Vaṅgīsa’s verses Theragātha

Vaṅgīsa, is one of the Buddha’s eighty great disciples. He is known for being the foremost in
composing impromptu verses. In the Theragāthā – a collection of poems by the Buddha’s earliest
disciples, Vaṅgīsa is credited with the most number of verses. According to the Apadāna, a text
composed around the 2nd or third century BCE, the name Vaṅgīsa was given to him for being the
master of words (vacane issaro ti) and also as he was born in Vaṅga which is the ancient name of
Bengal. According to the Theravāda tradition, Vaṅgīsa was a nomadic poet who could also read
dead people’s skulls and declare where the owner of a skull was reborn. When he met the Buddha,
the Buddha gave him an Arahant’s skull but Vaṅgīsa was not able to determine the rebirth of
Arahants, as in theory, Arahants do not take rebirth. Being curious to know what happens to dead
Arahants he became a disciple of the Buddha. The following is a conversation between Vaṅgīsa
and Ānanda, two of Buddha’s foremost disciples.

Kāmarāgena ḍayhāmi, cittaṃ me pariḍayhati;

Sādhu nibbāpanaṃ brūhi, anukampāya gotama.

Vaṅgīsa – “I am enflamed by sensual desires,

my mind is fully blazing;
please, tell me how to extinguish it well,
have pity on me, Gotama!”

‘‘Saññāya vipariyesā, cittaṃ te pariḍayhati;

Nimittaṃ parivajjehi, subhaṃ rāgūpasaṃhitaṃ.

Ānanda -“Your mind is enflamed

due to a distorted perception,
discard the signs,
the attractive things that engender passion,
‘‘Asubhāya cittaṃ bhāvehi, ekaggaṃ susamāhitaṃ;
Sati kāyagatā tyatthu, nibbidābahulo bhava.

cultivate your mind with the unattractive aspects,

one-pointed, and fully composed,
let the mindfulness be directed to the body,
be intent on disenchantment.
‘‘Animittañca bhāvehi, mānānusayamujjaha;
Tato mānābhisamayā, upasanto carissasi.

cultivate signlessness,
discard the proclivities of conceit,
then, with conceit fully surpassed,
you will move around completely at peace.”
Somā’s verses – appearing in the Therīgāthā and Saṁyuttanikāya

The following is a conversation between a nun named Somā and the Māra, the evil one (symbol
of everything that is evil and negative – physically, psychologically, emotionally – barring one
from progressing on the path of moral purification). One day the nun Somā was begging alms and
after having her fore-noon meal, she went into a forest named Andhavana for her solitary practice
for the day. Then the Māra appeared there and said the following verse to discourage her from her
practice, to “arouse fear, trepidation, and horripilation” in her, as the text says.

Yantaṃ isīhi pattabbaṃ ṭhānaṃ durabhisambhavaṃ,

Na taṃ dvaṅgulapaññāya sakkā pappotumitthiyāti.

That state which sages obtain,

a very difficult feat indeed.
A woman of only two fingers’ length of wisdom,
is not able to accomplish that.

Soma realized that it is only the Māra who could say this kind of statements to discourage her
from her practice. She then replied as follows –

Itthibhāvo kiṃ kayirā cittamhi susamāhite,

Ñāṇamhi vattamānamhi sammā dhammaṃ vipassato.

Why would womanhood matter

when one’s mind is so well composed,
when there is knowledge flowing (smoothly),
and she properly sees the reality as it is?

Yassa nūna siyā evaṃ itthāhaṃ5 purisoti vā,

Kiñci vā pana aññasmiṃ taṃ māro vattumarahatīti.

The Evil one’s trick applies only to those

who fret over, thinking –
“I am a male”; “I am a female”, or
“I am something else”.