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Therīgāthā · Poems of the Elder Nuns

Thig 6:7 Guttā

34 selected poems · translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu

Thig 6:7  Guttā

[The Buddha admonished me:]

Guttā, devote yourself to the goal

for which you went forth,

having discarded [hope]

for a dear son of your own.1

Don’t fall under the sway

of the mind.

Hoodwinked by mind,

beings in love with Māra’s realm,

roam

through the many-birth wandering-on,

unknowing.

Abandoning these lower fetters, nun—

sensual desire, ill will,

self-identity views,

grasping at habits & practices,

and uncertainty as the fifth—

you won’t come

to this again.

Forsaking     passion, conceit,

ignorance, & restlessness

—cutting through [all] the fetters—

you will make an end

of suffering & stress.

Discarding birth & wandering-on,

comprehending further becoming,

free from hunger

in the right-here-&-now

you will go about

totally calmed.

Note

1. Reading hitvā puttaṁ visuṁ piyaṁ with the Burmese edition.

Translations & sourcesEditions & translators
Explore poems at Dhammatalks.org ↗

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu’s anthology of poems attributed to elder nuns. This source offers selections from the larger collection.

Edition & attribution

Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. These 34 selected poems are reproduced from dhammatalks.org under CC BY-NC 4.0. Formatting adapted for Buddhist Atlas; wording unchanged. This is a selection, not the complete Therīgāthā.

An introduction. Follow the source link below to read the translated text.

Introductions, reflection questions and added section headings are editorial material, separate from the attributed translation.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork created for Buddhist Atlas. It is an evocative companion, not a depiction of the text’s historical setting.

Selected translations · free

Source link checked October 1, 2026. The linked publisher provides the text and its usage terms.

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Therīgāthā — selected poems