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Thag 10.6 Vaṅgantaputtaupasenattheragāthā: Upasena son of Vaṅgantā

In order to go on retreat,
a monk should stay in lodgings
that are secluded and quiet,
frequented by beasts of prey.

Having gathered scraps from rubbish heaps,
cemeteries and streets,
and making an outer robe from them,
one should wear that coarse robe.

Humbling their heart,
a mendicant should walk for alms
from family to family indiscriminately,
with sense doors guarded, well-restrained.

They should be content even with coarse food,
not hoping for lots of flavors.
The mind that’s greedy for flavors
doesn’t enjoy absorption.

With few wishes, content,
a sage should live secluded,
mixing with neither
householders nor the homeless.

They should present themselves
as if stupid or dumb;
an astute person would not speak overly long
in the midst of the Saṅgha.

They would not insult anyone,
and would avoid causing damage.
Restrained in the monastic code,
they would eat in moderation.

Expert in the arising of thought,
they would grasp well the pattern of the mind.
They would be devoted to practicing
serenity and discernment at the right time.

Though endowed with energy and perseverance,
and always devoted to meditation,
a wise person would not be too sure of themselves,
until they have attained the end of suffering.

For a mendicant who meditates in this way,
longing for purification,
all their defilements wither away,
and they realize quenching.


Read this translation of Theragāthā 10.6 Vaṅgantaputtaupasenattheragāthā: Upasena son of Vaṅgantā 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.

Or read a translation in Deutsch, Indonesian, 日本語, Norsk, සිංහල, or Tiếng Việt. Learn how to find your language.

Thag 1.36 Kumāputtattheragāthā: Kumāputta

Learning is good, living well is good,
the homeless life is always good.
Questions on the meaning, actions that are skillful:
this is the ascetic life for one who has nothing.


Read this translation of Theragāthā 1.36 Kumāputtattheragāthā: Kumāputta 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.

Or read a translation in Deutsch, Indonesian, 日本語, Norsk, සිංහල, or Tiếng Việt. Learn how to find your language.

Thag 3.11: The Verses of Arahant Upāli (249-251)

A newly ordained monk who entered the Buddha’s path out of faith, abandoning the home life, should practice right livelihood. He should be energetic and associate with noble friends.

A newly ordained monk who entered the Buddha’s path out of faith, abandoning the home life, should live in the midst of monks. He should learn the code of conduct well.

A newly ordained monk who entered the Buddha’s path out of faith, abandoning the home life, should be skilled in recognising what is allowable and unallowable. He should live without focusing on craving.

These verses were said by Arahant Upāli.


Read this translation of Theragāthā 3.11: The Verses of Arahant Upāli (249-251) by Ven. Kiribathgoda Gnananda Thero on SuttaFriends.org. Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net. Or listen on Voice.SuttaCentral.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.

Or read a translation in Deutsch, Indonesian, 日本語, Norsk, සිංහල, or Tiếng Việt. Learn how to find your language.

You can find the entire translation of the Theragāthā: Verses of Arahant Monks available on SuttaFriends.org.

Thag 16.4 Raṭṭhapāla

[Note: We can find the context for these verses in the Middle Length Discourses sutta MN 82 On Raṭṭhapāla. If you have time, it is a wonderful story and helps to illuminate the verses.]

Look at the image beautified,
a heap of festering wounds, shored up:
ill, but the object
     of many resolves,
where there is nothing
     lasting or sure.

Look at the form beautified
with earrings & gems:
          a skeleton wrapped in skin,
          made attractive with clothes.

Feet reddened with henna,
a face smeared with powder:
          enough to deceive a fool,
          but not a seeker for the further shore.

Hair plaited in eight pleats,
eyes smeared with unguent:
          enough to deceive a fool,
          but not a seeker for the further shore.

Like a newly painted unguent pot—
a putrid body adorned:
          enough to deceive a fool,
          but not a seeker for the further shore.

The hunter set out the snares,
but the deer didn’t go near the trap.
Having eaten the bait,
               we go,
leaving the hunters
               to weep.

The hunter’s snares are broken;
the deer didn’t go near the trap.
Having eaten the bait,
               we go,
leaving the hunters
               to grieve.

* * *


I see in the world
     people with wealth
who, from delusion,
     don’t make a gift
     of the treasure they’ve gained.
Greedy, they stash it away,
hoping for even more
sensual pleasures.

A king who, by force,
has conquered the world
and rules over the earth
to the edge of the sea,
dissatisfied with the ocean’s near shore,
     longs for the ocean’s
     far shore as well.

Kings & others
     —plenty of people—
go to death with craving
     unabated. Unsated,
they leave the body behind,
having not had enough
of the world’s sensual pleasures.

One’s relatives weep
& pull out their hair.
‘Oh woe, our loved one is dead,’ they cry.
Carrying him off,
wrapped in a piece of cloth,
they place him
     on a pyre,
     then set him on fire.

