[2. Mekhalādāyikā1]
I had a stupa constructed2
for Siddhattha, the Blessed One.
I gifted [my] waist ornament3
so the Teacher could be repaired.4 (1) [20]
When that great stupa was finished,
I gave another ornament5
for the Sage, the Guide of the World,
[feeling well-]pleased by [my] own hands. (2) [21]
In the ninety-four aeons since
I gave that waist-ornament then,
I’ve come to know no bad rebirth:
that’s the fruit of building stupas. (3) [22]
My defilements are [now] burnt up;
all [new] existence is destroyed.
Like elephants with broken chains,
I am living without constraint. (4) [23]
Being in Best Buddha’s presence
was a very good thing for me.
The three knowledges are attained;
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (5) [24]
The four analytical modes,
and these eight deliverances,
six special knowledges mastered,
[I have] done what the Buddha taught! (6) [25]
Thus indeed Bhikkhunī Mekhalādāyikā Therī6 spoke these verses.
The legend of Mekhalādāyikā Therī is finished.
“Waist-Ornament-Giver”. Mekhala or mekhalikā was an ornament worn by women on the waist, often made of precious metals and gems.↩
reading kārāpikā (BJTS, PTS alt) for kārāpitā (“was built,” PTS)↩
presumably a valuable mekhala which was then sold in order to pay for the repairs.↩
lit., “for the sake of repairing of the Teacher.” Here the stupa is the Buddha.↩
lit., “again I gave a waist-ornament”.↩
BJTS, PTS alt omit therī.↩