Not narrated in this discourse's source text; no discourse in this vagga carries a narrative frame at all
Speakers
Not named explicitly; a four-part riddle answered point by point
Form
A four-line question, answered by a six-line reply
Length
~30 seconds to read
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — direct in form, though its third answer carries real social weight worth addressing honestly
A perspective worth naming plainly
This discourse's third answer speaks specifically from the standpoint of a celibate male renunciant tradition, not as a general claim about women
Why this discourse
The question asks about four things named negatively: what counts as a deviation from the path, what is constantly ending, what stains chastity, and what constitutes a bath that uses no water. The answer is direct: lust is the deviation, youth is what constantly ends, women are named as the stain of chastity that ‘this generation clings to,’ and fervor combined with chastity is the bath that purifies without water.
Reading guide
Lust named as departure from a path
Uppatha, this discourse's title, names a side-track or wrong turning away from a road — the verse identifies lust (rāga) specifically as this kind of deviation, a departure from a course rather than merely an undesirable feeling in isolation.
Youth as something already ending
The second answer treats youth not as a stable stage of life but as something ‘ending day and night,’ continuously passing even while it is being lived — a claim about impermanence consistent with this collection's recurring concern with old age and decline.
A line worth reading for what it actually is
The third answer — ‘women are the stain of chastity, to which this generation clings’ — is not a general claim about women's nature; it is spoken from the specific standpoint of a celibate male monastic tradition, addressing an obstacle to that tradition's own vow, not a universal moral verdict. This reading guide presents it plainly rather than softening or erasing it, and names its actual perspective rather than pretending the verse speaks in some neutral, universal voice it does not occupy.
A bath that requires no water
The verse's final image reframes purification entirely: not a literal washing, but ‘fervor and chastity’ (ātāpo ca brahmacariyañca) together named as what actually cleanses, a distinctly monastic answer to what, in other traditions of the same period, might have been sought through ritual bathing instead.
Key terms
uppatha — “deviation, a wrong turning” — this discourse's title, naming a departure from a proper road.
rāgo — “lust” — named as this discourse's deviation, a departure from the path rather than merely an undesirable feeling.
yobbanaṁ jīyati ahorattaṁ — “youth is ending day and night” — the second answer, describing youth as continuously passing rather than as a stable stage.
mala brahmacariyassa itthiyo — “women are the stain of chastity” — the third answer, spoken specifically from the standpoint of a celibate male monastic tradition rather than as a universal claim.
ātāpo ca brahmacariyañca — “fervor and chastity” — named together as the ‘waterless bath,’ a monastic reframing of ritual purification.
The text
The discourse in full, read plainly rather than softened. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“What’s declared to be a deviation? What is ending day and night? What’s the stain of chastity? What’s the waterless bath?”
§2“Lust is declared to be a deviation. Youth is ending day and night. Women are the stain of chastity, to which this generation clings. Fervor and chastity are the waterless bath.”
· · ·
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 verse name as a 'deviation' from the path?
Correct: A. A departure from a proper course, named directly by this discourse's title.
Question 2 of 10
How does the verse describe youth?
Correct: A. A claim about impermanence, not a static description.
Question 3 of 10
How should this discourse's line about women be read, according to this reading guide?
Correct: A. Named plainly for its actual perspective, neither erased nor presented as neutral.
Question 4 of 10
What does the verse name as the 'waterless bath'?
Correct: A. Ātāpo ca brahmacariyañca — a monastic reframing of ritual purification.
Question 5 of 10
What does 'uppatha' mean?
Correct: A. This discourse's title, naming the image its first answer applies to lust.
Question 6 of 10
Does this reading guide claim the verse's line about women speaks in a neutral, universal voice?
Correct: A. An explicit naming of perspective, consistent with this project's practice for socially weighted passages.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'rāgo' mean?
Correct: A. This discourse's answer to what counts as deviation.
Question 8 of 10
Is 'this generation clings to' part of the verse's own wording?
Correct: A. Part of the source text itself, describing what the verse identifies as a widespread attachment.
Question 9 of 10
What is the setting of this discourse?
Correct: A. Like every discourse in this vagga, no setting is given directly.
Question 10 of 10
How many total lines does the verse's reply run to?
Correct: A. Longer than most riddle-replies in this vagga, given its four separate answers.
