Therigatha: Poems of Early Buddhist Nuns

This remarkable collection of 73 verses contained in the 'Khuddaka Nikaya' section of the Pali Canon dates from the BC 6th century. It is said to be the earliest voices of women in recorded history. The verses, some brief, some more extended, are the utterances of the bhikkhunis, the nuns at the time of the Buddha, concerning their life and their `awakening'.

Often they give a penetrating insight to the life of women in ancient India: high-ranking members of courts, courtesans, wives of merc...