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Thag 3.14 Gotamattheragāthā: Gotama (2nd)

Transmigrating, I went to hell,
and to the ghost realm time and again.
Many times I dwelt long
in the animal realm, so full of pain.

I was also reborn as a human,
and from time to time I went to heaven.
I’ve stayed in realms of form and formlessness,
among the neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient, and the non-percipient.

I know well these states of existence are worthless—
conditioned, unstable, always in motion.
When I understood this self-made chain,
mindful, I found peace.


Read this translation of Theragāthā 3.14 Gotamattheragāthā: Gotama (2nd) by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaFriends.org or DhammaTalks.org. Or listen on Voice.SuttaCentral.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.

Thag 7.2 Lakuṇḍakabhaddiyattheragāthā: Lakuṇṭaka Bhaddiya

Bhaddiya has plucked out craving, root and all,
and in a jungle thicket
on the far side of the Wild Mango Monastery,
he practices absorption; he is truly well-favoured.

Some delight in clay drums,
in arched harps, and in cymbals.
But here, at the foot of a tree,
I delight in the Buddha’s teaching.

If the Buddha were to grant me one wish,
and I were to get what I wished for,
I’d choose for the whole world
constant mindfulness of the body.

Those who’ve judged me on appearance,
and those swayed by my voice,
are full of desire and greed;
they don’t know me.

Not knowing what’s inside,
nor seeing what’s outside,
the fool shut in on every side,
gets carried away by a voice.

Not knowing what’s inside,
but seeing what’s outside,
seeing the fruit outside,
they’re also carried away by a voice.

Understanding what’s inside,
and seeing what’s outside,
of unobstructed vision,
they don’t get carried away by a voice.


The Buddha praised this monk in SN 21.6: Lakuṇḍakabhaddiyasutta

Read this translation of Theragāthā 7.2 Lakuṇḍakabhaddiyattheragāthā: Lakuṇṭaka Bhaddiya by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaFriends.org. Or listen on Voice.SuttaCentral.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.

Thig 2.3 Sumaṅgalamātātherīgāthā: Verses of the Elder Sumaṇgala’s Mother

“Well released, well released,
I am well released and free from the pestle.
I am shielded from my shameless husband
and from the kettle that hisses like a water snake.

Hiss! Hiss! I destroy
passion and aversion.
Having gone to the root of a tree,
‘O bliss!’ I happily meditate.”


Arahant Bhaddiya was also known to cry out “O bliss” at the root of a tree. Read his story in Ud 2.10 Bhaddiya Sutta.

Read this translation of Therīgāthā 2.3 Sumaṅgalamātātherīgāthā: Verses of the Elder Sumaṇgala’s Mother by Ayya Soma on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net, SuttaFriends.org or DhammaTalks.org. Or listen on Voice.SuttaCentral.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.

Thag 19.1 Tālapuṭattheragāthā: Tālapuṭa

[NOTE: Today will be the last very long selection for the month. Unlike the deep confidence that was shown by yesterday’s elder, Arahant Sumedhā, here we see the tremendous struggle that many disciples have faced when trying to practice the Dhamma to the end goal.]


Oh, when will I stay in a mountain cave,
alone, with no companion,
discerning all states of existence as impermanent?
This hope of mine, when will it be?

Oh, when will I stay happily in the forest,
a sage wearing a torn robe, dressed in ocher,
unselfish, with no need for hope,
with greed, hate, and delusion destroyed?

Oh, when will I stay alone in the wood,
fearless, discerning this body as impermanent,
a nest of death and disease,
oppressed by death and old age; when will it be?

Oh, when will I live, having grasped the sharp sword of wisdom
and cut the creeper of craving that tangles around everything,
the mother of fear, the bringer of suffering?
When will it be?

Oh, when will I, seated on the lion’s throne,
swiftly grasp the sword of the sages,
forged by wisdom, of fiery might,
and swiftly break Māra and his army? When will it be?

Oh, when will I be seen striving in the assemblies
with those who are virtuous, poised, respecting the Dhamma,
seeing things as they are, with faculties subdued?
When will it be?

