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Verses of the Senior Nuns 5.9 The Book of the Fives Bhaddā of the Curly Hair My hair plucked out, covered in mud, I used to wander wearing just one robe. I saw fault where there was none, and was blind to the actual fault. Leaving my day’s meditation on Vulture’s Peak Mountain, I saw the stainless Buddha at the fore of the mendicant Saṅgha. I bent my knee and bowed, and in his presence raised my cupped palms. “Come Bhaddā,” he said; that was my ordination. “I’ve wandered among the Aṅgans and Magadhans, the Vajjis, Kāsis, and Kosalans. I have eaten the almsfood of the nations free of debt for fifty years.” “O! He has made so much merit! That lay follower is so very wise. He gave a robe to Bhaddā, who is released from all ties.”