Vanavaccha — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Two · Poem 3 of 10
Setting
Rocky crags in a forest, glistening like storm clouds, with cool clear streams
Speaker
Vanavaccha, exclaiming his own delight directly
Form
One four-line verse
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
★☆☆☆☆ — pure sensory delight, without a single doctrinal term
Why this text
A third Vaccha appears in this chapter — Vanavaccha, ‘forest Vaccha’ — and unlike Cūḷavaccha's or Mahāvaccha's compact instructive verses, his is pure nature description: rocky crags ‘glistening, like blue stormclouds’, cool clear streams, and crags ‘covered all in ladybugs’, closing in one direct exclamation of delight.
Reading guide
A third Vaccha, a different register entirely
Cūḷavaccha and Mahāvaccha, the two poems just before this one, each named specific qualities or practices. Vanavaccha's verse names none — no wisdom, no precepts, no absorption — only the physical scene in front of him, described for its own sake.
Vivid, specific, almost whimsical imagery
The rocks are compared to blue stormclouds; the streams are named cool and clear; and one line is given entirely to a small, specific detail — the crags ‘covered all in ladybugs’ — a degree of concrete, almost playful observation unusual among this chapter's more instructive verses.
A name marked '(1st)', pointing to another poem later
The ‘(1st)’ attached to Vanavaccha's name follows the same disambiguating convention already seen with Puṇṇa and Puṇṇamāsa in Chapter One — signaling that a second monk sharing this same name appears somewhere later in the collection.
Key terms
nīlabbhavaṇṇā — “the color of blue stormclouds” — the opening simile describing the crags' appearance.
sītavārī — “cool water” — one quality named among the streams at this site.
indagopaka — a small insect, translated here as “ladybug” — the verse's most specific, concrete image.
selā — “rocky crags” or “boulders” — the verse's central subject, named directly in its closing line.
ramayanti — “they delight” — the verb closing the verse, describing the crags' effect on Vanavaccha directly.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Glistening, they look like blue stormclouds, with waters cool and streams so clear, and covered all in ladybugs: these rocky crags delight me!
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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 Vanavaccha's verse describe?
Correct: B. Pure nature description, unlike the two verses just before it.
Question 2 of 10
How does this verse compare to Cūḷavaccha's and Mahāvaccha's verses just before it?
Correct: A. A shift from instruction to pure sensory delight.
Question 3 of 10
What simile opens this verse?
Correct: A. The verse's opening image.
Question 4 of 10
What small, specific detail appears in this verse's third line?
Correct: D. A concrete, almost whimsical observation.
Question 5 of 10
How does the verse close?
Correct: D. A first-person statement of pure delight.
Question 6 of 10
What does the '(1st)' attached to Vanavaccha's name signal?
Correct: C. The same disambiguating convention used for Puṇṇa and Puṇṇamāsa in Chapter One.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'sītavārī' mean?
Correct: B. Describing the streams at this site.
Question 8 of 10
Does this verse mention wisdom, precepts, or absorption?
Correct: C. A verse entirely about the physical scene, not doctrine.
Question 9 of 10
What is 'indagopaka' translated as in this verse?
Correct: A. A small insect covering the rocky crags.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Two?
Correct: C. The third of ten poems in this chapter.
