Tuesday, August 11, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org

Theragatha — Verses of the Senior Monks — Bhikkhu Sujato and Jessica Walton

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translated by Bhikkhu Sujato and Jessica Walton

The Theragāthā, "Verses of the Senior Monks," collects 264 poems of spiritual autobiography attributed to named elder monks of the early Saṅgha — testimonies of struggle, awakening, forest solitude, and release, ranging from a single quatrain to Vaṅgīsa's long closing elegy for Sāriputta. The poems are arranged by length into twenty-one nipātas, from the Ones (single-verse poems) up through poems of ten, twenty, thirty, even the sixty-verse Mahānipāta at the close, and further subdivided into chapters within the more populous nipātas. Together with its companion the Therīgāthā, it is one of world literature's earliest collections of first-person religious poetry.

This translation began as a collaboration between Jessica Walton and Bhikkhu Sujato, first published in 2014 through SuttaCentral; Bhikkhu Sujato revised it in 2019 to bring its terminology in line with his later translations of the four great Nikāyas already on this shelf. Dedicated to the public domain through a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) declaration. This is the first translation of the Theragāthā to join the library. All 264 poems across the twenty-one traditional nipātas are presented complete, in their traditional order and structure (Nipāta, Chapter, Poem); the collection's shared prose-and-verse preface, recited once at its head before Subhūti's own opening poem, is preserved exactly where the source places it.

Contents

The Book of the Ones

Chapter One

THAG1.1 — Subhūti

Background

Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!

Like the lions of mighty fang
who roar in mountain caves—
hear now from those who’ve practiced well
their own verses about themselves.

What their name, and what their clan,
and how they lived by the teaching;
how dedicated were those wise ones,
as they meditated tirelessly.

Clearly discerning in every case,
they reached the state that does not pass.
Reviewing their completed task,
they spoke about it in these words.

Subhūti

My hut is roofed and pleasant, sheltered from the wind:
so rain, heavens, as you please!
My mind is serene and freed,
I practice wholeheartedly: so rain, heavens!

That is how this verse was recited by the senior venerable Subhūti.

THAG1.2 — Mahākoṭṭhita

Calm and still,
thoughtful in counsel, not restless—
he shakes off bad qualities
as the gale shakes leaves off a tree.

That is how this verse was recited by the senior venerable Mahākoṭṭhita.

THAG1.3 — Revata the Doubter

See this wisdom of the Realized Ones!
Like a fire blazing in the night,
giving light, giving vision,
they dispel the doubt of those who’ve come.

That is how this verse was recited by the senior venerable Revata the Doubter.

THAG1.4 — Puṇṇa (1st)

Associate only with the virtuous,
the astute ones who see the goal.
The attentive ones, diligent and clear-seeing,
realize the goal
so great and profound,
hard to see, subtle, and very fine.

That is how this verse was recited by the senior venerable Puṇṇa son of Mantāṇī.

THAG1.5 — Dabba

Once hard to tame, now tamed himself;
proficient, content, with doubt overcome;
victorious since his fears have vanished:
Dabba is steadfast, and has become fully quenched.

That is how this verse was recited by the senior venerable Dabba.

THAG1.6 — Sītavaniya

The monk who went to the Cool Grove is solitary,
content and serene,
victorious, with goosebumps vanished,
guarding mindfulness of the body, steadfast.

That is how this verse was recited by the senior venerable Sītavaniya.

THAG1.7 — Bhalliya

He has cast aside the army of the King of Death,
as a fragile bridge of reeds by a great flood.
Victorious since his fears have vanished:
tame and steadfast, he has become quenched.

That is how this verse was recited by the senior venerable Bhalliya.

THAG1.8 — Vīra

Once hard to tame, now tamed himself;
a hero, content, with doubt overcome;
victorious, with goosebumps vanished,
Vīra is steadfast, and has become fully quenched.

That is how this verse was recited by the senior venerable Vīra.

THAG1.9 — Pilindavaccha

It was welcome, not unwelcome,
the advice I got was good.
Of the well-explained teachings,
I arrived at the best.

That is how this verse was recited by the senior venerable Pilindavaccha.

THAG1.10 — Puṇṇamāsa (1st)

A knowledge master, peaceful and self-controlled,
is rid of concern for this world and the world beyond.
Unsullied in the midst of all things,
they’d know the arising and passing of the world.

That is how this verse was recited by the senior venerable Puṇṇamāsa.

Chapter Two

THAG1.11 — Cūḷavaccha

A monk full of joy
in the teaching proclaimed by the Buddha
would realize the peaceful state,
the blissful stilling of conditions.

THAG1.12 — Mahāvaccha

Empowered by wisdom, with precepts and observances intact,
serene, loving absorption, mindful,
eating just the needed food,
one should await one’s time here, free of desire.

THAG1.13 — Vanavaccha (1st)

Glistening, they look like blue stormclouds,
with waters cool and streams so clear,
and covered all in ladybugs:
these rocky crags delight me!

THAG1.14 — The Novice Sivaka

My mentor said to me:
“Let’s leave here, Sīvaka.”
My body lives in the village,
but my mind has gone to the wilderness.
I go there even when lying down—
you can’t chain those who know.

THAG1.15 — Kuṇḍadhāna

Five to cut, five to drop,
and five more to develop.
When a mendicant slips five chains
they’re said to have crossed the flood.

THAG1.16 — Belaṭṭhasīsa

Just as a fine thoroughbred
proceeds with ease,
tail and mane flying in the wind;
so my days and nights
proceed with ease,
full of joy not of the flesh.

THAG1.17 — Dāsaka

One who gets drowsy from overeating,
fond of sleep, rolling round the bed
like a great hog stuffed with grain:
that dullard returns to the womb again and again.

THAG1.18 — Siṅgāla’s Father

There was an heir of the Buddha,
a monk in Bhesakaḷā forest,
who suffused the entire earth
with the perception of bones.
I think he will quickly
get rid of sensual desire.

THAG1.19 — Kula

While irrigators guide water,
fletchers bend arrows straight,
and carpenters bend timber straight,
those true to their vows tame themselves.

THAG1.20 — Ajita

I do not fear death;
nor do I long for life.
I’ll lay down this body,
aware and mindful.

Chapter Three

THAG1.21 — Nigrodha

I’m not afraid of fear,
for our teacher is expert in freedom from death.
Mendicants advance by the path
where no fear remains.

THAG1.22 — Cittaka

Crested peacocks with beautiful blue necks
cry out in Karaṁvī.
Stirred by a cool breeze,
they wake the sleeper to practice absorption.

THAG1.23 — Gosāla

I’ll eat honey and milk-rice
in Veḷugumba.
And then, dexterously probing
the rise and fall of the aggregates,
I’ll return to my forest hill
and foster seclusion.

THAG1.24 — Sugandha

See the excellence of the teaching!
Just one rainy season after I went forth,
I attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG1.25 — Nandiya

Dark One, after attacking such a monk—
one who has arrived at the fruit,
and whose mind is always full of light—
you’ll fall into suffering.

THAG1.26 — Abhaya

Having heard the fine words
of the Buddha, Kinsman of the Sun,
I penetrated the subtle truth,
like a hair-tip with an arrow.

THAG1.27 — Lomasakaṅgiya

With my chest I’ll thrust aside
the grasses, vines, canes,
the vetiver, rushes and reeds,
and foster seclusion.

THAG1.28 — Jambugāmikaputta

Aren’t you obsessed with clothes?
Don’t you just love jewelry?
Is it not you—and no one else—
who spreads the scent of virtue?

THAG1.29 — Hārita (1st)

Straighten yourself,
like a fletcher an arrow.
When your mind is upright, Hārita,
break ignorance to bits!

THAG1.30 — Uttiya (1st)

When I was ill in the past,
mindfulness arose in me.
Now I am ill once more—
it’s time for me to be heedful.

Chapter Four

THAG1.31 — Gahvaratīriya

Pestered by flies and mosquitoes
in the wilds, the formidable forest,
one should mindfully endure,
like an elephant at the head of the battle.

THAG1.32 — Suppiya

I’ll swap old age for the unaging,
burning for quenching—
the ultimate peace,
the supreme sanctuary from the yoke.

THAG1.33 — Sopāka (1st)

Just as a mother would be good
to her beloved only child;
so, to creatures all and everywhere,
let one be good.

THAG1.34 — Posiya

It’s always better for a smart person
to avoid sharing a seat with such women.
I went from the village to the wilderness;
from there I entered a house.
Though I was there to be fed,
I got up and left without taking leave.

THAG1.35 — 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 freedom from death.

THAG1.36 — Kumāputta

Learning is good, living well is good,
the life without abode is always good.
Questions on the meaning, actions that are skillful:
this is the ascetic life for one who has nothing.

THAG1.37 — Kumāputtasahāyaka

Some travel to different countries,
wandering undisciplined.
If they lose their meditation,
what will such rotten conduct achieve?
So you should dispel aggression,
practicing absorption undistracted.

THAG1.38 — Gavampati

His psychic power made the Sarabhū River stand still;
Gavampati is unbound and unperturbed.
The gods bow to that great sage, who has slipped all chains,
and gone beyond rebirth.

THAG1.39 — Tissa (1st)

Like they’re struck by a sword,
like their head was on fire,
a mendicant should wander mindful
to give up sensual desire.

THAG1.40 — Vaḍḍhamāna

Like they’re struck by a sword,
like their head was on fire,
a mendicant should wander mindful,
to give up desire for rebirth.

Chapter Five

THAG1.41 — Sirivaḍḍha

Lightning flashes down
on the cleft of Vebhāra and Paṇḍava.
But in the mountain cleft he is absorbed in jhāna—
the son of the Buddha, inimitable and unaffected.

THAG1.42 — Revata of the Acacia Wood

Cālā, Upacālā, Sīsupacālā—
meditate mindfully!
I’ve come to you like a hair-splitter.

THAG1.43 — Sumaṅgala

Well freed! Well freed!
I’m very well freed from three crooked things:
my sickles, my ploughs,
and my little hoes.
Even if they were here, right here—
I’d be done with them, done!
Practice absorption Sumaṅgala! Practice absorption Sumaṅgala!
Stay heedful, Sumaṅgala!

THAG1.44 — Sānu

Mum, they weep for the dead,
or for one who’s alive but missing.
I’m alive and you can see me,
so mum, why do you weep for me?

THAG1.45 — Ramaṇīyavihārin

Though a fine thoroughbred may stumble,
it soon stands firm again.
Even so is one accomplished in vision,
a disciple of the Buddha.

THAG1.46 — Samiddhi

I went forth out of faith
from the lay life to homelessness.
My mindfulness and wisdom have grown,
my mind is serene.
Make whatever illusions you want,
it doesn’t bother me.

THAG1.47 — Ujjaya

Homage to you, O Buddha, O hero,
freed in every way!
Meditating in the fruits of your practice,
I live without defilements.

THAG1.48 — Sañjaya

Since I went forth
from the lay life to homelessness,
I’ve not been aware of any thought
that is ignoble and hateful.

THAG1.49 — Rāmaṇeyyaka

Even with all the sounds,
the chirping and cheeping of the birds,
my mind doesn’t flounder,
for I’m devoted to oneness.

THAG1.50 — Vimala (1st)

The celestial lake Dharaṇī pours, the heavenly gale blows,
and lightning flashes across the sky!
But my thoughts are stilled,
my mind is serene.

Chapter Six

THAG1.51 — Godhika

The heavens rain like a sweet song;
my hut is roofed and pleasant, sheltered from the wind.
My mind is serene:
so rain forth, heavens, if you wish.

THAG1.52 — Subāhu

The heavens rain like a sweet song;
my hut is roofed and pleasant, sheltered from the wind.
My mind is immersed in my body:
so rain forth, heavens, if you wish.

THAG1.53 — Valliya (1st)

The heavens rain like a sweet song;
my hut is roofed and pleasant, sheltered from the wind.
I meditate there, diligent:
so rain forth, heavens, if you wish.

THAG1.54 — Uttiya (2nd)

The heavens rain like a sweet song;
my hut is roofed and pleasant, sheltered from the wind.
I dwell there without a partner:
so rain forth, heavens, if you wish.

THAG1.55 — Añjanavaniya

I plunged into the Añjana wood
and made a hut to live in.
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG1.56 — Kuṭivihārin (1st)

“Who is in this hut?” “A monk is in this hut,
free of lust, his mind serene.
Reverend, you should know this:
your hut wasn’t built in vain.”

THAG1.57 — Kuṭivihārin (2nd)

This was your old hut,
but you still want a new hut.
Let go of hope for a hut, monk!
A new hut will only bring more suffering.

THAG1.58 — Ramaṇīyakuṭika

My hut is pleasing, delightful,
a gift given in faith.
I’ve no need of girls:
go, ladies, to those in need!

THAG1.59 — Kosalavihārin

I went forth out of faith
and built a hut in the wilderness.
I’m heedful, ardent,
aware, and mindful.

THAG1.60 — Sīvali

My wishes—the purpose I had
for entering this hut—came true.
Seeking knowledge and liberation,
I gave up the tendency to conceit.

Chapter Seven

THAG1.61 — Vappa

One who sees
sees those who see and those who don’t.
One who doesn’t see
sees neither.

THAG1.62 — Vajjiputta (1st)

We dwell alone in the wilderness,
like a log dumped in a forest.
Lots of people are jealous of me,
as beings in hell are of one going to heaven.

THAG1.63 — Pakkha

They fall, collapsed and fallen;
greedy, they return.
The work is done, the joyful is enjoyed,
happiness is found through happiness.

THAG1.64 — Vimalakoṇḍañña

I arose from the one named after a tree;
I was born of the one whose banner shines.
The banner killer has destroyed the great banner,
by means of the banner itself.

THAG1.65 — Ukkhepakatavaccha

Vaccha has tossed away
what he built over many years.
Sitting comfortably, uplifted with joy,
he teaches this to householders.

THAG1.66 — Meghiya

He counseled me, the great hero,
the one who has gone beyond all things.
When I heard his teaching
I stayed close by him, mindful.
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG1.67 — Ekadhammasavanīya

My defilements have been burnt away by practicing absorption—
rebirth into all states of existence is eradicated,
transmigration through births is finished,
now there’ll be no more future lives.

THAG1.68 — Ekudāniya

A sage of higher consciousness, diligent,
training in the ways of sagacity:
there are no sorrows for the unaffected,
calm and ever mindful.

THAG1.69 — Channa

Hearing the sweet Dhamma taught by the master,
all-knowing, of superb knowledge,
I’ve entered the path to realize freedom from death—
he is the expert on the road to sanctuary from the yoke.

THAG1.70 — Puṇṇa (2nd)

Ethical conduct is best in this life,
but one with wisdom is supreme.
Someone with both virtue and wisdom
is victorious among men and gods.

Chapter Eight

THAG1.71 — Vacchapāla

For one who sees the meaning so very subtle and fine;
who is skilled in thought and placid in manner;
who has cultivated mature ethics,
it’s not hard to gain extinguishment.

THAG1.72 — Ātuma

A young bamboo is hard to extract
when the point is grown and become all woody.
That’s how I feel with the wife who was arranged for me.
Give me permission—now I’ve gone forth.

THAG1.73 — Māṇava

Seeing an old person, and one suffering from disease,
and a corpse come to the end of life,
I went forth, becoming a wanderer,
and giving up the pleasures of the senses.

THAG1.74 — Suyāmana

Sensual desire, ill will,
dullness and drowsiness,
restlessness, and doubt
are not found in a monk at all.

THAG1.75 — Susārada

Good is the sight of those who’ve practiced well:
doubt is cut off and intelligence grows—
even a fool grows wise!
That’s why it’s good to meet good people.

THAG1.76 — Piyañjaha

Settle down when others spring up;
spring up when others settle down.
Remain when others have departed;
don’t delight when others delight.

THAG1.77 — Hatthārohaputta

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.

THAG1.78 — Meṇḍasira

Transmigrating through countless rebirths,
I’ve journeyed without reward.
I’ve suffered, but now
the mass of suffering has fallen away.

THAG1.79 — Rakkhita

All my lust is given up,
all my hate is eradicated,
all my delusion is gone:
I’m cooled, quenched.

THAG1.80 — Ugga

Any deeds I have done,
a little or a lot,
are all completely exhausted:
now there’ll be no more future lives.

Chapter Nine

THAG1.81 — Samitigutta

Any bad things I’ve done
in previous lives,
are to be experienced right here,
not in any other place.

THAG1.82 — Kassapa

Go, child, to any place
where there’s plenty of food,
where it’s safe and free of peril—
may you not be overcome by sorrow!

THAG1.83 — Sīha

Meditate diligently, Sīha,
tireless all day and night.
Develop skillful qualities,
and quickly discard this bag of bones.

THAG1.84 — Nīta

Sleeping all night,
happily socializing by day,
when will the simpleton
make an end of suffering?

THAG1.85 — Sunāga

Skilled in the patterns of the mind,
understanding the nectar of seclusion,
practicing absorption, alert, mindful:
such a person would realize pleasure not of the flesh.

THAG1.86 — Nāgita

Elsewhere there are many other doctrines;
paths that, unlike this, don’t lead to extinguishment.
For the Buddha himself instructs the Saṅgha;
the Teacher shows the palms of his hands.

THAG1.87 — Paviṭṭha

The aggregates are seen as they truly are;
all rebirths are shattered;
transmigration through births is finished;
now there’ll be no more future lives.

THAG1.88 — Ajjuna

I was able to lift myself up
from the water to the shore.
While being swept away by the great flood,
I penetrated the truths.

THAG1.89 — Devasabha (1st)

I’ve crossed the bogs,
I’ve avoided the chasms,
I’m freed from floods and ties,
and I’ve wiped out all conceit.

THAG1.90 — Sāmidatta

The five aggregates are fully understood;
they remain, but their root is cut.
Transmigration through births is finished,
now there’ll be no more future lives.

Chapter Ten

THAG1.91 — Paripuṇṇaka

What I consumed today is considered better
than delicious grain of a hundred flavors—
the Dhamma taught by the Buddha,
Gotama of infinite vision.

THAG1.92 — Vijaya

One whose defilements have ended;
who’s not attached to food;
whose range is the liberation
of the signless and the empty:
their track is hard to trace,
like birds in the sky.

THAG1.93 — 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!

THAG1.94 — Mettaji

Homage to that Blessed One,
the glorious Sakyan!
Having reached the best,
he beautifully taught the best teaching.

THAG1.95 — Cakkhupāla

I’m blind, my eyes are ruined,
I’m traveling a desolate road.
Even if I have to crawl I’ll keep going—
though not with wicked companions.

THAG1.96 — Khaṇḍasumana

I offered a single flower
and then amused myself in heavens
for 800 million years;
with what’s left over I’ve become quenched.

THAG1.97 — Tissa (2nd)

Giving up a hundred ounces of bronze,
and a hundred grains of gold,
I took a bowl made of clay:
this is my second initiation.

THAG1.98 — Abhaya

When you see a sight, mindfulness is lost
as you focus on a pleasant feature.
Experiencing it with a mind full of desire,
you keep clinging to it.
Your defilements grow,
leading to the root of rebirth.

THAG1.99 — Uttiya (3rd)

When you hear a sound, mindfulness is lost
as you focus on a pleasant feature.
Experiencing it with a mind full of desire,
you keep clinging to it.
Your defilements grow,
leading to transmigration.

THAG1.100 — Devasabha (2nd)

Accomplished in the four right efforts,
mindfulness meditation is your range;
festooned with the flowers of liberation,
undefiled, you’ll be fully quenched.

Chapter Eleven

THAG1.101 — Belaṭṭhānika

He’s given up the household life, but is far from perfect.
Living for his belly, lazy, he uses his snout as a plow,
like a great hog stuffed with grain.
That dullard is reborn again and again.

THAG1.102 — Setuccha

Deceived by conceit,
defiled among conditions,
oppressed by gain and loss,
they don’t reach immersion.

