Therīgāthā (Psalms of the Sisters)

Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha! Sleep softly, little nun, wrapped in the cloth you sewed yourself; for your desire has been quelled, like vegetables boiled dry in a pot.

That is how this verse was recited by a certain unnamed nun.

Muttā, be released from your yokes, like the moon released from the eclipse. When your mind is released, enjoy your alms free of debt.

That is how the Buddha regularly advised the trainee nun Muttā with these verses.

Puṇṇā, be filled with good qualities, like the moon on the fifteenth day. When your wisdom is full, shatter the mass of darkness.

That is how this verse was recited by the senior nun Puṇṇā.

Tissā, train in the trainings— don’t let your yokes overcome you. Unyoked from all yokes, live in the world free of defilements.

Tissā, apply yourself to good qualities— don’t let the moment pass you by. For if you miss your moment, you’ll grieve when sent to hell.

Dhīrā, touch cessation, the blissful settling of perception. Win extinguishment, the supreme sanctuary from the yoke.

She’s known as Vīrā because of her heroic qualities, a nun with faculties developed. She bears her final body, having vanquished Māra with his legions.

Having gone forth in faith, appreciate your spiritual friends, Mittā. Develop skillful qualities for the sake of sanctuary from the yoke.

Having gone forth in faith, appreciate your blessings, Bhadrā. Develop skillful qualities for the sake of the supreme sanctuary from the yoke.

Upasamā, cross the flood, Death’s dominion so hard to pass. When you have vanquished Māra and his legions, bear your final body.

I’m well freed, so very well freed, freed from the three things that humped me: the mortar, the pestle, and my humpbacked husband. I’m freed from birth and death; the leash to existence is eradicated.

One who is eager and determined would be filled with awareness. Their mind not bound to pleasures of sense, they’re said to be heading upstream.

Do the Buddha’s bidding, you won’t regret it. Having quickly washed your feet, sit in a discreet place to meditate.

Having seen the elements as suffering, don’t get reborn again. When you’ve discarded desire for rebirth, you will live at peace.

I was restrained in body, speech, and mind. Having plucked out craving, root and all, I’m cooled and quenched.

Sleep softly, old lady, wrapped in the cloth you sewed yourself; for your desire has been quelled, you’re cooled and quenched.

I wandered for alms though feeble, leaning on a staff. My limbs wobbled and I fell to the ground right there. Seeing the danger of the body, my mind was freed.

I gave up my home, my child, my cattle, and all that I love, and went forth. And now that I’ve given up desire and hate, dispelled ignorance, and plucked out craving, root and all, I’m at peace, I’m quenched.

Nandā, see this bag of bones as diseased, filthy, and rotten. With mind unified and serene, meditate on the ugly aspects of the body.

Meditate on the signless, give up the tendency to conceit; and when you comprehend conceit, you will live at peace.

That is how the Buddha regularly advised the trainee nun Nandā with these verses.

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

For I have seen the Blessed One, and this bag of bones is my last. Transmigration through births is finished, now there’ll be no more future lives.

That is how these verses were recited by the senior nun Jentā.

I’m well freed, well freed, so very well freed from the pestle! My shameless husband was most certainly a mushroom, my mortar wafted like an eel.

Greed and hate sizzle and hiss as I squelch them. Having gone to the root of a tree, I meditate happily, thinking, “Oh, what bliss!”

The price for my services amounted to the nation of Kāsi. By setting that price, the townsfolk made me priceless.

Then, growing disillusioned with my form, I became dispassionate. Don’t journey on and on, transmigrating through rebirths! I’ve realized the three knowledges, and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

Even though I’m skinny, sick, and very feeble, I climb the mountain, leaning on a staff.

Having laid down my outer robe, and overturned my bowl, propping myself against a rock, I shattered the mass of darkness.

Though in pain, feeble, my youth long gone, I climb the mountain, leaning on a staff.

Having laid down my outer robe and overturned my bowl, sitting on a rock, my mind was freed. I’ve attained the three knowledges, and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

I rejoiced in the host of gods, having observed the sabbath complete in all eight factors, on the fourteenth and the fifteenth days,

and the eighth day of the fortnight, as well as on the fortnightly special displays. Today I eat just once a day, my head is shaven, I wear the outer robe. I don’t long for the heavenly host, for stress has been removed from my heart.

