No narrative setting; a short verse with a closing attribution
Speaker
The senior nun Puṇṇā herself, according to the attribution
Form
One four-line verse, with a closing attribution note
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
★☆☆☆☆ — a short verse, paired closely with Thig 1.2's structure
Why this text
This poem repeats Thig 1.2's basic pattern — a name used as its own instruction, paired with a lunar image — but with a telling difference in attribution: where Muttā's verse is credited to the Buddha addressing her, this verse's closing note credits it to ‘the senior nun Puṇṇā’ herself, already carrying the title ‘senior’ that names this whole collection.
Reading guide
Another name turned into instruction
‘Puṇṇā’ means ‘full’ or ‘fulfilled’. As with Muttā, the verse addresses her using her own name as a directive: ‘Puṇṇā, be filled with good qualities’.
A different lunar phase than Thig 1.2
Where Muttā's verse used an eclipse ending, Puṇṇā's uses the moon at its fullest: ‘like the moon on the fifteenth day’ — completion rather than release, though both draw on the same recurring image of the moon.
A specific outcome named directly
The verse's second half states a concrete result of that fullness: ‘when your wisdom is full, shatter the mass of darkness’ — wisdom pictured as something that accumulates until it becomes powerful enough to break through ignorance entirely.
Attributed to the poet herself, already senior
Unlike Thig 1.2, this poem's attribution does not credit the Buddha as speaker; it simply states ‘this verse was recited by the senior nun Puṇṇā’ — the title ‘therī’ this whole collection is named for, already applied to her within its very first book.
Key terms
Puṇṇā — a nun's name, also the Pali word for ‘full’ or ‘fulfilled’ — the verse plays directly on this double meaning, as Thig 1.2 does with Muttā.
therī — “senior nun” — the title this poem's own attribution applies to Puṇṇā, the same word naming this whole collection.
paññā — “wisdom” — named directly as what becomes full in this verse's second half, powerful enough to shatter ignorance.
avijjā — “ignorance” — the ‘mass of darkness’ this verse says full wisdom shatters.
cariyā — not used in this poem; unlike the Cariyapitaka, no closing formula names a ‘perfection’ here — the Therigatha's own closing convention is a simple attribution note instead.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with its closing attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Puṇṇā, be filled with good qualities, like the moon on the fifteenth day. When your wisdom is full, shatter the mass of darkness.
§2That is how this verse was recited by the senior nun Puṇṇā.
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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
What does the name 'Puṇṇā' mean, and how does the verse use this?
Correct: B. The same naming device used in Thig 1.2 for Muttā.
Question 2 of 10
What lunar image does this verse use, compared to Thig 1.2's?
Correct: B. Completion rather than release, though both share the recurring moon motif.
Question 3 of 10
What does the verse say happens when wisdom becomes full?
Correct: B. Wisdom pictured as accumulating until powerful enough to break through ignorance.
Question 4 of 10
Who does this poem's attribution credit as its speaker?
Correct: B. Unlike Thig 1.2's attribution to the Buddha.
Question 5 of 10
What title does the attribution apply to Puṇṇā?
Correct: B. Already carrying the collection's own title within its first book.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'avijjā' mean in this verse?
Correct: B. Directly opposed to the paññā (wisdom) named in the same verse.
Question 7 of 10
How does this poem's structure compare to Thig 1.2's?
Correct: B. A close structural echo between these two adjacent poems.
Question 8 of 10
What position does this poem hold in the Book of the Ones?
Correct: B. Following Thig 1.1 and Thig 1.2.
Question 9 of 10
Does this poem use a closing formula naming a 'perfection', as in the Cariyapitaka?
Correct: B. A different collection with a different closing convention.
Question 10 of 10
What does 'paññā' mean?
Correct: A. Named directly in the verse's second half.
