---
title: "Verses of the Senior Nuns · Therīgāthā"
author: "The Elder Nuns"
translator: "Bhikkhu Sujato"
languages: [pi, en]
shelf: "Pali Canon"
section: 3 of 16
url: https://scriptura.si/works/pali-therigatha/3/
cite: "The Elder Nuns, tr. Bhikkhu Sujato, Verses of the Senior Nuns · Therīgāthā, section 3. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/pali-therigatha/3/"
---

# 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.

## 3. The Book of the Threes · Thig 3.1–3.8

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

[¶0] Thig 3.1 · Another Sāmā

> Pali: Thig 3.1 · Aparāsāmātherīgāthā

[¶1] In the twenty-five years
since I went forth,
I don’t know that I had ever found
serenity in my mind.

> Pali: “Paṇṇavīsativassāni,
yato pabbajitāya me;
Nābhijānāmi cittassa,
samaṁ laddhaṁ kudācanaṁ.

[¶2] I had failed to find peace of heart,
or any control over my mind.
When I remembered the victor’s instructions,
I was struck with a sense of urgency.

> Pali: Aladdhā cetaso santiṁ,
citte avasavattinī;
Tato saṁvegamāpādiṁ,
saritvā jinasāsanaṁ.

[¶3] Though subject to so many painful things,
I have, through my love of diligence,
reached the ending of craving,
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
This is the seventh day
since my craving dried up.

> Pali: Bahūhi dukkhadhammehi,
appamādaratāya me;
Taṇhakkhayo anuppatto,
kataṁ buddhassa sāsanaṁ;
Ajja me sattamī ratti,
yato taṇhā visositā”ti.

[¶4] > Pali: … Aparā sāmā therī ….

[¶5] Thig 3.2 · Uttamā

> Pali: Thig 3.2 · Uttamātherīgāthā

[¶6] Four or five times
I left my dwelling.
I had failed to find peace of heart,
or any control over my mind.

> Pali: “Catukkhattuṁ pañcakkhattuṁ,
vihārā upanikkhamiṁ;
Aladdhā cetaso santiṁ,
citte avasavattinī.

[¶7] I approached a nun
in whom I had faith.
She taught me the Dhamma:
the aggregates, sense fields, and elements.

> Pali: Sā bhikkhuniṁ upagacchiṁ,
yā me saddhāyikā ahu;
Sā me dhammamadesesi,
khandhāyatanadhātuyo.

[¶8] When I had heard her teaching,
in accordance with her instructions,
I sat cross-legged for seven days without moving,
given over to rapture and bliss.
On the eighth day I stretched out my feet,
having shattered the mass of darkness.

> Pali: Tassā dhammaṁ suṇitvāna,
Yathā maṁ anusāsi sā;
Sattāhaṁ ekapallaṅkena,
Nisīdiṁ pītisukhasamappitā;
Aṭṭhamiyā pāde pasāresiṁ,
Tamokhandhaṁ padāliyā”ti.

[¶9] > Pali: … Uttamā therī ….

[¶10] Thig 3.3 · Another Uttamā

> Pali: Thig 3.3 · Aparāuttamātherīgāthā

[¶11] Of the seven awakening factors,
the path for attaining extinguishment,
I have developed them all,
just as the Buddha taught.

> Pali: “Ye ime satta bojjhaṅgā,
maggā nibbānapattiyā;
Bhāvitā te mayā sabbe,
yathā buddhena desitā.

[¶12] I attain the meditations on emptiness
and signlessness whenever I want.
I am the Buddha’s bosom daughter,
always delighting in extinguishment.

> Pali: Suññatassānimittassa,
lābhinīhaṁ yadicchakaṁ;
Orasā dhītā buddhassa,
nibbānābhiratā sadā.

[¶13] All sensual pleasures are cut off,
whether human or heavenly.
Transmigration through births is finished,
now there’ll be no more future lives.

> Pali: Sabbe kāmā samucchinnā,
ye dibbā ye ca mānusā;
Vikkhīṇo jātisaṁsāro,
natthi dāni punabbhavo”ti.

[¶14] > Pali: … Aparā uttamā therī ….

[¶15] Thig 3.4 · Dantikā

> Pali: Thig 3.4 · Dantikātherīgāthā

[¶16] Leaving my day’s meditation
on Vulture’s Peak Mountain,
I saw an elephant on the riverbank
having just come up from his bath.

> Pali: “Divāvihārā nikkhamma,
gijjhakūṭamhi pabbate;
Nāgaṁ ogāhamuttiṇṇaṁ,
nadītīramhi addasaṁ.

[¶17] A man, taking a pole with a hook,
asked the elephant, “Give me your foot.”
The elephant presented his foot,
and the man mounted him.

