Anāgārika Mahendra - Therīgāthāpāḷi - Book of Verses of Elder Bhikkhunis - A Contemporary Translation

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the kalyn mitt who have introduced me to the dhamm, helped me understand it, and encouraged me all along. I have been very fortunate to have unstinting support of all my Gurus: S. N. Goenka for paipatti (practice), Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi for pariyatti (learning), and Mr. A. B. Mediwake (Pi).

In particular, I very gratefully acknowledge the help I have received, and continue to receive, from Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi as I started reading and learning the ipika in English. His scholarly and devout translations have made Dhamm accessible and easy to understand. He has always been there in person or via email answering questions, providing explanations, and clarifying confusions.

I also acknowledge the much-appreciated help of Mr. A. B. Mediwake, my Pi Guru at SIBA, Pallekale, Sri Lanka. Without his encyclopedic knowledge and understanding of Pi language and the Sutta Pika along with commentaries, this translation would have floundered long before arriving.

Venerable tusita reviewed Chapter of Ones when this translation was in infancy and set me along the right path by providing very constructive criticism and direction.

All the dhamma writers have helped me enormously in learning the multi-faceted dhamma thru their writings. Being curious, I have always admired the enormous work Mr. G. P. Malalasekera carried out in compiling the Dictionary of Pli Proper Names in early 20 th century, which has given me so much information on various characters of the Buddhist Cast. The study guides as well as translations by Venerable hnnisaro Bhikkhu have proven extremely helpful in informing my dhamma studies. AccessToInsight.org has been tremendously helpful in making available dhamma materials in an easily accessible format.

All the clearly understandable and meaningful dhamma contained herein is due to them all errors and misunderstandings are mine alone.

I gratefully thank Ms. Samanthi Rambukpotha and her parents Mr. and Mrs. Tillekeratne for their kind dna by providing their home in Ratemulla, along with all necessities, for a serene environment conducive to meditation and translation. I also thank the caretaker Mr. Parakrama for his help and assistance during my sojourn there.

Thanks are also due to VRI-India, and in particular to Mr. S. P. Goenka, for their gracious permission to reproduce the CST edition Pi source text in the book.

I also thank the Sri Lanka Immigration for extending my visa to complete the translation work, Mr. Nalin Ariyarathne for the cover and book design, and Ms. Pooja Gokul for the permission to use the Sanchi Torana sketch in the back cover logo.

Last but not the least, without the support of my family, I wouldnt have been able to undertake this translation. I especially thank my brother Dipak for taking care of the day-to-day tasks so I can devote myself fully to task at hand.

May they all share bountifully in the merits of this work. May all beings partake of the merits generated of this work. May all beings be happy, be peaceful, be liberated.

Ratemulla, Kandy, Sri Lanka

June 2017