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Thig 1.111 min read

Muttā (2nd)

Muttātherīgāthā

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Therīgāthā 1.11Verses of the Senior Nuns 1.11
  • 0.2EkakanipātaThe Book of the Ones

0.3MuttātherīgāthāMuttā (2nd)

1.1“Sumuttā sādhumuttāmhi,I’m well freed, so very well freed,11.2tīhi khujjehi muttiyā;freed from the three things that humped me:21.3Udukkhalena musalena,the mortar, the pestle,31.4patinā khujjakena ca;and my humpbacked husband.1.5Muttāmhi jātimaraṇā,I’m freed from birth and death;1.6bhavanetti samūhatā”ti.the leash to existence is eradicated.

2.1… Muttā therī ….

Translator’s notes

  1. Compare with Thig 2.3 and Thag 1.43.

    ↩ thig1.11:1.1

  2. The commentary explains that the first two things make you crooked: (khujjakaraṇahetutāya tadubhayaṁ “khujja”nti vuttaṁ), while the husband is crooked (a hunchback). This may be so, but I think it is a double entendre.

    ↩ thig1.11:1.2

  3. The mortar and pestle feature prominently in the sexual imagery of Rig Veda 1.29, where the kitchen implements are analogized with the pressing of soma on the altar. Both musala and “pestle” derive from roots “to pound”.

    ↩ thig1.11:1.3