Therigatha

Verses of the Elder Nuns

(selected passages)

The Therigatha, the ninth book of the Khuddaka Nikaya, consists of 73 poems — 522 stanzas in all — in which the early nuns (bhikkhunis) recount their struggles and accomplishments along the road to arahantship. Their stories are told with often heart-breaking honesty and beauty, revealing the deeply human side of these extraordinary women, and thus serve as inspiring reminders of our own potential to follow in their footsteps.

The translator appears in the square brackets []. Pali verse numbers appear in the braces {}.

An excellent print translation of the Therigatha is Poems of Early Buddhist Nuns, translated by C.A.F. Rhys Davids and K.R. Norman (Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1989).

• Chapter I — The Single Verses {vv. 1-18}
  • An Anonymous Bhikkhuni (Thig I.1) {v. 1} [Thanissaro]. Like a pot of pickled greens boiled dry.
  • Punna (Thig I.3) {v. 3} [Thanissaro]. Bursting the mass of darkness.
  • Mutta (Thig I.11) {v. 11} [Thanissaro]. Free at last from three crooked things!
  • Dhamma (Thig I.17) {v. 17} [Thanissaro]. Collapsing to the ground from weakness —the Dhamma appears!
• Chapter II — Pairs of Verses {vv. 19-38}
  • Sumangala's Mother (Thig II.3) {vv. 23-24} [Thanissaro]. What bliss — free at last from my shameless husband!
• Chapter III — Groups of Three Verses {vv. 39-62}
  • Uttama (Thig III.2) {vv. 42-44} [Thanissaro]. Seven days of continuous meditation. On the eighth: Victory!
  • Dantika and the Elephant (Thig III.4) {vv. 48-50} [Rhys Davids | Thanissaro]. Taming the mind: "Why I'd gone to the woods in the first place."
  • Ubbiri (Thig III.5) {vv. 51-53} [Thanissaro]. A mother conquers her grief over her daughter's death.
• Chapter IV — The Group of Four Verses {vv. 63-66}
  • Bhadda Kapilani (Thig IV.1) {vv. 63-66} [Hecker/Nyanaponika]. Bhadda recalls her ex-husband (Ven. Maha Kassapa), and sings of how they now are both "cooled of passions."
• Chapter V — Groups of Five Verses {vv. 67-126}
  • Vimala, the Former Courtesan (Thig V.2) {vv. 72-76} [Thanissaro]. A former prostitute joins the ranks of the arahants.
  • Nanda's Vision (Thig V.4) {vv. 82-86} [Thanissaro | Hecker/Khema]. Contemplating the foulness of the body, Nanda uproots all passions.
  • Mittakali (Thig V.6) {vv. 92-96} [Thanissaro]. No time for heedlessness!
  • Sona, Mother of Ten (Thig V.8) {vv. 102-106} [Thanissaro | Hecker/Khema]. Sona conquers aging: "I spit on old age!"
  • Bhadda Kundalakesa, the Former Jain Ascetic (Thig V.9) {vv. 107-111} [Hecker/Khema]. Bhadda looks back and gives thanks to whomever it was who long ago gave her a robe when she set out in the homeless life.
  • Patacara (Thig V.10) {vv. 112-116} [Thanissaro | Hecker/Khema]. "And taking a pin, I pulled out the wick..."
  • Patacara's Thirty Students (Thig V.11) {vv. 117-121} [Thanissaro | Hecker/Khema]. Patacara's instructions lead all her students to arahantship.
  • Canda, the Beggar (Thig V.12) {vv. 122-126} [Thanissaro]. A former beggar becomes an arahant.
• Chapter VI — Groups of Six Verses {vv. 127-174}
  • Pañcasata Patacara — Patacara's 500 Students (Thig VI.1) {vv. 127-132} [Thanissaro | Olendzki]. A mother conquers her grief over her son's death: "As he came, so he has gone — so what is there to lament?"
  • Vasitthi, the Madwoman (Thig VI.2) {vv. 133-138} [Thanissaro]. A mother conquers her grief over her son's death.
  • The Verses of Final Knowledge of Bhikkhuni Sujata (Thig VI.4) {vv. 145-150} [Hecker/Khema]. When, by chance, she passed by a monastery, her life changed forever.
  • Anopama, the Millionaire's Daughter (Thig VI.5) {vv. 151-156} [Thanissaro]. A wealthy heiress hears the Dhamma and becomes a nonreturner.
  • Maha Pajapati (Gotami) Theri: A Mother's Blessing (Thig VI.6) {vv. 157-162} [Olendzki]. After attaining arhantship, Pajapati Gotami sings the praises of her stepson — none other than the Buddha himself.
  • Ambapali (Thig VI.1) {vv. 163-168} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha urges a childless mother in her pursuit of the Deathless.
• Chapter VII — Groups of Seven Verses {vv. 175-195}
• Chapter VIII — The Group of Eight Verses {vv. 196-203}
• Chapter IX — The Group of Nine Verses {vv. 204-212}
• Chapter X — The Group of Eleven Verses {vv. 213-223}
  • Kisagotami (Thig X) (excerpt) {vv. 213-217, 220, 222-223} [Hecker/Khema]. Kisagotami, now an arahant, looks back upon a life of sorrow: "So many tears have you shed in these many thousands of births." [See also: ThigA X.1, the Commentary to this passage, with the famous parable of the mustard seed.]
• Chapter XI — The Group of Twelve Verses {vv. 224-235}
• Chapter XII — The Group of Sixteen Verses {vv. 236-251}
  • Punnika and the Brahman (Thig XII) {vv. 236-251} [Thanissaro]. Punnika convinces a brahman to abandon his purifying water-rites — after all, if bathing were sacred, then frogs, turtles, and fish would all be pure!
• Chapter XIII — Groups of (About) Twenty Verses {vv. 252-365}
  • Ambapali (Thig XIII.1) {vv. 252-270} [Thanissaro]. A former courtesan — now an arahant — reveals how aging has eroded every trace of her youthful beauty. An exquisite portrait of the effects of aging.
  • Rohini (Thig XIII.2) {vv. 271-290} [Thanissaro]. Before her ordination, Rohini answers her father's accusation that monks are lazy. In fact, she points out, "They do the best work."
  • Subha, the Goldsmith's Daughter (Thig XIII.5) {vv. 339-367} [Thanissaro]. Subha resists her family's efforts to lure her back the world of sensuality and riches, and soon discovers a treasure worth more than any amount of gold or silver.
• Chapter XIV — The Group of (About) Thirty Verses {vv. 366-399}
  • Subha Jivakambavanika: Subha and the Libertine (Thig XIV) {vv. 366-399} [Thanissaro]. Subha, an arahant nun living alone in the forest, is hounded by a man who lusts after her. The "special gift" that she finally gives him instantly gives him a change of heart. A magnificent story.
• Chapter XV — The Group of (About) Forty Verses {vv. 400-447}
• Chapter XVI — The Great Group of Verses {vv. 448-522}