THAG1.103 — Bandhura

I have no need of this—
I’m happy and satisfied with the sweet teaching.
I’ve drunk the best, the supreme nectar:
I won’t go near poison.

THAG1.104 — Khitaka

Hey! My body is light,
full of so much rapture and happiness.
My body feels like it’s floating,
like cotton in a gale.

THAG1.105 — Malitavambha

Dissatisfied, one should not stay;
and even if happy, one should leave.
One who sees clearly wouldn’t stay
in a place that was not conducive to the goal.

THAG1.106 — Suhemanta

Though the meaning has a hundred facets,
and bears a hundred characteristics,
the simpleton sees only one factor,
while the sage sees a hundred.

THAG1.107 — Dhammasava

After investigating, I went forth
from the lay life to homelessness.
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG1.108 — Dhammasavapitu

At 120 years old
I went forth to homelessness.
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG1.109 — Saṅgharakkhita

Even on retreat he doesn’t heed the counsel
of the one with supreme compassion for his welfare.
He lives with unrestrained faculties,
like a young deer in the woods.

THAG1.110 — Usabha (1st)

The trees on the mountain tops have grown tall,
freshly sprinkled by towering clouds.
For Usabha, who loves seclusion, and who thinks only of wilderness,
goodness flourishes more and more.

Chapter Twelve

THAG1.111 — Jenta

Going forth is hard; living at home is hard;
Dhamma is profound; money is hard to come by.
Getting by is difficult for we who accept whatever comes,
so we should always think about impermanence.

THAG1.112 — Vacchagotta

I am a master of the three knowledges, I’m a great meditator,
an expert in serenity of heart.
I’ve realized my heart’s goal
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG1.113 — Vanavaccha (2nd)

The water’s clear and the rocks are broad,
monkeys and deer are all around;
festooned with dewy moss,
these rocky crags delight me!

THAG1.114 — Adhimutta (1st)

Your body is uncomfortably heavy,
and life is running out;
greedy for physical pleasure,
how can you find happiness as an ascetic?

THAG1.115 — Mahānāma

By Mount Nesādaka,
with its famous covering
of abundant shrubs and trees,
you’re found deficient.

THAG1.116 — Pārāsariya (1st)

I’ve given up the six spheres of sense-contact,
my sense doors are guarded and well restrained;
I’ve ejected the root of gloom
and attained the ending of defilements.

THAG1.117 — Yasa

I’m well-anointed and well-dressed,
adorned with all my jewelry.
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG1.118 — Kimbila (1st)

Old age falls like a curse;
it’s the same body, but it seems like someone else’s.
I remember myself as if I were someone else,
but I’m still the same, I haven’t been away.

THAG1.119 — Vajjiputta (2nd)

You’ve left for the jungle, the root of a tree,
having laid extinguishment in your heart.
Meditate, Gotama, don’t be negligent!
What use is this hullabaloo to you?

THAG1.120 — Isidatta

The five aggregates are fully understood,
they remain, but their root is cut.
I have reached the end of suffering
and attained the ending of defilements.

The Book of the Twos

Chapter One

THAG2.1 — Uttara (1st)

No life is permanent,
and no conditions last forever.
The aggregates are reborn
and pass away, again and again.

Knowing this danger,
I have no need for another life.
I’ve escaped all sensual pleasures,
and attained the ending of defilements.

That is how these verses were recited by the senior venerable Uttara.

THAG2.2 — Bhāradvāja the Alms-Gatherer

You can’t live by fasting,
but food doesn’t lead to peace of heart.
Seeing how this bag of bones is sustained by food,
I wander, seeking.

They know it’s just a swamp,
this homage and veneration in respectable families.
Honor is a subtle dart, hard to extract,
and hard for a reprobate to give up.

That is how these verses were recited by the senior venerable Bhāradvāja the Alms-Gatherer.

THAG2.3 — Valliya (2nd)

A monkey went up to the little hut
with five doors.
He circles around, knocking
on each door, again and again.

Stand still monkey, don’t run!
Things are different now;
you’ve been caught by wisdom—
you won’t go far.

THAG2.4 — Gaṅgātīriya

My hut on the bank of the Ganges
is made from three palm leaves.
My alms-bowl is a funeral pot,
my robe is cast-off rags.

In my first two rainy seasons
I spoke only one word.
In my third rainy season
the mass of darkness was shattered.

THAG2.5 — Ajina

Even a master of the three knowledges,
undefiled, conqueror of death,
is looked down upon for being unknown
by ignorant fools.

But any individual here
who gets food and drink
is honored by them,
even if they are of bad character.

THAG2.6 — Meḷajina

When I heard the Teacher
speaking Dhamma,
I wasn’t aware of any doubt
in the all-knowing, unconquered one,

the caravan leader, the great hero,
the most excellent of charioteers.
I have no doubt
in the path or practice.

THAG2.7 — Rādha

Just as rain seeps into
a poorly roofed house,
lust seeps into
an undeveloped mind.

Just as rain doesn’t seep into
a well roofed house,
lust doesn’t seep into
a well-developed mind.

THAG2.8 — Surādha

Rebirth is ended for me;
the victor’s instruction is fulfilled;
what they call a “net” is given up;
the leash to existence is eradicated.

I’ve attained the goal
for the sake of which I went forth
from the lay life to homelessness—
the ending of all fetters.

THAG2.9 — Gotama (1st)

Sages sleep at ease
when they’re not bound to women.
For the truth is hard to find among them
and one must always be guarded.

Sensual pleasure, you’ve been slain!
We’re not in your debt any more.
Now we go to extinguishment,
where there is no sorrow.

THAG2.10 — Vasabha

First one kills oneself,
then one kills others.
One kills oneself, really dead,
like one who kills birds using a dead bird as a decoy.

A brahmin’s color is not on the outside;
a brahmin is colored on the inside.
Whoever harbors bad deeds
is truly a dark one, Sujampati.

Chapter Two

THAG2.11 — Mahācunda

It’s from eagerness to learn that learning grows;
when you’re learned, wisdom grows;
by wisdom, you know the goal;
knowing the goal brings happiness.

You should frequent remote lodgings
and practice to be released from fetters.
If you don’t find enjoyment there,
live in the Saṅgha, self-protected and mindful.

THAG2.12 — Jotidāsa

People who act harshly—
attacking people,
binding them with rope,
hurting them in all kinds of ways—
they’re treated in the same way;
their deeds don’t vanish.

Whatever deeds a person does,
whether good or bad,
they are the heir to each
and every deed they do.

THAG2.13 — Heraññakāni

The days and nights rush by,
and then life is cut short.
The life of mortals wastes away,
like the water in tiny streams.

But while doing bad deeds
the fool doesn’t realize—
it’ll be bitter later on;
for the result will be bad for them.

THAG2.14 — Somamitta

If you’re lost in the middle of a great sea,
and you clamber up on a little log, you’ll sink.
So too, a person who lives well
sinks by relying on a lazy person.
Hence you should avoid such
a lazy person who lacks energy.

Dwell with the noble ones
who are secluded and determined
and always energetic;
the astute who practice absorption.

THAG2.15 — Sabbamitta

People are attached to people;
people depend on people;
people are hurt by people;
and people hurt people.

So what’s the point of people,
or those born of people?
Go, abandon these people,
who’ve hurt so many people.

THAG2.16 — Mahākāḷa

There’s a big black woman who looks like a crow.
She broke off thigh-bones, first one then another;
she broke off arm-bones, first one then another;
she broke off a skull like a curd-bowl, and then
arranged them and sat nearby.

When an ignorant person builds up attachments,
that dullard returns to suffering again and again.
So let one who understands not build up attachments:
may I never again lie with a broken skull!

THAG2.17 — Tissa (3rd)

A shaven one wrapped in the outer robe
gets many enemies
when they receive food and drink,
clothes and bedding.

Knowing this danger,
this great fear in honors,
a mendicant should wander mindful,
with few possessions, not festering.

THAG2.18 — Kimbila (2nd)

In the Park of the East-Raftered Hall
the Sakyan friends,
having given up great wealth,
are happy with the scraps in their bowls.

Energetic, resolute,
always staunchly vigorous;
having given up mundane delights,
they enjoy the delights of the Dhamma.

THAG2.19 — Nanda

Because of focusing on the wrong things,
I was addicted to ornamentation.
I was vain, fickle,
racked by desire for pleasures of the senses.

But with the help of the Buddha,
the Kinsman of the Sun, so skilled in means,
I practiced rationally and extracted
attachment to continued existence from my mind.

THAG2.20 — Sirima

If others praise one
who has no immersion,
they praise in vain,
as one has no immersion.

If others criticize one
who does have immersion,
they criticize in vain,
as one does have immersion.

Chapter Three

THAG2.21 — Uttara (2nd)

I’ve fully understood the aggregates;
I’ve eradicated craving;
I’ve developed the factors of awakening,
I’ve attained the ending of defilements.

Having fully understood the aggregates,
having plucked out the weaver of the web,
having developed the factors of awakening,
being undefiled, I will be fully extinguished.

THAG2.22 — Bhaddaji

There was a king named Panāda
who had a sacrificial post all golden.
Its height was sixteen times its width,
and the top was a thousandfold.

It had a thousand panels and a hundred ball-caps,
all adorned with banners, and made of sun gold.
There danced the centaurs,
numbering seven times six thousand.

THAG2.23 — Sobhita

As a monk, mindful and wise,
empowered and full of energy,
I recollected five hundred eons
in a single night.

Developing the four mindfulness meditations,
the seven factors of awakening, and the eightfold path,
I recollected five hundred eons
in a single night.

THAG2.24 — Valliya (3rd)

The duty of one whose energy is strong;
the duty of one who longs to wake up:
that I’ll do, I won’t fail—
see my energy and vigor!

Teach me the path,
the direct route whose objective is freedom from death.
I’ll know it with wisdom,
as the Ganges knows the ocean.

THAG2.25 — Vītasoka

The barber approached
to shave my head.
I picked up a mirror
and examined my body.

My body appeared hollow;
I once was blind, but the darkness disappeared.
My fancy hairdo has been cut off:
now there’ll be no more future lives.

THAG2.26 — Puṇṇamāsa (2nd)

I gave up the five hindrances
for the sake of sanctuary from the yoke.
I took Dhamma as a mirror
for knowing and seeing myself.

I examined this body,
all of it, inside and out.
Internally and externally
my body appeared hollow.

THAG2.27 — Nandaka (1st)

Though a fine thoroughbred may stumble,
it soon stands firm again.
It gains even more urgency,
and draws its load undeterred.

Even so is one accomplished in vision,
a disciple of the Buddha.
Remember me as a thoroughbred,
the Buddha’s bosom son.

THAG2.28 — Bharata

Come, Nandaka, let’s go
to visit our preceptor.
We’ll roar our lion’s roar
before the best of Buddhas.

The sage gave us the going forth
out of compassion, so we could realize
the ending of all fetters—
now we have reached that goal.

THAG2.29 — Bhāradvāja

This is how the wise roar:
like lions in mountain caves,
heroes, triumphant in battle,
having vanquished Māra with his legions.

I’ve served the Teacher;
I’ve honored the Dhamma and the Saṅgha;
I’m happy and joyful,
because I’ve seen my son free of defilements.

THAG2.30 — Kaṇhadinna

I regularly sat close by true persons
and learnt the teaching.
What I learned, I practiced,
the direct route whose objective is freedom from death.

I’ve slain the desire for continued existence,
it won’t be found in me again.
It was not, and it won’t be in me,
and it isn’t found in me now.

Chapter Four

THAG2.31 — Migasira

When I had gone forth
in the teaching of the Buddha,
while letting go, I rose up;
escaping the sensual realm.

Then, as the supreme one looked on,
my mind was freed.
My freedom is unshakable
with the ending of all fetters.

THAG2.32 — Sivaka

Houses are impermanent—
on and on, life after life.
I’ve been searching for the house-builder—
painful is birth again and again.

I’ve seen you, house-builder!
You won’t build a house again.
Your rafters are all broken,
your ridgepole is shattered.
My mind is without boundaries:
in this very life it will dissipate.

THAG2.33 — Upavāṇa

The perfected one, the Holy One in the world,
the sage is afflicted by winds.
If there’s hot water,
give it to the sage, brahmin.

I wish to bring it to the one
who is esteemed by the estimable,
honored by the honorable,
and venerated by the venerable.

THAG2.34 — Isidinna

I’ve seen lay disciples who have memorized discourses,
saying, “Sensual pleasures are impermanent”.
But they’re obsessed with jeweled earrings,
concerned for their partners and children.

To be honest, they don’t know Dhamma,
even though they say “Sensual pleasures are impermanent”.
They don’t have the power to cut their lust,
so they cling to children, wives, and wealth.

THAG2.35 — Sambulakaccāna

The heavens rain, the heavens pour,
I’m staying alone in a frightful hole.
But while I’m staying alone in that frightful hole,
I’ve no fear, no dread, no goosebumps.

This is my normal state
while staying alone in a frightful hole:
I’ve no fear,
no dread, no goosebumps.

THAG2.36 — Nitaka

Whose mind is like a rock,
steady, never trembling—
free of desire for desirable things,
not getting annoyed when things are annoying?
From where will suffering strike one
whose mind is developed like this?

My mind is like a rock,
steady, never trembling—
free of desire for desirable things,
not getting annoyed when things are annoying.
From where will suffering strike me
whose mind is developed like this?

THAG2.37 — Soṇapoṭiriya

Night, with her garland of stars,
is not only for sleeping.
For those who know,
this night is really for waking.

Were I to fall from the back of an elephant,
trampled by the tuskers that follow,
better for me to die in battle,
than to live on in defeat.

THAG2.38 — Nisabha

One who’s given up the five sensual stimuli,
so pleasing and delightful,
and who’s left the home life out of faith—
let them make an end to suffering!

I don’t long for death;
I don’t long for life;
I await my time,
aware and mindful.

THAG2.39 — Usabha (2nd)

Arranging a robe over my shoulder,
the color of young mango sprouts,
I entered the village for alms
sitting on an elephant’s neck!

But when I dismounted from the elephant,
I was struck with a sense of urgency.
I burned with shame, but then I found peace,
and attained the ending of defilements.

THAG2.40 — Kappaṭakura

This chap, “Rag-rice”, he sure is a rag!
Into the vase of freedom from death, polished and overflowing,
sufficient teaching has been poured;
the path to build up absorptions has been laid out.

Don’t nod off, Rag—
I’ll smack your ear!
You know no limit,
nodding off in the midst of the Saṅgha!

Chapter Five

THAG2.41 — Kassapa the Prince

Oh, the Buddhas! Oh, the Dhammas!
Oh, the accomplishments of the Teacher!
Here a disciple may realize
such a teaching for themselves.

Through countless eons
they obtained substantial forms.
This is their last,
their very final body
in the transmigration through births and deaths;
now there’ll be no more future lives.

THAG2.42 — Dhammapāla

The young monk
who is devoted to the teaching of the Buddha,
wakeful while others sleep—
his life is not in vain.

So let the wise devote themselves
to faith, ethical behavior,
confidence, and insight into the teaching,
remembering the instructions of the Buddhas.

THAG2.43 — Brahmāli

Whose faculties have become serene,
like horses tamed by a charioteer?
With conceit and defilements given up,
who is such as envied by even the gods?

My faculties have become serene,
like horses tamed by a charioteer.
With conceit and defilements given up,
I am such as envied by even the gods.

THAG2.44 — Mogharāja

“Your skin is nasty but your heart is good;
Mogharāja, you’re always immersed in samādhi.
But in the nights of winter, so dark and cold,
how will you get by, monk?”

“I’ve heard that all the Magadhans
have an abundance of grain.
I’ll make my bed under a thatched roof,
just like those who live in comfort.”

THAG2.45 — Visākhapañcālaputta

One should not suspend others from the Saṅgha, nor raise objections against them;
and neither disparage nor raise one’s voice against one who has crossed to the further shore.
One should not praise oneself among the assemblies,
not restless, measured in speech, and true to your vows.

For one who sees the meaning so very subtle and fine,
who is skilled in thought and placid in manner,
who has cultivated mature ethics—
it’s not hard to gain extinguishment.

THAG2.46 — Cūḷaka

The peacocks cry out with their fair crests and tails,
their lovely blue necks and fair faces, their beautiful song and their call.
This broad earth is lush with grass and dew,
and the firmament is full of beautiful clouds.

One practicing absorption is happy in mind, and their appearance is uplifting;
going forth in the teaching of the Buddha is easy for a good person.
Realize that supreme state that does not pass,
so very pure, subtle, and hard to see.

THAG2.47 — Anūpama

The conceited mind, addicted to pleasure,
impales itself on its own stake.
It always goes where
there’s a stake, a chopping board.

I declare you the loser mind!
I declare you the insidious mind!
You’ve found the Teacher so hard to find—
don’t lead me away from the goal.

THAG2.48 — Vajjita

Transmigrating for such a long time,
I’ve cycled through various states of rebirth,
not seeing the noble truths,
a blind, unenlightened person.

But when I became heedful,
transmigrations were mown down.
All states of rebirth are cut off;
now there’ll be no more future lives.

THAG2.49 — Sandhita

Beneath the Bodhi Tree,
bright green and growing,
being mindful, my perception
became one with the Buddha.

It’s been thirty one eons
since I gained that perception;
and it’s due to that perception
that I’ve attained the ending of defilements.

The Book of the Threes

Chapter One

THAG3.1 — Aṅgaṇikabhāradvāja

Seeking purity the wrong way,
I served the sacred fire in a grove.
Not knowing the path to purity,
I practiced endless mortification.

I’ve gained this happiness by means of happiness:
behold the clear rightness of the teaching!
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

I used to be brahmin only by kin,
but now I really am a brahmin!
I am master of the three knowledges, I’m a bathed initiate,
I’m a scholar and a knowledge master.

THAG3.2 — Paccaya

I went forth five days ago,
a trainee, my heart’s desire unfulfilled.
I entered my dwelling
and resolved in my heart:

I won’t eat; I won’t drink;
I won’t leave my dwelling;
nor will I lie down on my side—
not until the dart of craving is plucked.

See my energy and vigor
as I meditate like this!
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG3.3 — Bakkula

Whoever wishes to do afterwards
what they should have done before
has lost the causes for happiness,
and afterwards they’re tormented by regrets.

You should only say what you would do;
you shouldn’t say what you wouldn’t do.
The wise will recognize
one who talks without doing.

Oh! Extinguishment is so very blissful,
as taught by the fully awakened Buddha:
sorrowless, stainless, secure,
where suffering all ceases.

THAG3.4 — Dhaniya

If you wish to live in happiness,
longing for the ascetic life,
don’t look down on the Saṅgha’s robes,
or its food and drinks.

If you wish to live in happiness,
longing for the ascetic life,
stay in the Saṅgha’s lodgings
like a snake making use of a mouse’s hole.

If you wish to live in happiness,
longing for the ascetic life,
develop this one quality:
be content with whatever is offered.

THAG3.5 — Mātaṅgaputta

“It’s too cold, too hot,
too late,” they say.
When the young neglect their work like this,
opportunities pass them by.

But one who considers heat and cold
as no more than blades of grass—
he does his duties as a man,
and his happiness never fails.

With my chest I’ll thrust aside
the grasses, vines, canes,
the vetiver, rushes and reeds,
and foster seclusion.

THAG3.6 — Khujjasobhita

“One of those monks who live in Pāṭaliputta—
such brilliant speakers, and very learned—
stands at the door:
the old man, Khujjasobhita.

One of those monks who live in Pāṭaliputta—
such brilliant speakers, and very learned—
stands at the door:
an old man, shivering in the gale.”

“By war well fought, by sacrifice well made,
by victory in battle;
by leading the spiritual life:
that’s how one prospers in happiness.”

THAG3.7 — Vāraṇa

Anyone among men
who harms other creatures:
that person will fall
both from this world and the next.

But someone with a mind of love,
sympathetic for all creatures:
a person like that
brims with much merit.

You should all train to learn well-spoken words,
to attend closely to ascetics,
to sit alone in hidden places,
and to settle the mind.