So he burns, poked with sticks,
in just one piece of cloth,
leaving all his possessions behind.
They are not shelters for one who has died—
     not relatives,
     friends,
     or companions.

Heirs take over his wealth,
while the being goes on,
in line with his kamma.
No wealth at all
follows the dead one—
     not children, wives,
     dominion, or riches.

Long life
can’t be gotten with wealth,
nor aging
warded off with treasure.
The wise say this life
is next to nothing—
     impermanent,
     subject to change.

The rich & the poor
touch the touch of Death.
The foolish & wise
are touched by it, too.
But while fools lie as if slain by their folly,
the wise don’t tremble
when touched by the touch.

Thus the discernment by which
one attains to mastery,
is better than wealth—
for those who haven’t reached mastery
go from existence to existence,
     out of delusion,
     doing bad deeds.

One goes to a womb
& to the next world,
falling into the wandering on
     —one thing
     after another—
while those of weak discernment,
     trusting in one,
also go to a womb
& to the next world.

Just as an evil thief
caught at the break-in
     is destroyed
     by his own act,
so evil people
—after dying, in the next world—
     are destroyed
     by their own acts.

Sensual pleasures—
     variegated,
     enticing,
     sweet—
in various ways disturb the mind.
Seeing the drawbacks in sensual objects:
that’s why, O king, I went forth.

Just like fruits, people fall
     —young & old—
at the break-up of the body.
Knowing this, O king,
     I went forth.
The contemplative life is better
          for sure.

* * *

     Out of conviction,
     I went forth
equipped with the Victor’s message.
Blameless was my going-forth:
Debtless I eat my food.

Seeing sensuality as burning,
          gold as a knife,
     pain in the entry into the womb
     & great danger in hells—
seeing this peril, I was then dismayed—
pierced (with dismay),
then calmed
on attaining the end of the effluents.
The Teacher has been served by me;
the Awakened One’s bidding,
               done;
the heavy load,       laid down;
the guide to becoming,   uprooted.

And the goal for which I went forth
from home life into homelessness
I’ve reached:
               the end
               of all fetters.


Read this translation of Theragāthā 16.4 Raṭṭhapāla by Bhikkhu Ṭhanissaro on DhammaTalks.org.

Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net, or SuttaFriends.org. Or listen on Voice.SuttaCentral.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.

Or read a translation in Deutsch, Indonesian, Italiano, 日本語, Norsk, සිංහල, or Tiếng Việt. Learn how to find your language.

Thag 1.93 Erakattheragāthā: Eraka

Sensual pleasures are suffering, Eraka!
Sensual pleasures aren’t happiness, Eraka!
One who enjoys sensual pleasures
enjoys suffering, Eraka!
One who doesn’t enjoy sensual pleasures
doesn’t enjoy suffering, Eraka!


Read this translation of Theragāthā 1.93 Erakattheragāthā: Eraka 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.

Or read a translation in Deutsch, Français, Indonesian, Italiano, 日本語, Norsk, ру́сский язы́к, සිංහල, or Tiếng Việt. Learn how to find your language.

Thag 1.35 Sāmaññakānittheragāthā: Sāmaññakāni

Seeking happiness, they find it through this practice.
They get a good reputation and grow in fame,
those who develop the direct route:
the noble eightfold path to realize the deathless.


Read this translation of Theragāthā 1.35 Sāmaññakānittheragāthā: Sāmaññakāni 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.

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Thag 16.3 Telakānittheragāthā: Telakāni

Note: In these verses the monk Telākani relates his struggles on the path to enlightenment using beautiful similes and metaphors. You may find that the translation on SuttaFriends.org gives more information on the meaning behind them. The Buddha is the teacher he talks about as the one who truly offers him help.


For a long time, sadly,
though I keenly contemplated the teaching,
I gained no peace of mind.
So I asked this of ascetics and brahmins:

“Who has crossed over the world?
Whose attainment culminates in the deathless?
Whose teaching do I accept
to understand the ultimate goal?

I was hooked inside,
like a fish gulping bait;
bound like the demon Vepaciti
in Mahinda’s trap.

Dragging it along, I’m not free
from grief and lamentation.
Who will free me from bonds in the world,
so that I may know awakening?

What ascetic or brahmin
points out what is frail?
Whose teaching do I accept
to sweep away old age and death?

Tied up with uncertainty and doubt,
secured by the power of pride,
stiff as a mind beset by anger;
the arrow of covetousness,

propelled by the bow of craving,
is stuck in my twice-fifteen ribs—
see how it stands in my breast,
breaking my strong heart.

Speculative views are not abandoned,
they are sharpened by memories and intentions;
and pierced by this I tremble,
like a leaf blowing in the wind.

Having arisen within,
what belongs to me burns quickly,
in that place where the body always heads
with its six sense-fields of contact.

I don’t see a healer
who can pull out my dart of doubt
without a lance
or some other blade.

