I gave birth to ten sons in this form, this bag of bones. Then, when feeble and old, I approached a nun.
She taught me the Dhamma: the aggregates, sense fields, and elements. When I heard her teaching, I shaved off my hair and went forth.
When I was a trainee nun, my clairvoyance was clarified, and I knew my past lives, the places I used to live.
I meditate on the signless, my mind unified and serene. I achieved the immediate liberation, quenched by not grasping.
The five aggregates are fully understood; they remain, but their root is cut. Curse you, wretched old age! now there’ll be no more future lives.
Soṇā
Thig 5.8 · Soṇātherīgāthā
Connections
Collection & context
- TherīgāthāThe collection containing this text
- The Pāli canonCanonical collection in which this edition is preserved
- Theravāda traditionsTransmission and study context
- The early Buddhist communityHistorical and traditional setting
Books
- Handful of Leaves: an Anthology from the Sutta PiṭakaEarly Buddhist discourses; Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (translator and compiler) · Included in anthology
About this edition
Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato and Jessica Walton · SuttaCentral · CC0
This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.
Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.
The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.