious aeon there arose the kinsman of Brahmā, of great fame, Konāgamana by name, best of speakers.
At that time in Bārāṇasī, offspring of a most prosperous family — Dhanañjānī, Sumedhā, and I myself, three persons —
we gave a monastery to the Sage, a benefaction of many thousands; for we had a dwelling built, dedicating it to him together with his Saṅgha.
Passing away thence, all of us went to Tāvatiṃsa; we attained the pinnacle of fame there, and likewise among humans.
In this very aeon there arose the kinsman of Brahmā, of great fame, Kassapa by name, best of speakers.
The attendant of the Great Sage at that time was the lord of men, the king of Kāsi, Kikī by name, in Bārāṇasī, supreme among cities.
I was his eldest daughter, widely known as Samaṇī; having heard the Dhamma of the supreme Victor, I set my heart on going forth (pabbajjā).
But our father did not permit us; so then, right at home, unwearied, for twenty thousand years we lived
the maidens' holy life — we royal daughters, established in comfort, delighting in attending upon the Buddha, joyful, seven daughters:
Samaṇī and Samaṇaguttā, Bhikkhunī, Bhikkhudāsikā, Dhammā and Sudhammā, and seventh, Saṅghadāsikā.
[These became] I, and Uppalavaṇṇā, and Paṭācārā, and Kuṇḍalā, Kisāgotamī, Dhammadinnā — and Visākhā is the seventh.
At one time that Sun of Men taught the marvelous Dhamma, the Mahānidāna discourse; having heard it, I mastered it.
By those deeds well done, and by my intentions and aspirations, on abandoning the human body I went to Tāvatiṃsa.
And now, in my final existence, in Sākalā, supreme among cities, I was daughter to the Madda king — charming, cherished, dear.
Together with my very birth there came security (khema) in that city; hence, from that circumstance, the name "Khemā" arose for me.
When I came to youth, adorned with beauty and fine complexion, then my father gave me to King Bimbisāra.
I was greatly beloved of him. Given over to the cosseting of my own beauty, and thinking, "He speaks in dispraise of beautiful forms," I would not approach the One of Great Compassion.
Then King Bimbisāra, with a kindly design to help me, had singers sing to me in praise of the Veḷuvana (Bamboo Grove):
"He who has not seen the delightful Veḷuvana, the abode of the Sugata — he, we deem, has not seen Nandana [the pleasure-grove of the gods].
"He who has seen the Veḷuvana, the Nandana that delights mankind, has well seen Nandana, the fair pleasure-grove of the lord of the immortals.
"The gods, forsaking Nandana and descending to the face of the earth, gaze on the delightful Veḷuvana and, amazed, are not sated.
"Sprung from the king's merit, adorned by the Buddha's merit — who could declare in full the store of that grove's excellences?"
When I heard of that grove's splendor, so captivating to my ear and mind, wishing to see that park, I informed the king.
Then that lord of the earth dispatched me, all eager for the sight, to that park with a great retinue:
"Go, lady of great wealth, and see the grove that is an elixir to the eyes, which ever shines in glory, suffused with the radiance of the Sugata."
And when the Sage had entered Giribbaja, supreme among cities, for alms, at just that time I came to view the grove.
Then that grove was all in flower, droning with bees of every kind, attended by the song of cuckoos and danced through by troops of peacocks,
quiet, uncrowded, adorned with various walking-paths, strewn about with huts and pavilions, resplendent with heroic yogis.
As I wandered I thought, "My eye has found its reward." And then, seeing a young bhikkhu intent [upon his practice], I pondered:
"Even in a grove so delightful this man abides in the freshness of youth, endowed with a lovely form, like the very spring;
seated at the root of a tree, shaven, wrapped in his patched robe, this bhikkhu verily meditates, having forsaken the delight born of sense objects!
Should not a man first, as a householder, enjoy sense pleasure at his ease, and afterwards, when old, live this fine and excellent Dhamma?"
Supposing the Perfumed Chamber, the Victor's abode, to be empty, I approached — and beheld the Victor like the rising sun,
seated at ease, alone, being fanned by a most excellent woman. On seeing this I thought: "This bull among men is no rough-living ascetic."
That maiden — radiant as gold, her face and eyes like lotuses, her lips like bimba fruit, her teeth like jasmine, an elixir to mind and eye;
swaying like a swing of gold, fair of face, her lovely breasts like lotus buds, her waist slender as an altar, her hips superb, her thighs delightful, her ornaments charming;
wrapped about with a crimson cloth, dressed in smooth dark blue, with a beauty of which the eye could never tire, adorned with every ornament.
