ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 11.14

11.14

“Lord, tell us how the nun Dharmadinnā, admired by many men, maintained her pure conduct despite great adversity.”

“Not only now,” the Blessed One explained, “but in times past as well, and in the same way, she was admired by many men and maintained her pure conduct despite great adversity. Listen well!

“Monks, in times gone by, during King Brahmadatta’s reign in the city of Vārāṇasī, there lived a certain householder in the city of Vārāṇasī. When the time came for him to marry he took a wife. One day his wife conceived, and after nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth they named him according to their clan.

“They reared him on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and as he grew up he studied letters, tallying, and arithmetic; the study of seals, lending, deposits, and commerce; and the examination of cloth, jewels, gems, incense, medicine, elephants, horses, and arms and armor. He became skilled in writing, skilled at reading, learned, decisive, and industrious, a master of the eight types of examination.

“When the time came for him to marry, his parents chose a wife for him. They enjoyed themselves and coupled, and the young man became so attached to her that he never wanted to be away from her. He would drop whatever he was doing just to be around her. Finally the householder thought, ‘If he remains this attached to her, everything we have will soon be gone! I’ve got to tear him away from that carcass of hers.’

“ ‘Son,’ he said, ‘what do you need that old carcass for? If you keep this up and don’t do any work, when you’re old, you’ll be penniless. Son, as long as