Oh, when will I focus on my own goal at the Mountainfold,
free of oppression by laziness, hunger, thirst,
wind, heat, insects, and reptiles?
When will it be?

Oh, when will I, serene and mindful,
understand the four truths,
that were realized by the great hermit,
and are so very hard to see? When will it be?

Oh, when will I, devoted to serenity,
see with understanding the infinite sights,
sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and thoughts
as burning? When will it be?

Oh, when will I not be distraught
because of criticism,
nor elated because of praise?
When will it be?

Oh when will I discern the aggregates
and the infinite varieties of phenomena,
both internal and external, as no more than
wood, grass, and creepers? When will it be?

Oh, when will the rain clouds in season
freshly wet me in my robe in the forest,
walking the path trodden by the sages?
When will it be?

Oh, when will I rise up, intent on attaining the deathless,
hearing, in the mountain cave,
the cry of the crested peacock in the forest?
When will it be?

Oh, when will I cross the Ganges, Yamunā,
and Sarasvatī rivers, the Pātāla country,
and the dangerous Baḷavāmukha sea,
by psychic power unimpeded? When will it be?

Oh, when will I be devoted to absorption,
rejecting entirely the signs of beauty,
splitting apart desire for sensual stimulation,
like an elephant that wanders free of ties? When will it be?

Oh, when will I realize the teaching of the great hermit
and be content, like a poor person in debt,
harassed by creditors, who finds a hidden treasure?
When will it be?

For many years you begged me,
“Enough of living in a house for you!”
Why do you not urge me on, mind,
now that I’ve gone forth as an ascetic?

Didn’t you entice me, mind:
“On the Mountainfold, the birds with colorful wings,
greeting the thunder, Mahinda’s voice,
will delight you as you meditate in the forest?”

In my family circle, friends, loved ones, and relatives;
and in the world, sports and play, and sensual pleasures;
all these I gave up when I entered this life:
and even then you’re not content with me, mind!

This is mine alone, it doesn’t belong to others;
when it is time to don your armor, why lament?
Observing that all this is unstable,
I went forth, seeking the deathless state.

The methodical teacher, supreme among people,
great physician, guide for those who wish to train, said:
“The mind fidgets like a monkey,
so it’s very hard to control if you are not free of lust.”

Sensual pleasures are diverse, sweet, delightful;
an ignorant ordinary person is bound to them.
Seeking to be reborn again, they wish for suffering;
led on by their mind, they’re relegated to hell.

“Staying in the grove resounding with cries
of peacocks and herons, and adorned by leopards and tigers,
abandon concern for the body, without fail!”
So you used to urge me, mind.

“Develop the absorptions and spiritual faculties,
the powers, awakening factors, and immersion;
realize the three knowledges in the teaching of the Buddha!”
So you used to urge me, mind.

“Develop the eightfold path for realizing the deathless,
emancipating, plunging into the end of all suffering,
and cleansing all defilements!”
So you used to urge me, mind.

“Reflect properly on the aggregates as suffering,
and abandon that from which suffering arises;
make an end of suffering in this very life!”
So you used to urge me, mind.

“Properly discern that impermanence is suffering,
that emptiness is non-self, and that misery is death.
Uproot the wandering mind!”
So you used to urge me, mind.

“Bald, unsightly, accursed,
seek alms amongst families, bowl in hand.
Devote yourself to the word of the teacher, the great hermit!”
So you used to urge me, mind.

“Wander the streets well-restrained,
unattached to families and sensual pleasures,
like the full moon on a bright night!”
So you used to urge me, mind.

“Be a wilderness-dweller and an alms-eater,
one who lives in charnel grounds, a rag-robe wearer,
one who never lies down, always delighting in ascetic practices.”
So you used to urge me, mind.

Mind, when you urge me to the impermanent and unstable,
you’re acting like someone who plants trees,
then, when they’re about to fruit,
wishes to cut down the very same trees.

Incorporeal mind, far-traveler, lone-wanderer:
I won’t do your bidding any more.
Sensual pleasures are suffering, painful, and very dangerous;
I’ll wander with my mind focused only on quenching.

