The eighth book of the Khuddaka-Nikāya, a collection of poems, most of which are believed to have been composed by theras during the lifetime of the Buddha.
Some poems contain life-histories of the theras, while others are paeans of joy, extolling their new-found freedom.
The work has been published by the P.T.S. (1883) and translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids, as Psalms of the Brethren.
Dhammapāla wrote a commentary on the Theragāthā, as part of the Paramatthadīpanī.