The Therigatha, the ninth book of the Khuddaka Nikaya , consists of 73 poems — 522 stanzas in all — in which the early nuns (bhikkhunis) recount their struggles and accomplishments along the road to arahantship. Their stories are told with often heart-breaking honesty and beauty, revealing the deeply human side of these extraordinary women, and thus serve as inspiring reminders of our own potential to follow in their footsteps.

An excellent print translation of the Therigatha is Poems of Early Buddhist Nuns, translated by C.A.F. Rhys Davids and K.R. Norman (Oxford: Pali Text Society , 1989).

The translator appears in the square brackets []. Pali verse numbers appear in the braces {}.

Chapter 1 — Single Verses { Thig 1-18 }

Thig 1.1: An Anonymous Bhikkhuni: { Thig 1 } [Thanissaro].
Like a pot of pickled greens boiled dry.
Thig 1.3: Punna: { Thig 3 } [Thanissaro].
Bursting the mass of darkness.
Thig 1.11: Mutta: { Thig 11 } [Thanissaro].
Free at last from three crooked things!
Thig 1.17: Dhamma: { Thig 17 } [Thanissaro].
Collapsing to the ground from weakness —the Dhamma appears!

Chapter 2 — Pairs of Verses { Thig 19-38 }

Thig 2: Chapter 2 — Pairs of Verses { Thig 19-38 } [ Thanissaro (excerpt) ].
What bliss — free at last from my shameless husband!

Chapter 3 — Groups of Three Verses { Thig 39-62 }

Thig 3.2: Uttama — { Thig 42-44 } [ Thanissaro ].
Seven days of continuous meditation. On the eighth: Victory!
Thig 3.4: Dantika and the Elephant — { Thig 39-62 } [ Davids | Thanissaro ].
Taming the mind: "Why I'd gone to the woods in the first place."
Thig 3: Ubbiri — Groups of Three Verses { Thig 51-53 } [ Thanissaro (excerpt) ].
A mother conquers her grief over her daughter's death.

Chapter 4 — The Group of Four Verses { Thig 63-66 }

Thig 4.1: Bhadda Kapilani — { Thig 63-66 } [ Hecker/Khema ].
Bhadda recalls her ex-husband (Ven. Maha Kassapa), and sings of how they now are both "cooled of passions."

Chapter 5 — Groups of Five Verses { Thig 67-126 }

Thig 5.2: Vimala — The Former Courtesan { Thig 72-76 } [ Thanissaro ].
A former prostitute joins the ranks of the arahants.
Thig 5.4: Nanda — Nanda's Vision { Thig 82-86 } [ Hecker/Khema | Thanissaro ].
Contemplating the foul nature of the body, Nanda uproots all passions.
Thig 5.6: Mittakali — { Thig 92-96 } [ Thanissaro ].
No time for heedlessness!
Thig 5.8: Sona — With Many Children/Mother of Ten { Thig 102-106 } [ Hecker/Khema | Thanissaro ].
Sona conquers aging: "I spit on old age!"
Thig 5.9: Bhadda Kundalakesa — The Former Jain Ascetic { Thig 107-111 } [ Hecker/Khema ].
Bhadda looks back and gives thanks to whomever it was who long ago gave her a robe when she set out in the homeless life.
Thig 5.10: Patacara — Preserver of the Vinaya/ { Thig 112-116 } [ Hecker/Khema | Thanissaro ].
"And taking a pin, I pulled out the wick..."
Thig 5.11: Patacara's Thirty Students — { Thig 117-121 } [ Hecker/Khema | Thanissaro ].
Patacara's instructions lead all her students to arahantship.
Thig 5.12: Canda — The Beggar { Thig 122-126 } [ Thanissaro ].
A former beggar becomes an arahant.

Chapter 6 — Groups of Six Verses { Thig 127-174 }

Thig 6.1: Pañcasata Patacara — The Soothing of Grief/Patacara's 500 Students { Thig 127-132 } [ Olendzki | Thanissaro ].
A mother conquers her grief over her son's death: "As he came, so he has gone — so what is there to lament?"
Thig 6.2: Vasitthi the Madwoman — { Thig 133-138 } [ Thanissaro ].
A mother conquers her grief over her son's death.
Thig 6.4: The Verses of Final Knowledge of Bhikkhuni Sujata — { Thig 133-138 } [ Hecker/Khema ].
When, by chance, she passed by a monastery, her life changed forever.
Thig 6.5: Anopama, the Millionaire's Daughter — { Thig 151-156 } [ Thanissaro ].
A wealthy heiress hears the Dhamma and becomes a non-returner.
Thig 6.6: Maha Pajapati (Gotami) Theri — A Mother's Blessing { Thig 157-162 } [ Olendzki ].
After attaining arhantship, Pajapati Gotami sings the praises of her stepson — none other than the Buddha himself.
Thig 6.7: Gutta — { Thig 163-168 } [ Thanissaro ].
The Buddha urges a childless mother in her pursuit of the Deathless.

Chapter 7 — Groups of Seven Verses { Thig 175-195 }

Chapter 8 — The Group of Eight Verses { Thig 196-203 }

Chapter 9 — The Group of Nine Verses { Thig 204-212 }

Chapter 10 — The Group of Eleven Verses { Thig 213-223 }

Thig 10: Kisagotami Theri — The Woman with the Dead Child/ { Thig 213-223 } [ Hecker/Khema (excerpt) | Thanissaro ].
Kisagotami, now an arahant, looks back upon a long, hard life of sorrow: "Your tears have flowed for many thousands of lives."

Chapter 11 — The Group of Twelve Verses

Chapter 12 — The Group of Sixteen Verses { Thig 236-251 }

Thig 12.1: Punnika — Punnika and the Brahman { Thig 236-251 } [ Thanissaro ].
Punnika convinces a brahman to abandon his purifying water-rituals — after all, if bathing were sacred, then frogs, turtles, and fish would all be pure!

Chapter 13 — Groups of (about) Twenty Verses { Thig 252-365 }

Thig 13.1: Ambapali — { Thig 252-270 } [ Thanissaro ].
A former courtesan — now an arahant — reveals how aging has eroded every trace of her youthful beauty. An exquisite portrait of the effects of aging.
Thig 13.2: Rohini — { Thig 271-290 } [ Thanissaro ].
Before her ordination, Rohini answers her father's accusation that monks are lazy. In fact, she observes, "They do the best work."
Thig 13.5: Subha — The Goldsmith's Daughter { Thig 339-367 } [ Thanissaro ].
Subha resists her family's efforts to lure her back the world of sensuality and riches, and soon discovers a treasure worth more than any amount of gold or silver.

Chapter 14 — The Group of (about) Thirty Verses { Thig 366-399 }

Thig 14.1: Subha Jivakambavanika — Subha and the Libertine { Thig 366-399 } [ Thanissaro ].
Subha, an arahant nun living alone in the forest, is hounded by a man who lusts after her. Her "special gift" to him instantly gives him a change of heart. A magnificent story.

Chapter 15 — The Group of (about) Forty Verses { Thig 400-447 }

Chapter 16 — The Great Group of Verses { Thig 448-522 }