Ja 234 The Story about (Princess) Asitābhū
(Asitābhujātaka)
In the present one young woman is despised by her husband, listens to Dhamma, enters the path, ordains and becomes Awakened. The Buddha tells a story in which she, as a young woman called Asitābhū, gained high Attainments in a similar story from a previous life.
1. Tvam-eva dāni-m-akara, yaṁ kāmo byagamā tayi,
Soyaṁ appaṭisandhiko kharachinnaṁ va renukan-ti.
Now you are done, sensual desire in you has been overcome, just as a tusk that is cut off with a saw cannot be rejoined.
In this connection, now you’re done, noble one, abandoning me, following a Kinnarī, you now have surely done this.
Sensual desire in you has been overcome, whatever my sensual desire towards you has ceased, abandoned by abandoning and elimination, he who has abandoned attains this distinction, this is the explanation.
This cannot be rejoined, but now this sensual desire cannot be rejoined, it is not possible to rejoin it.
Just as the tusk that is cut off with a saw, tusk is said to be an elephant’s tusk. Just as an elephant’s tusk that has been cut off with a saw cannot be rejoined, cannot be attached the same way as before, so there is certainly no fixating of my mind in you again.
2. Atricchaṁ atilobhena atilobhamadena ca,
Evaṁ hāyati atthamhā, ahaṁ va Asitābhuyā ti.
Great desire, with great greed together with excessively great greed, cuts off Hāyati literally means dimishes, declines, dwindles, but here to make the simile work we must use something like cuts off. our welfare, just as I was cut off from Asitābhū.
In this connection, great desire, with great greed, great desire is said to be what is reckoned as desire for this and that, unending craving, great greed is said to be being overcome with continual greed.
Together with excessively great greed, from the arising of an excessive person is born what is known as excessive greed.
This is what is said: because of great desire a person has great desire and conceit, with great greed and excessively great greed, just as I lost the princess Asitābhū, so will his welfare be cut off.