Therīgāthā | Poems of the Elder Nuns

  • Introduction
  • Thig 1:1  An Anonymous Nun  —  Passion stilled, like a pot of pickled greens boiled dry.
  • Thig 1:3  Puṇṇā  —  Grow full (puṇṇā) with good qualities like the full moon.
  • Thig 1:11  Muttā  —  From three crooked things set free.
  • Thig 1:17  Dhammā  —  Set free after falling down on the ground.
  • Thig 2:3  Sumaṅgala’s Mother  —  From three crooked things set free, I do jhāna.
  • Thig 2:4  Aḍḍhkāsī  —  A high-priced courtesan becomes disgusted with her body.
  • Thig 3:2  Uttamā  —  After running amok, a nun learns the Dhamma and gains awakening.
  • Thig 3:4  Dantikā & the Elephant  —  Seeing an untamed elephant made tame (danta), a nun centers her mind.
  • Thig 3:5  Ubbiri  —  A nun recalls the Buddha’s words that freed her from grief over her dead daughter.
  • Thig 5:2  Vimalā, the Former Courtesan  —  Once adorned as a courtesan, now wrapped in a double cloak, a nun cuts through all ties, human and divine.
  • Thig 5:4  Nandā’s Vision  —  The Buddha’s half-sister contemplates a dead body and so grows disenchanted with her own.
  • Thig 5:6  Mittakālī  —  Once greedy for tribute, a nun comes to her senses.
  • Thig 5:8  Soṇā, Mother of Ten  —  After giving birth to ten children, an old nun goes beyond birth and aging.
  • Thig 5:10  Paṭācārā  —  “And taking a pin, I pulled out the wick…”
  • Thig 5:11  Paṭācārā’s Thirty Students  —  Pāṭācārā’s students pay her homage after having followed her instructions.
  • Thig 5:12  Candā, the Beggar  —  Exhorted by Pāṭācārā, a former beggar gains awakening.
  • Thig 6:1  Paṭācārā’s 500 Students  —  Pāṭācārā tells her students of the Buddha’s words that freed her from grief over her dead son.
  • Thig 6:2  Vāsiṭṭhī the Madwoman  —  Once mad with grief over her dead son, a woman regains her mind and goes forth after meeting the Buddha.
  • Thig 6:3  Khemā  —  Two poems. In the first, Māra tries to tempt a nun to enjoy sensuality. In the second, the nun contrasts effective and ineffective ways of paying homage for the sake of purity.
  • Thig 6:4  Sujātā  —  Returning from a picnic, a woman penetrates the Dhamma on hearing the Buddha’s teachings.
  • Thig 6:5  Anopamā, the Millionaire’s Daughter  —  A woman sought after by many potential husbands seeks and finds the Dhamma instead.
  • Thig 6:6  Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī  —  The Buddha’s stepmother pays homage to him.
  • Thig 6:7  Guttā  —  A nun recalls the Buddha’s admonishment.
  • Thig 6:8  Vijayā  —  After running amok, a nun learns the Dhamma and gains awakening.
  • Thig 7:2  Cālā  —  Māra confronts a nun who, approving of the Dhamma, approves of no one’s philosophy.
  • Thig 7:3  Upacālā  —  A nun confronted by Māra explains why she doesn’t approve of birth.
  • Thig 8  Sīsūpacālā  —  Māra tries to tempt a nun to enjoy the pleasures of heaven.
  • Thig 9  Vaḍḍha’s Mother  —  A monk, roused by his mother, attains the highest peace.
  • Thig 10  Kīsā Gotamī  —  A nun achieves the deathless after her entire family suddenly dies.
  • Thig 12  Puṇṇikā & the Brahman  —  Puṇṇikā, a slave woman, teaches the Dhamma to a brahman who is trying to wash his sins away.
  • Thig 13:1  Ambapālī  —  A former courtesan surveys the ravages of time on her body.
  • Thig 13:2  Rohiṇī  —  Rohiṇī convinces her father that, instead of being lazy, monks actually do the best work.
  • Thig 13:5  Subhā the Goldsmith’s Daughter  —  When her relatives try to tempt her to marry, Subhā tells them of the dangers of sensuality, then ordains and gains awakening.
  • Thig 14  Subhā & the Libertine  —  A nun going through the forest is accosted by a man who invites her to be his wife. She gives him a lesson that he will never forget.