THAG3.8 — Vassika

I was the only one in my family
who had faith and wisdom.
It’s good for my relatives that I’m
firm in principle, and ethical.

I curbed my family out of sympathy,
telling them off out of love
for my family and relatives.
They performed a service for the monks

and then they passed away,
finding happiness in the Third Heaven.
There, my brothers and mother
enjoy all the pleasures they desire.

THAG3.9 — Yasoja

“With knobbly knees,
thin and veiny,
eating and drinking but little—
this person’s spirit is undaunted.”

“Pestered by flies and mosquitoes
in the wilds, the formidable forest,
one should mindfully endure,
like an elephant at the head of the battle.

A monk alone is like the supreme Divinity;
a pair of monks are like gods;
three are like a village;
and more than that is a rabble.”

THAG3.10 — Sāṭimattiya

In the past you had faith,
today you have none.
What’s yours is yours alone—
I’ve done nothing wrong.

Faith is impermanent, fickle:
or so I have seen.
Passions wax and wane:
why would a sage waste away on that account?

The meal of a sage is cooked
bit by bit in this family or that.
I’ll walk for alms,
for my legs are strong.

THAG3.11 — Upāli

One newly gone forth,
who has left their home out of faith,
should mix with spiritual friends,
who are tireless and pure of livelihood.

One newly gone forth,
who has left their home out of faith,
a mendicant staying in the Saṅgha,
being wise, would train in monastic discipline.

One newly gone forth,
who has left their home out of faith,
skilled in what is appropriate and what is not,
would wander undistracted.

THAG3.12 — Uttarapāla

I was, indeed, an astute scholar,
competent to think on the meaning.
The five kinds of sensual stimulation in the world,
so delusory, were my downfall.

Leaping into Māra’s domain,
I was struck by a powerful dart.
But I was able to free myself
from the trap laid by the King of Death.

I have given up all sensual pleasures;
all rebirths are shattered;
transmigration through births is finished;
now there’ll be no more future lives.

THAG3.13 — Abhibhūta

Listen up, all my relatives,
those who have gathered here:
I’ll teach you Dhamma!
Painful is birth again and again.

Rouse yourselves, try harder!
Devote yourselves to the instructions of the Buddha!
Crush the army of death,
as an elephant a hut of reeds.

Whoever shall meditate diligently
in this teaching and training,
giving up transmigration,
will make an end to suffering.

THAG3.14 — 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 luminous form and formlessness,
among the neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient, and the non-percipient.

I know well these created states are insubstantial—
conditioned, quivering, always in motion.
When I understood that this is created in myself,
mindful, I found peace.

THAG3.15 — Hārita (2nd)

Whoever wishes to do afterwards
tasks they should have done before
has lost the causes for happiness,
and afterwards they’re tormented by regrets.

You should only say what you would do;
you shouldn’t say what you wouldn’t do.
The wise will recognize
one who talks without doing.

Oh! Extinguishment is so very blissful,
as taught by the fully awakened Buddha:
sorrowless, stainless, secure,
where suffering all ceases.

THAG3.16 — Vimala (2nd)

Shunning bad friends,
associate with the supreme individual.
Stick to the advice he gave you,
aspiring to unshakable happiness.

If you’re lost in the middle of a great sea,
and you clamber up on a little log, you’ll sink.
So too, a person who lives well
sinks by relying on a lazy person.
Hence you should avoid such
a lazy person who lacks energy.

Dwell with the noble ones
who are secluded and determined
and always energetic;
the astute who practice absorption.

The Book of the Fours

Chapter One

THAG4.1 — Nāgasamāla

Adorned with jewelry and all dressed up,
with garlands, and sandalwood makeup piled on,
along the main street is a lady—
a dancer dancing as the music plays.

I entered for alms,
and while walking along I glanced at her,
adorned with jewelry and all dressed up,
set up like a snare of death.

Then the realization
came upon me—
the danger became clear,
and I grew firmly disillusioned.

Then my mind was freed—
behold the clear rightness of the teaching!
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG4.2 — Bhagu

Overwhelmed by drowsiness,
I left my dwelling.
Stepping up to the path for walking meditation,
I fell to the ground right there.

I rubbed my limbs, and again
I stepped up on the path for walking meditation.
I walked meditation up and down the path,
serene inside myself.

Then the realization
came upon me—
the danger became clear,
and I grew firmly disillusioned.

Then my mind was freed—
behold the clear rightness of the teaching!
I’ve attained the three knowledges,
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG4.3 — Sabhiya

When others do not understand,
let us, who do understand this,
restrain ourselves in this regard;
for that is how conflicts are laid to rest.

And when those who don’t understand
behave as though they were immortal,
those who understand the Dhamma
are like the healthy among the sick.

Any lax act,
any corrupt observance,
or suspicious spiritual life,
is not very fruitful.

Whoever has no respect
for their spiritual companions
is as far from true Dhamma
as the firmament from the earth.

THAG4.4 — Nandaka (2nd)

Curse you mortal frame, you stink!
You’re on Māra’s side, you fester!
O body, you have nine streams
that are flowing all the time.

Don’t think much of mortal frames;
don’t disparage the Realized Ones.
They’re not even aroused by heaven,
let alone by humans.

But those who are fools and simpletons,
with bad advisors, wrapped in delusion,
that kind of person is aroused by bodies,
when Māra has laid down the snare.

Those in whom greed, hate, and ignorance
have faded away;
such people are not aroused by bodies,
they’ve cut the strings, unbound.

THAG4.5 — Jambuka

For fifty-five years
I wore dust and dirt.
Eating one meal a month,
I tore out my hair and beard.

I stood on one foot;
I shunned seats;
I ate dried-out dung;
I didn’t accept food set aside for me.

I did many deeds of this kind,
which lead to a bad destination.
Swept away by a great flood,
I went to the Buddha for refuge.

See the going for refuge!
Behold the clear rightness of the teaching!
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG4.6 — Senaka

It was so welcome for me
during the Gayā spring festival
to see the Awakened One
teaching the supreme Dhamma.

He was glorious, the tutor of a community,
a leader who had realized the highest.
In all the world with its gods,
he was the victor of unequaled vision.

A great giant, a great hero,
a great light free of defilement.
With the utter ending of all defilements,
the Teacher fears nothing from any quarter.

For a long time, sadly, I was corrupted,
fettered by the bond of wrong view.
That Blessed One, Senaka,
released me from all ties.

THAG4.7 — Sambhūta

Hurrying when it’s time to dawdle;
dawdling when it’s time to hurry;
being so disorganized
a fool falls into suffering.

Their good fortune wastes away
like the moon in the waning fortnight.
They become disgraced
and alienated from their friends.

Dawdling when it’s time to dawdle;
hurrying when it’s time to hurry;
being so well organized,
an astute person comes into happiness.

Their good fortune flourishes
like the moon in the waxing fortnight.
They become famous and respected,
not alienated from their friends.

THAG4.8 — Rāhula

I am known as “Fortunate Rāhula”,
because I’m accomplished in both ways:
I am the son of the Buddha,
whose eye sees clearly in all things.

Since my defilements have ended,
since there are no more future lives—
I’m perfected, worthy of offerings,
master of the three knowledges, seer of freedom from death.

Blinded by sensual pleasures, trapped in a net,
they are smothered over by craving;
bound by the kinsman of the negligent,
like a fish caught in a funnel-net trap.

Having thrown off those sensual pleasures,
having cut Māra’s bond,
and having plucked out craving, root and all:
I’m cooled, quenched.

THAG4.9 — Candana

Covered over with gold,
surrounded by all her maids,
with my son upon her hip,
my wife came to me.

I saw her coming,
the mother of my son,
adorned with jewelry and all dressed up,
set up like a snare of death.

Then the realization
came upon me—
the danger became clear,
and I was firmly disillusioned.

Then my mind was freed—
behold the clear rightness of the teaching!
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG4.10 — Dhammika

“Dhamma surely protects one who practices Dhamma.
The teaching brings happiness when practiced well.
This is the benefit of practicing Dhamma:
one doesn’t go to a bad destination.

It’s not the case that Dhamma and what is not Dhamma
lead to the same results.
What is not Dhamma leads to hell,
while Dhamma takes you to a good place.

So you should rouse up enthusiasm for the teachings;
such rejoicing is owing to the Holy One, the unaffected.
The disciples of the excellent Holy One are firm in the teaching;
those attentive ones are led on, headed to the very best of refuges.”

“The boil has been burst from its root,
the net of craving is eradicated.
He has ended transmigration, he has nothing,
he’s like the full moon on a bright night.”

THAG4.11 — Sappaka

When the crane with its beautiful white wings,
startled by fear of the dark cloud,
flees, seeking shelter—
then the River Ajakaraṇī delights me.

When the crane, so very pure and white,
startled by fear of the dark rcloud,
seeks a cave to shelter in, but can’t see one—
then the River Ajakaraṇī delights me.

Who wouldn’t be delighted
by the black plum trees
that grace both banks of the river,
there, behind my cave?

Well rid of the pack of jackals, mad for the dead,
the lazy frogs croak:
“Today is no time to stray from mountain streams;
Ajakaraṇī is safe, pleasant, and delightful.”

THAG4.12 — Mudita

I went forth to save my life.
But I embraced faith
after receiving full ordination.
I strove, strong in effort:

Gladly, let this body be broken!
Let this scrap of meat disintegrate!
Let both my legs fall off
at the knees!

I won’t eat, I won’t drink,
I won’t leave my dwelling,
nor will I lie down on my side,
until the dart of craving is plucked.

As I meditate like this,
see my energy and vigor!
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

The Book of the Fives

Chapter One

THAG5.1 — Rājadatta

I, a monk, went to a charnel ground
and saw a woman’s body abandoned there,
dumped in a cemetery,
full of worms that devoured.

Some men were disgusted,
seeing her dead and rotten;
but sexual desire arose in me,
I was as if blind to her oozing body.

Quicker than the cooking of rice
I left that place!
Mindful and aware,
I retired to a discreet place.

Then the realization
came upon me—
the danger became clear,
and I was firmly disillusioned.

Then my mind was freed—
behold the clear rightness of the teaching!
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG5.2 — Subhūta

When a person, wishing for a certain outcome,
applies themselves where they ought not;
not achieving what they worked for,
they say: “That’s a sign of my bad luck.”

When a misfortune is extracted and beaten,
to surrender it in part would be like losing at dice;
but to surrender it all you’d have to be blind,
not seeing the even and the uneven.

You should only say what you would do;
you shouldn’t say what you wouldn’t do.
The wise will recognize
one who talks without doing.

Just like a glorious flower
that’s colorful but lacks fragrance;
well-spoken speech is fruitless
for one who does not act on it.

Just like a glorious flower
that’s both colorful and fragrant,
well-spoken speech is fruitful
for one who acts on it.

THAG5.3 — Girimānanda

The heavens rain like a sweet song;
my hut is roofed and pleasant, sheltered from the wind.
I meditate there, peaceful:
so rain forth, heavens, if you wish.

The heavens rain like a sweet song;
my hut is roofed and pleasant, sheltered from the wind.
I meditate there, my mind at peace:
so rain forth, heavens, if you wish.

The heavens rain like a sweet song;
my hut is roofed and pleasant, sheltered from the wind.
I meditate there, free of greed:
so rain forth, heavens, if you wish.

The heavens rain like a sweet song;
my hut is roofed and pleasant, sheltered from the wind.
I meditate there, free of hate:
so rain forth, heavens, if you wish.

The heavens rain like a sweet song;
my hut is roofed and pleasant, sheltered from the wind.
I meditate there, free of delusion:
so rain forth, heavens, if you wish.

THAG5.4 — Sumana (1st)

My mentor helped me to learn,
hoping I would practice those teachings.
Aspiring to freedom from death,
I’ve done what had to be done.

I’ve realized the Dhamma,
witnessing it for myself, not based on legends.
With purified knowledge, free of doubt,
I declare it in your presence.

I know my past lives,
my clairvoyance is purified,
I’ve realized my heart’s goal,
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

Being diligent in the training,
I learned your teachings well.
All my defilements are ended;
now there’ll be no more future lives.

You advised me in noble observances;
sympathetic, you helped teach me.
Your instruction was not in vain—
I, your pupil, am fully trained.

THAG5.5 — Vaḍḍha

Oh so well was the goad
shown to me by my mother,
on hearing whose words,
advised by my mother,
energetic and resolute,
I realized supreme awakening.

I’m perfected, worthy of offerings,
master of the three knowledges, seer of freedom from death.
I’ve conquered the army of Namuci,
and live without defilements.

Those defilements that were found in me,
internally and externally,
are all cut off without remainder,
and will not arise again.

My self-assured sister
said this to me:
‘Now neither you nor I
have any snarls.’

Suffering is at an end;
this bag of bones is my last
in the transmigration through births and deaths;
now there’ll be no more future lives.”

THAG5.6 — Nadīkassapa

It was truly for my benefit
that the Buddha went to the Nerañjara River.
When I heard his teaching,
I shunned wrong view.

I used to perform a diverse spectrum of sacrifices;
I served the sacred flame,
imagining, “This is purity.”
I was a blind, ordinary person.

Caught in the thicket of wrong view,
deluded by misapprehension.
Thinking impurity was purity,
I was blind and ignorant.

I’ve abandoned wrong view;
all rebirths are shattered.
I serve the fire for those worthy of a religious donation:
I bow to the Realized One.

I’ve given up all delusion;
craving for continued existence is shattered;
transmigration through births is finished;
now there’ll be no more future lives.

THAG5.7 — Gayākassapa

Three times a day—
morning, midday, and evening—
I plunged into the water at Gayā
for the Gayā spring festival.

“Any bad things I’ve done
in previous lives,
I’ll now rinse away right here”—
such was the view I used to hold.

Having heard the fine words,
a passage meaningful and principled,
I rationally reflected
on the true, essential goal.

I’ve washed away all bad things;
I’m stainless, clean, pristine;
the pure heir of the pure one,
a bosom son of the Buddha.

When I plunged into the eightfold stream,
all bad things were rinsed away.
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG5.8 — Vakkali

“Struck by a wind ailment
while dwelling in a forest grove,
you’ve entered a tough place for gathering alms—
how will you get by, monk?”

“Pervading this bag of bones
with abundant rapture and happiness,
putting up with what’s tough,
I’ll dwell in the forest.

Developing mindfulness meditation,
the faculties and the powers,
developing the factors of awakening,
I’ll dwell in the forest.

Having seen those who are energetic, resolute,
always staunchly vigorous,
harmonious and united,
I’ll dwell in the forest.

Recollecting the Buddha—
the best, the tamed, the serene—
tireless all day and night
I’ll dwell in the forest.”

THAG5.9 — Vijitasena

I’ll cage you, mind,
like an elephant in a stockade.
Born of the flesh, that net of the senses,
I won’t urge you to do bad.

Caged, you won’t go anywhere,
like an elephant who can’t find an open gate.
Loser mind, you won’t wander again and again,
bullying, in love with wickedness.

Just as a strong trainer with a hook
takes a wild, newly captured elephant
and wins it over against its will,
so I’ll win you over.

Just as a fine charioteer, skilled in the taming
of fine horses, tames a thoroughbred,
so I’ll tame you,
firmly established in the five powers.

I’ll bind you with mindfulness;
devout, I shall tame you;
kept in check by harnessed energy,
mind, you won’t go far from here.

THAG5.10 — Yasadatta

With fault-finding mind, the simpleton
listens to the victor’s instruction.
They’re as far from the true teaching
as the earth is from the sky.

With fault-finding mind, the simpleton
listens to the victor’s instruction.
They fall away from the true teaching,
like the moon in the waning fortnight.

With fault-finding mind, the simpleton
listens to the victor’s instruction.
They wither away in the true teaching,
like a fish in a little puddle.

With fault-finding mind, the simpleton
listens to the victor’s instruction.
They don’t thrive in the true teaching,
like a rotten seed in a field.

But one with contented mind
who listens to the victor’s instruction—
having wiped out all defilements;
having witnessed the unshakable;
having arrived at ultimate peace—
the undefiled are fully extinguished.

THAG5.11 — Soṇa of the Sharp Ears

I’ve received ordination;
I am liberated, without defilements;
I’ve seen the Blessed One myself,
and even stayed together with him.

The Blessed One, the Teacher,
spent much of the night in the open;
then he, who is so skilled in meditation,
entered his dwelling.

Spreading his outer robe,
Gotama made his bed,
like a lion in a rocky cave,
with fear and dread given up.

Then, with lovely enunciation,
Soṇa, a disciple of the Buddha,
recited the true teaching
before the best of Buddhas.

When he has completely understood the five aggregates,
developed the direct route,
and arrived at ultimate peace,
undefiled, he’ll be fully quenched.

THAG5.12 — Kosiya

Whatever attentive one, understanding their teacher’s words,
stays with them, their fondness growing;
that astute person is indeed devoted—
knowing the teachings, they’re distinguished.

When extreme stresses arise,
one who does not tremble, but reflects instead,
that astute person is indeed strong—
knowing the teachings, they’re distinguished.

Steady as the ocean, imperturbable,
their wisdom is deep, they see the subtle meaning;
that astute person is indeed unfaltering—
knowing the teachings, they’re distinguished.

They’re very learned, and have memorized the teaching,
living in line with the teaching—
that astute person is indeed such—
knowing the teachings, they’re distinguished.

They know the meaning of what is said,
and act accordingly;
that astute person is indeed a master of meaning—
knowing the teachings, they’re distinguished.

The Book of the Sixes

Chapter One

THAG6.1 — Uruveḷakassapa

Seeing the demonstrations
of the renowned Gotama
was not enough for me to bow to him—
I was blinded by jealousy and conceit.

Knowing my thoughts,
the trainer of men scolded me.
I was struck with a sense of urgency,
so astonishing and hair-raising!

Setting aside the petty powers
I had before as a matted-hair ascetic,
I then went forth
in the victor’s instruction.

I used to be content with sacrifice,
the realm of sensual pleasures was my priority.
But later I eradicated desire,
and hatred and also delusion.

I know my past lives;
my clairvoyance is clarified;
I have psychic powers, and know the minds of others;
I have attained clairaudience.

I’ve attained the goal
for the sake of which I went forth
from the lay life to homelessness—
the ending of all fetters.

THAG6.2 — Tekicchakāri

“The rice has been harvested
and gathered on the threshing-floor—
but I don’t get any almsfood!
How will I get by?”

“In faith, recollect the immeasurable Buddha!
Your body soaked with rapture, you’ll always be full of joy.

In faith, recollect the immeasurable teaching!
Your body soaked with rapture, you’ll always be full of joy.

In faith, recollect the immeasurable Saṅgha!
Your body soaked with rapture, you’ll always be full of joy.”

“You stay in the open,
though these winter nights are cold.
Don’t perish, overcome with cold;
enter your dwelling, with door shut fast.”

“I’ll realize the four immeasurable states,
and meditate happily in them.
I won’t perish, overcome with cold;
I’ll dwell unperturbed.”

THAG6.3 — Mahānāga

Whoever has no respect
for their spiritual companions
falls away from the true teaching,
like a fish in a little puddle.

Whoever has no respect
for their spiritual companions
doesn’t thrive in the true teaching,
like a rotten seed in a field.

Whoever has no respect
for their spiritual companions
is far from extinguishment,
in the teaching of the Dhamma king.

Whoever does have respect
for their spiritual companions
doesn’t fall away from the true teaching,
like a fish in plenty of water.

Whoever does have respect
for their spiritual companions
thrives in the true teaching,
like a fine seed in a field.

Whoever does have respect
for their spiritual companions
is close to extinguishment
in the teaching of the Dhamma king.

THAG6.4 — Kulla

I, Kulla, went to a charnel ground
and saw a woman’s body abandoned there,
dumped in a cemetery,
full of worms that devoured.

“See this bag of bones, Kulla—
diseased, filthy, rotten,
oozing and trickling,
a fool’s delight.”

