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The
Theragāthā and the Therīgāthā are two books in the
Khuddaka Nikāya, the fifth part of the Sutta Piṭaka,
the second division of the Tipiṭaka, the sacred scriptures
of Buddhism. Thera is a title given to someone who has been a
monk for more than ten years and means 'elder.' The equivalent title
for a nun is therī. The word gāthā means 'a verse.'
Both of these works contain poems composed by the Buddha's disciples.
There are 263 poems in the Theragāthā and 73 in the
Therīgāthā, many of considerable literary merit. Some
celebrate the joy of enlightenment, others the beauty of the forest
and yet others praise the compassion of the Buddha. The Therīgāthā
contains the earliest corpus of poetry from India composed
by women. | |
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