The Theragatha, the eighth book of the Khuddaka Nikaya, consists of 264 poems — 1,291 stanzas in all — in which the early monks (bhikkhus) recount their struggles and accomplishments along the road to arahantship. Their stories are told with often heart-breaking honesty and beauty, revealing the deeply human side of these extraordinary men, and thus serve as inspiring reminders of our own potential to follow in their footsteps.

An excellent print translation of the complete Therigatha is Elders' Verses I translated by K.R. Norman (Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1995).

The translator appears in the square brackets []. Pali verse numbers appear in the braces {}.

Chapter 1 — Single Verses {vv. 1-120}

Chapter 2 — Pairs of Verses {vv. 121-218}

Chapter 3 — Groups of Three Verses {vv. 219-266}

Chapter 4 — Groups of Four Verses {vv. 267-314}

Chapter 5 — Groups of Five Verses {vv. 315-374}

Chapter 6 — Groups of Six Verses {vv. 375-458}

Chapter 7 — Groups of Seven Verses {vv. 459-493}

Chapter 8 — Groups of Eight Verses {vv. 494-517}

Chapter 9 — The Group of Nine Verses {vv. 518-526}

Chapter 10 — Groups of Ten Verses {vv. 527-596}

Chapter 11 — The Group of Eleven Verses {597-607}

Chapter 12 — Groups of Twelve Verses {vv. 608-631}

Chapter 13 — The Group of Thirteen Verses {vv. 632-644}

Chapter 14 — Groups of Fourteen Verses {vv. 645-672}

Chapter 15 — Groups of Sixteen Verses {vv. 673-704}

Chapter 16 — Groups of (about) Twenty Verses {vv. 705-948}

Chapter 17 — Groups of Thirty Verses {vv. 949-1050}

Chapter 18 — The Group of Forty Verses {vv. 1051-1090}

Chapter 19 — The Group of Fifty Verses {vv. 1091-1145}

Chapter 20 — The Group of Sixty Verses {vv. 1146-1208}

Chapter 21 — The Great Group of Verses {vv. 1209-1279}