Taking the teaching as a mirror
for realizing knowledge and vision,
I examined this body,
hollow, inside and out.

As this is, so is that;
as that is, so is this.
As below, so above;
as above, so below.

As by day, so by night;
as by night, so by day.
As before, so behind;
as behind, so before.

Even the music of a five-piece band
can never give such pleasure
as when, with unified mind,
you rightly discern the Dhamma.

THAG6.5 — Māluṅkyaputta (1st)

When a man lives heedlessly,
craving grows in them like a camel’s foot creeper.
They jump from one thing to the next, like a langur
greedy for fruit in a forest grove.

Whoever is beaten by this wretched craving,
this attachment to the world,
their sorrow grows,
like grass in the rain.

But whoever prevails over this wretched craving,
so hard to get over in the world,
their sorrows fall from them,
like a drop from a lotus-leaf.

I say this to you, good people,
all those who have gathered here:
dig up the root of craving,
as you’d dig up the grass in search of roots.
Don’t let Māra break you again and again,
like a stream breaking a reed.

Act on the Buddha’s words,
don’t let the moment pass you by.
For if you miss your moment
you’ll grieve when sent to hell.

Negligence is always dust;
dust follows right behind negligence.
Through diligence and knowledge,
pluck out the dart from yourself.

THAG6.6 — Sappadāsa

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

Since I couldn’t get my mind unified,
I was racked by desire for pleasures of the senses.
Wailing, with outstretched arms,
I left my dwelling.

Or shall I commit suicide?
What’s the point of living?
For how on earth can one such as me die
after resigning the training?

Then I picked up a razor,
I sat on a cot:
the razor was ready
to slice my vein.

Then the realization
came upon me—
the danger became clear,
and I was firmly disillusioned.

Then my mind was freed—
behold the clear rightness of the teaching!
I’ve attained the three knowledges,
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG6.7 — Kātiyāna

Get up, Kātiyāna, and sit!
Don’t sleep too much, be wakeful.
Don’t be lazy and let the kinsman of the negligent,
the King of Death, catch you in his trap.

Like a wave in the mighty ocean,
rebirth and old age sweep you under.
Make a safe island of yourself,
for you have no other shelter.

The teacher has mastered this path,
which transcends chains, and the fear of birth and old age.
Be diligent in the first and final watches of the night,
and dedicate yourself to practice.

Free yourself from your former bonds!
Wearing your outer robe, with shaven head, eating almsfood,
don’t delight in play or sleep,
dedicate yourself to absorption, Kātiyāna.

Meditate and conquer, Kātiyāna,
you’re an expert in the path to sanctuary from the yoke.
Having arrived at unexcelled purity,
you’ll be extinguished as a flame by water.

A lamp of feeble flame
is bent down by the wind, like a creeper;
just so, kinsman of Indra,
shake off Māra, without grasping.
Free of lust for feelings,
await your time here, cooled.

THAG6.8 — Migajāla

It was well-taught by the Clear-eyed One,
the Buddha, Kinsman of the Sun,
who has transcended all fetters,
and destroyed all rolling-on.

Emancipating, it leads across,
drying up the root of craving,
and, having cut off the poisonous root, the slaughterhouse,
it leads to quenching.

By breaking the root of unknowing,
it smashes the mechanism of deeds,
and drops the thunderbolt of knowledge
on the taking up of consciousnesses.

It informs us of our feelings,
releasing us from grasping,
contemplating with understanding
all states of existence as a pit of burning coals.

It’s very sweet and very deep,
holding birth and death at bay;
it is the noble eightfold path—
the stilling of suffering, bliss.

Knowing deed as deed
and result as result;
seeing dependently originated phenomena
as if they were in a clear light;
leading to the great sanctuary and peace,
it’s excellent at the end.

THAG6.9 — Jenta, the High Priest’s Son

I was drunk with the pride of birth
and wealth and authority.
I wandered about intoxicated
with my own gorgeous body.

No one was my equal or my better—
or so I thought.
I was such an arrogant fool,
stuck up, waving my own flag.

I never paid homage to anyone:
not even my mother or father,
nor others esteemed as respectable.
I was stiff with pride, lacking regard for others.

When I saw the foremost leader,
the most excellent of charioteers,
shining like the sun
at the fore of the mendicant Saṅgha,

I discarded conceit and vanity,
and, with a clear and confident heart,
I bowed down with my head
to the supreme among all beings.

The conceit of superiority and the conceit of inferiority
have been given up and eradicated.
The conceit “I am” is cut off,
and every kind of conceit is destroyed.

THAG6.10 — Sumana (2nd)

I was only seven years old
and had just gone forth
when I overcame the mighty serpent king
with my psychic powers.

I brought water for my mentor
from the great lake Anotatta.
When he saw me,
my teacher declared:

“Sāriputta, see this
young boy coming,
carrying a water pot,
serene inside himself.

His conduct inspires confidence,
he is of lovely deportment:
he is Anuruddha’s novice,
self-assured in psychic powers.

Made a thoroughbred by a thoroughbred,
made good by the good,
educated and trained by Anuruddha,
who has completed his task.

Having attained ultimate peace
and witnessed the unshakable,
that novice Sumana has the wish:
‘May no one find me out!’”

THAG6.11 — Nhātakamuni

“Struck by a wind ailment
while dwelling in a forest grove,
you’ve entered a tough resort for gathering alms—
how will you get by, monk?”

“Pervading this bag of bones
with abundant rapture and happiness,
putting up with what’s tough,
I’ll dwell in the forest.

Developing the seven awakening factors,
the faculties and the powers,
endowed with subtle absorptions,
I’ll dwell without defilements.

Freed from corruptions,
my pure mind is unclouded.
Frequently reviewing this,
I’ll meditate without defilements.

Those defilements that were found in me,
internally and externally,
are all cut off without remainder,
and will not arise again.

The five aggregates are fully understood,
they remain, but their root is cut.
I have reached the ending of suffering,
now there’ll be no more future lives.”

THAG6.12 — Brahmadatta

Whence anger for one free of anger,
tamed, living justly,
freed by right knowledge,
peaceful and unaffected?

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 inexpert in 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.

THAG6.13 — Sirimaṇḍa

The rain saturates things that are covered up;
it doesn’t saturate things that are open.
Therefore you should open up a covered thing,
so the rain will not saturate it.

The world is beaten down by death
and surrounded by old age.
The dart of craving has struck it down,
and it’s always fuming with desire.

The world is beaten down by death,
caged by old age,
beaten constantly without respite,
like a criminal being flogged.

Three things are coming, like a wall of flame:
death, disease, and old age.
No power can stand before them,
and no speed’s enough to flee.

Don’t waste your day,
a little or a lot.
Every night that passes
shortens your life by that much.

Walking or standing,
sitting or lying down:
your final night draws near;
you have no time to be careless.

THAG6.14 — Sabbakāmi

This two-legged body is dirty and stinking,
full of different carcasses,
and oozing all over the place—
but still it is cherished!

Like a lurking deer by a trick,
like a fish by a hook,
like a langur by tar—
they trap an ordinary person.

Sights, sounds, tastes, smells,
and touches so delightful:
these five kinds of sensual stimulation
are seen in a woman’s body.

Those ordinary people, their minds full of lust,
who pursue those women:
they swell the horrors of the charnel ground,
piling up future lives.

One who, being mindful,
avoids them
like a snake’s head with their foot,
gets over clinging to the world.

Seeing the danger in sensual pleasures,
seeing renunciation as sanctuary,
I’ve escaped all sensual pleasures,
and attained the ending of defilements.

The Book of the Sevens

Chapter One

THAG7.1 — Sundarasamudda

Adorned with jewelry and all dressed up,
with her garland and her makeup on,
and her feet so brightly rouged:
the courtesan was wearing slippers.

Taking off her slippers in front of me,
her palms joined in greeting,
smiling, she spoke to me
so softly and so sweet:

“You’re too young to go forth—
come, stay in my teaching!
Enjoy human sensual pleasures,
I’ll give you riches.
I promise this is the truth—
I swear it by the Sacred Flame.

And when we’ve grown old together,
both of us leaning on staffs,
we shall both go forth,
and hold a winning hand on both counts.”

I saw the courtesan seducing me,
her palms joined in greeting,
adorned with jewelry and all dressed up,
set up like a snare of death.

Then the realization
came upon me—
the danger became clear
and I grew firmly disillusioned.

Then my mind was freed—
see the excellence of the Dhamma!
I’ve attained the three knowledges,
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

THAG7.2 — Bhaddiya the Dwarf

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-favored.

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 discerning what’s outside,
seeing the fruit outside,
they’re also carried away by a voice.

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

THAG7.3 — Bhadda

I was an only child,
loved by my mother and father.
They had me by practicing
many supplications and observances.

Out of sympathy for me
wishing me well and wanting the best for me,
my mother and father
took me to see the Buddha.

“We had this son with difficulty;
he is delicate and pampered.
We offer him to you, Lord,
to attend upon the victor.”

The teacher, having accepted me,
declared to Ānanda:
“Quickly give him the going-forth—
this one will be a thoroughbred!”

After he, the Teacher, had sent me forth,
the victor entered his dwelling.
Before the sun set
my mind was freed.

Consequently, the Teacher didn’t neglect me;
when he came out from seclusion,
he said: “Come Bhadda!”
That was my ordination.

At seven years old
I received ordination.
I’ve attained the three knowledges;
oh, the clear rightness of the teaching!

THAG7.4 — Sopāka (2nd)

I saw the supreme man
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 clear rightness of the teaching!

THAG7.5 — 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 direct route;
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, unaffected.
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.

The Book of the Eights

Chapter One

THAG8.1 — Mahākaccāna

Don’t get involved in lots of work,
avoid people, and don’t try to acquire things.
If you’re eager and greedy for flavors,
you’ll miss the goal that brings such happiness.

They know it really is a bog,
this homage and veneration in respectable families.
Honor is a subtle dart, hard to extract,
and hard for a reprobate to give up.

The deeds of a mortal aren’t bad
because of what others do.
You yourself should not do bad,
for mortals have deeds as their kin.

You’re not a bandit because of what someone says,
you’re not a sage because of what someone says;
but as you know yourself,
so the gods will know you.

When others do not understand,
let us, who do understand this,
restrain ourselves in this regard;
for that is how conflicts are laid to rest.

A wise person lives on
even after loss of wealth;
but without gaining wisdom,
even a rich person doesn’t really live.

All is heard with the ear,
all is seen with the eye;
the attentive ought not discard
all that is seen and heard.

Though you have eyes, be as if blind;
though you have ears, be as if deaf;
though you have wisdom, be as if dumb;
though you have strength, be as if feeble.
And when issues come up
lie as still as a corpse.

THAG8.2 — Sirimitta

Free of anger and acrimony,
free of deceit, and rid of slander;
that’s how such a mendicant
doesn’t grieve after passing away.

Free of anger and acrimony,
free of deceit, and rid of slander;
that’s how a mendicant with sense doors always guarded
doesn’t grieve after passing away.

Free of anger and acrimony,
free of deceit, and rid of slander;
that’s how a mendicant of good morals
doesn’t grieve after passing away.

Free of anger and acrimony,
free of deceit, and rid of slander;
that’s how a mendicant with good friends
doesn’t grieve after passing away.

Free of anger and acrimony,
free of deceit, and rid of slander;
that’s how a mendicant of good wisdom,
doesn’t grieve after passing away.

Whoever has faith in the Realized One,
unwavering and well grounded;
whose ethical conduct is good,
praised and loved by the noble ones;

who has confidence in the Saṅgha,
and correct view:
they’re said to be prosperous;
their life is not in vain.

So let the wise devote themselves
to faith, ethical behavior,
confidence, and insight into the teaching,
remembering the instructions of the Buddhas.

THAG8.3 — Mahāpanthaka

When I first saw the Teacher
who fears nothing from any quarter,
I was struck with a sense of urgency,
seeing the supreme among men.

Anyone who, having found such a Teacher,
would lose them again,
is like one who, when approached by Lady Luck,
would ward her off with their hands and feet.

Then I left behind my children and wives,
my riches and my grain;
I had my hair and beard cut off,
and went forth to homelessness.

Endowed with the monastic training and livelihood,
my sense faculties well-restrained,
paying homage to the Buddha,
I meditated undefeated.

Then a wish occurred to me,
my heart’s truest wish:
I wouldn’t sit down, not even for a short while,
until the dart of craving was plucked.

As I meditate like this,
see my energy and vigor!
I’ve attained the three knowledges,
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

I know my past lives,
my clairvoyance is clarified;
I’m perfected, worthy of offerings,
liberated, free of attachments.

Then, at the end of the night,
as the rising of the sun drew near,
all craving was dried up,
so I sat down cross-legged.

The Book of the Nines

Chapter One

THAG9.1 — Bhūta

When an astute person knows, “Old age and death are suffering;
yet an ignorant ordinary person is bound to them”,
completely understanding suffering, being mindful, practicing absorption:
there is no greater pleasure than this.

When clinging, the carrier of suffering,
and craving, the carrier of this painful mass of proliferation,
are destroyed, and one is mindful, practicing absorption:
there is no greater pleasure than this.

When the eightfold way, so full of grace,
the supreme path, cleanser of all corruptions,
is seen with wisdom; and one is mindful, practicing absorption:
there is no greater pleasure than this.

When one develops that peaceful state,
sorrowless, stainless, unconditioned,
cleanser of all corruptions, cutter of fetters and bonds:
there is no greater pleasure than this.

When the thundercloud rumbles in the sky,
while the rain pours on the path of birds all around,
and a monk has gone to a mountain cave, practicing absorption:
there is no greater pleasure than this.

When sitting on a riverbank covered in flowers,
garlanded with brightly colored forest plants,
one is truly happy, practicing absorption:
there is no greater pleasure than this.

When it is midnight in a lonely forest,
and the lions roar as the heavens pour,
and a monk has gone to a mountain cave, practicing absorption:
there is no greater pleasure than this.

When one’s own thoughts have been cut off,
between the mountains, sheltered inside a cleft,
without stress or heartlessness, practicing absorption:
there is no greater pleasure than this.

When one is happy, destroyer of stains, heartlessness, and sorrow,
free of obstructions, snarls, and thorns,
and with all defilements annihilated, practicing absorption:
there is no greater pleasure than this.

The Book of the Tens

Chapter One

THAG10.1 — Kāḷudāyī

“The trees are now crimson, venerable sir,
they’ve shed their foliage, and are ready to fruit.
They shine as if aflame;
great hero, this season is full of flavor.

The blossoming trees are delightful,
wafting their scent all around, in all directions.
They’ve shed their leaves and wish to fruit,
hero, it is time to leave here.

It is neither too hot nor too cold,
venerable sir, it’s a pleasant season for traveling.
Let the Sākiyans and Koliyans see you,
heading west across the Rohiṇī river.

In hope, the field is plowed;
the seed is sown in hope;
in hope, merchants travel the seas,
carrying rich cargoes.
The hope that I stand for:
may it succeed!

Again and again, they sow the seed;
again and again, the king of the heavens sends rain;
again and again, farmers plow the field;
again and again, grain is produced for the nation.

Again and again, the beggars wander,
again and again, the donors give.
Again and again, when the donors have given,
again and again, they take their place in heaven.

A hero of vast wisdom purifies seven generations
of the family in which they’re born.
Sakya, I believe you’re the king of kings,
since you fathered the one who is truly called a sage.

The father of the great seer is named Suddhodana;
and the Buddha’s mother is named Māyā.
Having borne the Bodhisatta in her belly,
she rejoices in the Third Heaven.

When she died and passed away from here,
she was blessed with heavenly sensual pleasures;
enjoying the five kinds of sensual stimulation.
Gotamī is surrounded by those hosts of gods.”

“I’m the son of the Buddha, the incomparable Aṅgīrasa, the unaffected,
the bearer of the unbearable.
You, Sakya, are my father’s father;
Gotama, you are my grandfather in the Dhamma.”

THAG10.2 — Ekavihāriya

If no one else is found
before 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 the Cool Grove, 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 gale 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.

THAG10.3 — Mahākappina

If you’re prepared for the future,
both the good and the bad,
then those, whether enemies or well-wishers,
who examine you for weakness will see none.

One who has fulfilled, developed,
and gradually consolidated
mindfulness of breathing
as it was taught by the Buddha:
they light up the world,
like the moon freed from clouds.

Yes, my mind is clean,
limitless and well-developed;
it has broken through and been uplifted—
it radiates in every direction.

A wise person lives on
even after loss of wealth;
but without gaining wisdom,
even a rich person doesn’t really live.

Wisdom questions what is learned;
wisdom grows fame and reputation;
a person united with wisdom
finds happiness even among sufferings.

It’s not a teaching just for today;
it isn’t incredible or amazing.
When you’re born, you die—
what’s amazing about that?

For anyone who is born,
death always follows after life.
Everyone who is born here dies here;
such is the nature of living creatures.

The things that are useful for the living
are of no use for the dead—not fame, not celebrity,
not praise by ascetics and brahmins.
For the dead, there is only weeping.

And weeping impairs the eye and the body;
complexion, strength, and intelligence decline.
Your enemies rejoice;
but your well-wishers are not happy.

So you should wish that those who stay in your family
have intelligence and learning,
and do their duty through the power of wisdom,
just as you’d cross a full river by boat.

THAG10.4 — Cūḷapanthaka

My progress was slow,
I was despised in the past.
Even my brother turned me away,
saying, “Go home now.”

Turned away at the gate
of the Saṅgha’s monastery,
I stood there sadly,
longing for the dispensation.

Then the Buddha came
and touched my head.
Taking me by the arm,
he brought me into the Saṅgha’s monastery.

The Teacher, out of sympathy,
gave me a foot-wiping cloth, saying:
“Focus your awareness
exclusively on this clean cloth.”

After hearing his words,
I happily did his bidding.
I practiced meditative immersion
for the attainment of the highest goal.

I know my past lives,
my clairvoyance is clarified;
I’ve attained the three knowledges,
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

I, Panthaka, created a thousand
images of myself,
and sat in the delightful mango grove
until the time for the meal offering was announced.

Consequently, the Teacher sent to me
a messenger to announce the time.
When the time was announced,
I flew to him through the air.

I paid homage at the Teacher’s feet,
and sat to one side.
When he knew I was seated,
the Teacher received the offering.

Recipient of gifts from the whole world,
receiver of sacrifices,
field of merit for humanity,
he received the religious donation.

THAG10.5 — Kappa

Filled with different kinds of dirt,
a great producer of dung,
like a stagnant cesspool,
a big boil, a bad wound,

full of pus and blood,
sunk in a toilet-pit,
trickling with fluids,
this rotting body always oozes.

Bound by sixty tendons,
coated with a fleshy coating,
clothed in a jacket of skin,
this rotting body is worthless.

Held together by a skeleton of bones,
and bound by sinews;
it assumes postures
due to a complex of many things.

We set out in the certainty of death,
in the presence of the King of Death;
and having discarded the body right here,
a person goes where he likes.

Shrouded by ignorance,
tied by the four ties,
this body is sinking in the flood,
caught in the net of the underlying tendencies.

Yoked to the five hindrances,
afflicted by thought,
stuck to the root of craving,
hidden by delusion:

that is how the body goes on,
propelled by the mechanism of deeds.
But existence ends in perishing;
separated, the body perishes.

Those blind, ordinary people
who think of this body as theirs,
swell the horrors of the charnel ground,
taking hold of future lives.

The undefiled who shun this body
like a serpent smeared with dung,
having expelled the root of rebirth,
will be fully quenched.

THAG10.6 — 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 persistence,
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.

THAG10.7 — Another Gotama

You should understand your own goal,
and consider the dispensation carefully,
as well as what’s appropriate
for one who has entered the ascetic life.

Good friendship in the community,
undertaking plenty of training,
eagerness to learn from the teachers—
this is appropriate for an ascetic.

Respect for the Buddha,
reverence for the Dhamma as it really is,
esteem for the Saṅgha—
this is appropriate for an ascetic.

