---
title: "Verses of the Senior Monks · Theragāthā"
author: "The Elder Monks"
translator: "Bhikkhu Sujato"
languages: [pi, en]
shelf: "Pali Canon"
section: 3 of 22
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-theragatha/3/
cite: "The Elder Monks, tr. Bhikkhu Sujato, Verses of the Senior Monks · Theragāthā, section 3. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pali-theragatha/3/"
---

# 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.

## 3. Chapter Three · Thag 1.21–1.29

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-theragatha/3/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/pali-theragatha/3/#p-N

[¶0] Thag 1.21 · Nigrodha

> Pali: Thag 1.21 · Nigrodhattheragāthā

[¶1] I’m not afraid of fear,
for our teacher is expert in freedom from death.
Mendicants advance by the path
where no fear remains.

> Pali: “Nāhaṁ bhayassa bhāyāmi,
Satthā no amatassa kovido;
Yattha bhayaṁ nāvatiṭṭhati,
Tena maggena vajanti bhikkhavo”ti.

[¶2] > Pali: … Nigrodho thero ….

[¶3] Thag 1.22 · Cittaka

> Pali: Thag 1.22 · Cittakattheragāthā

[¶4] Crested peacocks with beautiful blue necks
cry out in Karaṁvī.
Stirred by a cool breeze,
they wake the sleeper to practice absorption.

> Pali: “Nīlā sugīvā sikhino,
Morā kārambhiyaṁ abhinadanti;
Te sītavātakīḷitā,
Suttaṁ jhāyaṁ nibodhentī”ti.

[¶5] > Pali: … Cittako thero ….

[¶6] Thag 1.23 · Gosāla

> Pali: Thag 1.23 · Gosālattheragāthā

[¶7] I’ll eat honey and milk-rice
in Veḷugumba.
And then, dexterously probing
the rise and fall of the aggregates,
I’ll return to my forest hill
and foster seclusion.

> Pali: “Ahaṁ kho veḷugumbasmiṁ,
bhutvāna madhupāyasaṁ;
Padakkhiṇaṁ sammasanto,
khandhānaṁ udayabbayaṁ;
Sānuṁ paṭigamissāmi,
vivekamanubrūhayan”ti.

[¶8] > Pali: … Gosālo thero ….

[¶9] Thag 1.24 · Sugandha

> Pali: Thag 1.24 · Sugandhattheragāthā

[¶10] See the excellence of the teaching!
Just one rainy season after I went forth,
I attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

> Pali: “Anuvassiko pabbajito,
passa dhammasudhammataṁ;
Tisso vijjā anuppattā,
kataṁ buddhassa sāsanan”ti.

[¶11] > Pali: … Sugandho thero ….

[¶12] Thag 1.25 · Nandiya

> Pali: Thag 1.25 · Nandiyattheragāthā

[¶13] Dark One, after attacking such a monk—
one who has arrived at the fruit,
and whose mind is always full of light—
you’ll fall into suffering.

> Pali: “Obhāsajātaṁ phalagaṁ,
cittaṁ yassa abhiṇhaso;
Tādisaṁ bhikkhumāsajja,
kaṇha dukkhaṁ nigacchasī”ti.

[¶14] > Pali: … Nandiyo thero ….

[¶15] Thag 1.26 · Abhaya

> Pali: Thag 1.26 · Abhayattheragāthā

[¶16] Having heard the fine words
of the Buddha, Kinsman of the Sun,
I penetrated the subtle truth,
like a hair-tip with an arrow.

> Pali: “Sutvā subhāsitaṁ vācaṁ,
buddhassādiccabandhuno;
Paccabyadhiṁ hi nipuṇaṁ,
vālaggaṁ usunā yathā”ti.

[¶17] > Pali: … Abhayo thero ….

[¶18] Thag 1.27 · Lomasakaṅgiya

> Pali: Thag 1.27 · Lomasakaṅgiyattheragāthā

[¶19] With my chest I’ll thrust aside
the grasses, vines, canes,
the vetiver, rushes and reeds,
and foster seclusion.

> Pali: “Dabbaṁ kusaṁ poṭakilaṁ,
usīraṁ muñjapabbajaṁ;
Urasā panudissāmi,
vivekamanubrūhayan”ti.

[¶20] > Pali: … Lomasakaṅgiyo thero ….

[¶21] Thag 1.28 · Jambugāmikaputta

> Pali: Thag 1.28 · Jambugāmikaputtattheragāthā

[¶22] Aren’t you obsessed with clothes?
Don’t you just love jewelry?
Is it not you—and no one else—
who spreads the scent of virtue?

> Pali: “Kacci no vatthapasuto,
Kacci no bhūsanārato;
Kacci sīlamayaṁ gandhaṁ,
Kiṁ tvaṁ vāyasi netarā pajā”ti.

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

[¶24] Thag 1.29 · Hārita (1st)

> Pali: Thag 1.29 · Hāritattheragāthā

[¶25] Straighten yourself,
like a fletcher an arrow.
When your mind is upright, Hārita,
break ignorance to bits!

> Pali: “Samunnamayamattānaṁ,
usukārova tejanaṁ;
Cittaṁ ujuṁ karitvāna,
avijjaṁ bhinda hāritā”ti.

[¶26] > Pali: … Hārito thero ….