Theragatha

…ascribed to him in the Theragatha. According to tradition, he lived to the age of 120.

Theragatha/Therigatha (“Hymns of the Elders/Senior Nuns”), lyrics of 264 monks and some 100 nuns. The latter verses are informative about the position of women in ancient India.

Of great interest are the Theragāthā and the Therīgāthā (“Hymns of the Senior Monks” and “Hymns of the Senior Nuns”), which give at times a vivid insight into the ambience in which a conversion to Buddhism took place: a monk celebrates his newfound freedom in an idyll of the hermit’s…