Therigatha
Sign in to saveAlso known as Verses of the Elder Nuns
The Therīgāthā, often translated as Verses of the Elder Nuns (Pāli: therī elder (feminine) + gāthā verses), is a Buddhist collection of short poems supposedly spoken or authored by Buddhist elder nuns. The poems belong to a later period in the development of canonical Buddhist literature, composed over centuries, with some dating to the late third century BCE.
Key facts
- Pali text.type
- Canonical text
- Pali text.parent
- Khuddaka Nikāya
- Pali text.comment_by
- Paramatthadīpanī (Therīgāthā-aṭṭhakathā)
- Pali text.abbrev
- Thig; Thī
- Pali text.comment_author
- Dhammapāla
- Pali text.attribution
- 73 therīs; Bhāṇaka
- Pali text.sc
- pitaka/sutta/minor/kn/thig
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
Show 1 more fact
- entry in abbreviations table
- Th 2
Sources (1)
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~15 min read
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Authorship
- Overview of the text
- Composition and Inspiration
- View of the female body
- Significance
- Authenticity
- Translations
- Online in English
- Related works
- Modern works
- References
- Bibliography
The Therīgāthā, often translated as Verses of the Elder Nuns (Pāli: therī elder (feminine) + gāthā verses), is a Buddhist collection of short poems supposedly spoken or authored by Buddhist elder nuns. The poems belong to a later period in the development of canonical Buddhist literature, composed over centuries, with some dating to the late third century BCE.
In the Pāli Canon, the Therigatha is classified as part of the Khuddaka Nikaya, the collection of short books in the Sutta Pitaka. It consists of 73 poems organized into 16 chapters. It is the companion text to the Theragatha, verses attributed to senior monks. It is the earliest known collection of women's literature composed in India.