I didn’t go forth due to bad luck or shamelessness,
or due to a whim or banishment,
nor for the sake of a livelihood;
it was because I agreed to the promise you made, mind.

“Having few wishes, abandoning disparagement,
the stilling of suffering: these are praised by good people.”
So you used to urge me, mind,
but now you keep on with your old habits!

Craving, ignorance, the loved and unloved,
pretty sights, pleasant feelings,
and the delightful kinds of sensual stimulation:
I’ve vomited them all, and I won’t swallow them back.

I’ve done your bidding everywhere, mind!
For many births, I’ve done nothing to upset you,
yet this self-made chain is your show of gratitude!
For a long time I’ve transmigrated in the suffering you’ve created.

Only you, mind, make a brahmin;
you make an aristocrat or a royal hermit.
Sometimes we become traders or workers;
and life as a god is also on account of you.

You alone make us demons;
because of you we’re born in hell.
Then sometimes we become animals,
and life as a ghost is also on account of you.

Come what may, you won’t betray me again,
dazzling me with your ever-changing display!
You play with me like I’m mad—
but how have I ever failed you, mind?

In the past my mind wandered
how it wished, where it liked, as it pleased.
Now I’ll carefully guide it,
as a trainer with a hook guides a rutting elephant.

The teacher willed that this world appear to me
as impermanent, unstable, insubstantial.
Mind, let me leap into the victor’s teaching,
carry me over the great flood, so hard to pass.

Things have changed, mind!
Nothing could make me return to your control!
I’ve gone forth in the teaching of the great hermit,
those like me don’t come to ruin.

Mountains, oceans, rivers, the earth;
the four quarters, the intermediate directions, below and in the sky;
the three realms of existence are all impermanent and troubled—
where can you go to find happiness, mind?

Mind, what will you do to someone who has made the ultimate commitment?
Nothing could make me a follower under your control, mind;
there’s no way I’d touch a bellows with a mouth open at each end;
curse this mortal frame flowing with nine streams!

You’ve ascended the mountain peak, full of nature’s beauty,
frequented by boars and antelopes,
a grove sprinkled with fresh water in the rains;
and there you’ll be happy in your cave-home.

Peacocks with beautiful necks and crests,
colorful tail-feathers and wings,
crying out at the resounding thunder:
they’ll delight you as you meditate in the forest.

When the sky has rained down, and the grass is four inches high,
and the grove is full of flowers like a cloud,
in the mountain cleft, like the fork of a tree, I’ll lie;
it will be as soft as cotton-buds.

I’ll act as a master does:
let whatever I get be enough for me.
And that’s why I’ll make you as supple
as a tireless worker makes a cat-skin bag.

I’ll act as a master does:
let whatever I get be enough for me.
I’ll control you with my energy,
as a skilled trainer controls an elephant with a hook.

Now that you’re well-tamed and reliable,
I can use you, like a trainer uses a straight-running horse,
to practice the path so full of grace,
cultivated by those who take care of their minds.

I shall strongly fasten you to a meditation subject,
as an elephant is tied to a post with firm rope.
You’ll be well-guarded by me, well-developed by mindfulness,
and unattached to rebirth in all states of existence.

You’ll use understanding to cut the follower of the wrong path,
curb them by practice, and settle them on the right path.
And when you have seen the cause of suffering arise and pass away,
you’ll be an heir to the greatest teacher.

Under the sway of the four distortions, mind,
you dragged me around like a bull in a pit;
but now you won’t associate with the great sage of compassion,
the cutter of fetters and bonds?

Like a deer roaming free in the colorful forest,
I’ll ascend the lovely mountain wreathed in cloud,
and rejoice to be on that hill, free of folk—
there is no doubt you’ll perish, mind.

The men and women who live under your will and command,
whatever pleasure they experience,
they are ignorant and fall under Māra’s control;
loving life, they’re your disciples, mind.


Read this translation of Theragāthā 19.1 Tālapuṭattheragāthā by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaFriends.org. Or listen on Voice.SuttaCentral.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.