Seeing her, I thought: "Ah, how surpassingly beautiful she is! Never before has her like been seen by me with this eye."
Then she, overwhelmed by old age — her color faded, her face contorted, her teeth broken, her head white, drooling, her face befouled,
her ears shrunken, her eyes whitened, her breasts foul and pendulous, every limb overspread with wrinkles, her body traced over with veins,
bent of frame, a staff her companion, pale and sallow, emaciated, trembling — collapsed, gasping again and again.
Then there arose in me a sense of urgency (saṃvega), unprecedented, making the hair stand on end: "Fie upon impure form, in which fools delight!"
Then the Greatly Compassionate One, seeing me stirred in mind, exultant in heart and glad, spoke these verses:
"Khemā, behold this composite frame — diseased, impure, putrid, oozing and trickling, the delight of fools.
"Develop the mind (citta) upon the foul (asubha), one-pointed and well composed; let mindfulness (sati) directed to the body be yours; abound in disenchantment (nibbidā).
"As is this, so is that; as is that, so is this. Both within and without, dispel desire for the body.
"Develop the signless (animitta); cast off the latent tendency to conceit; then, by the full penetration of conceit, you will fare at peace.
"Those inflamed by lust follow down the stream, as a spider the web it has itself spun; but having cut even this, they go forth, without longing, abandoning sensual pleasure."
Then, knowing that my mind was ready, the Charioteer of Men taught the Mahānidāna discourse for my guidance.
Having heard that best of discourses, I recalled the perception of former days; and standing right there, I purified the eye of Dhamma (dhammacakkhu).
Straightway falling at the feet of the Great Sage, in order to confess my transgression, I spoke these words:
"Homage to you, All-seeing One! Homage to you, Abode of Compassion! Homage to you who have crossed saṃsāra! Homage to you, Giver of the Deathless!
"Plunged into the thicket of views, infatuated by sensual lust, I was guided by you with the right stratagem, and in that guidance I delight.
"Bereft of the sight of great sages such as you, beings undergo great suffering (dukkha) in the ocean of saṃsāra.
"That for so long I came not to see the Refuge of the world, the Strifeless One who has gone to the end of death, whose blessing is sweet — that transgression I confess.
"That, suspecting the Greatly Beneficent One, the Giver of the Excellent, of being harmful, I, engrossed in beauty, did not draw near — that transgression I confess."
Then the Victor of great compassion, sweet-voiced in utterance, sprinkling me with the Deathless, said: "Stay, Khemā!"
Then, bowing my head and circling him rightwise, I went back and, seeing the lord of men, spoke these words:
"Ah, subduer of foes, what a right stratagem this was that you devised! I, who wished only to see the grove (vana), have seen the Sage who is rid of the thicket [of craving] (nibbanatha)!
"If it please you, O king, I shall go forth in the dispensation of that Such One (tādin); by the Sage's word I am disenchanted with beauty."
The Second Recitation Section (bhāṇavāra).
Raising his joined palms, that lord of the earth then said: "I give you leave, good lady; may your going forth be accomplished!"
And when, after my going forth, the seventh month had come, seeing the flaring up and the extinction of a lamp['s flame], my mind was stirred.
Disenchanted with all conditioned things (saṅkhāra), skilled in the mode of conditions, I passed beyond the four floods (ogha) and attained arahantship.
I was master of psychic power (iddhi), of the divine ear-element, and I became master too of the knowledge that penetrates the minds of others (cetopariyañāṇa).
I know my former abodes; the divine eye is purified; all my taints (āsava) are utterly destroyed; now there is no renewed existence.
My knowledge (ñāṇa), fully purified, in meaning, in doctrine, in language, and likewise in ready exposition, arose in the Buddha's dispensation.
Skilled in the purifications (visuddhi), confident in the topics of discussion (kathāvatthu), a knower of the method of the Abhidhamma, I attained mastery in the dispensation.
Then at Toraṇavatthu, when subtle questions were asked by the king, the lord of Kosala, I answered each according to its case.
Then that king approached the Sugata and asked; and the Buddha answered them just as they had been answered by me.
The Victor, supreme among men, pleased at that excellence, established me in the foremost position: "Of the bhikkhunīs great in wisdom, she is the foremost."
My defilements (kilesa) are burnt away; all existences are rooted out; like a she-elephant that has burst her b
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.