I, Kulla, went to a charnel ground and saw a woman’s body abandoned there, dumped in a cemetery, full of worms that devoured.
“See this bag of bones, Kulla—diseased, filthy, rotten, oozing and trickling, a fool’s delight.”
Taking the teaching as a mirror for realizing knowledge and vision, I examined this body, hollow, inside and out.
As this is, so is that; as that is, so is this. As below, so above; as above, so below.
As by day, so by night; as by night, so by day. As before, so behind; as behind, so before.
Even the music of a five-piece band can never give such pleasure as when, with unified mind, you rightly discern the Dhamma.
Kulla
Thag 6.4 · Kullattheragāthā
Connections
Collection & context
- TheragāthāThe collection containing this text
- The Pāli canonCanonical collection in which this edition is preserved
- Theravāda traditionsTransmission and study context
- The early Buddhist communityHistorical and traditional setting
About this edition
Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato and Jessica Walton · SuttaCentral · CC0
This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.
Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.
The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.