Theragatha
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The ''Theragatha'' (''Verses of the Elder Monks'') is a Buddhist text, a collection of short poems in
Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
attributed to members of the early
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...
. It is classified as part of the Khuddaka Nikaya, the collection of minor books in the Sutta Pitaka. A similar text, the Therigatha, contains verses attributed to early Buddhist nuns.


Etymology

''Theragatha'' is a
Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
word, constructed from the words ''thera'' (elder, masculine) and ''gāthā'' (verse).


Overview

The Theragatha consists of 264 poems, organized into 21 chapters. Chapters are based on the number of verses in the poem, but beyond chapter 16 the chapter headings are only a rough guide. Various figures for the number of total verses in the collection are given- the oral tradition claimed 1360, 1294 are mentioned in summaries within the text, but a plain count of the verses gives a number of 1279. This may be because different versions of the Theragatha were combined to produce the current version of the text. While most of the verses are spoken by the monk to whom they are attributed, some seem to have become associated with them in other ways- some verses are addressed to the monk the poem is named for, and a collection of verses associated with Ananda contains a mix of verses recited by or to Ananda on various occasions. Several verses in the Theragatha appear elsewhere in the canon, attributed to the same monks. Most of the monks in the Theragatha lived during the time of the Buddha, but the collection seems to have continued to grow until at least the
Third Buddhist Council The Third Buddhist council was convened in about 250 BCE at Asokarama in Pataliputra, under the patronage of Emperor Ashoka. The traditional reason for convening the Third Buddhist Council is reported to have been to rid the Sangha of corruption ...
. The omission of similar verses that were included in the
Milindapanha The ''Milinda Pañha'' () is a Buddhist text which dates from sometime between 100 BC and 200 AD. It purports to record a dialogue between the Indian Buddhist sage Nāgasena, and the 2nd century BC Indo-Greek king Menander I (Pali: ''Milinda' ...
suggests that while chapters continued to be added to the Theragatha for a period of 300 years or so, the collection was ultimately closed and put in a final form. A variety of early and late poetic meters are employed, and K.R. Norman suggests that the inclusion of miracle stories and congregations of gods are indicative of later additions. Some of the verses in the collection seem to mirror contemporary secular poetry of their time, with romantic lyrics replaced with religious imagery. Notable texts from the Theragatha include the eighth poem of chapter sixteen, consisting of verses recited by the reformed killer Angulimala, and the third poem of chapter seventeen, in which the Buddha's cousin and retainer Ananda mourns the passing of his master. Many of the verses of the Theragatha concern the attempts of monks to overcome the temptations of Mara.


Related Works

A single commentary attributed to Dhammapala covers both the Theragatha and Therigatha. In one case, a poem appears to have been split with verses attributed to a monk appearing in the Theragatha, and verses attributed to his mother placed in the Therigatha. Fragments of a
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
version of the Theragatha preserved by the
Sarvastivadin The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (Sanskrit and Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, ) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy ...
tradition, known as the Sthaviragatha, were discovered in
Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turke ...
and published in 1961.


Translations

* ''Theragāthā: Verses of the Elder Bhikkhus'', translated by Bhikkhu Mahinda (Anagarika Mahendra), Bilingual Pali-English Second Edition 2022, Dhamma Publishers, Roslindale MA; . * ''Psalms of the Brethren'', tr C. A. F. Rhys Davids, 1913; reprinted in ''Psalms of the Early Buddhists'', Pali Text Society

Bristol * ''Elders' Verses'', volume I, tr K. R. Norman, 1969, Pali Text Society, Bristol; the PTS's preferred translation; also available in paperback as ''Poems of Early Buddhist Monks'', without the translator's notes () *
Verses of the Senior Monks
', translated by
Bhikkhu Sujato Bhante Sujato, known as Ajahn Sujato or Bhikkhu Sujato (born Anthony Best), is an Australian Theravada Buddhist monk ordained into the Thai forest lineage of Ajahn Chah. Life Bhante Sujato identifies as an anarchist. A former musician with t ...
and Jessica Walton, 2019, SuttaCentral.


External links


Theragatha translated by Bhikkhu Mahinda
at LearnBuddhism.org.
The Theragatha
(
Access to Insight Access to Insight is a Theravada Buddhist website providing access to many translated texts from the Tipitaka, and contemporary materials published by the Buddhist Publication Society and many teachers from the Thai Forest Tradition. History A ...
)
Theragatha
at SuttaCentral


References

{{Buddhism topics Khuddaka Nikaya Buddhist monks Buddhist hagiography