Khuddaka Nikaya
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Theragatha

Verses of the Elder Monks

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Theragatha I

(Selected suttas)

Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

I.1 -- Subhuti

My hut is roofed, comfortable,
free of drafts;
my mind, well-centered,
set free.
I remain ardent.
So, rain-deva.
Go ahead & rain.

I.2 -- Mahakotthika

Calmed, restrained,
giving counsel unruffled,
he lifts off evil states of mind --
as the breeze,
a leaf from a tree.

I.3 -- Kankharevata

See this:
the discernment
of the Tathagatas,
like a fire ablaze in the night,
giving light, giving eyes,
to those who come,
subduing their doubt.

I.7 -- Bhalliya

Who scatters the troops
of the King of Death --
as a great flood,
a very weak bridge made of reeds --
is victorious,
for his fears are dispersed.
He's tamed,
unbound,
steadfast in himself.

I.14 -- Vanavaccha's pupil

My preceptor said to me:
Let's go from here, Sivaka.
My body stays in the village,
my mind has gone to the wilds.
Even though I'm lying down,
I go.
There's no tying down
one who knows.

I.16 -- Belatthasisa

Just as a fine thoroughbred steed,
with swishing tail & mane
runs with next-to-no effort,
so my days & nights
run with next-to-no effort
now that I've gained a happiness
not of the flesh.

I.22 -- Cittaka

Peacocks,
crested, blue, with gorgeous necks,
cry out
in the Karamvi woods,
thrilled by the cold wind.
They awaken the sleeper
to meditate.

I.26 -- Abhaya

Hearing the well-spoken words
of the Awakened One,
Kinsman of the Sun,
I pierced what is subtle --
as if, with an arrow,
the tip of a horse-tail hair.

I.29 -- Harita

Harita,
raise yourself up-
right
and, straightening your mind
-- like a fletcher, an arrow --
shatter ignorance
to bits.

I.32 -- Suppiya

I'll make a trade:
aging for the Ageless,
burning for the Unbound:
the highest peace,
the unexcelled rest
from the yoke.

I.39 -- Tissa

As if struck by a sword,
as if his head were on fire,
a monk should live the wandering life
-- mindful --
for the abandoning of sensual passion.

I.41 -- Sirivaddha

Lightning lands on the cleft
between Vebhara & Pandava,
but,
having gone to the cleft in the mountains,
he's absorbed in jhana -- the son
of the one without compare,
the one who is Such.

I.43 -- Sumangala

So freed! So freed!
So thoroughly freed am I
from three crooked things:
my sickles, my shovels, my plows.
Even if they were here,
right here,
I'd be done with them,
done.
Meditate, Sumangala.
Meditate, Sumangala.
Sumangala, stay heedful.

I.49 -- Ramaneyyaka

Even with all the whistles & whistling,
the calls of the birds,
this, my mind, doesn't waver,
for my delight is in
oneness.

I.50 -- Vimala

The earth's sprinkled
with rain, wind
is blowing, lightning
wanders the sky,
but my thoughts are stilled,
well-centered
my mind.

I.56 -- Kutiviharin

Who's in the hut?
A monk's in the hut --
free from passion,
with well-centered mind.
Know this, my friend:
The hut you built
wasn't wasted.

I.68 -- Ekuddaniya

Exalted in mind & heedful:
a sage trained in sagacity's ways.
He has no sorrows, one who is Such,[1]
calmed & ever mindful.

Note:

1.Tadi:"Such," an adjective to describe one who has attained the goal. It indicates that the person's state is indefinable but not subject to change or influences of any sort. [Go back]

I.84 -- Nita

Asleep the whole night,
delighting in company by day:
when, when
will the fool
bring suffering & stress
to an end?

I.93 -- Eraka

Sensual pleasures are stressful,
Eraka.
Sensual pleasures aren't ease.
Whoever loves sensual pleasures
loves stress, Eraka.
Whoever doesn't,
doesn't love stress.

I.95 -- Cakkhupala

I'm blind,
my eyes are destroyed.
I've stumbled
on a wilderness track.
Even
if I must crawl,
I'll go on,
but not with an evil companion.

I.104 -- Khitaka

How light my body!
Touched by abundant
rapture & bliss,
-- like a cotton tuft
borne on the breeze --
it seems to be floating
-- my body!

I.111 -- Jenta

Going forth is hard;
houses are hard places to live;
the Dhamma is deep;
wealth, hard to obtain;
it's hard to keep going
with whatever we get:
so it's right that we ponder
continually
continual
inconstancy.

I.113 -- Vanavaccha

With clear waters &
massive boulders,
frequented by monkeys &
deer,
covered with moss &
water weeds,
those rocky crags refresh me.

I.118 -- Kimbila

As if sent by a curse,
it drops on us --
aging.
The body seems other,
though it's still the same one.
I'm still here
& have never been absent from it,
but I remember myself
as if somebody else's.

I.120 -- Isidatta

The five aggregates,
having been comprehended,
stand with their root
cut through.
For me
the ending of stress
is reached;
the ending of fermentations,
attained.