Thag 2:16 Mahākāla

Thag 2:16 Mahākāla - translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

This swarthy woman

[preparing a corpse for cremation]

—crow-like, enormous—

breaking a thigh & then the other

thigh,

breaking an arm & then the other

arm,

cracking open the head,

like a pot of curds,

she sits with them heaped up beside her.

Whoever, unknowing,

makes acquisitions

—the fool—

returns over & over

to suffering & stress.

So, discerning,

don’t make acquisitions.

May I never lie

with my head cracked open

again.

Origin URL: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/KN/Thag/thag2_16.html