This translation of the Theragāthā was made by Bhikkhu Sujato with Jessica Walton. It is based on the Mahāsaṅgīti edition of the Pali text.

The translation relies heavily on the translation and notes by K.R. Norman for the Pali Text Society, published as Elders’s Verses I, first published 1965. For a few verses we have also consulted translations by Bhikkhu Thanissaro and Bhikkhu Bodhi. In all cases, however, the final translation was made directly from the Pali text.

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Prepared for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato.

Theragāthā

Verses of the Senior Monks

Chapter of the Threes

3.10. Sāṭimattiya

In the past you had faith,
Today you have none.
What’s yours is yours alone;
I’ve done nothing wrong.

Faith is impermanent, fickle—
So I have seen.
People’s passions wax and wane:
Why should a sage grow old worrying about that?

The meal of a sage is cooked
Bit by bit, in this family or that.
I’ll walk for alms,
For my legs are strong.