My dear mother, examine this body, up from the soles of the feet, and down from the tips of the hairs, so impure and foul-smelling.

Meditating like this, all my lust is eradicated. The fever of passion is cut off, I’m cooled and quenched.

Abhayā, the body is fragile, yet ordinary people are attached to it. I’ll lay down the body, aware and mindful.

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.

Four or five times I left my dwelling. I had failed to find peace of heart, or any control over my mind. Now it is the eighth night since craving was eradicated.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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!

“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?”

“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.

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.”

“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.

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

“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.”

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

“Sensual pleasures are like swords and spears the aggregates are their chopping block. What you call erotic delight is now no delight for me.

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

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

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

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

Kassapa is the son and heir of the Buddha, whose mind is immersed in samādhi. He who knows his past lives, sees heaven and places of loss,

and has attained the end of rebirth: is a sage of perfect insight. It’s because of these three knowledges that the brahmin is a master of the three knowledges.

In exactly the same way, Bhaddā daughter of Kapila is master of the three knowledges, <j>conqueror of death. She bears her final body, having vanquished Māra with his legions.

Seeing the danger of the world, both of us went forth. Now we are tamed, our defilements have ended; we’ve become cooled and quenched.

In the twenty-five years since I went forth, I have not found peace of mind, even as long as a finger-snap.

Failing to find peace of heart, festering with sensual desire, I cried with flailing arms as I entered a dwelling.

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

When I heard her teaching, I retired to a discreet place. I know my past lives; my clairvoyance is purified;

I encompass the minds of others; my clairaudience is purified; I’ve realized the psychic powers, and attained the ending of defilements. I have realized the six kinds of direct knowledge, and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

Intoxicated by my appearance, my figure, my beauty, my fame, and owing to my youth, I looked down on others.

I adorned this body all pretty, lamented by fools, and stood at the brothel door, like a hunter setting a snare.

I stripped for them, revealing my many hidden treasures. Creating an intricate illusion, I laughed, teasing those men.

Today, having wandered for alms, my head shaven, wearing the outer robe, I sat at the root of a tree to meditate; I’ve gained freedom from thought.

All yokes are severed, both human and heavenly. Having wiped out all defilements, I have become cooled and quenched.

Due to irrational application of mind, I was racked by desire for pleasures of the senses. I was restless in the past, lacking control over my mind.

Overcome by corruptions, pursuing perceptions of the beautiful, I gained no peace of mind. Under the sway of lustful thoughts,

thin, pale, and wan, for seven years I wandered, full of pain, finding no happiness by day or night.

Taking a rope I entered deep into the forest, thinking: “It’s better that I hang myself than I return to a lesser life.”

I made a strong noose and tied it to the branch of a tree. Casting it round my neck, my mind was freed.

“Nandā, see this bag of bones as diseased, filthy, and rotten. With mind unified and serene, meditate on the ugly aspects of the body:

as this is, so is that, as that is, so is this. A foul stink wafts from it, it is the fools’ delight.”

Reflecting in such a way, tireless all day and night, having broken through with my own wisdom, I saw.

Being diligent, rationally investigating, I truly saw this body both inside and out.

Then, growing disillusioned with the body, I became dispassionate within. Diligent, detached, I’m quenched and at peace.

In the past I worshiped the sacred flame, the moon, the sun, and the gods. Having gone to a river ford, I plunged into the water.

Undertaking many vows, I shaved half my head. Preparing a bed on the ground, I ate no food at night.

I loved my ornaments and decorations; and with baths and oil-massages, I pandered to this body, racked by desire for pleasures of the senses.

But then I gained faith, and went forth to homelessness. Truly seeing the body, desire for sensual pleasure is eradicated.

All rebirths are cut off, wishes and aspirations too. Unyoked from all yokes, I’ve found peace of mind.

Having gone forth in faith from the lay life to homelessness, I wandered here and there, jealous of possessions and honors.

Neglecting the highest goal, I pursued the lowest. Under the sway of corruptions, I never knew the goal of the ascetic life.

I was struck with a sense of urgency as I was sitting in my hut: “I’m walking the wrong path, under the sway of craving.

My life is short, trampled by old age and sickness. Before this body breaks apart, there is no time for me to be careless.”