Commitment to good conduct and alms-resort,
a livelihood that is pure and blameless,
and stilling the mind—
this is appropriate for an ascetic.

An impressive deportment in things that should be done,
and in those better avoided;
commitment to the higher mind—
this is appropriate for an ascetic.

Wilderness lodgings,
remote and quiet,
fit for use by a sage—
this is appropriate for an ascetic.

Ethics, learning,
investigation of teachings in line with the truth,
and penetration of the truths—
this is appropriate for an ascetic.

Developing the perceptions
of impermanence, non-self, and unattractiveness,
and dissatisfaction with the whole world—
this is appropriate for an ascetic.

Developing the awakening factors,
the bases for psychic power, the faculties and powers,
and the noble eightfold path—
this is appropriate for an ascetic.

A sage should abandon craving,
defilements shattered, root and all,
they should live liberated—
this is appropriate for an ascetic.

The Book of the Elevens

Chapter One

THAG11.1 — Saṅkicca

“What good does it do you to be in the grove, my dear?
You’re like a little bird in the monsoon!
The city of Verambhā is nice for you—
seclusion is for meditators.”

“Just as the wind in Verambhā
scatters the monsoon clouds as they pour down,
so the city scatters
my perception of seclusion.”

“It’s all black and born of an egg—
the crow whose abode is the charnel ground
rouses my mindfulness,
based on dispassion for the body.”

“He who is not guarded by others,
and who does not guard others,
truly sleeps at ease, mendicant,
unconcerned for sensual pleasures.”

“The water’s clear and the rocks are broad,
monkeys and deer are all around;
festooned with dewy moss,
these rocky crags delight me!

I’ve stayed in the wilderness,
in caves and caverns
and remote lodgings
frequented by beasts of prey.

‘May these beings be killed!
May they be slaughtered! May they suffer!’—
I’m not aware of having any such
ignoble, hateful thoughts.

I’ve served the Teacher
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
The heavy burden is laid down,
the leash to existence is eradicated.

I’ve attained the goal
for the sake of which I went forth
from the lay life to homelessness—
the ending of all fetters.

I don’t long for death;
I don’t long for life;
I await my time,
like a worker waiting for their wages.

I don’t long for death;
I don’t long for life;
I await my time,
aware and mindful.”

The Book of the Twelves

Chapter One

THAG12.1 — Sīlava

One should train just in ethical conduct,
for in this world, when ethical conduct is
cultivated and well-trained,
it provides all success.

Wishing for three kinds of happiness—
praise, prosperity,
and to delight in heaven after passing away—
the wise would take care of their ethics.

The well-behaved have many friends,
because of their self-restraint.
But one lacking ethics, of bad conduct,
drives away their friends.

A man whose ethics are bad has
ill-repute and infamy.
One who is ethical always has
a good reputation, fame, and praise.

Ethical conduct is the starting point and foundation;
the mother at the head
of all good things:
that’s why you should purify your ethics.

Ethics provide a boundary and a restraint,
an enjoyment for the mind;
the ford where all the Buddhas cross over:
that’s why you should purify your ethics.

Ethics are the matchless power;
ethics are the ultimate weapon;
ethics are the best ornament;
ethics are a marvelous coat of armor.

Ethics are a mighty bridge;
ethics are the unsurpassed scent;
ethics are the best perfume,
that float from place to place.

Ethics are the best provision;
ethics are the unsurpassed supply for a journey;
ethics are the best vehicle
that take you from place to place.

In this life they’re criticized;
after departing they grieve in a lower realm;
a fool is unhappy everywhere,
because they are unsteady in ethics.

In this life they’re renowned;
after departing they’re happy in heaven;
the attentive are happy everywhere,
because they are steady in ethics.

Ethical conduct is best in this life,
but one with wisdom is supreme.
Someone with both virtue and wisdom
is victorious among men and gods.

THAG12.2 — Sunīta

I was born in a low-class family.
We were poor, with little to eat.
My job was lowly—
I threw out the old flowers.

Shunned by people,
I was disregarded and held in contempt.
I humbled my heart
and paid respects to many people.

Then I saw the Buddha
at the fore of the mendicant Saṅgha.
The great hero
was entering the capital city of the Magadhans.

I dropped my flail
and approached to pay homage.
Out of sympathy for me,
the supreme man stood still.

When I had paid homage at the Teacher’s feet,
I stood to one side
and requested the going forth
from the one supreme among all beings.

Consequently, the Teacher, being compassionate,
having sympathy for the whole world,
said to me, “Come, monk!”
That was my ordination.

Staying alone in the wilderness,
meditating tirelessly,
I have completed what the Teacher taught,
just as the victor advised me.

In the first watch of the night,
I recollected my past lives.
In the middle watch,
I purified my clairvoyance.
In the last watch,
I shattered the mass of darkness.

At the end of the night,
as the sunrise drew near,
Indra and the Divinity came
and revered me with joined hands.

“Homage to you, O thoroughbred!
Homage to you, supreme among men!
Since your defilements are ended,
you, good fellow, are worthy of a religious donation.”

Consequently, having seen me honored
by the assembly of gods,
the Teacher smiled
and said the following:

“By fervor and spiritual practice,
by restraint and by self-control:
that’s how to become a brahmin,
this is the supreme brahmin.”

The Book of the Thirteens

Chapter One

THAG13.1 — Soṇakoḷivisa

He who was special in the kingdom,
the footman to the king of Aṅga,
today is special in the Dhamma—
Soṇa has gone beyond suffering.

Five to cut, five to drop,
and five more to develop.
When a mendicant slips five chains
they’re said to have crossed the flood.

If a monk is insolent and negligent,
concerned only with externals,
their ethics, immersion, and wisdom
do not become fulfilled.

They dump what should be done,
and do what should not be done.
For the insolent and the negligent,
their defilements only grow.

Those that have properly undertaken
constant mindfulness of the body,
don’t cultivate what should not be done,
but always do what should be done.
Mindful and aware,
their defilements come to an end.

The straight path has been explained—
go on it and don’t turn back.
Urge yourself on
and take yourself to extinguishment.

When my energy was over-exerted,
the supreme Teacher in the world
created the simile of the arched harp for me.
The Clear-eyed One taught the Dhamma,
and when I heard what he said,
I happily did his bidding.

Practicing serenity of mind
for the attainment of the highest goal.
I’ve attained the three knowledges
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

When you’re dedicated to renunciation
and seclusion of the heart;
when you’re dedicated to kindness
and the end of grasping;

when you’re dedicated to the ending of craving
and clarity of heart;
and you’ve seen the arising of the senses,
your mind is rightly freed.

For that one, rightly freed,
a mendicant with peaceful mind,
there’s nothing to be improved,
and nothing more to do.

As the wind cannot stir
a solid mass of rock,
so too sights, tastes, sounds,
smells, and touches—the lot—

and ideas, whether liked or disliked,
don’t disturb the unaffected one.
Their mind is steady and unfettered
as they observe fall.

The Book of the Fourteens

Chapter One

THAG14.1 — Revata of the Acacia Wood

Since I’ve gone forth
from the lay life to homelessness,
I’ve not been aware of any thought
that is ignoble and hateful.

“May these beings be killed!
May they be slaughtered! May they suffer!”—
I’ve not been aware of any such thought
in all this long while.

I have been aware of loving-kindness,
limitless and well-developed;
gradually consolidated
as it was taught by the Buddha.

I’m friend and comrade to all,
sympathetic for all beings!
I develop a mind of love,
always delighting in harmlessness.

The unfaltering, the unshakable:
I gladden that mind.
I develop a divine meditation,
which reprobates do not cultivate.

When in a meditation free of placing the mind,
a disciple of the Buddha
is at that moment blessed
with noble silence.

As a rocky mountain
is unwavering and well grounded,
so when delusion ends,
a monk, like a mountain, doesn’t tremble.

To the man who has not a blemish,
who is always seeking purity,
even a hair-tip of evil
seems as big as a stormcloud.

As a frontier city
is guarded inside and out,
so you should ward yourselves—
don’t let the moment pass you by.

I don’t long for death;
I don’t long for life;
I await my time,
like a worker waiting for their wages.

I don’t long for death;
I don’t long for life;
I await my time,
aware and mindful.

I’ve served the Teacher
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
The heavy burden is laid down,
the leash to existence is eradicated.

I’ve attained the goal
for the sake of which I went forth
from the lay life to homelessness—
the ending of all fetters.

Persist with diligence:
this is my instruction.
Come, I’ll be fully quenched—
I’m liberated in every way.

THAG14.2 — Godatta

Just as a fine thoroughbred,
yoked to a carriage, endures the load.
Though oppressed by the heavy burden,
it doesn’t shake off the yoke.

So too, those who are as full of wisdom
as the ocean is with water,
don’t look down on others;
this is the teaching of the noble ones for living creatures.

People who fall under the sway of time,
the sway of rebirth in this or that state,
undergo suffering,
and those young men grieve in this life.

Elated by things that bring happiness,
downcast by things that bring suffering:
this pair destroys the fool
who doesn’t see things as they are.

But those who in suffering, and in happiness,
and in the middle have overcome the weaver—
they stand like Indra’s pillar,
neither elated nor downcast.

Not to gain nor loss,
not to fame nor reputation,
not to criticism nor praise,
not to suffering nor happiness—

the wise cling to nothing,
like a droplet on a lotus-leaf.
They are happy everywhere,
and victorious everywhere.

There’s legitimate loss,
and there’s illegitimate gain.
Legitimate loss is better
than illegitimate gain.

There’s the fame of the unintelligent,
and there’s the disrepute of the discerning.
The disrepute of the discerning is better
than the fame of the unintelligent.

There’s praise by simpletons,
and there’s criticism by the discerning.
Criticism by the discerning is better
than praise by fools.

There’s the happiness of sensual pleasures,
and there’s the suffering of seclusion.
The suffering of seclusion is better
than the happiness of sensual pleasures.

There’s life without principles,
and there’s death with principles.
Death with principles is better
than life without principles.

Those who’ve given up desire and anger,
their minds at peace regarding rebirth in this or that state,
wander in the world unattached,
for them nothing is beloved or unloved.

Having developed the awakening factors,
the faculties and the powers,
having arrived at ultimate peace,
the undefiled become fully quenched.

The Book of the Sixteens

Chapter One

THAG15.1 — Koṇḍañña Who Understood

“My confidence grew
as I heard the teaching, so full of flavor.
Dispassion is what was taught,
without any grasping at all.”

“There are so many pretty things
in this vast territory.
They disturb one’s thoughts, it seems to me,
attractive, provoking lust.

Just as a rain cloud would settle
the dust blown up by the wind,
so thoughts settle down
when seen with wisdom.

All conditions are impermanent—
when this is seen with wisdom
one grows disillusioned with suffering:
this is the path to purity.

All conditions are suffering—
when this is seen with wisdom
one grows disillusioned with suffering:
this is the path to purity.

All things are not-self—
when this is seen with wisdom
one grows disillusioned with suffering:
this is the path to purity.”

“The senior monk awakened after the Buddha,
Koṇḍañña, is keenly energetic.
He has given up birth and death,
and has completed the spiritual journey.”

“There are floods, snares, and strong posts,
and a mountain hard to crack;
snapping the posts and snares,
breaking the mountain so hard to break,
crossing over to the far shore,
a meditator is freed from Māra’s bonds.

When a mendicant is haughty and fickle,
relying on bad friends,
they sink down in the great flood,
overcome by a wave.

But one not restless or fickle,
alert, with senses restrained,
intelligent, with good friends,
makes an end of suffering.

With knobbly knees,
thin and veiny,
eating and drinking in moderation—
this person’s spirit is undaunted.

Pestered by flies and mosquitoes
in the wilds, the formidable forest,
one should mindfully endure,
like an elephant at the head of the battle.

I don’t long for death;
I don’t long for life;
I await my time,
like a worker waiting for their wages.

I don’t long for death;
I don’t long for life;
I await my time,
aware and mindful.

I’ve served the Teacher
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
The heavy burden is laid down,
the leash to existence is eradicated.

I’ve attained the goal
for the sake of which I went forth
from the lay life to homelessness—
what use do I have for protégés?”

THAG15.2 — Udāyī

Awakened as a human being,
self-tamed and immersed in samādhi,
following the spiritual path,
he loves peace of mind.

Revered by people,
gone beyond all things,
even the gods revere him;
so I’ve heard from the perfected one.

He has transcended all fetters,
and escaped from entanglements.
Delighting to renounce sensual pleasures,
he’s freed like lustrous gold from stone.

That giant outshines all,
like the Himalaya beside other mountains.
Of all those named “giant”,
he is truly named, supreme.

I shall extol the giant for you,
for he does nothing monstrous.
gentleness and harmlessness
are two feet of the giant.

Mindfulness and awareness
are his two other feet.
Faith is the giant’s trunk,
and equanimity his white tusks.

Mindfulness is his neck, his head is wisdom—
investigation and thinking about principles.
His belly is the sacred hearth of the Dhamma,
and his tail is seclusion.

Practicing absorption, enjoying the breath,
he is serene within.
The giant is serene when walking,
the giant is serene when standing,

the giant is serene when lying down,
and when sitting, the giant is serene.
The giant is restrained everywhere:
this is the accomplishment of the giant.

He eats blameless things,
he doesn’t eat blameworthy things.
When he gets food and clothes,
he avoids storing them up.

Having severed all bonds,
fetters large and small,
wherever he goes,
he goes without concern.

A white lotus,
fragrant and delightful,
sprouts in water and grows there,
but the water doesn’t cling to it.

Just so the Buddha is born in the world,
and lives in the world,
but the world doesn’t stick to him,
as water does not stick to the lotus.

A great blazing fire
dies down when the fuel runs out.
And when the coals have gone out
it’s said to be “quenched”.

This simile is taught by the discerning
to express the meaning clearly.
Great giants will understand
what the giant taught the giant.

Free of greed, free of hate,
free of delusion, undefiled;
the giant, giving up his body,
undefiled, will be fully quenched.

The Book of the Twenties

Chapter One

THAG16.1 — Adhimutta (2nd)

“Those who we killed in the past,
whether for sacrifice or for wealth,
without exception were afraid;
they trembled and they squealed.

But you’re not scared;
you look even calmer than before.
Why don’t you cry out
in such a terrifying situation?”

“There isn’t any mental suffering
for one without concern, village chief.
All fears are left behind
by one whose fetters have ended.

When the leash to existence is ended,
and the truth is seen as it is,
there is no fear of death;
it’s like laying down a burden.

I’ve lived the spiritual life well,
and developed the path well, too.
I do not fear death;
it’s like the passing of a disease.

I’ve lived the spiritual life well,
and developed the path well, too.
I’ve seen that there’s nothing gratifying in existences,
like someone who has tasted poison, then thrown it out.

One who has gone beyond, without grasping,
they’ve completed the task and are free of defilements.
They are content at the end of life,
like someone released from execution.

Having realized the supreme Dhamma,
without needing anything in the whole world,
one doesn’t grieve at death;
for it’s like escaping from a burning house.

Whatever has come to pass,
wherever life is obtained,
there is no Lord of all that:
so said the great seer.

Whoever understands this
as it was taught by the Buddha
doesn’t grab on to any new life,
like you wouldn’t grab a hot iron ball.

It doesn’t occur to me, ‘I existed in the past’;
nor, ‘I will exist in the future’.
Conditions will vanish—
why weep over that?

Seeing truly
the bare arising of phenomena,
and the bare process of conditions,
there is no fear, village chief.

The world is like grass and sticks:
when this is seen with wisdom,
not finding any possessiveness,
you won’t grieve, thinking ‘I don’t have it’.

I’m fed up with the body;
I have no need for another life.
This body will be broken up,
and there won’t be another.

Do what you want
with my corpse.
I won’t be angry or attached
on account of that.”

When they heard these words,
so astonishing and hair-raising,
the young men laid down their swords
and spoke these words:

“What have you practiced, Venerable?
And who is your tutor?
Whose instructions do we follow
to gain the sorrowless state?”

“The knower of all, the seer of all:
the victor is my tutor.
He is a Teacher of great compassion,
healer of the whole world.

He taught this Dhamma,
leading to ending, unsurpassed.
Following his instructions,
you can gain the sorrowless state.”

When the bandits heard the good words of the seer,
they laid down their swords and weapons.
Some refrained from their former deeds,
while others chose the going-forth.

Having gone forth in the teaching of the Holy One,
those astute ones developed the awakening factors and the powers.
Elated, happy, their faculties complete,
they realized the state of extinguishment, the unconditioned.

THAG16.2 — Pārāsariya (2nd)

This thought came to the ascetic,
the monk Pārāsariya,
as he was seated alone
meditating in seclusion:

“Following what procedure,
what observance, what conduct,
may a person do what they need for themselves,
without harming anyone else?

The faculties of human beings
can lead to both welfare and harm.
Unguarded they lead to harm;
guarded they lead to welfare.

By protecting the faculties,
taking care of the faculties,
I can do what I need for myself
without harming anyone else.

If your eye wanders
among sights without check,
not seeing the danger,
you’re not freed from suffering.

If your ear wanders
among sounds without check,
not seeing the danger,
you’re not freed from suffering.

If, not seeing the escape,
you indulge in a smell,
you’re not freed from suffering,
being besotted by smells.

Recollecting the sour,
the superbly sweet and the bitter,
captivated by craving for taste,
you don’t understand the heart.

Recollecting lovely
and pleasurable touches,
full of desire, you experience
many kinds of suffering because of lust.

Unable to protect
the mind from such thoughts,
suffering follows them
because of all five.

This body is full of pus and blood,
it’s home to many carcasses;
but cunning people decorate it
like a lovely painted casket.

You don’t understand that
the sweetness of honey turns bitter,
and the bonds to those we love cause pain,
like a razor’s edge smeared with honey.

Full of lust for the sight of a woman,
for the voice and the smells of a woman,
for a woman’s touch,
you experience many kinds of suffering.

All of a woman’s streams
flow from five to five.
Whoever, being energetic,
is able to curb these,

purposeful and firm in principle,
is clever and clear-seeing.
Though he might enjoy himself,
his duty is connected with the teaching and its goal.

One who’s diligent and discerning,
thinking, ‘This ought not be done’,
would avoid a useless task
that’s doomed to failure.

Whatever is meaningful,
and whatever happiness is principled,
let one proceed having undertaken that:
this is the best happiness.

They want to get hold of what belongs to others
by any means, fair or foul.
They kill, injure, and torment,
violently plundering what belongs to others.

Just as a strong person when building
knocks out a peg with a peg,
so the skillful person
knocks out the faculties with the faculties.

Developing faith, energy, immersion,
mindfulness, and wisdom;
destroying the five with the five,
the brahmin walks on untroubled.

Purposeful and firm in principle,
having fulfilled in every respect
the instructions spoken by the Buddha,
that person prospers in happiness.”

THAG16.3 — Telakāni

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 in the world have crossed over?
Whose attainment has freedom from death as its objective?
Whose teaching do I accept
to understand the ultimate goal?

I was hooked inside,
like a fish gulping bait;
bound like the titan 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 rinse off old age and death?

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

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

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

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 show me his hand and the shore.

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

Like a thundering cloud of restlessness,
like a stormcloud 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, when I was full of fear,
seeking the far shore from the near,
my shelter was the Teacher whose weapon is wisdom,
frequented by the Saṅgha of seers.

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 substantial reality,
as I had 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 leash to existence:
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 aside the knot,
curing the damage of poison.

THAG16.4 — Raṭṭhapāla

“See this fancy puppet,
a body built of sores,
diseased, obsessed over,
in which nothing lasts at all.

See this fancy figure,
with its gems and earrings;
it is bones swathed in skin,
made pretty by its clothes.

Rouged feet
and powdered face
may be enough to beguile a fool,
but not a seeker of the far shore.

Hair in eight braids
and eyeshadow
may be enough to beguile a fool,
but not a seeker of the far shore.

A rotting body all adorned
like a freshly painted makeup box
may be enough to beguile a fool,
but not a seeker of the far shore.

