A second nun also named Muttā, speaking entirely in the first person
Form
A single six-line verse, nothing more
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
This reading guide does not assert a specific matching text for this poem in other Buddhist literatures.
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — plain and vivid, one of this book's most quoted verses
Why this text
This is one of the Therigatha's most celebrated verses, and it opens the second half of the Book of the Ones with a sharp turn: where Thig 1.2's Muttā was addressed by the Buddha with a gentle instruction, this second, different Muttā speaks entirely for herself, in plain, unglamorous, and strikingly joyful language.
Reading guide
A second Muttā, a different voice entirely
The title ‘(2nd)’ distinguishes this poem's speaker from Thig 1.2's Muttā at once. Where that poem addressed its subject in the second person with careful, formal instruction, this one is spoken entirely in the first person, by a woman already free.
Freedom stated three times, for emphasis
The poem opens with a doubled declaration — ‘I'm well freed, so very well freed’ — before naming what she is freed from, an intensity of repetition unusual among this book's other, more measured verses.
Domestic drudgery named without any elevated language at all
What she names as her former bondage is starkly ordinary: ‘the mortar, the pestle, and my humpbacked husband’ — the daily grinding labor of a household, and a husband described by his physical appearance rather than any harsher accusation, placed in the very same list as a piece of kitchen equipment.
From a household image to the whole of existence
The verse's final two lines pivot from that specific, homely image to the largest possible claim: ‘I'm freed from birth and death; the leash to existence is eradicated’ — domestic freedom and final liberation held in the same short poem, without any sense of mismatch between them.
Key terms
Muttā — a nun's name, also the Pali word for ‘freed’ — here spoken by a second woman of the same name as Thig 1.2's, distinguished by the title ‘(2nd)’.
udukkhala, musala — “mortar” and “pestle” — ordinary household tools for grinding grain, named among the things this verse's speaker is freed from.
jāti-maraṇa — “birth and death” — the cycle of rebirth the verse's closing lines say the speaker is entirely freed from.
bhavanetti — the “leash to existence” — the craving that ties a person to further rebirth, described here as ‘eradicated’.
cariyā — not used here; another of this book's unattributed poems, though unlike most, spoken entirely in the first person.
The text
The text in full: a single six-line verse, with no attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1I’m well freed, so very well freed, freed from the three things that humped me: the mortar, the pestle, and my humpbacked husband. I’m freed from birth and death; the leash to existence is eradicated.
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Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
How does this poem's speaker differ from Thig 1.2's Muttā?
Correct: B. A different voice entirely, speaking for herself rather than being addressed.
Question 2 of 10
How does the poem open?
Correct: B. An intensity of repetition unusual among this book's other, more measured verses.
Question 3 of 10
What three things does the speaker say she is freed from?
Correct: B. Starkly ordinary household imagery, with no elevated language.
Question 4 of 10
How is the husband described in this verse?
Correct: B. A striking, matter-of-fact placement rather than an elaborate grievance.
Question 5 of 10
What claim does the verse's final two lines make?
Correct: B. Domestic freedom and final liberation held in the same short poem.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'bhavanetti' mean?
Correct: B. Named in the verse's closing line as eradicated.
Question 7 of 10
How long is this poem, compared to most others in the Book of the Ones?
Correct: B. One of a small number of slightly longer poems in this book.
Question 8 of 10
What position does this poem hold in the Book of the Ones?
Correct: B. Opening the second half of the book, following Upasamā's verse.
Question 9 of 10
Why is this poem considered one of the Therigatha's most celebrated verses?
Correct: B. A frequently quoted example of this collection's directness.
Question 10 of 10
What does 'jāti-maraṇa' mean?
Correct: A. Named directly in the verse's closing lines.