> Pali: Puriso aṅkusamādāya,
‘dehi pādan’ti yācati;
Nāgo pasārayī pādaṁ,
puriso nāgamāruhi.

[¶18] Seeing a wild beast so tamed,
submitting to human control,
my mind became serene:
<em>that</em> is why I’ve gone to the forest!

> Pali: Disvā adantaṁ damitaṁ,
manussānaṁ vasaṁ gataṁ;
Tato cittaṁ samādhesiṁ,
khalu tāya vanaṁ gatā”ti.

[¶19] > Pali: … Dantikā therī ….

[¶20] Thig 3.5 · Ubbirī

> Pali: Thig 3.5 · Ubbiritherīgāthā

[¶21] “You cry ‘Live, my dear mother!’ in the forest.
Ubbirī, get a hold of yourself!
Eighty-four thousand people,
all named ‘Live’,
have been burnt in this funeral ground:
which one do you grieve for?”

> Pali: “Amma jīvāti vanamhi kandasi,
Attānaṁ adhigaccha ubbiri;
Cullāsītisahassāni,
Sabbā jīvasanāmikā;
Etamhāḷāhane daḍḍhā,
Tāsaṁ kamanusocasi”.

[¶22] “Oh! For you have plucked the arrow from me,
so hard to see, stuck in the heart.
You’ve swept away the grief for my daughter
in which I once was mired.

> Pali: “Abbahī vata me sallaṁ,
duddasaṁ hadayassitaṁ;
Yaṁ me sokaparetāya,
dhītusokaṁ byapānudi.

[¶23] Today I’ve plucked the arrow,
I’m hungerless, quenched.
I go for refuge to that sage, the Buddha,
to his teaching, and to the Saṅgha.”

> Pali: Sājja abbūḷhasallāhaṁ,
Nicchātā parinibbutā;
Buddhaṁ dhammañca saṅghañca,
Upemi saraṇaṁ munin”ti.

[¶24] > Pali: … Ubbirī therī ….

[¶25] Thig 3.6 · Sukkā

> Pali: Thig 3.6 · Sukkātherīgāthā

[¶26] “What’s up with these people in Rājagaha?
They sprawl like they’ve been drinking mead!
They don’t attend on Sukkā
as she teaches the Buddha’s instructions.

> Pali: “Kiṁme katā rājagahe manussā,
Madhuṁ pītāva acchare;
Ye sukkaṁ na upāsanti,
Desentiṁ buddhasāsanaṁ.

[¶27] But the wise—
it’s as if they drink it up,
so irresistible, delectable, and nutritious,
like travelers enjoying a cool cloud.”

> Pali: Tañca appaṭivānīyaṁ,
asecanakamojavaṁ;
Pivanti maññe sappaññā,
valāhakamivaddhagū.

[¶28] “She’s known as Sukkā because of her bright qualities,
free of greed, serene.
She bears her final body,
having vanquished Māra with his legions.”

> Pali: Sukkā sukkehi dhammehi,
vītarāgā samāhitā;
Dhāreti antimaṁ dehaṁ,
jetvā māraṁ savāhinin”ti.

[¶29] > Pali: … Sukkā therī ….

[¶30] Thig 3.7 · Selā

> Pali: Thig 3.7 · Selātherīgāthā

[¶31] “There’s no escape in the world,
so what will seclusion do for you?
Enjoy erotic delights;
don’t regret it later.”

> Pali: “Natthi nissaraṇaṁ loke,
kiṁ vivekena kāhasi;
Bhuñjāhi kāmaratiyo,
māhu pacchānutāpinī”.

[¶32] “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,
‘aratī’ dāni sā mama.

[¶33] 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.

[¶34] > Pali: … Selā therī ….

[¶35] Thig 3.8 · Somā

> Pali: Thig 3.8 · Somātherīgāthā

[¶36] “That state’s very challenging;
it’s for the sages to attain.
With her two-inch wisdom,
it’s not possible for a woman.”

> Pali: “Yaṁ taṁ isīhi pattabbaṁ,
ṭhānaṁ durabhisambhavaṁ;
Na taṁ dvaṅgulapaññāya,
sakkā pappotumitthiyā”.

[¶37] “What difference does womanhood make
when the mind is serene,
and knowledge is present
as you rightly discern the Dhamma.

> Pali: “Itthibhāvo no kiṁ kayirā,
cittamhi susamāhite;
Ñāṇamhi vattamānamhi,
sammā dhammaṁ vipassato.

[¶38] 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.

[¶39] > Pali: … Somā therī ….

[¶40] > Pali: Tikanipāto niṭṭhito.