Thig 16.1 Sumedhātherīgāthā: Sumedhā

[Note: The selection today is especially long and rich in Dhamma teachings. At the end of the verses below you will find links to the various teachings she mentions. If you are new to reading the suttas, you may like to invest time reviewing these references first to get the full impact of her words. Or you can just jump right in to her verses and explore the suttas later.]

In Mantāvatī city, Sumedhā,
the daughter of King Koñca’s chief queen,
was converted by those
who practice the Buddha’s teaching.

She was virtuous, a brilliant speaker,
learned, and trained in the Buddha’s instructions.
She went up to her mother and father and said:
“Pay heed, both of you!

I delight in extinguishment!
No life is eternal, not even that of the gods;
what then of sensual pleasures, so hollow,
offering little gratification and much anguish.

Sensual pleasures are bitter as the venom of a snake,
yet fools are infatuated by them.
Sent to hell for a very long time,
they are beaten and tortured.

Those who grow in wickedness
always sorrow in the underworld due to their own bad deeds.
They’re fools, unrestrained in body,
mind, and speech.

Those witless, senseless fools,
obstructed by the origin of suffering,
are ignorant, not understanding the noble truths
when they are being taught.

Most people, mum, ignorant of the truths
taught by the excellent Buddha,
look forward to the next life,
longing for rebirth among the gods.

Yet even rebirth among the gods
in an impermanent state is not eternal.
But fools are not scared
of being reborn time and again.

Four lower realms and two other realms
may be gained somehow or other.
But for those who end up in a lower realm,
there is no way to go forth in the hells.

May you both grant me permission to go forth
in the dispensation of him of the ten powers.
Living at ease, I shall apply myself
to giving up rebirth and death.

What’s the point in hope, in a new life,
in this useless, hollow body?
Grant me permission, I shall go forth
to make an end of craving for a new life.

A Buddha has arisen, the time has come,
the unlucky moment has passed.
As long as I live I’ll never betray
my ethical precepts or my celibate path.”

Then Sumedhā said to her parents:
“So long as I remain a lay person,
I’ll refuse to eat any food,
until I’ve fallen under the sway of death.”

Upset, her mother burst into tears,
while her father, though grieved,
tried his best to persuade her
as she lay collapsed on the longhouse roof.

“Get up child, why do you grieve so?
You’re already betrothed to be married!
King Anīkaratta the handsome
is in Vāraṇavatī: he is your betrothed.

You shall be the chief queen,
wife of King Anīkaratta.
Ethical precepts, the celibate path—
going forth is hard to do, my child.

As a royal there is command, wealth, authority,
and the happiness of possessions.
Enjoy sensual pleasures while you’re still young!
Let your wedding take place, my child!”

Then Sumedhā said to him:
“Let this not come to pass! Existence is hollow!
I shall either go forth or die,
but I shall never marry.

Why cling to this rotting body so foul,
stinking of fluids,
a horrifying water-bag of corpses,
always oozing, full of filth?

Knowing it like I do, what’s the point?
A carcass is vile, smeared with flesh and blood,
food for birds and swarms of worms—
why have we been given it?

Before long the body, bereft of consciousness,
is carried out to the charnel ground,
to be tossed aside like an old log
by relatives in disgust.

When they’ve tossed it away in the charnel ground,
to be eaten by others, your own parents
bathe themselves, disgusted;
what then of people at large?

They’re attached to this hollow carcass,
this mass of sinews and bone;
this rotting body
full of saliva, tears, feces, and pus.

If anyone were to dissect it,
turning it inside out,
the unbearable stench
would disgust even their own mother.

Properly examining
the aggregates, elements, and sense fields
as conditioned, rooted in birth, suffering—
why would I wish for marriage?

Let three hundred sharp swords
fall on my body everyday!
Even if the slaughter lasted 100 years
it’d be worth it if it led to the end of suffering.

One who understands the Teacher’s words
would put up with this slaughter:
‘Long for you is transmigration
being killed time and time again.’

Among gods and humans,
in the realm of animals or that of demons,
among the ghosts or in the hells,
endless killings are seen.

The hells are full of killing,
for the corrupt who have fallen to the underworld.
Even among the gods there is no shelter,
for no happiness excels extinguishment.

