---
title: "Verses of the Senior Monks · Theragāthā"
author: "The Elder Monks"
translator: "Bhikkhu Sujato"
languages: [pi, en]
shelf: "Pali Canon"
section: 2 of 22
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-theragatha/2/
cite: "The Elder Monks, tr. Bhikkhu Sujato, Verses of the Senior Monks · Theragāthā, section 2. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pali-theragatha/2/"
---

# 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.

## 2. Chapter Two · Thag 1.11–1.19

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-theragatha/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/pali-theragatha/2/#p-N

[¶0] Thag 1.11 · Cūḷavaccha

> Pali: Thag 1.11 · Cūḷavacchattheragāthā

[¶1] A monk full of joy
in the teaching proclaimed by the Buddha
would realize the peaceful state,
the blissful stilling of conditions.

> Pali: “Pāmojjabahulo bhikkhu,
dhamme buddhappavedite;
Adhigacche padaṁ santaṁ,
saṅkhārūpasamaṁ sukhan”ti.

[¶2] > Pali: … Cūḷavaccho thero ….

[¶3] Thag 1.12 · Mahāvaccha

> Pali: Thag 1.12 · Mahāvacchattheragāthā

[¶4] Empowered by wisdom, <j>with precepts and observances intact,
serene, loving absorption, mindful,
eating just the needed food,
one should await one’s time here, free of desire.

> Pali: “Paññābalī sīlavatūpapanno,
Samāhito jhānarato satīmā;
Yadatthiyaṁ bhojanaṁ bhuñjamāno,
Kaṅkhetha kālaṁ idha vītarāgo”ti.

[¶5] > Pali: … Mahāvaccho thero ….

[¶6] Thag 1.13 · Vanavaccha (1st)

> Pali: Thag 1.13 · Vanavacchattheragāthā

[¶7] Glistening, they look like blue stormclouds,
with waters cool and streams so clear,
and covered all in ladybugs:
these rocky crags delight me!

> Pali: “Nīlabbhavaṇṇā rucirā,
sītavārī sucindharā;
Indagopakasañchannā,
te selā ramayanti man”ti.

[¶8] > Pali: … Vanavaccho thero ….

[¶9] Thag 1.14 · The Novice Sivaka

> Pali: Thag 1.14 · Sivakasāmaṇeragāthā

[¶10] My mentor said to me:
“Let’s leave here, Sīvaka.”
My body lives in the village,
but my mind has gone to the wilderness.
I go there even when lying down—
you can’t chain those who know.

> Pali: “Upajjhāyo maṁ avaca,
ito gacchāma sīvaka;
Gāme me vasati kāyo,
araññaṁ me gato mano;
Semānakopi gacchāmi,
natthi saṅgo vijānatan”ti.

[¶11] > Pali: … Vanavacchassa therassa (siviko) sāmaṇero ….

[¶12] Thag 1.15 · Kuṇḍadhāna

> Pali: Thag 1.15 · Kuṇḍadhānattheragāthā

[¶13] Five to cut, five to drop,
and five more to develop.
When a mendicant slips five chains
they’re said to have crossed the flood.

> Pali: “Pañca chinde pañca jahe,
pañca cuttari bhāvaye;
Pañca saṅgātigo bhikkhu,
oghatiṇṇoti vuccatī”ti.

[¶14] > Pali: … Kuṇḍadhāno thero ….

[¶15] Thag 1.16 · Belaṭṭhasīsa

> Pali: Thag 1.16 · Belaṭṭhasīsattheragāthā

[¶16] Just as a fine thoroughbred
proceeds with ease,
tail and mane flying in the wind;
so my days and nights
proceed with ease,
full of joy not of the flesh.

> Pali: “Yathāpi bhaddo ājañño,
naṅgalāvattanī sikhī;
Gacchati appakasirena,
evaṁ rattindivā mama;
Gacchanti appakasirena,
sukhe laddhe nirāmise”ti.

[¶17] > Pali: … Belaṭṭhasīso thero ….

[¶18] Thag 1.17 · Dāsaka

> Pali: Thag 1.17 · Dāsakattheragāthā

[¶19] One who gets drowsy from overeating,
fond of sleep, rolling round the bed
like a great hog stuffed with grain:
that dullard returns to the womb again and again.

> Pali: “Middhī yadā hoti mahagghaso ca,
Niddāyitā samparivattasāyī;
Mahāvarāhova nivāpapuṭṭho,
Punappunaṁ gabbhamupeti mando”ti.

[¶20] > Pali: … Dāsako thero ….

[¶21] Thag 1.18 · Sigāla’s Father

> Pali: Thag 1.18 · Siṅgālapituttheragāthā

[¶22] There was an heir of the Buddha,
a monk in Bhesakaḷā forest,
who suffused the entire earth
with the perception of bones.
I think he will quickly
get rid of sensual desire.

> Pali: “Ahu buddhassa dāyādo,
bhikkhu bhesakaḷāvane;
Kevalaṁ aṭṭhisaññāya,
apharī pathaviṁ imaṁ;
Maññehaṁ kāmarāgaṁ so,
khippameva pahissatī”ti.

[¶23] > Pali: … Siṅgālapitā thero ….

[¶24] Thag 1.19 · Kula

> Pali: Thag 1.19 · Kulattheragāthā

[¶25] While irrigators guide water,
fletchers bend arrows straight,
and carpenters bend timber straight,
those true to their vows tame themselves.

> Pali: “Udakañhi nayanti nettikā,
Usukārā namayanti tejanaṁ;
Dāruṁ namayanti tacchakā,
Attānaṁ damayanti subbatā”ti.

[¶26] > Pali: … Kulo thero ….