Theragāthā

Verses of the Senior Monks

The “Verses of the Senior Monks” is a collection of about 1288 verses attributed to 264 of the senior monks alive in the Buddha’s time, or in a few cases, a little later. It is a pair with the Therīgāthā, the “Verses of the Senior Nuns”. These verses celebrate the joy of freedom and the life of meditation in the forest. Together these collections constitute one of the oldest and largest collections of contemplative literature, preserving the unique voices of hundreds of early practitioners. Based on style and content, these collections belong to the early discourses. They are referred to on occasion in the northern canons, but no parallel collections have survived.

• EkakanipātaThe Book of the Ones120 ข้อ
• DukanipātaThe Book of the Twos49 ข้อ
• TikanipātaThe Book of the Threes16 ข้อ
• CatukkanipātaThe Book of the Fours12 ข้อ
• PañcakanipātaThe Book of the Fives12 ข้อ
• ChakkanipātaThe Book of the Sixes14 ข้อ
• SattakanipātaThe Book of the Sevens5 ข้อ
• AṭṭhakanipātaThe Book of the Eights3 ข้อ
• NavakanipātaThe Book of the Nines1 ข้อ
• DasakanipātaThe Book of the Tens7 ข้อ
• EkādasakanipātaThe Book of the Elevens1 ข้อ
• DvādasakanipātaThe Book of the Twelves2 ข้อ
• TerasanipātaThe Book of the Thirteens1 ข้อ
• CuddasakanipātaThe Book of the Fourteens2 ข้อ
• SoḷasakanipātaThe Book of the Sixteens2 ข้อ
• VīsatinipātaThe Book of the Twenties10 ข้อ
• TiṁsanipātaThe Book of the Thirties3 ข้อ
• CattālīsanipātaThe Book of the Forties1 ข้อ
• PaññāsanipātaThe Book of the Fifties1 ข้อ
• SaṭṭhinipātaThe Book of the Sixties1 ข้อ
• MahānipātaThe Great Book1 ข้อ