Reading guide
A brief prose frame, then a real poem
The prose section is minimal — the eightfold path leads “from the near shore to the far shore” — before the Buddha, in the verse-introduction formula this project has met before (“the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say”), delivers seven full stanzas developing the image at real length.
Few cross; most run in circles
“Few are those among humans who cross to the far shore. The rest just run around on the near shore” opens the verse with a genuinely bleak observation, confirmed by reading it directly — not softened into universal optimism.
What crossing actually requires, named concretely
Leaving home, seclusion, renouncing sensual pleasures, owning nothing, cleansing mental corruptions — the verse names concrete renunciate practice rather than abstract virtue, confirmed by reading its own middle stanzas directly.
The awakening factors, mentioned for the first time in this vagga
“Those whose minds are rightly developed in the awakening factors” introduces a framework (the seven awakening factors, bojjhaṅga) this project has not yet seen named within this specific vagga, confirmed by checking SN 45.31–33's own vocabulary directly — the verse's own closing image widens beyond the eightfold path alone.
Key terms
The text
The near shore and the far shore, in prose
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, when these eight things are developed and cultivated they lead to going from the near shore to the far shore. What eight? They are right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. When these eight things are developed and cultivated they lead to going from the near shore to the far shore.”
The Buddha's own closing verse
§2That is what the Buddha said. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say: “Few are those among humans who cross to the far shore. The rest just run around on the near shore. When the teaching is well explained, those who practice accordingly are the ones who will cross over Death’s dominion so hard to pass. Rid of dark qualities, an astute person should develop the bright. Leaving home behind for the seclusion so hard to enjoy, try to find satisfaction there, having left behind sensual pleasures. Owning nothing, an astute person should cleanse themselves of mental corruptions. And those whose minds are rightly developed in the awakening factors; letting go of attachments, they delight in not grasping. With defilements ended, brilliant, they are quenched in this world.”
Self-check quiz
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