Tha Ap · 563 texts · Pāli only

Past Life Legends of the Senior Monks

Therāpadāna

The “Legends of the Senior Monks” contains 563 stories in verse telling the past life deeds of various senior monks. It is a much later counterpart to the Theragāthā, referring to many of the same monks. But whereas the Theragāthā verses relate the monks’ practice of meditation and mindfulness in this life, the Legends typically relate how they became awakened in this life by making an offering a Buddha in the distant past, and making a dedication to be reborn so as to become awakened in the future. The “Legends of the Senior Monks” has as companion the “Legends of the Senior Nuns”. Both these are late texts, and lack counterparts in the northern canons.