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 matching four-line reply
Length
~30 seconds to read
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — direct in form, unusual in subject rather than in difficulty
Closing this vagga
The tenth and last discourse of the Jarāvagga, and a fitting close for the very book — the Sagāthāvagga, ‘the Book with Verses’ — this discourse itself belongs to
Why this discourse
Every other discourse in this vagga asks about ethics, friendship, rebirth, or purification. This one, closing the vagga, turns instead to something no discourse in this collection has asked about directly: what makes a verse a verse. The question asks about the source of verses, what constitutes their phrasing, what they depend on, and what underlies them — and the answer names metre, syllables, names, and, finally, the poet who composes them.
Reading guide
A rare turn toward literary self-reflection
Nowhere else in this collection does a discourse ask about the craft of verse-making itself, rather than using verse as a vehicle for ethical or doctrinal content. This discourse is a genuine outlier: its subject is the form its own words are composed in.
Four components, from technical to personal
The answer moves through four increasingly specific layers: metre (chando) as the abstract structural source, syllables (akkharā) as the concrete units that fill that structure, names (nāma) as what verses are said to depend on, and finally the poet (kavi) themselves as what underlies the whole enterprise — moving from the most abstract element to the person actually responsible for the verse.
A fitting close for the Book with Verses
This entire first book of the Saṃyutta Nikāya is named the Sagāthāvagga, ‘the Book with Verses’ — and its sixth vagga closes not with another ethical riddle but with a verse about verses themselves. Read at the level of the whole book rather than only this single vagga, the placement reads as a deliberate, self-aware note closing out a section defined by its own poetic form.
An untranslated close, as with earlier vaggas
As with SN 1.10, SN 1.20, SN 1.30, SN 1.40, and SN 1.50, this discourse is followed in the source text by a closing colophon and a mnemonic verse naming the Jarāvagga as finished and listing its ten titles — left untranslated in this edition, and described here rather than quoted, following this project's established practice.
Six vaggas closed, matching a consistent pattern each time
Every vagga so far has closed on a discourse notably longer, richer, or more distinctive than the discourses immediately preceding it — SN 1.10's reed simile, SN 1.20's unresolved philosophical verses, SN 1.30's vivid physical description, SN 1.40's echoed verse, SN 1.50's reunion across two Buddha-eras, and now this discourse's turn toward verse-making itself. The pattern holds a sixth time.
Key terms
kavi — “a poet” — this discourse's title, and its final, most concrete answer, naming the person underlying every verse.
chando — “metre” — the first and most abstract answer, naming verse's structural source.
akkharā — “syllables” — the second answer, the concrete units that fill a verse's metrical structure.
nāmasannissitā gāthā — “verses depend on names” — the third answer, naming what verses rely on to carry meaning.
gāthānamāsayo — “what underlies verses” — the question's final line, answered by naming the poet themselves.
The text
The discourse in full, with its untranslated closing colophon and mnemonic verse described rather than quoted, as with the vaggas before it. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“What’s the source of verses? What constitutes their phrasing? What do verses depend upon? What underlies verses?”
§2“Metre is the source of verses. Syllables constitute their phrasing. Verses depend on names. A poet underlies verses.”
· · ·
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 this discourse ask about, unlike every other discourse in this vagga?
Correct: A. A genuine outlier in subject within this vagga.
Question 2 of 10
What does the reply name as the source of verses?
Correct: A. The most abstract of the four answers.
Question 3 of 10
What does the reply name as constituting a verse's phrasing?
Correct: A. The concrete units filling a verse's metrical structure.
Question 4 of 10
What does the reply say verses depend on?
Correct: A. The third answer, naming what verses rely on to carry meaning.
Question 5 of 10
What does the reply name as underlying verses?
Correct: A. The final, most concrete answer, naming the person responsible.
Question 6 of 10
What is this entire first book of the Saṃyutta Nikāya named?
Correct: A. Making this discourse's subject a fitting, self-aware close for the book as a whole.
Question 7 of 10
What follows this discourse in the source text, left untranslated?
Correct: A. The same pattern already seen at SN 1.10, SN 1.20, SN 1.30, SN 1.40, and SN 1.50.
Question 8 of 10
What pattern has held across all six vaggas closed so far in this collection?
Correct: A. A consistent structural feature across this collection's vaggas.
Question 9 of 10
What is this discourse's position within the Jarāvagga?
Correct: A. This discourse's own closing colophon marks the Jarāvagga as finished.
Question 10 of 10
Does the answer's four components move from abstract to concrete, or the reverse?
Correct: A. Metre, syllables, names, then finally the person responsible.
