---
title: "Verses of the Senior Nuns · Therīgāthā"
author: "The Elder Nuns"
translator: "Bhikkhu Sujato"
languages: [pi, en]
shelf: "Pali Canon"
section: 12 of 16
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-therigatha/12/
cite: "The Elder Nuns, tr. Bhikkhu Sujato, Verses of the Senior Nuns · Therīgāthā, section 12. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pali-therigatha/12/"
---

# 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.

## 12. The Book of the Sixteens · Thig 12.1

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-therigatha/12/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/pali-therigatha/12/#p-N

[¶0] Thig 12.1 · Puṇṇikā

> Pali: Thig 12.1 · Puṇṇātherīgāthā

[¶1] “I used to be a water-carrier. Even when it was cold,
I would always plunge into the water,
afraid of my masters’ beatings,
harassed by fear of abuse and anger.

> Pali: “Udahārī ahaṁ sīte,
sadā udakamotariṁ;
Ayyānaṁ daṇḍabhayabhītā,
vācādosabhayaṭṭitā.

[¶2] Brahmin, what are you afraid of,
that you always plunge into the water,
your limbs trembling
in the freezing cold?”

> Pali: Kassa brāhmaṇa tvaṁ bhīto,
sadā udakamotari;
Vedhamānehi gattehi,
sītaṁ vedayase bhusaṁ”.

[¶3] “Oh, but you already know,
Madam Puṇṇikā, when you ask me:
I am doing good deeds,
to ward off the wickedness I have done.

> Pali: “Jānantī vata maṁ bhoti,
puṇṇike paripucchasi;
Karontaṁ kusalaṁ kammaṁ,
rundhantaṁ katapāpakaṁ.

[¶4] Whosoever young or old
performs a wicked deed,
by ablution in water they are
released from their wicked deed.”

> Pali: Yo ca vuḍḍho daharo vā,
pāpakammaṁ pakubbati;
Dakābhisecanā sopi,
pāpakammā pamuccati”.

[¶5] “Who on earth told you this,
one ignoramus to another:
‘Actually, by ablution in water one is
released from a wicked deed.’

> Pali: “Ko nu te idamakkhāsi,
ajānantassa ajānako;
Dakābhisecanā nāma,
pāpakammā pamuccati.

[¶6] Would not they all go to heaven, then:
all the frogs and the turtles,
dragons, dolphins,
and other water-dwellers too?

> Pali: Saggaṁ nūna gamissanti,
sabbe maṇḍūkakacchapā;
Nāgā ca susumārā ca,
ye caññe udake carā.

[¶7] Butchers of sheep and pigs,
fishermen, animal trappers,
bandits, executioners,
and others of evil deeds:
by ablution in water they too would be
released from their wicked deeds.

> Pali: Orabbhikā sūkarikā,
macchikā migabandhakā;
Corā ca vajjhaghātā ca,
ye caññe pāpakammino;
Dakābhisecanā tepi,
pāpakammā pamuccare.

[¶8] If these rivers had carried away
your bad deeds in the past,
they would also carry away your good deeds,
from which you’d be prevented.

> Pali: Sace imā nadiyo te,
pāpaṁ pubbe kataṁ vahuṁ;
Puññampimā vaheyyuṁ te,
tena tvaṁ paribāhiro.

[¶9] Brahmin, the thing that you are afraid of,
when you always plunge into the water,
do not do that very thing,
don’t let the cold harm your skin.”

> Pali: Yassa brāhmaṇa tvaṁ bhīto,
sadā udakamotari;
Tameva brahme mā kāsi,
mā te sītaṁ chaviṁ hane”.

[¶10] “I have been on the wrong path,
and you’ve guided me to the noble path.
Madam, I give to you
this ablution cloth.”

> Pali: “Kummaggapaṭipannaṁ maṁ,
ariyamaggaṁ samānayi;
Dakābhisecanā bhoti,
imaṁ sāṭaṁ dadāmi te”.

[¶11] “Keep the cloth for yourself,
I do not want it.
If you fear suffering,
if you don’t like suffering,

> Pali: “Tuyheva sāṭako hotu,
nāhamicchāmi sāṭakaṁ;
Sace bhāyasi dukkhassa,
sace te dukkhamappiyaṁ.

[¶12] then don’t do bad deeds
either openly or in secret.
If you should do a bad deed,
or you’re doing one now,

> Pali: Mākāsi pāpakaṁ kammaṁ,
āvi vā yadi vā raho;
Sace ca pāpakaṁ kammaṁ,
karissasi karosi vā.

[¶13] you won’t be freed from suffering,
though you fly away and flee.
If you fear suffering,
if you don’t like suffering,

> Pali: Na te dukkhā pamutyatthi,
upeccāpi palāyato;
Sace bhāyasi dukkhassa,
sace te dukkhamappiyaṁ.

[¶14] go for refuge to the Buddha, the unaffected,
to his teaching and to the Saṅgha.
Undertake the precepts,
that will be good for you.”

> Pali: Upehi saraṇaṁ buddhaṁ,
dhammaṁ saṅghañca tādinaṁ;
Samādiyāhi sīlāni,
taṁ te atthāya hehiti”.

[¶15] “I go for refuge to the Buddha, the unaffected,
to his teaching and to the Saṅgha.
I undertake the precepts,
that will be good for me.

> Pali: “Upemi saraṇaṁ buddhaṁ,
dhammaṁ saṅghañca tādinaṁ;
Samādiyāmi sīlāni,
taṁ me atthāya hehiti.

[¶16] I used to be brahmin only by kin,
today I truly am a brahmin!
Master of the three knowledges, <j>accomplished in wisdom,
I’m a scholar, a bathed initiate.”

> Pali: Brahmabandhu pure āsiṁ,
ajjamhi saccabrāhmaṇo;
Tevijjo vedasampanno,
sottiyo camhi nhātako”ti.

[¶17] > Pali: … Puṇṇā therī ….

[¶18] > Pali: Soḷasakanipāto niṭṭhito.