Saṅgharakkhita — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Eleven · Poem 9 of 10
Setting
No narrative frame; a critical description, left without resolution
Speaker
An unnamed voice describing, in the third person, someone who ignores counsel
Form
One four-line verse, closing on an animal simile
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
★★☆☆☆ — plain vocabulary, an unresolved tone
Why this text
This verse describes someone who, even alone on retreat, doesn't heed the counsel of ‘the one with supreme compassion for his welfare’, living instead with ‘unrestrained faculties, like a young deer in the woods’. Unlike most verses in this collection, it offers no turn toward correction or redemption — the failure is simply left standing.
Reading guide
A critical portrait, left unresolved
Most verses in this collection that describe failure also resolve it, whether through a later declaration of attainment or an implied corrective. This one doesn't: it states the problem — ignoring compassionate counsel, living with unguarded faculties — and stops there, without any turn toward improvement within the verse itself.
Whose failure is this?
This reading guide does not resolve whether the verse describes Saṅgharakkhita's own past, recalled from before he took the path seriously (a pattern already seen elsewhere in this collection), or a general third-person warning about a type of practitioner. The verse's grammar doesn't distinguish between the two readings, and no comment survives to settle it.
The one with supreme compassion
Paramahitānukampin, ‘one with supreme compassion for [someone's] welfare’, is almost certainly the Buddha, though the verse doesn't name him directly — an epithet-style reference rather than an explicit one.
A young deer, a new animal in this collection
Migī yathā taruṇajātikā vane, ‘like a young deer in the woods’, closes the verse with an image of natural, undisciplined wildness. This collection has reached for other animals before — a hog (Thag 1.17, Thag 1.101), an elephant (Thag 1.77), a bird (Thag 1.92) — each carrying its own distinct connotation; the young deer, associated here with freedom rather than gluttony or power, is a new addition to that set.
Key terms
paramahitānukampin — “one with supreme compassion for [someone's] welfare” — almost certainly referring to the Buddha, without naming him.
rahogata — “gone into solitude, on retreat” — describing where this failure is said to occur.
migī — “a deer” — the verse's closing image, new to this collection's set of animal similes.
taruṇajātika — “young, of a young kind” — taruṇa (‘young’) plus jātika (‘by nature, by kind’).
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Even on retreat he doesn’t heed the counsel of the one with supreme compassion for his welfare. He lives with unrestrained faculties, like a young deer in the woods.
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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 does this verse say about the person it describes, even while on retreat?
Correct: B. Na nūnāyaṁ paramahitānukampino, rahogato anuvigaṇeti sāsanaṁ.
Question 2 of 10
Does this verse resolve the failure it describes, the way most verses in this collection do?
Correct: C. An unusually unresolved verse for this collection.
Question 3 of 10
Does this reading guide resolve whether this describes Saṅgharakkhita's own past or a general third-person warning?
Correct: C. A genuine ambiguity left open.
Question 4 of 10
Who does 'paramahitānukampin' almost certainly refer to, without being named directly?
Correct: A. An epithet-style reference rather than an explicit name.
Question 5 of 10
What image does the verse close on?
Correct: B. Migī yathā taruṇajātikā vane, a new animal image for this collection.
Question 6 of 10
What other animals has this collection already used in similes, according to this reading guide?
