I, a monk, went to a charnel ground
And saw a woman left there,
Discarded in a cemetery,
Full of worms that devoured her.

Some men were disgusted,
Seeing her dead and rotten;
But sexual desire arose in me,
I was as if blind to her oozing body.

Quicker than the boiling of rice
I left that place,
Mindful and aware,
I sat down to one side.

Then the realization
Came upon me—
The danger became clear,
And I was firmly repulsed.

Then my mind was liberated—
See the excellence of the Dhamma!
I’ve attained the three knowledges,
And fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.