Those who are committed to the dispensation
of him of the ten powers attain extinguishment.
Living at ease, they apply themselves
to giving up rebirth and death.

On this very day, dad, I shall renounce:
what’s to enjoy in hollow riches?
I’m disillusioned with sensual pleasures,
they’re like vomit, made like a palm stump.”

As she spoke thus to her father,
Anīkaratta, to whom she was betrothed,
approached from Vāraṇavatī
at the time appointed for the marriage.

Then Sumedhā took up a knife,
and cut off her hair, so black, thick, and soft.
Shutting herself in the longhouse,
she entered the first absorption.

And as she entered it there,
Anīkaratta arrived at the city.
Then in the longhouse, Sumedhā
well developed the perception of impermanence.

As she investigated in meditation,
Anīkaratta quickly climbed the stairs.
His limbs adorned with gems and gold,
he begged Sumedhā with joined palms:

“As a royal there is command, wealth, authority,
and the happiness of possessions.
Enjoy sensual pleasures while you’re still young!
Sensual pleasures are hard to find in the world!

I’ve handed royalty to you—
enjoy riches, give gifts!
Don’t be sad;
your parents are upset.”

Sumedhā, having no use for sensual pleasures,
and having done away with delusion, spoke right back:
“Do not take pleasure in sensuality!
See the danger in sensual pleasures!

Mandhātā, king of four continents,
foremost in enjoying sensual pleasures,
died unsated,
his desires unfulfilled.

Were the seven jewels to rain from the sky
all over the ten directions,
there would be no sating of sensual pleasures:
people die insatiable.

Like a butcher’s knife and chopping block,
sensual pleasures are like a snake’s head.
They burn like a fire-brand,
they resemble a skeleton.

Sensual pleasures are impermanent and unstable,
they’re full of suffering, a terrible poison;
like a hot iron ball,
the root of misery, their fruit is pain.

Sensual pleasures are like fruits of a tree,
like lumps of meat, painful,
they trick you like a dream;
sensual pleasures are like borrowed goods.

Sensual pleasures are like swords and stakes;
a disease, a boil, misery and trouble.
Like a pit of glowing coals,
the root of misery, fear and slaughter.

Thus sensual pleasures have been explained
to be obstructions, so full of suffering.
Please leave! As for me,
I have no trust in a new life.

What can someone else do for me
when their own head is burning?
When stalked by old age and death,
you should strive to destroy them.”

She opened the door
and saw her parents with Anīkaratta,
sitting crying on the floor.
And so she said this:

“Transmigration is long for fools,
crying again and again at that with no known beginning—
the death of a father,
the killing of a brother or of themselves.

Remember the ocean of tears, of milk, of blood—
transmigration with no known beginning.
Remember the bones piled up
by beings transmigrating.

Remember the four oceans
compared with tears, milk, and blood.
Remember bones piled up high as Mount Vipula
in the course of a single eon.

Transmigration with no known beginning
is compared to this broad land of India;
if divided into lumps the size of jujube seeds,
they’d still be fewer than his mother’s mothers.

Remember the grass, sticks, and leaves,
compare that with no known beginning:
if split into pieces four inches in size,
they’d still be fewer than his father’s fathers.

Remember the one-eyed turtle and the yoke with a hole
blown in the ocean from east to west—
sticking the head in the hole
is a metaphor for gaining a human birth.

Remember the form of this unlucky body,
insubstantial as a lump of foam.
See the aggregates as impermanent,
remember the hells so full of anguish.

Remember those swelling the charnel grounds
again and again in life after life.
Remember the threat of the marsh crocodile!
Remember the four truths!

When the deathless is there to be found,
why would you drink the five bitter poisons?
For every enjoyment of sensual pleasures
is so much more bitter than them.

When the deathless is there to be found,
why would you burn for sensual pleasures?
For every enjoyment of sensual pleasures
is burning, boiling, bubbling, seething.

When there is freedom from enmity,
why would you want your enemy, sensual pleasures?
Like kings, fire, robbers, flood, and people you dislike,
sensual pleasures are very much your enemy.

