upekkha100 said: “English:
“Wandering for alms — weak, leaning on a staff, with trembling limbs — I fell down right there on the ground. Seeing the drawbacks of the body, my mind was then set free. ”
In Pali it is:
“Vīrā vīrehi dhammehi,
bhikkhunī bhāvitindriyā;
Dhāreti antimaṃ dehaṃ,
jetvā māraṃ savāhinin”ti ”
That is not the Pali verse for the above translation.
The gāthā is:
“Piṇḍapātaṃ caritvāna,
daṇḍamolubbha dubbalā;
Vedhamānehi gattehi,
tattheva nipatiṃ chamā;
Disvā ādīnavaṃ kāye,
atha cittaṃ vimucci me”ti.
(17. Dhammātherīgāthā)
Obviously that bhikkhuni had attained the Sotapanna stage previously. She saw the drawbacks of the physical body and was able to overcome the remaining 7 samyojana.
Only the Sotapanna stage requires listening to Dhamma. Without that “vision” of the anicca, dukkha, anatta nature, one cannot attain the Sotapanna stage. Once one has that correct “picture of the 31 realms”, then one needs to lose the “wrong sanna” too. That happens via the the next stages and is completed at the Arahant stage.
– The bhikkhuni could have had the Sotapanna, Sakadagami, or the Anagami stage.
Yes. She could have attained the Sotapanna stage in a previous life. One needs to “see” the real nature of this world only once. Once “seen” it is never lost.