---
title: "Verses of the Senior Monks · Theragāthā"
author: "The Elder Monks"
translator: "Bhikkhu Sujato"
languages: [pi, en]
shelf: "Pali Canon"
section: 11 of 22
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-theragatha/11/
cite: "The Elder Monks, tr. Bhikkhu Sujato, Verses of the Senior Monks · Theragāthā, section 11. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pali-theragatha/11/"
---

# Verses of the Senior Monks · Theragāthā

*The Elder Monks, tr. Bhikkhu Sujato*

Poems of awakening by more than two hundred and sixty monks of the Buddha’s time.

> Pali: the Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka (Buddha Jayanti edition, 2500), from SuttaCentral’s bilara-data, dedicated to the public domain (CC0).

> English: Bhikkhu Sujato, from SuttaCentral’s bilara-data, dedicated to the public domain (CC0). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the segment numbers the two texts share, gathered into paragraphs; verse keeps its lines.

## 11. Chapter Eleven · Thag 1.101–1.109

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-theragatha/11/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/pali-theragatha/11/#p-N

[¶0] Thag 1.101 · Belaṭṭhānika

> Pali: Thag 1.101 · Belaṭṭhānikattheragāthā

[¶1] He’s given up the household life, <j>but is far from perfect.
Living for his belly, lazy, <j>he uses his snout as a plow,
like a great hog stuffed with grain.
That dullard is reborn again and again.

> Pali: “Hitvā gihittaṁ anavositatto,
Mukhanaṅgalī odariko kusīto;
Mahāvarāhova nivāpapuṭṭho,
Punappunaṁ gabbhamupeti mando”ti.

[¶2] > Pali: … Belaṭṭhāniko thero ….

[¶3] Thag 1.102 · Setuccha

> Pali: Thag 1.102 · Setucchattheragāthā

[¶4] Deceived by conceit,
defiled among conditions,
oppressed by gain and loss,
they don’t reach immersion.

> Pali: “Mānena vañcitāse,
Saṅkhāresu saṅkilissamānāse;
Lābhālābhena mathitā,
Samādhiṁ nādhigacchantī”ti.

[¶5] > Pali: … Setuccho thero ….

[¶6] Thag 1.103 · Bandhura

> Pali: Thag 1.103 · Bandhurattheragāthā

[¶7] I have no need of this—
I’m happy and satisfied with the sweet teaching.
I’ve drunk the best, the supreme nectar:
I won’t go near poison.

> Pali: “Nāhaṁ etena atthiko,
Sukhito dhammarasena tappito;
Pitvā rasaggamuttamaṁ,
Na ca kāhāmi visena santhavan”ti.

[¶8] > Pali: … Bandhuro thero ….

[¶9] Thag 1.104 · Khitaka

> Pali: Thag 1.104 · Khitakattheragāthā

[¶10] Hey! My body is light,
full of so much rapture and happiness.
My body feels like it’s floating,
like cotton in a gale.

> Pali: “Lahuko vata me kāyo,
Phuṭṭho ca pītisukhena vipulena;
Tūlamiva eritaṁ mālutena,
Pilavatīva me kāyo”ti.

[¶11] > Pali: … Khitako thero ….

[¶12] Thag 1.105 · Malitavambha

> Pali: Thag 1.105 · Malitavambhattheragāthā

[¶13] Dissatisfied, one should not stay;
and even if happy, one should leave.
One who sees clearly wouldn’t stay
in a place that was not conducive to the goal.

> Pali: “Ukkaṇṭhitopi na vase,
ramamānopi pakkame;
Na tvevānatthasaṁhitaṁ,
vase vāsaṁ vicakkhaṇo”ti.

[¶14] > Pali: … Malitavambho thero ….

[¶15] Thag 1.106 · Suhemanta

> Pali: Thag 1.106 · Suhemantattheragāthā

[¶16] Though the meaning has a hundred facets,
and bears a hundred characteristics,
the simpleton sees only one factor,
while the sage sees a hundred.

> Pali: “Sataliṅgassa atthassa,
satalakkhaṇadhārino;
Ekaṅgadassī dummedho,
satadassī ca paṇḍito”ti.

[¶17] > Pali: … Suhemanto thero ….

[¶18] Thag 1.107 · Dhammasava

> Pali: Thag 1.107 · Dhammasavattheragāthā

[¶19] After investigating, I went forth
from the lay life to homelessness.
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

> Pali: “Pabbajiṁ tulayitvāna,
agārasmānagāriyaṁ;
Tisso vijjā anuppattā,
kataṁ buddhassa sāsanan”ti.

[¶20] > Pali: … Dhammasavo thero ….

[¶21] Thag 1.108 · Dhammasavapitu

> Pali: Thag 1.108 · Dhammasavapituttheragāthā

[¶22] At 120 years old
I went forth to homelessness.
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

> Pali: “Sa vīsavassasatiko,
pabbajiṁ anagāriyaṁ;
Tisso vijjā anuppattā,
kataṁ buddhassa sāsanan”ti.

[¶23] > Pali: … Dhammasavapitu thero ….

[¶24] Thag 1.109 · Saṅgharakkhita

> Pali: Thag 1.109 · Saṅgharakkhitattheragāthā

[¶25] Even on retreat he doesn’t heed the counsel
of the one with supreme compassion for his welfare.
He lives with unrestrained faculties,
like a young deer in the woods.

> Pali: “Na nūnāyaṁ paramahitānukampino,
Rahogato anuvigaṇeti sāsanaṁ;
Tathāhayaṁ viharati pākatindriyo,
Migī yathā taruṇajātikā vane”ti.

[¶26] > Pali: … Saṅgharakkhito thero ….