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# Theragatha

## Chapter I -- Single Verses

### (Selected suttas)

Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

I.1 -- Subhuti {v. 1}

> My hut is roofed, comfortable,
> free of drafts;
> my mind, well-centered,
> set free.
> I remain ardent.
> So, rain-deva.
> Go ahead & rain.

I.2 -- Mahakotthika {v. 2}

> Calmed, restrained,
> giving counsel unruffled,
> he lifts off evil states of mind --
> as the breeze,
> a leaf from a tree.

I.3 -- Kankharevata {v. 3}

> See this:
> the discernment
> of the Tathagatas,
> like a fire ablaze in the night,
> giving light, giving eyes,
> to those who come,
> subduing their doubt.

[See also: Ud V.7 (Kankharevata = Revata the Doubter).]

I.7 -- Bhalliya {v. 7}

> Who scatters the troops
> of the King of Death --
> as a great flood,
> a very weak bridge made of reeds --
> is victorious,
> for his fears are dispersed.
> He's tamed,
> unbound,
> steadfast in himself.

I.14 -- Vanavaccha's pupil {v. 14}

> My preceptor said to me:
> Let's go from here, Sivaka.
> My body stays in the village,
> my mind has gone to the wilds.
> Even though I'm lying down,
> I go.
> There's no tying down
> one who knows.

I.16 -- Belatthasisa {v. 16}

> Just as a fine thoroughbred steed,
> with swishing tail & mane
> runs with next-to-no effort,
> so my days & nights
> run with next-to-no effort
> now that I've gained a happiness
> not of the flesh.

I.22 -- Cittaka {v. 22}

> Peacocks,
> crested, blue, with gorgeous necks,
> cry out
> in the Karamvi woods,
> thrilled by the cold wind.
> They awaken the sleeper
> to meditate.

I.26 -- Abhaya {v. 26}

> Hearing the well-spoken words
> of the Awakened One,
> Kinsman of the Sun,
> I pierced what is subtle --
> as if, with an arrow,
> the tip of a horse-tail hair.

I.29 -- Harita {v. 29}

> Harita,
> raise yourself up-
> right
> and, straightening your mind
> -- like a fletcher, an arrow --
> shatter ignorance
> to bits.

I.32 -- Suppiya {v. 32}

> I'll make a trade:
> aging for the Ageless,
> burning for the Unbound:
> the highest peace,
> the unexcelled rest
> from the yoke.

I.39 -- Tissa {v. 39}

> As if struck by a sword,
> as if his head were on fire,
> a monk should live the wandering life
> -- mindful --
> for the abandoning of sensual passion.

I.41 -- Sirivaddha {v. 41}

> Lightning lands on the cleft
> between Vebhara & Pandava,
> but,
> having gone to the cleft in the mountains,
> he's absorbed in jhana -- the son
> of the one without compare,
> the one who is Such.

I.43 -- Sumangala {v. 43}

> So freed! So freed!
> So thoroughly freed am I
> from three crooked things:
> my sickles, my shovels, my plows.
> Even if they were here,
> right here,
> I'd be done with them,
> done.
> Meditate, Sumangala.
> Meditate, Sumangala.
> Sumangala, stay heedful.

I.49 -- Ramaneyyaka {v. 49}

> Even with all the whistles & whistling,
> the calls of the birds,
> this, my mind, doesn't waver,
> for my delight is in
> oneness.

I.50 -- Vimala {v. 50}

> The earth's sprinkled
> with rain, wind
> is blowing, lightning
> wanders the sky,
> but my thoughts are stilled,
> well-centered
> my mind.

I.56 -- Kutiviharin {v. 56}

> Who's in the hut?
> A monk's in the hut --
> free from passion,
> with well-centered mind.
> Know this, my friend:
> The hut you built
> wasn't wasted.

I.68 -- Ekuddaniya {v. 68}

> Exalted in mind & heedful:
> a sage trained in sagacity's ways.
> He has no sorrows, one who is Such,[1]
> calmed & ever mindful.

> Note:
> 1. Tadi: "Such," an adjective to describe one who has attained the goal. It indicates that the person's state is indefinable but not subject to change or influences of any sort. [Go back]

I.84 -- Nita {v. 84}

> Asleep the whole night,
> delighting in company by day:
> when, when
> will the fool
> bring suffering & stress
> to an end?

I.93 -- Eraka {v. 93}

> Sensual pleasures are stressful,
> Eraka.
> Sensual pleasures aren't ease.
> Whoever loves sensual pleasures
> loves stress, Eraka.
> Whoever doesn't,
> doesn't love stress.

I.95 -- Cakkhupala {v. 95}

> I'm blind,
> my eyes are destroyed.
> I've stumbled
> on a wilderness track.
> Even
> if I must crawl,
> I'll go on,
> but not with an evil companion.

I.104 -- Khitaka {v. 104}

> How light my body!
> Touched by abundant
> rapture & bliss,
> -- like a cotton tuft
> borne on the breeze --
> it seems to be floating
> -- my body!

I.111 -- Jenta {v. 111}

> Going forth is hard;
> houses are hard places to live;
> the Dhamma is deep;
> wealth, hard to obtain;
> it's hard to keep going
> with whatever we get:
> so it's right that we ponder
> continually
> continual
> inconstancy.

I.113 -- Vanavaccha {v. 113}

> With clear waters &
> massive boulders,
> frequented by monkeys &
> deer,
> covered with moss &
> water weeds,
> those rocky crags refresh me.

I.118 -- Kimbila {v. 118}

> As if sent by a curse,
> it drops on us --
> aging.
> The body seems other,
> though it's still the same one.
> I'm still here
> & have never been absent from it,
> but I remember myself
> as if somebody else's.

I.120 -- Isidatta {v. 120}

> The five aggregates,
> having been comprehended,
> stand with their root
> cut through.
> For me
> the ending of stress
> is reached;
> the ending of fermentations,
> attained.

Revised: Fri 12 April 2002