Help | Home » Tipitaka » Sutta Pitaka » Khuddaka Nikaya » Context of the Theragatha

Theragatha

Verses of the Elder Monks

(selected verses)

Find a sutta by name | Download this anthology

See also the Therigatha (Verses of the Elder Nuns).


The Theragatha, the eighth book of the Khuddaka Nikaya, consists of 264 poems (1,291 stanzas in all) in which the early monks (bhikkhus) 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 men, and thus serve as inspiring reminders of our own potential to follow in their footsteps.

An anthology of selected suttas from the Khuddaka Nikaya (including the Theragatha), translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, is also available in Microsoft Word 6 (Macintosh/Windows) format. See the Theravada Text Archives page for more information.

The braces {} that follow each sutta title contain the verse numbers of the corresponding Pali text of the Theragatha.



Revised: Tue 16 April 2002
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/khuddaka/theragatha/index.html