The hunter laid his snare,
but the deer didn’t spring the trap.
I’ve eaten the bait and now I go,
leaving the trapper to lament.

The hunter’s snare is broken,
but the deer didn’t spring the trap.
I’ve eaten the bait and now I go,
leaving the deer-hunter to grieve.”

“I see rich people in the world who,
because of delusion, give not the wealth they’ve earned.
Greedily, they hoard their riches,
yearning for ever more sensual pleasures.

A king who conquered the earth by force,
ruling the land from sea to sea,
unsatisfied with the near shore of the ocean,
would still yearn for the further shore.

Not just the king, but others too,
reach death not rid of craving.
They leave the body still wanting,
for in this world sensual pleasures never satisfy.

Relatives lament, their hair disheveled,
saying ‘Ah! Alas! They’re not immortal!’
They take out the body wrapped in a shroud,
heap up a pyre, and burn it there.

It’s poked with stakes while being burnt,
in just a single cloth, all wealth gone.
Relatives, friends, and companions
can’t help you when you’re dying.

Heirs take your riches,
while beings fare on according to their deeds.
Riches don’t follow you when you die;
nor do children, wife, wealth, nor kingdom.

Longevity isn’t gained by riches,
nor does wealth banish old age;
for the attentive say this life is short,
it’s perishable and not eternal.

The rich and the poor feel its touch;
the fool and the attentive one feel it too.
But the fool lies stricken by their own folly,
while the attentive don’t tremble at the touch.

Therefore wisdom’s much better than wealth,
since by wisdom you reach consummation in this life.
But if because of delusion you don’t reach consummation,
you’ll do evil deeds in life after life.

One who enters a womb and the world beyond,
will transmigrate from one life to the next.
While someone of little wisdom, placing faith in them,
also enters a womb and the world beyond.

As a bandit caught in a window
is punished for his own bad deeds;
so after departing, in the world beyond,
people are punished for their own bad deeds.

Sensual pleasures are diverse, sweet, delightful;
appearing in disguise they disturb the mind.
Seeing danger in sensual stimulations,
I went forth, O King.

As fruit falls from a tree, so the sons of Manu fall,
young and old, when the body breaks up.
Seeing this, too, I went forth, O King;
it’s a sure bet that the ascetic life is better.”

“I went forth out of faith
joining the victor’s dispensation.
My going forth wasn’t wasted;
I enjoy my food free of debt.

I saw sensual pleasures as burning,
gold as a cutting blade,
conception in a womb as suffering,
and the hells as very fearful.

Knowing this danger,
I was struck with a sense of urgency.
I was stabbed, but then I found peace,
attaining the end of defilements.

I’ve served the Teacher
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
The heavy burden is laid down,
the leash to existence is eradicated.

I’ve attained the goal
for the sake of which I went forth
from the lay life to homelessness—
the ending of all fetters.”

THAG16.5 — Māluṅkyaputta (2nd)

When you see a sight, mindfulness is lost
as you focus on a pleasant feature.
Experiencing it with a mind full of desire,
you keep clinging to it.

Many feelings grow
arising from sights.
The mind is damaged
by covetousness and cruelty.
Heaping up suffering like this,
you’re said to be far from extinguishment.

When you hear a sound, mindfulness is lost
as you focus on a pleasant feature.
Experiencing it with a mind full of desire,
you keep clinging to it.

Many feelings grow
arising from sounds.
The mind is damaged
by covetousness and cruelty.
Heaping up suffering like this,
you’re said to be far from extinguishment.

When you smell an odor, mindfulness is lost
as you focus on a pleasant feature.
Experiencing it with a mind full of desire,
you keep clinging to it.

Many feelings grow
arising from smells.
The mind is damaged
by covetousness and cruelty.
Heaping up suffering like this,
you’re said to be far from extinguishment.

When you enjoy a taste, mindfulness is lost
as you focus on a pleasant feature.
Experiencing it with a mind full of desire,
you keep clinging to it.

Many feelings grow
arising from tastes.
The mind is damaged
by covetousness and cruelty.
Heaping up suffering like this,
you’re said to be far from extinguishment.

When you sense a touch, mindfulness is lost
as you focus on a pleasant feature.
Experiencing it with a mind full of desire,
you keep clinging to it.

Many feelings grow
arising from touches.
The mind is damaged
by covetousness and cruelty.
Heaping up suffering like this,
you’re said to be far from extinguishment.

When you know an idea, mindfulness is lost
as you focus on a pleasant feature.
Experiencing it with a mind full of desire,
you keep clinging to it.

Many feelings grow
arising from ideas.
The mind is damaged
by covetousness and cruelty.
Heaping up suffering like this,
you’re said to be far from extinguishment.

There’s no desire for sights
when you see a sight with mindfulness.
Experiencing it with a mind free of desire,
you don’t keep clinging to it.

Even as you see a sight
and undergo a feeling,
you wear away, you don’t heap up:
that’s how to live mindfully.
Eroding suffering like this,
you’re said to be in the presence of extinguishment.

There’s no desire for sounds
when you hear a sound with mindfulness.
Experiencing it with a mind free of desire,
you don’t keep clinging to it.

Even as you hear a sound
and undergo a feeling,
you wear away, you don’t heap up:
that’s how to live mindfully.
Eroding suffering like this,
you’re said to be in the presence of extinguishment.

There’s no desire for odors
when you smell an odor with mindfulness.
Experiencing it with a mind free of desire,
you don’t keep clinging to it.

Even as you smell an odor
and undergo a feeling,
you wear away, you don’t heap up:
that’s how to live mindfully.
Eroding suffering like this,
you’re said to be in the presence of extinguishment.

There’s no desire for tastes
when you enjoy a taste with mindfulness.
Experiencing it with a mind free of desire,
you don’t keep clinging to it.

Even as you savor a taste
and undergo a feeling,
you wear away, you don’t heap up:
that’s how to live mindfully.
Eroding suffering like this,
you’re said to be in the presence of extinguishment.

There’s no desire for touches
when you sense a touch with mindfulness.
Experiencing it with a mind free of desire,
you don’t keep clinging to it.

Even as you sense a touch
and get familiar with how it feels,
you wear away, you don’t heap up:
that’s how to live mindfully.
Eroding suffering like this,
you’re said to be in the presence of extinguishment.

There’s no desire for ideas
when you know an idea with mindfulness.
Experiencing it with a mind free of desire,
you don’t keep clinging to it.

Even as you know an idea
and get familiar with how it feels,
you wear away, you don’t heap up:
that’s how to live mindfully.
Eroding suffering like this,
you’re said to be in the presence of extinguishment.

THAG16.6 — Sela

“O Blessed One, your body’s perfect,
you’re radiant, handsome, lovely to behold;
golden colored,
with teeth so white; you’re strong.

The characteristics
of a handsome man,
the marks of a great man,
are all found on your body.

Your eyes are clear, your face is fair,
you’re formidable, upright, majestic.
In the midst of the Saṅgha of ascetics,
you shine like the sun.

You’re a mendicant fine to see,
with skin that shines like lustrous gold.
But with such excellent appearance,
what do you want with the ascetic life?

You’re fit to be a king,
a wheel-turning monarch, chief of charioteers,
victorious in the four quarters,
lord of the Black Plum Tree Land.

Aristocrats, nobles, and kings
ought follow your rule.
Gotama, may you reign
as king of kings, lord of mankind!”

“I am a king, Sela”,
said the Buddha to Sela,
“the supreme king of the teaching.
By the teaching I roll forth the wheel
which cannot be rolled back.”

“You claim to be awakened,”
said Sela the brahmin,
“the supreme king of the teaching.
‘I roll forth the teaching’:
so you say, Gotama.

Then who is your general,
the disciple who follows the Teacher’s way?
Who keeps rolling the wheel
of the teaching you rolled forth?”

“By me the wheel was rolled forth,”
said the Buddha,
“the supreme wheel of the teaching.
Sāriputta, taking after the Realized One,
keeps it rolling on.

I have known what should be known,
and developed what should be developed,
and given up what should be given up:
and so, brahmin, I am a Buddha.

Dispel your doubt in me—
make up your mind, brahmin!
The sight of a Buddha
is hard to find again.

I am a Buddha, brahmin,
the supreme surgeon,
one of those whose appearance in the world
is hard to find again.

A manifestation of divinity, unequaled,
crusher of Māra’s army;
having subdued all my opponents,
I rejoice, fearing nothing from any quarter.”

“Pay heed, sirs, to what
is spoken by the Clear-eyed One.
The surgeon, the great hero,
roars like a lion in the jungle.

A manifestation of divinity, unequaled,
crusher of Māra’s army;
who would not be inspired by him,
even one born in a dark class?

Those who wish may follow me;
those who don’t may go.
Right here, I’ll go forth in his presence,
the one of such outstanding wisdom.”

“Sir, if you endorse
the teaching of the Buddha,
we’ll also go forth in his presence,
the one of such outstanding wisdom.”

“These three hundred brahmins
with cupped palms held up, ask:
‘May we lead the spiritual life
in your presence, Blessed One?’”

“The spiritual life is well explained,”
said the Buddha,
“apparent in the present life, immediately effective.
Here the going forth isn’t in vain
for one who trains with diligence.”

“This is the eighth day since
we went for refuge, O Clear-eyed One.
In these seven days, Blessed One,
we’ve become tamed in your teaching.

You are the Buddha, you are the Teacher,
you are the sage who has overcome Māra;
you have cut off the underlying tendencies,
you’ve crossed over, and you bring humanity across.

You have transcended attachments,
your defilements are shattered;
like a lion free of grasping,
with fear and dread given up.

These three hundred mendicants
stand with cupped palms raised.
Stretch out your feet, great hero:
let these giants bow to the Teacher.”

THAG16.7 — Kāḷigodhāputtabhaddiya

I rode on an elephant’s neck,
wearing luxurious clothes.
I ate boiled fine rice
with pure meat sauce.

Today I am fortunate, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Wearing rags, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Living on almsfood, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Possessing only three robes, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Wandering for alms indiscriminately, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Sitting alone, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Eating only what’s put in the alms-bowl, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Never eating too late, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Living in the wilderness, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Living at the foot of a tree, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Living in the open, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Living in a charnel ground, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Accepting whatever seat is offered, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Not lying down to sleep, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Few in wishes, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Content, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Secluded, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Aloof, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Energetic, persistent,
happy with the scraps in my bowl:
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
practices absorption without grasping.

Giving up a hundred ounces of bronze,
and a hundred grains of gold,
I took a bowl made of clay:
this is my second initiation.

I used to live in a citadel with walls so high,
with battlements strong and gates,
all guarded by swordsmen—
and yet I was afraid.

Today I am fortunate, free of cowardice,
with fear and dread given up.
Bhaddiya son of Godhā
has plunged into the forest and practices absorption.

Established in the entire spectrum of ethics,
developing mindfulness and wisdom,
gradually I attained
the ending of all fetters.

THAG16.8 — Aṅgulimāla

“While walking, ascetic, you say ‘I’ve stopped.’
And I have stopped, but you tell me I’ve not.
I’m asking you this, ascetic:
how is it you’ve stopped and I have not?”

“Aṅgulimāla, I have forever stopped—
I’ve laid aside violence toward all creatures.
But you can’t stop yourself from harming living creatures;
that’s why I’ve stopped, but you have not.”

“Oh, at long last a renowned great seer,
an ascetic has followed me into this deep wood.
Now that I’ve heard your verse on Dhamma,
I shall discard a thousand evils.”

With these words, the bandit hurled his sword and weapons
down a cliff into an abyss.
He venerated the Holy One’s feet,
and requested the going forth from the Buddha right away.

Then the Buddha, the compassionate great seer,
the Teacher of the world with its gods,
said to him, “Come, monk!”
And with that he became a monk.

“He who once was heedless,
but turned to heedfulness,
lights up the world,
like the moon freed from clouds.

Someone whose bad deed
is supplanted by the good,
lights up the world,
like the moon freed from clouds.

A young mendicant
devoted to the Buddha’s teaching,
lights up the world,
like the moon freed from clouds.

May even my enemies hear a Dhamma talk!
May even my enemies devote themselves to the Buddha’s teaching!
May even my enemies associate with those good men
who establish others in the Dhamma!

May even my enemies hear Dhamma at the right time,
from those who teach acceptance,
praising acquiescence;
and may they follow that path!

For then they’d never wish harm
upon myself or others.
Having arrived at ultimate peace,
they’d look after creatures firm and frail.

For while irrigators guide water,
fletchers bend arrows straight,
and carpenters bend timber straight,
the astute tame themselves.

Some tame by using the rod,
some with goads, and some with whips.
But the unaffected one tamed me
without rod or sword.

My name is ‘Harmless’,
though I used to be harmful.
The name I bear today is true,
for I do no harm to anyone.

I used to be a bandit,
the notorious Aṅgulimāla.
Swept away in a great flood,
I went to the Buddha for refuge.

I used to have blood on my hands,
the notorious Aṅgulimāla.
See the refuge I’ve found—
the leash to existence is eradicated.

I’ve done many of the sort of deeds
that lead to a bad destination.
The result of my deeds has already struck me,
so I enjoy my food free of debt.

Fools and simpletons
devote themselves to negligence.
But the wise protect diligence
as their best treasure.

Don’t devote yourself to negligence,
or delight in erotic intimacy.
For if you’re diligent and practice absorption,
you’ll attain ultimate happiness.

It was welcome, not unwelcome,
the advice I got was good.
Of the well-explained teachings,
I arrived at the best.

It was welcome, not unwelcome,
the advice I got was good.
I’ve attained the three knowledges,
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.”

“In the wilderness, at a tree’s root,
on mountains, or in caves—
it used to be that wherever I stood,
my mind was anxious.

But now I lie down happily and stand up happily,
I live my life happily,
out of Māra’s reach;
the Teacher had sympathy for me.

I used to be of brahmin birth,
highborn on both sides,
now I’m a son of the Holy One,
the Teacher, King of Dhamma.

I am rid of craving, free of grasping,
my sense doors are guarded and well-restrained.
I’ve destroyed the root of gloom,
and attained the ending of defilements.

I’ve served the Teacher
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
The heavy burden is laid down,
the leash to existence is eradicated.”

THAG16.9 — Anuruddha

Leaving my mother and father behind,
as well as sisters, kinsmen, and brothers;
having given up the five sensual stimuli,
Anuruddha practices absorption.

Surrounded by song and dance,
awakened by cymbals and gongs,
he did not find purification
while delighting in Māra’s domain.

But he has gone beyond all that,
and delights in the Buddha’s teaching.
Having crossed over the entire flood,
Anuruddha practices absorption.

Sights, sounds, tastes, smells,
and touches so delightful:
having crossed over these as well,
Anuruddha practices absorption.

Returning from almsround,
alone, without partner,
seeking rags from the dust heap,
Anuruddha is without defilements.

The thoughtful sage
selected rags from the dust heap;
he picked them up, washed, dyed, and wore them;
Anuruddha is without defilements.

The principles of someone
who has many wishes and is not content,
who socializes and is conceited,
are wicked and corrupting.

But someone who is mindful, few of wishes,
content and untroubled,
delighting in seclusion, joyful,
always resolute and energetic;

their principles are skillful,
on the side of awakening;
they are without defilements—
so said the great seer.

“Knowing my thoughts,
the supreme Teacher in the world
came to me in a mind-made body,
using his psychic power.

He taught me more
than I had thought of.
The Buddha who loves non-proliferation
taught me non-proliferation.

Understanding that teaching,
I happily did his bidding.
I’ve attained the three knowledges,
and have fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

For the last fifty-five years
I have not lain down to sleep.
Twenty-five years have passed
since I eradicated drowsiness.”

“There was no more breathing
for the unaffected one of steady heart.
Imperturbable, committed to peace,
the Clear-eyed One was fully quenched.

He put up with painful feelings
without flinching.
The liberation of his heart
was like the extinguishing of a lamp.”

“Now these touches and the other four
are the last to be experienced by the sage;
nor will there be other phenomena
since the Buddha was fully quenched.

O Penelope, weaver of the web—
there’s no more abodes in the heavenly host.
Transmigration through births is finished,
now there’ll be no more future lives.”

“The mendicant by whom the galaxy
with the age of the Divinity are known in an hour—
that master of psychic ability sees the gods
at the time they pass away and are reborn.”

“In the past I was Annabhāra,
a poor carrier of fodder.
I practiced as an ascetic,
the renowned Upariṭṭha.

Then I was reborn in the Sakyan clan,
where I was known as ‘Anuruddha’.
Surrounded by song and dance,
I was awakened by cymbals and gongs.

Then I saw the Buddha,
the Teacher, fearing nothing from any quarter;
filling my mind with confidence in him,
I went forth to homelessness.

I know my past lives,
the places I used to live.
I was born as Sakka,
and stayed among the thirty-three gods.

Seven times I was a king of men
ruling a kingdom,
victorious in the four quarters,
lord of the Black Plum Tree Land.
Without rod or sword,
I governed by principle.

Seven from here, seven from there—
fourteen transmigrations in all.
I shall remember my past lives:
at that time I stayed in the realm of the gods.

I have gained complete tranquility
in immersion with five factors.
Peaceful, serene,
my clairvoyance is purified.

Steady in five-factored absorption,
I know the passing away and rebirth of beings,
their coming and going,
their lives in this state and that.

I’ve served the Teacher
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
The heavy burden is laid down,
the leash to existence is eradicated.

In the Vajjian village of Veḷuva,
my life will come to an end.
Beneath a thicket of bamboos,
being undefiled, I will be fully extinguished.”

THAG16.10 — Pārāsariya (3rd)

This thought came to the ascetic
in the forest full of flowers,
as he was seated alone
meditating in seclusion:

“The behavior of the mendicants
these days seems different
from when the protector of the world,
the best of men, was still here.

Their robes were only for covering the private parts,
and protection from the cold and wind.
They ate in moderation,
content with whatever they were offered.

Whether food was fine or coarse,
a little or a lot,
they ate only for sustenance,
without greed or gluttony.

They weren’t so very eager
for the requisites of life,
such as tonics and other necessities,
as they were for the ending of defilements.

In the wilderness, at a tree’s root,
in caves and caverns,
fostering seclusion,
they lived with that as their final goal.

They were used to simple things, unburdensome,
gentle, not pompous at heart,
unsullied, not scurrilous,
their thoughts were intent on the goal.

That’s why they inspired confidence,
in their movements, eating, and practice;
their deportment was as smooth
as a stream of oil.

With the utter ending of all defilements,
those senior monks have now been quenched.
They were great meditators and great benefactors—
there are few like them today.

With the ending
of good principles and understanding,
the victor’s teaching,
full of all excellent qualities, falls apart.

This is the season
for bad principles and defilements.
Those who are ready for seclusion
are all that’s left of the true Dhamma.

As they grow, the defilements
possess most people;
they play with fools, it seems to me,
like monsters with the mad.

Overcome by defilements,
they run here and there
among the bases for defilement,
as if they had declared war on themselves.

Having forsaken the true teaching,
they argue with each other.
Following wrong views
they think, ‘This is better.’

They cut off their wealth,
children, and wife to go forth.
But then they do what they shouldn’t,
for the sake of a measly spoon of almsfood.

They eat until their bellies are full,
and then they lie to sleep on their backs.
When they wake up, they keep on chatting,
the kind of talk the Teacher criticized.

Valuing all the arts and crafts,
they train themselves in them.
Not being settled internally, they think,
‘This is the goal of the ascetic life.’

They provide clay, oil, and talcum powder,
water, lodgings, and food
for householders,
expecting more in return.

And in addition, tooth-picks of white fig,
flowers, food to eat,
well-cooked almsfood,
mangoes and myrobalans.

In medicine they are like doctors,
in business like householders,
in makeup like prostitutes,
in sovereignty like aristocrats.

Cheats, frauds,
false witnesses, sly:
using multiple plans,
they enjoy things of the flesh.

Pursuing shams, contrivances, and plans,
by such means
they accumulate a lot of wealth
for the sake of their own livelihood.

