Theragatha – The Single Verses

Theragatha
The Single Verses
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

 

I.1 — Subhuti

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

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

I.3 — Kankharevata

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.

 

I.7 — Bhalliya

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

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

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

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

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

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

I.32 — Suppiya

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

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

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

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.
Do jhana, Sumangala.
Do jhana, Sumangala.
Sumangala, stay heedful.

I.49 — Ramaneyyaka

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

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 (1)

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.57 — Kutiviharin (2)

This was your old hut,
and you aspire to another,
new hut.
Discard your hope for a hut, monk.
A new hut will be
painful all over again.

I.61 — Vappa

One who sees
sees who sees,
sees who doesn’t.
One who doesn’t see
doesn’t see who sees
or who doesn’t.

I.68 — Ekuddaniya

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.

I.73 — Manava

On seeing an old person;
&
a person in pain, diseased;
&
a person dead, gone to life’s end,
I left
for the life gone forth,
abandoning the sensuality
that entices the heart.

I.84 — Nita

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

I.93 — Eraka

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

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

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

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

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

I.118 — Kimbila

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

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.