Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c36.2810

v2.c36.2810

A monk in a monastery, three leagues away, having heard of the excellence of Sirimā's alms and of her extraordinary beauty from a visiting monk, decided to go and see her. Having obtained a ticket for alms, he went to her house, but Sirimā was ill, and her attendants looked after the monks. When the meal had been served she was brought into the dining hall to pay her respects to the monks. The lustful monk at once fell in love with her and was unable to eat. That same day Sirimā died. The Buddha gave instructions that her body should not be burnt, but laid in the charnel-ground, protected from birds and beasts. When putrefaction had set in, the king proclaimed that all citizens, on penalty of a fine, should gaze on Sirimā's body. The Buddha, too, went with the monks, the lustful monk accompanying them. The Buddha made the king proclaim, with beating of the drum, that anyone who would pay a thousand could have Sirimā's body. There was no response. The price was gradually lowered to one-eighth of a penny. Yet no one came forward, even when the body was offered for nothing. The Buddha addressed the monks, pointing out how even those who would have paid one thousand to spend a single night with Sirimā would not now take her as a gift. Such was the passing nature of beauty. The lustful monk became a sotāpanna.²