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Khemā · Thig 6.3

Early Buddhist verse · Thig 6.3

A weathered seedpod and a fresh flower beside one another.
About this textContext & reading guide

Verses attributed to Khemā recount her response to Māra and her freedom from attachment.

Khemā · Thig 6.3

“You’re so young and beautiful!
I too am young, just a youth.
Come, Khemā, let us enjoy
the music of a five-piece band.”

“This body is rotting,
ailing and frail,
I’m horrified and repelled by it,
and I’ve eradicated sensual craving.

Sensual pleasures are like swords and spears;
the aggregates are their chopping block.
What you call erotic delight
is now no delight for me.

Relishing is banished in every respect,
and the mass of darkness is shattered.
So know this, Wicked One:
you’re beaten, terminator!”

“Worshiping the stars,
serving the sacred flame in a grove;
failing to grasp the true nature of things,
foolish me, I thought this was purity.

But now I worship the Awakened One,
supreme among men.
Doing the Teacher’s bidding,
I am released from all suffering.”

Translations & sourcesEditions & translators
Read at SuttaCentral ↗

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato and Jessica Walton

Source edition · Dhammatalks.org ↗

The Atlas reader presents Bhikkhu Sujato’s SuttaCentral translation. This source link preserves the edition previously cited by the Atlas; wording and numbering can differ.

Edition & attribution

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato and Jessica Walton · CC0 1.0

Read at SuttaCentral ↗

SuttaCentral · Bilara translations · Bhikkhu Sujato and Jessica Walton · CC0 1.0

Introductions, reflection questions and added section headings are editorial material, separate from the attributed translation.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork created for Buddhist Atlas. It is an evocative companion, not a depiction of the text’s historical setting.

Source link checked October 21, 2026. The linked publisher provides the text and its usage terms.

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Guru Viking0

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People & teachers1
Traditions & history2
Books1
  • In the Buddha’s Words

    Broader context: a thematic anthology of early Buddhist discourses; this link does not claim that the anthology contains this specific text.

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