Without knife or wound,
who will pull out this dart
that’s stuck inside me,
without harming any part of my body?

He really would be the Lord of the Dhamma,
the best one to cure the damage of poison;
when I have fallen into deep waters,
he would give me his show me the shore.

I’ve plunged into a lake,
and I can’t wash off the mud and dirt.
It’s full of fraud, jealousy, pride,
and dullness and drowsiness.

Like a thunder-cloud of restlessness,
like a rain-cloud of fetters;
lustful thoughts are winds
that sweep off a person with bad views.

The streams flow everywhere;
a weed springs up and remains.
Who will block the streams?
Who will cut the weed?”

“Venerable sir, build a dam
to block the streams.
Don’t let your mind-made streams
cut you down suddenly like a tree.”

That is how the teacher whose weapon is wisdom,
surrounded by the Saṅgha of seers,
was my shelter when I was full of fear,
seeking the far shore from the near.

As I was being swept away,
he gave me a strong, simple ladder,
made of the heartwood of Dhamma,
and he said to me: “Do not fear.”

I climbed the tower of mindfulness meditation,
and checked back down
at people delighting in identity,
as I’d obsessed over in the past.

When I saw the path,
as I was embarking on the ship,
without fixating on the self,
I saw the supreme landing-place.

The dart that arises in oneself,
and that which stems from the conduit to rebirth:
he taught the supreme path
for the canceling of these.

For a long time it had lain within me;
for a long time it was fixed in me:
the Buddha cast off the knot,
curing the damage of poison.


Note: “Deathless” is a term for Nibbāna. SN 11.4 Vepacitti tells the story of the asura being captured by Sakka (Mahinda)

Read this translation of Theragāthā 16.3 Telakānittheragāthā: Telakāni 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.

Or read a translation in Deutsch, Indonesian, 日本語, Norsk, සිංහල, or Tiếng Việt. Learn how to find your language.

Thag 1.86 Nāgitattheragāthā: Arahant Nāgita

Elsewhere there are many other doctrines;
those paths don’t lead to quenching like this one does.
For the Buddha himself instructs the Saṅgha;
the Teacher shows the palms of his hands.


Note: Showing “the palms of his hands” refers to the fact that the Buddha did not have hidden teachings. See also Iti 100. “Lead to quenching” is a translation of the Pāli “nibbānagamo.”

Read this translation of Theragāthā 1.86 Nāgitattheragāthā 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.

Or read a translation in Deutsch, Indonesian, Italiano, 日本語, Norsk, ру́сский язы́к, සිංහල, or Tiếng Việt. Learn how to find your language.

Thag 7.5 Sarabhaṅgattheragāthā: Sarabhaṅga

I broke the reeds off with my hands,
made a hut, and stayed there.
That’s how I became known
as “Reed-breaker”.

But now it’s not appropriate
for me to break reeds with my hands.
The training rules have been laid down for us
by Gotama the renowned.

Previously, I, Sarabhaṅga,
didn’t see the disease in its entirety.
But now I have seen the disease,
as I’ve practiced what was taught
     by he who is beyond the gods.

Gotama traveled by that straight road;
the same path traveled by Vipassī,
by Sikhī, Vessabhū,
Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, and Kassapa.

These seven Buddhas have plunged into the ending,
free of craving, without grasping,
having become Dhamma, poised.
They have taught this Dhamma

out of compassion for living creatures—
suffering, origin, path,
and cessation, the ending of suffering.
In these four noble truths,

the endless suffering of transmigration
finally comes to an end.
When the body breaks up,
and life comes to an end,
there are no future lives;
I’m everywhere well-freed.


Read this translation of Theragāthā 7.5 Sarabhaṅgattheragāthā: Sarabhaṅga 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.

Or read a translation in Deutsch, Indonesian, 日本語, Norsk, සිංහල, or Tiếng Việt. Learn how to find your language.

Thag 6.12 Brahmadattattheragāthā: Brahmadatta

From where would anger come for one free of anger,
tamed, living justly,
freed by right knowledge,
peaceful and poised?

When you get angry at an angry person
you just make things worse for yourself.
When you don’t get angry at an angry person
you win a battle hard to win.

When you know that the other is angry,
you act for the good of both
yourself and the other
if you’re mindful and stay calm.

People unfamiliar with the teaching
consider one who heals both
oneself and the other
to be a fool.

If anger arises in you,
reflect on the simile of the saw;
if craving for flavors arises in you,
remember the simile of the child’s flesh.

If your mind runs off
to sensual pleasures and future lives,
quickly curb it with mindfulness,
as one would curb a greedy cow eating grain.


NOTE: The simile of the saw can be found at the very end of the MN 21 Kakacūpama Sutta. The simile of the child’s flesh can be found at SN 12.63 Puttamaṁsasutta.

Read this translation of Theragāthā 6.12 Brahmadattattheragāthā: Brahmadatta 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.