Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Therigatha · 6.3

Khemā

Khemā — The Book of the Sixes · Poem 3 of 8

Setting
No narrative setting beyond what the verses state; no closing attribution
Speaker
Two voices: Māra, disguised as a young man offering music, then Khemā's reply
Form
Six four-line verses
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
This reading guide does not assert a specific matching text for this poem in other Buddhist literatures.
Difficulty
★★★★☆ — a third Māra confrontation, extended beyond the stock formula into personal history

Why this text

This poem opens as a third confrontation with Māra in this collection, closing on the identical victorious quatrain already used in Thig 3.7 and 3.8. But Khemā's reply does not stop there: two further verses add something new, an unusually specific admission that her own earlier religious life — worshiping the stars and a sacred flame — was, by her own later judgment, foolishness mistaken for purity.

Reading guide

A specific temptation, more elaborate than Selā's or Somā's

‘You're so young and beautiful!... come, Khemā, let us enjoy the music of a five-piece band’ is more detailed than Māra's arguments to Selā or Somā — a concrete, named entertainment offered alongside the usual appeal to youth and beauty.

The identical victory formula, reused a third time

‘Relishing is banished in every respect, and the mass of darkness is shattered... you're beaten, terminator!’ closes Khemā's central reply exactly as it closed Thig 3.7 and 3.8 — the same formula now given to a third woman's confrontation.

A confession that goes beyond the stock formula

Two further verses extend past where Selā's and Somā's poems ended: ‘worshiping the stars, serving the sacred flame in a grove... foolish me, I thought this was purity’ — a specific, personal admission about a religious life before the Buddha's path, distinct from the victory over Māra itself.

A judgment reversed, not merely a practice abandoned

‘Failing to grasp the true nature of things’ names the error precisely: not simply that her former practice was wrong, but that her very judgment of what counted as ‘purity’ was mistaken.

Key terms

Khemā — this poem's speaker, whose confrontation with Māra extends into an admission about her earlier religious life.
pañcaṅgika turiya — a “five-piece band” — the specific entertainment Māra offers in his temptation.
sattisūlūpamā kāmā — “sensual pleasures are like swords and spears” — the same metaphor used by Selā in Thig 3.7, reused here.
yathābhucca — “the true nature of things” — what her earlier worship, by her own later account, failed to grasp.
satthusāsanakārikā — “doing the teacher's bidding” — Khemā's own closing self-description, naming her present practice.

The text

The text in full: six verses, extending past a third confrontation with Māra. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“You’re so young and beautiful! I too am young, just a youth. Come, Khemā, let us enjoy the music of a five-piece band.”

§2“This body is rotting, ailing and frail, I’m horrified and repelled by it, and I’ve eradicated sensual craving.

§3Sensual pleasures are like swords and spears; the aggregates are their chopping block. What you call erotic delight is now no delight for me.

§4Relishing is banished in every respect, and the mass of darkness is shattered. So know this, Wicked One: you’re beaten, terminator!”

§5“Worshiping the stars, serving the sacred flame in a grove; failing to grasp the true nature of things, foolish me, I thought this was purity.

§6But now I worship the Awakened One, supreme among men. Doing the teacher’s bidding, I am released from all suffering.”

· · ·

Self-check quiz

Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 10
What does Māra specifically offer Khemā in his temptation?
Correct: B. A concrete, named entertainment, more detailed than the temptations to Selā or Somā.
Question 2 of 10
What quatrain closes Khemā's central reply, identical to Thig 3.7 and 3.8?
Correct: C. The identical victorious formula, now given to a third woman's confrontation.
Question 3 of 10
What does Khemā's poem add beyond this shared formula?
Correct: B. Two further verses, extending past where Selā's and Somā's poems ended.
Question 4 of 10
How does Khemā describe her earlier religious practice, in retrospect?
Correct: C. 'Foolish me, I thought this was purity.'
Question 5 of 10
What specifically does 'yathābhucca' name as her earlier failure?
Correct: D. The error was in judgment itself, not only in outward practice.
Question 6 of 10
What does this poem's central reply compare sensual pleasures to?
Correct: A. The same metaphor used by Selā in Thig 3.7.
Question 7 of 10
How many times, counting this poem, has the exact victory quatrain over Māra now appeared?
Correct: A. A recurring formula, now given to a third confrontation.
Question 8 of 10
How does this poem close?
Correct: B. Her own closing self-description, naming her present practice.
Question 9 of 10
What position does this poem hold in the Book of the Sixes?
Correct: D. Following Thig 6.2, continuing the Book of the Sixes.
Question 10 of 10
What does 'satthusāsanakārikā' mean?
Correct: C. Naming her present practice, in contrast with her earlier misdirected worship.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

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