When liberation is there to be found,
what good are sensual pleasures that kill and bind?
For though unwilling, when sensual pleasures are there,
they are subject to the pain of killing and binding.

As a blazing grass torch
burns one who grasps it without letting go,
sensual pleasures are like a grass torch,
burning those who do not let go.

Don’t give up abundant happiness
for the trivial joys of sensual pleasure.
Don’t suffer hardship later,
like a catfish on a hook.

Deliberately control yourself among sensual pleasures!
You’re like a dog fixed to a chain:
sensual pleasures will surely devour you
as hungry outcasts would a dog.

Harnessed to sensual pleasure,
you undergo endless pain,
along with much mental anguish:
relinquish sensual pleasures, they don’t last!

When the unaging is there to be found,
what good are sensual pleasures in which is old age?
All rebirths everywhere
are bonded to death and sickness.

This is the ageless, this is the deathless!
This is the ageless and deathless, the sorrowless state!
Free of enmity, unconstricted,
faultless, fearless, without tribulations.

This deathless has been realized by many;
even today it can be obtained
by those who properly apply themselves;
but it’s impossible if you don’t try.”

So said Sumedhā,
lacking delight in conditioned things.
Soothing Anīkaratta,
Sumedhā cast her hair on the ground.

Standing up, Anīkaratta
raised his joined palms to her father and begged:
“Let go of Sumedhā, so that she may go forth!
She will see the truth of liberation.”

Released by her mother and father,
she went forth, afraid of grief and fear.
While still a trainee nun she realized the six direct knowledges,
along with the highest fruit.

The extinguishment of the princess
was incredible and amazing;
on her deathbed, she declared
her several past lives.

“In the time of the Buddha Koṇāgamana,
we three friends gave the gift
of a newly-built dwelling
in the Saṅgha’s monastery.

Ten times, a hundred times,
a thousand times, ten thousand times,
we were reborn among the gods,
let alone among humans.

We were mighty among the gods,
let alone among humans!
I was queen to a king with the seven treasures—
I was the treasure of a wife.

That was the cause, that the origin, that the root,
that was the acceptance of the dispensation;
that first meeting culminated in extinguishment
for one delighting in the teaching.

So say those who have faith in the words
of the one unrivaled in wisdom.
They’re disillusioned with being reborn,
and being disillusioned they become dispassionate.”


Here are links to the many references Arahant Sumedhā makes throughout her verses:

“… in the dispensation of him of the ten powers.
MN 12: Mahāsīhanādasutta

A Buddha has arisen, the time has come, the unlucky moment has passed.
AN 8.29: Akkhaṇasutta

I’ll refuse to eat any food, until I’ve fallen under the sway of death.
See when the householder Raṭṭhapāla did this.

Let three hundred sharp swords fall on my body everyday! Even if the slaughter lasted 100 years it’d be worth it if it led to the end of suffering.
SN 56.35: Sattisatasutta

Mandhātā, king of four continents, foremost in enjoying sensual pleasures, died unsated, his desires unfulfilled.
Ja 258 The Story about (the Ancient King) Mandhātu

“…They burn like a fire-brand, they resemble a skeleton.
MN 54: Potaliyasutta

Remember the ocean of tears, of milk, of blood— transmigration with no known beginning. Remember the bones piled up by beings transmigrating.
SN 15.3: Assusutta
SN 15.4: Khīrasutta
SN 15.13: Tiṁsamattasutta
SN 15.10: Puggalasutta

Transmigration with no known beginning is compared to this broad land of India…”
SN 15.2: Pathavīsutta

Remember the grass, sticks, and leaves, compare that with no known beginning…”
SN 15.1: Tiṇakaṭṭhasutta

Remember the one-eyed turtle and the yoke with a hole blown in the ocean from east to west
SN 56.48: Dutiyachiggaḷayugasutta

Remember the form of this unlucky body, insubstantial as a lump of foam.
SN 22.95: Pheṇapiṇḍūpamasutta

Remember the threat of the marsh crocodile!
AN 4.122: Ūmibhayasutta

“You’re like a dog fixed to a chain…”
SN 22.99: Gaddulabaddhasutta


Read this translation of Therīgāthā 16.1 Sumedhātherīgāthā: Sumedhā by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net or SuttaFriends.org. Or listen on Voice.SuttaCentral.net.

