Pañcasatamattātherīgāthā

Therīgāthā 6.1

Verses of the Senior Nuns 6.1

Chakkanipāta

The Book of the Sixes

Pañcasatamattātherīgāthā

Paṭācārā, Who Had a Following of Five Hundred

“Yassa maggaṁ na jānāsi,

“One whose path you do not know,

āgatassa gatassa vā;

not whence they came nor where they went;

Taṁ kuto cāgataṁ sattaṁ,

though they came from who knows where,

‘mama putto’ti rodasi.

you mourn that being, crying, ‘Oh my son!’

Maggañca khossa jānāsi,

But one whose path you do know,

āgatassa gatassa vā;

whence they came or where they went;

Na naṁ samanusocesi,

that one you do not lament—

evaṁdhammā hi pāṇino.

such is the nature of living creatures.

Ayācito tatāgacchi,

Unasked he came,

nānuññāto ito gato;

he left without leave.

Kutoci nūna āgantvā,

He must have come from somewhere,

vasitvā katipāhakaṁ;

and stayed who knows how many days.

Itopi aññena gato,

He left from here by one road,

tatopaññena gacchati.

he will go from there by another.

Peto manussarūpena,

Departing with the form of a human,

saṁsaranto gamissati;

he will go on transmigrating.

Yathāgato tathā gato,

As he came, so he went:

kā tattha paridevanā”.

why weep over that?”

“Abbahī vata me sallaṁ,

“Oh! For you have plucked the arrow from me,

duddasaṁ hadayassitaṁ;

so hard to see, stuck in the heart.

Yā me sokaparetāya,

You’ve swept away the grief for my son,

puttasokaṁ byapānudi.

in which I once was mired.

Sājja abbūḷhasallāhaṁ,

Today I’ve plucked the arrow,

Nicchātā parinibbutā;

I’m hungerless, quenched.

Buddhaṁ dhammañca saṅghañca,

I go for refuge to that sage, the Buddha,

Upemi saraṇaṁ muniṁ”.

to his teaching, and to the Saṅgha.”

Itthaṁ sudaṁ pañcasatamattā therī bhikkhuniyo … pe….

That is how Paṭācārā, who had a following of five hundred, declared her enlightenment.