Gladly, let this body be broken! Let it be scattered in this very place! Not even for that would I break my ethics, if it were being scattered like hay.”
The Conduct Leading to Buddhahood The Chapter on an Elephant The Perfection of Ethics (4th) Cūḷabodhi’s Conduct
“Then again when I was the very virtuous Cūḷabodhi, seeing rebirth as fearful, I renounced worldly life.
She who had been my partner, a brahmin lady with golden skin, unconcerned with the cycle of rebirths, also renounced worldly life.
Without clinging, cutting off family, unconcerned with family or group, we walked from village to town until we reached Varanasi.
There we lived alert, mixing not with a family or group. Quiet and undisturbed, we both stayed in the royal park.
Visiting the park, the king saw the brahmin lady. He approached me and asked, ‘Is she your wife? Or whose is she?’
When he said this, to him I said the following. ‘She is not my wife. We share the same teaching and belief.’
Infatuated with her, he had his men seize her. Compelling her by force he brought her to the royal compound.
She who became mine by touching a water-jar, born together, one in beliefs, when he dragged her away, I felt so angry.