Therigartha: 6th Century Buddhist Poetry

The Therigartha is the earliest known writings of women's spirituality. Below is an informative excerpt taken from Susan Cahill's Wise Women:

"Buddhism finds Truth and peace not in ritual observance or abstract authority but in experience. Truth must be tried out, as gold is tried by fire...The earliest-known anthology of women's literature consists of songs...composed by Buddhist nuns, or theris, collected into the Therigartha. The poets were contemporaries of Buddha, though their lyrics were not written down until 80 BC. They testify to their lives transformed by the Buddha's teaching and celebrate the spiritual freedom--nirvana--achieved by the release of the soul from some anxiety of everyday life."

Below, I have listed one of the many poems of the Therigartha with a summary, translation, and analysis.

THERIGARTHA

(Sixth century B.C.)

Song of the Nuns

MUTTA

[So free am I, so gloriously free]

Original Text	Modern Translation
So free am I, so gloriously free Free from three petty things— From mortar, from pestle and from my twisted lord, Freed from rebirth and death I am, And all that has held me down is hurled away	I am free, gloriously free, I am free from three stupid and trivial things-- the mortal, the pestle, and my evil lord, I am free from reincarnation, And all that has ever held me back is now gone.

Poem in a Nutshell: Buddhism has freed me from being a housewife.

Summary: 

This poem is a celebration of identity, spirituality, and freedom. The speaker exalts the belief that Buddhism has set him/her free. Through their spirituality, the narrator believes that Buddhism has freed them from an oppressive male authority and domestic atmosphere.

Analysis:

• Patriarchy
• The title "Mutta" suggests an air of oppressive male authority/patriarchy.
• Mutta refers to the Punjab regions in India and Pakistan where "the warrior" is celebrated. As such, the culture holds men in a much higher regard than women. Traditionally, the Mutta are either followers of the Hindu or Islamic faith--both of these being steeped in male values.
• In the third line of the text, the phrase "twisted lord" comes into play. The phrase may contain several possible meanings. 
• One is that "twisted lord" is referring to the speaker's husband or father. If that is the case, then the line may mean that the speaker no longer harbors ill-will towards her husband or father by walking the path of peace. Another interpretation may be that the speaker has physically left her husband or father's house in order to follow Buddhism. 
• In another sense, "twisted lord" may be referring to the male gods of Hinduism or Allah of Islam. Since Mutta is derived from a Hindu/Islamic context, it is possible that the speaker was a follower of the Hindu or Islamic faith before converting to Buddhism.

• Gender roles: Labor, domesticity, and healing
• In the third line of the original text, the speaker mentions the items "mortar" and "pestle." This serves as an image of "the kitchen"--of domesticity--as well as the repetitive nature of the manual labor encouraged by women in the sixth century. (Imagine the repetitive motion of grinding the pestle and mortar for hours on end...)
• The image of the mortar and pestle also serves as a symbol of healing since herbs were ground using the instrument for medicinal purposes. In this sense, the image of the mortar and pestle becomes a representation for the healing powers that Buddhism has had on the speaker.

For more information on the Therigatha, Susan Cahill's Wise Women: Over 2000 Years of Spiritual Writing by Women offers a plethora of knowledge on the subject.