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.
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).
The translator appears in the [square brackets]. Pali verse numbers appear in the {braces}.
Chapter 1 — Single Verses {vv. 1-18}
- Thig 1.1: An Anonymous Bhikkhuni
-
{v. 1}
[Thanissaro].
Like a pot of pickled greens boiled dry.
- Thig 1.3: Punna
-
{v. 3}
[Thanissaro].
Bursting the mass of darkness.
- Thig 1.11: Mutta
-
{v. 11}
[Thanissaro].
Free at last from three crooked things!
- Thig 1.17: Dhamma
-
{v. 17}
[Thanissaro].
Collapsing to the ground from weakness —the Dhamma appears!
Chapter 2 — Pairs of Verses {vv. 19-38}
- Thig 2.3: Sumangala's Mother
-
{vv. 23-24}
[Thanissaro].
What bliss — free at last from my shameless husband!
Chapter 3 — Groups of Three Verses {vv. 39-62}
- Thig 3.2: Uttama
-
{vv. 42-44}
[Thanissaro].
Seven days of continuous meditation. On the eighth: Victory!
- Thig 3.4: Dantika and the Elephant
-
{vv. 48-50}
[Rhys Davids | Thanissaro].
Taming the mind: "Why I'd gone to the woods in the first place."
- Thig 3.5: Ubbiri
-
{vv. 51-53}
[Thanissaro].
A mother conquers her grief over her daughter's death.
Chapter 4 — The Group of Four Verses {vv. 63-66}
- Thig 4.1: Bhadda Kapilani
-
{vv. 63-66}
[Hecker/Khema].
Bhadda recalls her ex-husband (Ven. Maha Kassapa), and sings of how they now are both "cooled of passions."
Chapter 5 — Groups of Five Verses {vv. 67-126}
- Thig 5.2: Vimala, the Former Courtesan
-
{vv. 72-76}
[Thanissaro].
A former prostitute joins the ranks of the arahants.
- Thig 5.4: Nanda's Vision
-
{vv. 82-86}
[Thanissaro | Hecker/Khema].
Contemplating the foul nature of the body, Nanda uproots all passions.
- Thig 5.6: Mittakali
-
{vv. 92-96}
[Thanissaro].
No time for heedlessness!
- Thig 5.8: Sona, Mother of Ten
-
{vv. 102-106}
[Thanissaro | Hecker/Khema].
Sona conquers aging: "I spit on old age!"
- Thig 5.9: Bhadda Kundalakesa, the Former Jain Ascetic
-
{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.
- Thig 5.10: Patacara
-
{vv. 112-116}
[Thanissaro | Hecker/Khema].
"And taking a pin, I pulled out the wick..."
- Thig 5.11: Patacara's Thirty Students
-
{vv. 117-121}
[Thanissaro | Hecker/Khema].
Patacara's instructions lead all her students to arahantship.
- Thig 5.12: Canda, the Beggar
-
{vv. 122-126}
[Thanissaro].
A former beggar becomes an arahant.
Chapter 6 — Groups of Six Verses {vv. 127-174}
- Thig 6.1: Pañcasata Patacara — Patacara's 500 Students
-
{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?"
- Thig 6.2: Vasitthi, the Madwoman
-
{vv. 133-138}
[Thanissaro].
A mother conquers her grief over her son's death.
- Thig 6.4: The Verses of Final Knowledge of Bhikkhuni Sujata
-
{vv. 145-150}
[Hecker/Khema].
When, by chance, she passed by a monastery, her life changed forever.
- Thig 6.5: Anopama, the Millionaire's Daughter
-
{vv. 151-156}
[Thanissaro].
A wealthy heiress hears the Dhamma and becomes a non-returner.
- Thig 6.6: Maha Pajapati (Gotami) Theri: A Mother's Blessing
-
{vv. 157-162}
[Olendzki].
After attaining arhantship, Pajapati Gotami sings the praises of her stepson — none other than the Buddha himself.
- Thig 6.7: Gutta
-
{vv. 163-168}
[Thanissaro].
The Buddha urges a childless mother in her pursuit of the Deathless.
Chapter 10 — The Group of Eleven Verses {vv. 213-223}
- Thig 10: Kisagotami
-
{vv. 213-217, 220, 222-223}
[Hecker/Khema (excerpt) | Thanissaro].
Kisagotami, now an arahant, looks back upon a long, hard life of sorrow: "Your tears have flowed for many thousands of lives." [See also: ThigA X.1, the Commentary to this passage, with the famous parable of the mustard seed.]
Chapter 12 — The Group of Sixteen Verses {vv. 236-251}
- Thig 12: Punnika and the Brahman
-
{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 13 — Groups of (about) Twenty Verses {vv. 252-365}
- Thig 13.1: Ambapali
-
{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.
- Thig 13.2: Rohini
-
{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."
- Thig 13.5: Subha, the Goldsmith's Daughter
-
{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 14 — The Group of (about) Thirty Verses {vv. 366-399}
- Thig 14: Subha Jivakambavanika: Subha and the Libertine
-
{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.
See also:
- Theragatha: Verses of the Elder Monks
- Inspiration from Enlightened Nuns by Susan Elbaum Jootla.