Maghadeva — Book of the Ones · Chapter One (Apaṇṇakavagga) · Poem 9 of 10
Setting
A king, alone, noticing his own first grey hairs
Speaker
King Maghadeva himself
Form
One four-line stanza
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
★☆☆☆☆ — one short, image-rich verse
Why this text
This is one of this partial Jātaka selection's most direct links to an already-completed page on this site: Sujato's own comment points to this site's own MN 83, About King Maghadeva, for background on the same figure and the same grey-hair-as-signal tradition this verse gives voice to in miniature.
Reading guide
Grey hairs read as a messenger
The verse gives King Maghadeva's own first-person reaction to seeing his first grey hairs: ‘growing on top of my head, these thieves of life have sprouted. Messengers of the gods have appeared — it is time for me to go forth.’ Grey hair here is not simply age; it is treated as a direct signal, a ‘messenger of the gods’, prompting immediate renunciation.
A direct link to this site's own MN 83
Sujato's own comment directs readers to this site's own MN 83, About King Maghadeva, and its accompanying notes for fuller background on this same king and story — one of the clearest direct cross-references in this whole partial selection, connecting a single tiny verse straight to a fuller discourse already complete elsewhere on this site.
A verse that avoids the word for old age
Sujato's comment notes something subtle: the verse deliberately avoids simply speaking of ‘grey hair’ in plain terms, instead reaching for the vivid, active image of hair as ‘thieves of life’ that have ‘sprouted’ — a choice of language that, per the comment, shows its reliance on the fuller commentarial story for its full sense.
Key terms
uttamaṅgaruhā vayoharā — “thieves of life... growing on top of my head” — the verse's vivid image for grey hairs.
devadūtā — “messengers of the gods” — how the verse characterizes the appearance of grey hair, as a direct signal to act.
pabbajjāsamayo — “it is time for me to go forth” — the king's own immediate resolution.
Maghadevajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, named for King Maghadeva himself.
MN 83 — “About King Maghadeva” — the already-completed page on this site that Sujato's own comment directs readers to for fuller background on this same figure.
The text
The text in full: a single verse, directly cross-referenced in Sujato's comment to this site's own MN 83. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Growing on top of my head, these thieves of life have sprouted. Messengers of the gods have appeared—it is time for me to go forth.
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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 prompts King Maghadeva's reaction in this verse?
Correct: A. Treated in the verse as a direct signal to renounce.
Question 2 of 10
What already-completed page on this site does Sujato's comment directly point to?
Correct: B. One of this partial selection's clearest direct links to a fuller discourse elsewhere on this site.
Question 3 of 10
How does the verse characterize the grey hairs?
Correct: C. Vivid, active imagery rather than a plain reference to aging.
Question 4 of 10
What does King Maghadeva resolve to do upon seeing the grey hairs?
Correct: D. An immediate, decisive resolution.
Question 5 of 10
What does Sujato's comment note about the verse's choice of language?
Correct: A. A subtle stylistic observation connecting the verse's imagery to its underlying narrative.
Question 6 of 10
What does the verse call the grey hairs, using a very direct term?
Correct: B. One of the verse's two vivid images for the grey hairs.
Question 7 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: C. The ninth poem in the Apaṇṇakavagga, named directly for its speaker.
Question 8 of 10
Who speaks this verse?
Correct: D. Unlike several of this chapter's other poems, this verse names its speaker directly through the tale's own title.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: A. The second-to-last poem in this ten-poem opening chapter.
Question 10 of 10
What phrase does the verse use to characterize the appearance of grey hair as a signal?
Correct: B. Framing the physical sign as a direct prompt to renounce, not merely a fact of aging.