They assemble the community
for business rather than Dhamma.
They teach the Dhamma to others
for gain, not for the goal.

Those barred from the Saṅgha
quarrel over the Saṅgha’s property.
Lacking conscience, they do not care
that they live on the earnings of others.

Some with shaven head and robe
are not devoted to practice,
but wish only to be honored,
besotted with property and reverence.

When things have come to this,
it’s not easy these days
to realize what has not yet been realized,
or to preserve what has been realized.

When shoeless on a thorny path,
one would walk
very mindfully;
that’s how a sage should walk in the village.

Remembering the meditators of old,
and recollecting their conduct,
even in the latter days,
it’s still possible to realize freedom from death.”

That is what the ascetic, whose faculties
were fully developed, said in the sāl tree grove.
The brahmin, the seer, became fully extinguished,
putting an end to all future lives.

The Book of the Thirties

Chapter One

THAG17.1 — Phussa

Seeing many who inspire confidence,
evolved and well-restrained,
the seer of the Paṇḍara clan,
asked the one known as Phussa:

“In future times,
what desire and motivation
and behavior will people have?
Please answer my question.”

“Listen to my words,
O seer known as a Paṇḍara,
and remember them carefully,
I will describe the future.

In the future many will be
angry and hostile,
offensive, stubborn, and devious,
jealous, holding divergent views.

Imagining they understand the depths of the teaching,
they resort to the near shore.
Superficial and disrespectful toward the teaching,
they lack respect for one another.

In the future
many dangers will arise in the world.
Idiots will defile
the Dhamma that was taught so well.

Though bereft of good qualities,
unlearned prattlers, too sure of themselves,
will become powerful
in running Saṅgha proceedings.

Though possessing good qualities,
the conscientious and unbiased, acting in the proper spirit,
will become weak
in running Saṅgha proceedings.

In the future, simpletons will accept
currency and gold,
fields and land, goats and sheep,
and bonded servants, male and female.

Fools finding fault in others,
but unsteady in their own ethics,
will wander about, insolent,
like cantankerous beasts.

They’ll be haughty,
wrapped in robes of blue;
deceivers and flatterers, pompous and fake,
they’ll wander as if they were noble ones.

With hair sleeked back with oil,
fickle, their eyes painted with eyeshadow,
they’ll travel on the high-road,
wrapped in robes of ivory color.

The deep-dyed ocher robe,
worn without disgust by the free,
they will come to loathe,
besotted by white clothes.

They’ll want lots of possessions,
and be lazy, lacking energy.
Weary of the forest,
they’ll stay within villages.

Being unrestrained, they’ll keep company with
those who acquire profit,
and who always enjoy wrong livelihood,
following their example.

They won’t respect those
who don’t get lots of stuff,
and they won’t associate with the attentive,
even though they’re very amiable.

Disparaging their own banner,
dyed a vermilion color,
some will wear the white banner
of those of other religions.

Then they’ll have no respect
for the ocher robe.
The mendicants will not reflect
on the nature of the ocher robe.

This awful lack of reflection
was unthinkable to the elephant,
who was overcome by suffering,
inflicted by an arrow strike.

Then the six-tusked elephant,
seeing the deep-dyed banner of the perfected ones,
straight away spoke these verses
connected with the goal.

‘One who, not free of stains themselves,
would wear the robe stained in ocher,
bereft of self-control and truth:
they are not worthy of the ocher robe.

One who’s purged all their stains,
steady in ethics,
possessing truth and self-control:
they are truly worthy of the ocher robe.’

Devoid of virtue, a simpleton,
wild, doing what they like,
their minds astray, indolent:
they are not worthy of the ocher robe.

One accomplished in ethics,
free of greed, serene,
their heart’s intention pure:
they are truly worthy of the ocher robe.

The haughty, insolent fool,
who has no ethics at all,
is worthy of a white robe—
what use is an ocher robe for them?

In the future, monks and nuns
with corrupt hearts, lacking regard for others,
will disparage those
with hearts of loving-kindness.

Though trained in wearing the robe
by senior monks,
simpletons will not listen,
wild, doing what they like.

With that kind of attitude to training,
those fools won’t respect each other,
or take any notice of their mentors,
like a wild colt with its charioteer.

Even so, in the future,
this will be the practice
of monks and nuns
when the latter days have come.

Before this frightening future arrives,
be easy to admonish,
courteous in speech,
and respect one another.

Have hearts of love and compassion,
and please do keep your precepts.
Be energetic, resolute,
and always staunchly vigorous.

Seeing negligence as fearful,
and diligence as a sanctuary,
develop the eightfold path,
realizing the state free of death.”

…

THAG17.2 — Sāriputta

“One who’s mindful as per their conduct and mindfulness,
diligent as per their intentions and meditation,
happy inside, serene, solitary, contented:
that is what they call a mendicant.

When eating fresh or dried food,
one shouldn’t be overly replete.
A mendicant should wander mindfully,
with empty stomach, taking limited food.

Four or five mouthfuls before you’re full,
drink some water;
this is enough for a resolute mendicant
to live in comfort.

If they cover themselves with a robe
that’s allowable and fit for purpose;
this is enough for a resolute mendicant
to live in comfort.

When sitting cross-legged,
the rain doesn’t fall on the knees;
this is enough for a resolute mendicant
to live in comfort.”

“When you’ve seen happiness as suffering,
and suffering as a dart,
and that there’s nothing between the two—
what keeps you in the world? What would you become?

Thinking, ‘May I have nothing to do with those of bad wishes,
lazy, lacking energy,
unlearned, lacking regard for others’—
what keeps you in the world? What would you become?”

“An intelligent, learned person,
steady in ethics,
devoted to serenity of heart—
let them stand at the head.”

“A beast who likes to proliferate,
enjoying proliferation,
fails to win extinguishment,
the supreme sanctuary from the yoke.

But one who gives up proliferation,
enjoying the state of non-proliferation,
wins extinguishment,
the supreme sanctuary from the yoke.”

“Whether in the village or the wilderness,
in a valley or the uplands,
wherever the perfected ones live
is a delightful place.”

“Delightful are the wildernesses
where no people delight.
Those free of greed will delight there,
not those who seek sensual pleasures.”

“Regard one who sees your faults
as a guide to a hidden treasure.
Stay close to one so intelligent and astute
who curbs you when you need it.
Sticking close to such an impartial person,
things get better, not worse.”

“Advise and instruct;
curb wickedness:
for you shall be loved by the good,
and disliked by the bad.”

“The Blessed One, the Buddha, the seer
was teaching Dhamma to another.
As he taught the Dhamma,
I lent an ear to get the meaning.

My listening wasn’t wasted:
I’m freed, without defilements.”

“Not for knowledge of past lives,
nor even for clairvoyance;
not for psychic powers, or encompassing the minds of others,
nor for knowing people’s passing away and being reborn;
not for purifying the power of clairaudience,
did I have any wish.”

“His only shelter is the foot of a tree;
shaven, wrapped in his outer robe,
the senior monk foremost in wisdom,
Upatissa himself practices absorption.

When in a meditation free of placing the mind,
a disciple of the Buddha
is at that moment blessed
with noble silence.

As a rocky mountain
is unwavering and well grounded,
so when delusion ends,
a monk, like a mountain, doesn’t tremble.”

“To the man who has not a blemish,
who is always seeking purity,
even a hair-tip of evil
seems as big as a stormcloud.”

“I don’t long for death;
I don’t long for life;
I will lay down this body,
aware and mindful.

I don’t long for death;
I don’t long for life;
I await my time,
like a worker waiting for their wages.”

“Both what came before and what follows after
are nothing but death, not freedom from death.
Practice, don’t perish—
don’t let the moment pass you by.

Just like a frontier city,
is guarded inside and out,
so you should ward yourselves—
don’t let the moment pass you by.
For if you miss your moment
you’ll grieve when sent to hell.”

“Calm and still,
thoughtful in counsel, not restless—
he shakes off bad qualities
as the gale shakes leaves off a tree.

Calm and still,
thoughtful in counsel, not restless—
he plucks off bad qualities
as the gale shakes leaves off a tree.

Calm and free of despair,
clear and unclouded,
of good morals, intelligent:
one would make an end of suffering.”

“Some householders, and even some renunciants,
are not to be trusted.
Some who were good later become bad;
while some who were bad become good.”

“Sensual desire, ill will,
dullness and drowsiness,
restlessness, and doubt:
these are the five mental stains for a monk.”

“Whether they’re honored
or not honored, or both,
their immersion doesn’t waver
as they abide in the immeasurables.

They persistently practice absorption
with subtle view and discernment.
Rejoicing in the ending of grasping,
they’re said to be a true person.”

“The oceans and the earth,
the mountains and the wind—
no simile can do justice
to the Teacher’s magnificent liberation.”

“The senior monk who keeps the wheel rolling,
he is very wise and serene.
Like earth, like water, like fire,
he is neither attracted nor repelled.

He has attained the perfection of wisdom,
so intelligent and thoughtful.
He is bright, but seems to be dull;
he always wanders, quenched.”

“I’ve served the Teacher
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
The heavy burden is laid down,
the leash to existence is eradicated.

Persist with diligence:
this is my instruction.
Come, I’ll be fully quenched—
I am everywhere free.”

THAG17.3 — Ānanda

“The astute would not make friends
with the slanderous or the hateful,
with a miser or a gloater,
for it’s bad to consort with reprobates.

The astute would make friends
with the faithful and the pleasant,
the wise and the learned,
for it’s a blessing to consort with true persons.”

“See this fancy puppet,
a body built of sores,
diseased, obsessed over,
in which nothing lasts at all.

See this fancy puppet,
with its gems and earrings;
it is bones swathed in skin,
made pretty by its clothes.

Rouged feet
and powdered face
may be enough to beguile a fool,
but not a seeker of the far shore.

Hair in eight braids
and eyeshadow
may be enough to beguile a fool,
but not a seeker of the far shore.

A rotting body all adorned
like a freshly painted makeup box
may be enough to beguile a fool,
but not a seeker of the far shore.”

“Gotama is learned, a brilliant speaker,
the attendant to the Buddha.
With burden put down, detached,
Gotama made his bed.

Defilements ended, detached,
he has got over clinging and become quenched.
He bears his final body,
having gone beyond birth and death.”

“Gotama stands firm
on the path that leads to quenching,
where the teachings of the Buddha,
the Kinsman of the Sun, are grounded.”

“82,000 from the Buddha,
and 2,000 more from the monks:
84,000 teachings I’ve learned,
and these are what I promulgate.”

“A person of little learning
ages like an ox—
their flesh grows,
but not their wisdom.

A learned person who, on account of their learning,
looks down on someone of little learning,
strikes me as like
a blind man holding a lamp.

You should stay close to a learned person—
don’t lose what you’ve learned.
It is the root of the spiritual life,
which is why you should memorize the teaching.

Knowing the sequence and meaning of the teaching,
expert in the definition of terms,
they make sure it is well memorized,
and then examine the meaning.

Accepting the teachings, they become enthusiastic;
making an attempt, they weigh up the teaching.
When it’s time, they strive
serene inside themselves.

If you want to understand the teaching,
you should befriend that sort,
who are learned and have memorized the teachings,
wise disciples of the Buddha.

One who is learned and has memorized the teaching,
a keeper of the great seer’s treasury,
is a visionary for the whole world,
learned and honorable.

Delighting in the teaching, enjoying the teaching,
contemplating the teaching,
a mendicant who recollects the teaching
doesn’t fall away from the true teaching.”

“When your body is pampered and heavy,
while your remaining time is running out,
greedy for physical pleasure,
how can you be comfortable as an ascetic?”

“I’m completely disorientated!
The teachings don’t spring to mind!
With the passing of our good friend,
everything seems dark.

When your friend has passed away,
and your Teacher is past and gone,
there’s no friend like
mindfulness of the body.

The old have passed away,
and I don’t agree with the new.
Today I meditate alone
like a bird snug in its nest.”

“Many visitors from abroad
have come to visit.
Don’t block the audience,
let the congregation see me.”

“Lots of visitors from abroad
have come to visit.
The teacher grants them the opportunity,
the Clear-eyed One doesn’t turn them away.”

“In the twenty five years that have passed
since I became a trainee,
no sensual perception has arisen in me:
behold the clear rightness of the teaching!

In the twenty-five years
since I became a trainee,
no malicious perception has arisen in me:
behold the clear rightness of the teaching!”

“For twenty-five years
I attended on the Buddha
with loving deeds,
like a shadow that never left.

For twenty-five years
I attended on the Buddha
with loving words,
like a shadow that never left.

For twenty-five years
I attended on the Buddha
with loving thoughts,
like a shadow that never left.

While the Buddha was walking mindfully,
I walked behind him.
As he taught the Dhamma,
knowledge arose in me.”

“I’m a trainee, who has more to do;
my heart’s desire is still unfulfilled.
Yet the Teacher, who was so compassionate to me,
has become fully extinguished.

Then there was terror!
Then they had goosebumps!
When the Buddha, endowed with all fine qualities,
was fully quenched.”

“Ānanda, who was learned and had memorized the teaching,
a keeper of the great seer’s treasury,
a visionary for the entire world,
has become fully quenched.

He was learned and had memorized the teaching,
a keeper of the great seer’s treasury,
a visionary for the entire world,
in thick of night he dispelled the dark.

He is the seer who remembered the teachings,
and mastered their sequence, holding them firm.
The senior monk who memorized the teaching,
Ānanda was a mine of gems.”

“I’ve served the Teacher
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
The heavy burden is laid down,
now there’ll be no more future lives.”

The Book of the Forties

Chapter One

THAG18.1 — Mahākassapa

“You shouldn’t live for the adulation of a following;
it turns your mind, making it hard to get immersion.
Seeing that popularity is suffering,
you shouldn’t consent to a following.

A sage should not visit respectable families;
it turns your mind, making it hard to get immersion.
If you’re eager and greedy for flavors,
you’ll miss the goal that brings such happiness.

They know it really is a bog,
this homage and veneration in respectable families.
Honor is a subtle dart, hard to extract,
and hard for a reprobate to give up.”

“I came down from my lodging
and entered the city for alms.
I courteously stood by
while a leper ate.

With his putrid hand
he offered me a morsel.
Putting the morsel in my bowl,
his finger dropped off right there.

Sitting by a wall,
I ate that lump of rice.
I did not feel any disgust
while eating or afterwards.

Anyone who makes use of
leftovers for food,
rancid urine as medicine,
the root of a tree as lodging,
and cast-off rags as robes,
is at ease in any quarter.”

“Where some have fallen to ruin
while climbing the mountain,
there Kassapa ascends;
an heir of the Buddha,
aware and mindful,
owing to his psychic powers.

Returning from almsround,
Kassapa ascends the mountain,
and practices absorption without grasping,
with fear and dread given up.

Returning from almsround,
Kassapa ascends the mountain,
and practices absorption without grasping,
quenched amongst those who burn.

Returning from almsround,
Kassapa ascends the mountain,
and practices absorption without grasping,
his task completed, free of defilements.”

“Strewn with garlands of the musk-rose tree,
these regions are so delightful, so lovely,
echoing with the trumpeting of elephants:
these rocky crags delight me!

Glistening, they look like blue stormclouds,
with waters cool and streams so clear,
and covered all in ladybugs:
these rocky crags delight me!

Like the peak of a blue stormcloud,
or like a fine bungalow, lovely,
echoing with the trumpeting of elephants:
these rocky crags delight me!

The rain comes down on the lovely flats,
in the mountains frequented by seers.
Echoing with the cries of peacocks,
these rocky crags delight me!

It’s enough for me, who loves absorption,
to remain resolute.
It’s enough for me,
a resolute monk who wants what’s best.

It’s enough for me,
a resolute monk who loves comfort.
It’s enough for me,
resolute and unaffected, loving meditation.

Covered with flowers of flax,
like the welkin covered with stormclouds,
full of flocks of many different birds,
these rocky crags delight me!

Empty of householders,
frequented by herds of deer,
full of flocks of many different birds,
these rocky crags delight me!

The water’s clear and the rocks are broad,
monkeys and deer are all around;
festooned with dewy moss,
these rocky crags delight me!”

“Even the music of a five-piece band
can never give such pleasure
as when, with unified mind,
you rightly discern the Dhamma.”

“Don’t get involved in lots of work,
avoid people, and don’t try to acquire things.
If you’re eager and greedy for flavors,
you’ll miss the goal that brings such happiness.

Don’t get involved in lots of work,
avoid what doesn’t lead to the goal.
The body gets worn out and fatigued,
and when you ache, you won’t find serenity.”

“You won’t see yourself
by merely reciting words,
wandering stiff-necked
and thinking, ‘I’m better than them.’

The fool is no better,
but they think they are.
The wise don’t praise
pompous people.

Whoever does not waver
due to the discriminations—
‘I am better’, ‘I’m not better’,
‘I am worse’, or ‘I am the same’—

with such understanding, unaffected,
steady in ethics,
and devoted to serenity of mind:
that is who the wise praise.”

“Whoever has no respect
for their spiritual companions
is as far from the true teaching
as the earth is from the sky.

Those whose conscience and prudence
are always rightly established,
thrive in the spiritual life;
for them, there are no future lives.

When a mendicant who is haughty and fickle
wears rags from the rubbish-heap,
that doesn’t make them shine:
they’re like a monkey in a lion skin.

But if they not restless or fickle,
alert, with senses restrained,
then, wearing rags from the rubbish-heap, they shine
like a lion in a mountain cave.”

“These many gods
powerful and glorious,
all 10,000 of them,
belong to the host of the Divinity.

They stand with cupped palms
honoring Sāriputta,
the General of the Dhamma, the hero,
the serene great meditator:

‘Homage to you, O thoroughbred!
Homage to you, supreme among men!
We don’t understand
the basis of your absorption.

The profound domain of the Buddhas
is truly amazing.
We don’t understand,
though we’ve gathered here to split hairs.’

When he saw the host of gods
paying homage to Sāriputta—
who is truly worthy of homage—
Kappina smiled.”

“As far as the range of the Buddha extends,
I am distinguished in austerities.
I have no equal,
apart from the great sage himself.

I’ve served the Teacher
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
The heavy burden is laid down,
now there’ll be no more future lives.”

“Like a lotus flower
to which water will not stick,
Gotama the immeasurable is unstained
by robes, lodgings, or food.
He inclines to renunciation,
and has escaped the three states of existence.

The great sage’s neck is mindfulness meditation;
faith is his hands, and wisdom his head.
Having great knowledge,
he always wanders, quenched.”

The Book of the Forties is finished.

The Book of the Fifties

Chapter One

THAG19.1 — Tālapuṭa

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,
harried 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 seers,
forged by wisdom, of awesome might,
and swiftly break Māra and his army? When will it be?

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

Oh, when will I focus on my heart’s goal in the Mountainfold,
free of oppression by laziness, hunger, thirst,
wind, heat, bugs, and reptiles?
When will it be?

Oh, when will I, serene and mindful,
understand the four truths,
that were realized by the great seer,
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 ideas
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,
those interior and exterior, as no more than
wood, grass, and creepers? When will it be?

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

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

Oh, when will I cross by psychic power unobstructed
the Ganges, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī;
and that place where one is thrown in the abyss,
the horrifying Mare’s Mouth? When will it be?

Oh, when will I be devoted to absorption,
shunning all 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 seer
and be content, like a pauper 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:
“In 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 state free of death.

He whose words are well-composed, supreme among people,
great physician, guide for those fit 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 banished 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 to realize freedom from death
emancipating, its objective being the end of all suffering,
and cleansing all defilements!”
So you used to urge me, mind.

“Reflect rationally 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.

“Rationally discern that impermanence is suffering,
that emptiness is non-self, and that gloom 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 seer!”
So you used to urge me, mind.

“Wander the streets well-restrained,
mentally unchained 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 extinguishment.

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 settling of suffering: these are praised by true persons.”
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 up, I can’t swallow them back.

