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.
Read this translation of Therīgāthā 2.9 Abhayātherīgāthā: Abhayā Abhayātherīgāthā by Bhikkhuni Soma on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net or SuttaFriends.org. Or listen on Voice.SuttaCentral.net.
“You fall asleep talking about ‘contemplatives’,
you wake up talking about ‘contemplatives’,
you only praise contemplatives,
surely you will become a contemplative.
Abundant food and drink
you offer to contemplatives.
Rohinī, now I ask:
what is so dear to you about contemplatives?
They’re idle and lazy,
living on what is given by others,
longing for sweet sensual pleasures,
what is so dear to you about contemplatives?”
“For a very long time indeed, father,
you have asked me about contemplatives.
For you, I will speak in praise of their
wisdom, morality, and commitment.
Industrious, not lazy,
doers of the best deeds,
they give up passion and aversion,
because of this, contemplatives are dear to me.
The three roots of evil
they shake off, the ones whose actions are pure,
they have abandoned all evil,
because of this, contemplatives are dear to me.
They do pure bodily actions,
as well as verbal actions,
and pure mental actions,
because of this, contemplatives are dear to me.
Spotless as a pearl,
they are pure internally and externally.
Full of bright qualities,
because of this, contemplatives are dear to me.
Very learned, knowing the Dhamma by heart,
Noble Ones, living a life of Dhamma,
they expound the meaning of the Dhamma,
because of this, contemplatives are dear to me.
Very learned, knowing the Dhamma by heart,
Noble Ones, living a life of Dhamma,
mindful, with one-pointed minds,
because of this, contemplatives are dear to me.
Going afar, mindful,
giving counsel without conceit,
they clearly know the end of suffering,
because of this, contemplatives are dear to me.
From whichever village they set out,
they never look back,
they wander without longing,
because of this, contemplatives are dear to me.
They do not deposit things in storerooms,
nor do they have pots and pans.
Seeking complete perfection,
because of this, contemplatives are dear to me.
They do not take up gold,
silver or money,
they are nourished by the present moment,
because of this, contemplatives are dear to me.
Monastics from different clans,
and from different provinces,
they hold each other dear,
because of this, contemplatives are dear to me.”
“Madam, it surely was for our benefit,
that you were born in this clan, Rohinī,
very devout, and with faith in the Buddha, the Dhamma,
and the Sangha.
You clearly know this
incomparable field of merit.
These contemplatives
will receive donations from us as well.
Charity will be established here by us,
and it will be abundant.”
“If you are afraid of suffering,
if you dislike suffering,
go for refuge to the Buddha,
Dhamma, and Sangha.
Take up the moral practices,
for your own sake.”
“I go for refuge to the Buddha,
Dhamma, and Sangha.
Having taken up the moral practices,
it will be for my sake.”
“Before I was a kinsman of Brahmā,
now I am a brahmin.
Possessing three superhuman knowledges, I am one who has attained the highest knowledge,
I am one who has bathed.”
Read this translation of Therīgāthā 13.2 Rohinītherīgāthā: Verses of the Elder Rohinī 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.
“Guttā, why did you go forth?
You have left behind child, wealth, and all that is dear.
Practice in this way,
do not be controlled by the mind.
Sentient beings are misguided by the mind,
enjoying the realm of Māra.
Fools wander along in saṁsāra,
running through countless births.
Interest in sensual pleasures, ill will,
attachment to self-identity,
clinging to rites and rituals,
and the fifth is doubt—
once you abandon these fetters,
Bhikkhunī,
you will not return
to the near shore again.
Once you forsake passion, conceit, ignorance,
and restlessness,
having cut off the fetters,
you will bring suffering to an end.
Once you have discarded birth in saṁsāra,
having fully understood how existence is renewed,
seeing the Dhamma, without cravings,
you will walk in peace.”
Read this translation of Therīgāthā 6.7 Guttātherīgāthā: Verses of the Elder Guttā 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.
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.
Read this translation of Therīgāthā 3.2 Uttamātherīgāthā: Uttamā by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net.
“One whose path you do not know,
not whence they came nor where they went;
though they came from who knows where,
you mourn that being, crying, ‘Oh my son!’
But one whose path you do know,
whence they came or where they went;
that one you do not lament—
such is the nature of living creatures.
Unasked he came,
he left without leave.
He must have come from somewhere,
and stayed who knows how many days.
He left from here by one road,
he will go from there by another.
Departing with the form of a human,
he will go on transmigrating.
As he came, so he went:
why cry over that?”
“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 son,
in which I once was mired.
Today I’ve plucked the arrow,
I’m hungerless, extinguished.
I go for refuge to that sage, the Buddha,
to his teaching, and to the Sangha.”
That is how Paṭācārā, who had a following of five hundred, declared her enlightenment.
Read Thig 6.1 Pañcasatamattātherīgāthā: Paṭācārā, Who Had a Following of Five Hundred translated by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net, SuttaFriends.org, or DhammaTalks.org. Or listen on Voice.SuttaCentral.net.
Sleep softly, old lady,
wrapped in the cloth you sewed yourself;
for your desire has been quelled,
you’re cooled and quenched.
Read Thig 1.16 Vuḍḍhapabbajitasumanātherīgāthā: Sumanā, Who Went Forth Late in Life translated by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net, or SuttaFriends.org.
