To Buddhists, these verses are significant because they are the inspired utterances of enlightened women. Wives, courtesans, mothers, daughters, old and young, they use oil lamps and cooking pots, wear make up and jewellery, and discuss bride price and the cost of a courtesan. The poems contain a wealth of historical detail of the lives of women from a period when we have few other sources. It is part of the Pāli canon, and, dating from around the 3rd century BCE, it is the earliest surviving Indian poetry by women. The Therīgāthā is a collection of gāthā – verses – by and about therīs or elder Buddhist nuns. So what is the Therīgāthā, and why is it significant? This third volume – and the only Buddhist text out of the twelve or so listed as forthcoming – is the Therīgāthā. The Murty Classical Library of India is a new multi-volume series of translations of the great literary works of India. Harvard University Press, 2015, 336pp., hardback £22.95 Therigatha: Poems of the First Buddhist Women (Murty Classical Library of India vol.3), translated by Charles Hallisey We present below a review by Sarah Clelland of a new translation by Charles Hallisey of the Therīgāthā – verses by female followers of the Buddha, preserved in the Pāli language.
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