I’ve done your bidding everywhere, mind!
For many births, I’ve done nothing to upset you.
Yet the creation in myself is because of your ingratitude—
for a long time I’ve transmigrated in the suffering you’ve made.

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

You alone make us titans;
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 seer,
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 harried—
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;
I’d never 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 monsoon;
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 heavens have rained, and the grass is four inches high,
and the grove is full of flowers like a cloud,
between the mountains, like the fork of a tree, I’ll lie;
it will be as soft as cotton-buds.

I’ll act rather 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 rather 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 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.

With wisdom you’ll cut short the one following the wrong path,
curb them by meditation, and settle them on the right path.
Having seen arising and passing away with respect to the cause of suffering,
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 monsoon clouds,
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.

The Book of the Sixties

Chapter One

THAG20.1 — Mahāmoggallāna

“Living in the wilderness, eating only almsfood,
happy with the scraps in our bowls,
let us tear apart the army of death,
while remaining serene within.

Living in the wilderness, eating only almsfood,
happy with the scraps in our bowls,
let us crush the army of death,
as an elephant a hut of reeds.

Living at the foot of a tree, persistent,
happy with the scraps in our bowls,
let us tear apart the army of death,
while remaining serene within.

Living at the foot of a tree, persistent,
happy with the scraps in our bowls,
let us crush the army of death,
as an elephant a hut of reeds.”

“You hut, made of a chain of bones,
sewn together with flesh and sinew;
curse you mortal frame, you stink,
you cherish the parts of others!

You sack of dung swathed in skin!
You demoness with horns on your chest!
O body, you have nine streams
that are flowing all the time.

With its nine streams,
your body stinks, full of dung.
A monk seeking purity
would avoid it like excrement.

If they knew you
like I do,
they’d keep far away,
like a cesspit in the monsoon.”

“So it is, great hero!
As you say, ascetic!
But some founder here
like an old bull stuck in a bog.”

“Whoever might think
of making the sky yellow,
or some other color,
would only trouble themselves.

This mind is like the sky:
serene inside itself.
Evil-minded one, don’t attack me,
you’ll end up like a moth in a mass of fire.”

“See this fancy puppet,
a body built of sores,
diseased, obsessed over,
in which nothing lasts at all.

See this fancy figure,
with its gems and earrings;
it is bones swathed in skin,
made pretty by its clothes.

Rouged feet
and powdered face
may be enough to beguile a fool,
but not a seeker of the far shore.

Hair in eight braids
and eyeshadow
may be enough to beguile a fool,
but not a seeker of the far shore.

A rotting body all adorned
like a freshly painted makeup box
may be enough to beguile a fool,
but not a seeker of the far shore.

The hunter laid his snare,
but the deer didn’t spring the trap.
I’ve eaten the bait and now I go,
leaving the trapper to lament.

The hunter’s snare is broken,
but the deer didn’t spring the trap.
I’ve eaten the bait and now I go,
leaving the deer-hunter to grieve.”

“Then there was terror!
Then they had goosebumps!
When Sāriputta, endowed with many fine qualities,
became quenched.

Oh! Conditions are impermanent,
their nature is to rise and fall;
having arisen, they cease;
their settling is such bliss.”

“Those who see the five aggregates
as other, not as self,
penetrate a subtle thing,
like a hair-tip with an arrow.

Those who see conditions
as alien, not as self,
pierce a fine thing,
like a hair-tip with an arrow.”

“Like they’re struck by a sword,
like their head was on fire,
a mendicant should wander mindful,
to give up sensual desire.

Like they’re struck by a sword,
like their head was on fire,
a mendicant should wander mindful,
to give up desire for rebirth.”

“Urged by the developed one,
who bore his final body,
I shook the stilt longhouse of Migāra’s mother
with my big toe.”

“Not by being slack,
or with little strength
may this be realized—extinguishment,
the release from all ties.”

“This young monk,
this best of men,
bears his final body,
having vanquished Māra and his legions.”

“Lightning flashes down
on the cleft of Vebhāra and Paṇḍava.
But in the mountain cleft he is absorbed in jhāna—
the son of the Buddha, inimitable and unaffected.”

“Calm and still,
the sage in his remote lodging,
the heir to the best of Buddhas,
is honored even by the Divinity.

Calm and still,
the sage in his remote lodging,
is heir to the best of Buddhas:
Brahmin, you should honor Kassapa!

Even if someone were to be born again and again
a hundred times in the human realm,
and always as a brahmin,
a student accomplished in the Vedas;

and if he were to become a reciter,
a master of the three Vedas:
honoring such a person
isn’t worth a sixteenth of that.

One who attains the eight liberations
forwards and backwards
before breakfast,
and then goes on almsround—

don’t attack such a mendicant!
Don’t ruin yourself, brahmin!
Let your heart have trust
in the perfected one, the unaffected;
quickly venerate him with cupped palms:
don’t let your head explode!”

“If you prioritize transmigration,
you don’t see the true teaching.
You’re following a twisted path,
a bad path that will lead you down.

Like a worm smeared with dung,
he is besotted with conditions.
Consumed by gain and honor,
Poṭṭhila goes on, hollow.”

“See Sāriputta coming!
It is good to see him;
he is freed in both ways,
serene inside himself;

free of thorns, with yoking ended,
master of the three knowledges, conqueror of death;
worthy of offerings,
a supreme field of merit for the people.”

“These many gods,
powerful and glorious,
all 10,000 of them,
are priests of Divinity.
They stand with cupped palms
honoring Moggallāna:

‘Homage to you, O thoroughbred!
Homage to you, supreme among men!
Since your defilements are ended,
you, good fellow, are worthy of teacher’s offerings.’

Venerated by the lordly god,
he has arisen, the master of death.
He is unsmeared by conditions,
as a lotus-flower by water.”

“The mendicant by whom the galaxy
with the age of the Divinity are known in an hour—
that master of psychic ability sees the gods
at the time they pass away and are reborn.”

“Sāriputta is full of wisdom,
ethics, and peace.
Even a mendicant who has crossed over
might at best equal him.

But in a moment I can create the likenesses
of ten million times 100,000 people!
I’m skilled in transformations;
I’m a master of psychic powers.

A member of the Moggallāna clan, attained to perfection and mastery
in immersion and knowledge, wise in the teachings of the unattached,
with serene faculties, has burst his bonds
like an elephant bursts a vine.

I’ve served the Teacher
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
The heavy burden is laid down,
the leash to existence is eradicated.

I’ve attained the goal
for the sake of which I went forth
from the lay life to homelessness—
the ending of all fetters.”

“What kind of hell was that,
where Dūsī was roasted
after attacking the disciple Vidhura
along with the brahmin Kakusandha?

There were 100 iron spikes,
each one uniquely painful.
That’s the kind of hell
where Dūsī was roasted
after attacking the disciple Vidhura
along with the brahmin Kakusandha.

Dark One, if you attack
a mendicant who directly knows this,
a disciple of the Buddha,
you’ll fall into suffering.

There are mansions that last an eon
standing in the middle of a lake.
Sapphire-colored, brilliant,
they sparkle and shine.
Dancing there are nymphs
shining in all different colors.

Dark One, if you attack
a mendicant who directly knows this,
a disciple of the Buddha,
you’ll fall into suffering.

I’m the one who, urged by the Buddha,
shook the stilt longhouse of Migāra’s mother
with his big toe
as the Saṅgha of mendicants watched.

Dark One, if you attack
a mendicant who directly knows this,
a disciple of the Buddha,
you’ll fall into suffering.

I’m the one who shook the Palace of Victory
with his big toe
owing to psychic power,
inspiring deities to awe.

Dark One, if you attack
a mendicant who directly knows this,
a disciple of the Buddha,
you’ll fall into suffering.

I’m the one who asked Sakka
in the Palace of Victory:
‘Respectable sir, I hope you recall
the one who is freed through the ending of craving?’
And I’m the one to whom Sakka
admitted the truth when asked.

Dark One, if you attack
a mendicant who directly knows this,
a disciple of the Buddha,
you’ll fall into suffering.

I’m the one who asked the Divinity
in the Hall of Clear Right before the assembly:
‘Respectable sir, do you still have the same view
that you had in the past?
Or do you see the radiance
surpassing the realm of divinity?’

And I’m the one to whom the Divinity
admitted the truth when asked.
‘Good fellow, I don’t have that view
that I had in the past.

I see the radiance
surpassing the realm of divinity.
So how could I say today
that I am permanent and eternal?’

Dark One, if you attack
a mendicant who directly knows this,
a disciple of the Buddha,
you’ll fall into suffering.

I’m the one who touched the peak of Mount Neru
using the power of meditative liberation.
I’ve visited the forests of the people
who dwell in the land east of Videha.

Dark One, if you attack
a mendicant who directly knows this,
a disciple of the Buddha,
you’ll fall into suffering.

Though a fire doesn’t think,
‘I’ll burn the fool!’
Still the fool who attacks
the fire gets burnt.

In the same way, Māra,
in attacking the Realized One,
you’ll only burn yourself,
like a fool touching the flames.

Māra’s done a bad thing
in attacking the Realized One.
Wicked One, do you imagine that
your wickedness won’t bear fruit?

Your deeds heap up wickedness
that will last a long time, terminator!
Give up on the Buddha, Māra!
And hold no hope for the mendicants!”

That is how, in the Bhesekaḷā grove,
the mendicant warned Māra.
That spirit, downcast,
disappeared right there.

That is how these verses were recited by the senior venerable Mahāmoggallāna.

The Book of the Sixties is finished.

The Great Book

Chapter One

THAG21.1 — Vaṅgīsa

“Now that I’ve renounced
the lay life for homelessness,
I’m overrun
by the rude thoughts of the Dark One.

Even if a thousand warrior chiefs and great archers,
well trained, with strong bows,
were to completely surround me;
I would never flee.

And even if women come,
many more than that,
they won’t bother me,
for I stand firm in the teaching.

I heard with my own ears
from the Buddha, Kinsman of the Sun,
about the path going to extinguishment;
that’s what delights my mind.

Wicked One, if you come near me
as I meditate like this,
I’ll make sure that you, Death,
won’t even see the path I take.”

“Giving up desire and discontent,
along with all thought of domestic life,
they wouldn’t get snarled in anything;
unsnarled, free of snarls: that’s a real mendicant.

Whatever here is included in form—
on earth, in the sky, or in planet’s deep—
wears out, it is all impermanent:
the self-examined live having comprehended this.

People are bound to their attachments,
to impingement of the seen and heard, and to what is thought.
Unstirred, dispel desire for these things;
for one called ‘a sage’ does not cling to them.

Trapped in the sixty wrong views, full of their own opinions,
ordinary people are fixed in wrong principles.
But that mendicant wouldn’t join a sect,
still less would they utter lewd speech.

Proficient, long serene,
free of deceit, alert, without envy,
the sage has reached the state of peace;
quenched, he awaits his time.”

“Give up conceit, Gotama!
Completely abandon the different kinds of conceit!
Besotted with the different kinds of conceit,
you’ve had regrets for a long time.

Smeared by smears and slain by conceit,
people fall into hell.
When people slain by conceit are reborn in hell,
they grieve for a long time.

But a mendicant who practices rightly,
a path-victor, never grieves.
They enjoy happiness and a good reputation,
and they rightly call him a ‘Seer of Truth’.

So being not hard-hearted, but energetic,
with hindrances given up, pure;
and having completely given up conceit,
the one who makes an end with knowledge is assuaged.”

“I’ve got a burning desire for pleasure;
my mind is on fire!
Please, out of compassion, Gotama,
tell me how to quench the flames.”

“Your mind is on fire
because of a perversion of perception.
Turn away from the sign
that’s attractive, provoking lust.

With your mind unified and serene,
meditate on the ugly aspects of the body.
With mindfulness immersed in the body,
be full of disillusionment.

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

“Speak only those words
that do not hurt yourself
nor harm others;
such speech is truly well spoken.

Speak only pleasing words,
words gladly welcomed.
Pleasing words are those
that bring nothing bad to others.

Truth itself is undying speech:
this is an ancient teaching.
Good people say the teaching and meaning
are grounded in truth.

The words spoken by the Buddha
for finding the sanctuary, extinguishment,
for making an end of suffering:
this really is the best kind of speech.”

“Deep in wisdom, intelligent,
expert in the path and what is not the path;
Sāriputta, so greatly wise,
teaches Dhamma to the mendicants.

He teaches in brief,
or he speaks at length.
His call, like a myna bird,
overflows with inspiration.

While he teaches
the mendicants listen to his sweet voice,
sounding attractive,
clear and graceful.
They listen joyfully,
their hearts elated.”

“Today, on the fifteenth day sabbath,
five hundred monks have gathered together to purify their precepts.
These untroubled sages have cut off their fetters and bonds,
they will not be reborn again.

Just as a wheel-rolling monarch
surrounded by ministers
travels all around this
land that’s girt by sea.

So disciples with the three knowledges,
conquerors of death,
revere the winner of the battle,
the unsurpassed caravan leader.

All are sons of the Blessed One—
there is no rubbish here.
I bow to the Kinsman of the Sun,
destroyer of the dart of craving.”

“Over a thousand mendicants
revere the Holy One
as he teaches the immaculate Dhamma,
extinguishment, fearing nothing from any quarter.

They listen to the immaculate Dhamma
taught by the fully awakened Buddha;
the Buddha shines
at the fore of the mendicant Saṅgha.

Blessed One, your name is ‘Giant’,
seventh of the seers.
You are like a great cloud
that rains on your disciples.

I’ve left my day’s meditation,
out of desire to see the Teacher.
Great hero, your disciple Vaṅgīsa
bows at your feet.”

“Having overcome Māra’s wrong path,
you wander with hard-heartedness dissolved.
See him, the liberator from bonds,
dissecting the unattached section by section.

You have explained in many ways
the path to cross the flood.
The Seers of Truth stand unfaltering
in the freedom from death explained by you.

As the bringer of light who has pierced the truth,
you’ve seen what lies beyond all planes.
When you saw and realized this for yourself,
you taught it first to the group of five.

When the Dhamma has been so well taught,
how could those who know it be negligent?
That’s why, being diligent, we should always train
respectfully in the Buddha’s teaching.”

“The senior monk awakened after the Buddha,
Koṇḍañña, is keenly energetic.
He regularly gains
the blissful meditations of seclusion.

Whatever can be attained by a disciple
who does the Teacher’s bidding,
he has attained it all,
through diligently training himself.

With great power and the three knowledges,
expert in encompassing the minds of others,
Koṇḍañña, the heir to the Buddha,
bows at the Teacher’s feet.”

“As the sage, who has gone beyond suffering,
sits upon the mountain slope,
he is revered by disciples with the three knowledges,
conquerors of death.

Moggallāna, of great psychic power,
encompasses with his mind,
scrutinizing their minds,
liberated, free of attachments.

That is how those endowed with many fine qualities
revere Gotama,
the sage gone beyond suffering,
perfect in every respect.”

“Like the moon on a cloudless night,
like the shining immaculate sun,
so too Aṅgīrasa, O great sage,
your glory outshines the entire world.”

“We used to wander, drunk on poetry,
from village to village, town to town.
Then we saw the Buddha,
who has gone beyond all things.

He, the sage gone beyond suffering,
taught me the Dhamma.
When we heard the Dhamma, we became confident—
faith arose in us.

Hearing him speak of
the aggregates, the sense-fields,
and the elements, I understood;
and then I went forth to homelessness.

It is for the benefit of many
that the Realized Ones arise—
the men and women
who follow their instructions.

It is truly for their benefit
that the sage realized awakening—
for the monks and for the nuns
who see that they’ve reached certainty.

The Clear-eyed One, the Buddha,
the Kinsman of the Sun,
has well taught the four noble truths
out of sympathy for living creatures.

Suffering, suffering’s origin,
suffering’s transcendence,
and the noble eightfold path
that leads to the stilling of suffering.

As these things were taught,
so I have seen them.
I’ve realized my heart’s goal,
and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.

It was so welcome for me
to be in the presence of the Buddha.
Of the well-explained teachings,
I arrived at the best.

I’ve realized the perfection of direct knowledge;
my clairaudience is purified;
I am master of three knowledges, attained in psychic power,
I’m expert at reading the minds of others.”

“I ask the Teacher unrivaled in wisdom,
who has cut off all doubts in this very life:
a monk has died at Āḷavī’s premier shrine,
who was well-known, famous, and quenched.

Nigrodhakappa was his name;
it was given to that brahmin by you, Blessed One.
He wandered in your honor, yearning for freedom,
energetic, a resolute Seer of Truth.

O Sakyan, All-seer,
we all wish to know about that disciple.
Our ears are eager to hear,
for you are the most excellent teacher.

Cut off our doubt, declare this to us;
your wisdom is vast, tell us of his quenching!
All-seer, speak among us,
like the thousand-eyed Sakka in the midst of the gods!

Whatever ties there are, or paths to delusion,
or things on the side of unknowing, or that are bases of doubt
vanish on reaching a Realized One,
for his eye is the best of all people’s.

If no man were ever to disperse corruptions,
like the wind dispersing the stormclouds,
darkness would shroud the whole world;
not even brilliant men would shine.

The attentive are bringers of light;
my hero, that is what I think of you.
We’ve come for your discernment and knowledge:
here in this assembly, declare to us about Kappāyana.

Swiftly send forth your sweet, sweet voice,
like a goose stretching its neck, gently honking,
lucid-flowing, with lovely tone:
alert, we all listen to you.

You have entirely abandoned birth and death;
curbed and pure, I urge you, speak the Dhamma!
For ordinary people have no wish-granter,
but Realized Ones have a comprehensibility-granter.

Your answer is definitive, and we will adopt it,
for you have perfect understanding.
We raise our cupped palms one last time,
one of unrivaled wisdom, don’t deliberately confuse us.

Knowing the teaching of the noble ones from top to bottom,
one of unrivaled energy, don’t deliberately confuse us.
Like a man baking in the summer sun would long for water,
I long for your voice, so let the sound rain forth.

Surely Kappāyana did not lead the spiritual life in vain?
Did he realize quenching,
or did he still have a residue?
Let us hear what kind of liberation he had!”

“He cut off craving for name and form right here,”
said the Buddha,
“the river of darkness that had long lain within him.
He has entirely crossed over birth and death.”
So declared the Blessed One, the leader of the five.

“Now that I have heard your words,
seventh of seers, I am confident.
My question, it seems, was not in vain,
the brahmin did not deceive me.

As he said, so he did—
he was a disciple of the Buddha.
He cut the net of death the deceiver,
so extended and strong.

Blessed One, Kappāyana saw
the starting point of grasping.
He has indeed gone far beyond
Death’s dominion so hard to pass.

God of gods, best of men, I bow to you,
and to your son,
who followed your example, a great hero;
a giant, bosom son of a giant.”

That is how these verses were recited by the senior venerable Vaṅgīsa.

The Great Book is Finished

The Verses of the Senior Monks are finished.

Colophon

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato and Jessica Walton from the Pali (2014; revised 2019), for SuttaCentral. Dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0 1.0) — see the source repository's license statement below.

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted transcription and editorial work: all 264 poems across the twenty-one traditional nipātas were assembled from SuttaCentral's bilara-data segment-JSON translation files, merged with the accompanying structural-markup JSON to reconstruct headings, paragraphs, and verse, via a deterministic conversion script adapted from the one built for the Dīgha, Majjhima, Saṁyutta, and Aṅguttara Nikāya editions; no wording was altered or paraphrased from the translation.

Source: suttacentral/bilara-data, published branch, commit 204a5c67e0efe49dba762e807d391e295f19bdc6 (2026-08-05), paths translation/en/sujato/sutta/kn/thag/, html/pli/ms/sutta/kn/thag/, and root/pli/ms/sutta/kn/thag/ (the root layer consulted only for titles and, in some editions, for the Pali-only structural headings noted in the introduction above). License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0), per the repository's LICENSE.md: "All translations created in Bilara and supported by SuttaCentral are dedicated to the Public Domain."

Prepared August 2026.

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