Thag 10.2 Ekavihāriyattheragāthā: Ekavihāriya


If no-one else is found
in front or behind,
it’s extremely pleasant
to be dwelling alone in a forest grove.

Come now, I’ll go alone
to the wilderness praised by the Buddha.
It’s pleasant for a mendicant
to be dwelling alone and resolute.

Alone and self-disciplined,
I’ll quickly enter the delightful forest,
which gives joy to meditators,
and is frequented by rutting elephants.

In Sītavana, so full of flowers,
in a cool mountain cave,
I’ll bathe my limbs
and walk mindfully alone.

When will I dwell alone,
without a companion,
in the great wood, so delightful,
my task complete, free of defilements?

This is what I want to do:
may my wish succeed!
I’ll make it happen myself,
for no-one can do another’s duty.

Fastening my armor,
I’ll enter the forest.
I won’t leave
without attaining the end of defilements.

As the cool breeze blows
with fragrant scent,
I’ll split ignorance apart,
sitting on the mountain-peak.

In a forest grove covered with blossoms,
in a cave so very cool,
I take pleasure in the Mountainfold,
happy with the happiness of freedom.

I’ve got all I wished for
like the moon on the fifteenth day.
With the utter ending of all defilements,
now there’ll be no more future lives.


Read this translation of Theragāthā 10.2 Ekavihāriyattheragāthā: Ekavihāriya by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaFriends.org or DhammaTalks.org. Or listen on Voice.SuttaCentral.net.

Thig 5.10 Paṭācārātherīgāthā: Verses of the Elder Paṭācārā

“With plows young men plough the field,
sowing seeds in the earth.
As they nourish wife and children,
young men find wealth.

I have perfect morality,
I follow the teaching of the Teacher,
I am not lazy nor conceited,
so why have I not attained Nirvana?

After washing the feet,
I observed the water,
and noticed the foot-washing water
flowing from top to bottom.

From there I sought one-pointedness of mind,
like a good thoroughbred horse.
Later, I took the lamp,
and entered my dwelling.
I checked the bed
and took a seat on a mat.

I took the needle
and pulled out the wick.
My emancipation of mind
was like the going out of the lamp.”


You can also read the life story of Arahant Paṭācārā in the commentary to Dhammapada verse 113.

Read this translation of Therīgāthā 5.10 Paṭācārātherīgāthā: Verses of the Elder Paṭācārā by Ayya Soma on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net, SuttaFriends.org or DhammaTalks.org. Or listen on Voice.SuttaCentral.net.

Thag 7.4 Sopākattheragāthā: Sopāka (2nd)

I saw the supreme person
walking mindfully in the shade of the terrace,
so I approached,
and bowed to the supreme among men.

Arranging my robe over one shoulder
and clasping my hands together,
I walked alongside that stainless one,
supreme among all beings.

The wise one, expert in questions,
questioned me.
Brave and fearless,
I answered the teacher.

When all his questions were answered,
the Realized One congratulated me.
Looking around the mendicant Saṅgha,
he said the following:

“It is a blessing for the people of Aṅga and Magadha
that this person enjoys their
robe and almsfood,
requisites and lodgings,
their respect and service—
it’s a blessing for them,” he declared.

“Sopāka, from this day on
you are invited to come and see me.
And Sopāka, let this
be your ordination.”

At seven years old
I received ordination.
I bear my final body—
oh, the excellence of the teaching!


“Supreme person,” “the supreme among men,” “stainless one,” etc are all names of the Buddha.

There is a great story involving Ven. Sopāka and three other seven year old arahants in the background story to Dhammapada verse 406.

For thoughts on young people with wisdom, read SN 3.1, Dahara Sutta.

Read this translation of Theragāthā 7.4 Sopākattheragāthā: Sopāka (2nd) by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaFriends.org. Or listen on Voice.SuttaCentral.net.