---
title: "Verses of the Senior Nuns · Therīgāthā"
author: "The Elder Nuns"
translator: "Bhikkhu Sujato"
languages: [pi, en]
shelf: "Pali Canon"
section: 11 of 16
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-therigatha/11/
cite: "The Elder Nuns, tr. Bhikkhu Sujato, Verses of the Senior Nuns · Therīgāthā, section 11. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pali-therigatha/11/"
---

# Verses of the Senior Nuns · Therīgāthā

*The Elder Nuns, tr. Bhikkhu Sujato*

The first collection of women’s religious poetry: seventy-three nuns tell how they found freedom.

> 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. The Book of the Twelves · Thig 11.1

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

[¶0] Thig 11.1 · Uppalavaṇṇā

> Pali: Thig 11.1 · Uppalavaṇṇātherīgāthā

[¶1] “The two of us were co-wives,
though we were mother and daughter.
I was struck with a sense of urgency,
so astonishing and hair-raising!

> Pali: “Ubho mātā ca dhītā ca,
mayaṁ āsuṁ sapattiyo;
Tassā me ahu saṁvego,
abbhuto lomahaṁsano.

[¶2] Curse those filthy sensual pleasures,
so nasty and thorny,
where we, both mother and daughter,
had to be co-wives together.

> Pali: Dhiratthu kāmā asucī,
duggandhā bahukaṇṭakā;
Yattha mātā ca dhītā ca,
sabhariyā mayaṁ ahuṁ.

[¶3] Seeing the danger in sensual pleasures,
seeing renunciation as sanctuary,
I went forth in Rājagaha
from the lay life to homelessness.

> Pali: Kāmesvādīnavaṁ disvā,
nekkhammaṁ daṭṭhu khemato;
Sā pabbajjiṁ rājagahe,
agārasmānagāriyaṁ.

[¶4] I know my past lives;
my clairvoyance is clarified;
I encompass the minds of others;
my clairaudience is purified;

> Pali: Pubbenivāsaṁ jānāmi,
dibbacakkhu visodhitaṁ;
Cetopariccañāṇañca,
sotadhātu visodhitā.

[¶5] I’ve realized the psychic powers,
and attained the ending of defilements.
I’ve realized the six kinds of direct knowledge,
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

> Pali: Iddhīpi me sacchikatā,
patto me āsavakkhayo;
Chaḷabhiññā sacchikatā,
kataṁ buddhassa sāsanaṁ.

[¶6] I created a four-horsed chariot
using my psychic powers.
Then I bowed at the feet of the Buddha,
the glorious protector of the world.”

> Pali: Iddhiyā abhinimmitvā,
caturassaṁ rathaṁ ahaṁ;
Buddhassa pāde vanditvā,
lokanāthassa tādino”.

[¶7] “You’ve come to this sal tree all crowned with flowers,
and stand at its root all alone.
But you have no male companion with you—
silly girl, aren’t you afraid of rascals?”

> Pali: “Supupphitaggaṁ upagamma pādapaṁ,
Ekā tuvaṁ tiṭṭhasi sālamūle;
Na cāpi te dutiyo atthi koci,
Bāle na tvaṁ bhāyasi dhuttakānaṁ”.

[¶8] “Even if 100,000 rascals like this
were to gang up,
I’d stir not a hair nor tremble.
What could you do to me all alone, Māra?

> Pali: “Sataṁ sahassānipi dhuttakānaṁ,
Samāgatā edisakā bhaveyyuṁ;
Lomaṁ na iñje napi sampavedhe,
Kiṁ me tuvaṁ māra karissaseko.

[¶9] I’ll vanish,
or I’ll enter your belly;
I could stand between your eyebrows
and you still wouldn’t see me.

> Pali: Esā antaradhāyāmi,
kucchiṁ vā pavisāmi te;
Bhamukantare tiṭṭhāmi,
tiṭṭhantiṁ maṁ na dakkhasi.

[¶10] I’m the master of my own mind,
I’ve developed the bases of psychic power well.
I’ve realized the six kinds of direct knowledge,
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

> Pali: Cittamhi vasībhūtāhaṁ,
iddhipādā subhāvitā;
Chaḷabhiññā sacchikatā,
kataṁ buddhassa sāsanaṁ.

[¶11] Sensual pleasures are like swords and spears;
the aggregates are their chopping block.
What you call erotic delight
is now no delight for me.

> Pali: Sattisūlūpamā kāmā,
khandhāsaṁ adhikuṭṭanā;
Yaṁ tvaṁ ‘kāmaratiṁ’ brūsi,
‘āratī’ dāni sā mama.

[¶12] Relishing is banished in every respect,
and the mass of darkness is shattered.
So know this, Wicked One:
you’re beaten, terminator!”

> Pali: Sabbattha vihatā nandī,
Tamokhandho padālito;
Evaṁ jānāhi pāpima,
Nihato tvamasi antakā”ti.

[¶13] > Pali: … Uppalavaṇṇā therī ….

[¶14] > Pali: Dvādasakanipāto niṭṭhito.