Sīvaka — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Two · Poem 4 of 10
Setting
A village, and the wilderness Sīvaka's mind has gone to instead
Speaker
Sīvaka, quoting his mentor's own words before answering in his own voice
Form
One six-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
★☆☆☆☆ — a quoted exchange, a striking split image, and a closing aphorism
Why this text
Sīvaka's mentor tells him, ‘let's leave here, Sīvaka’ — and Sīvaka answers not with agreement or refusal but with a striking image: his body still lives in the village, but his mind has already gone to the wilderness, present there even when he is lying down. ‘You can't chain those who know’, the verse closes.
Reading guide
A mentor's own words, quoted directly
Unlike most poems in this chapter, this verse opens by quoting another person's speech directly: ‘my mentor said to me: “let's leave here, Sīvaka”’. Sīvaka's own verse becomes his answer to that remark, rather than a self-contained statement.
A body in one place, a mind in another
‘My body lives in the village, but my mind has gone to the wilderness’ separates physical location from mental location entirely — and the next line extends this further: ‘I go there even when lying down’, meaning the mind's presence in the wilderness does not depend on active effort or waking attention.
The collection's first novice, not yet an elder
This poem's own file title identifies Sīvaka as a sāmaṇera, a novice not yet fully ordained — distinct from the thera (‘senior’) title carried by every other named speaker encountered so far in this collection.
A personal answer, closing as a general maxim
The verse's final line, ‘you can't chain those who know’, shifts from Sīvaka's own particular situation to a general statement about anyone who has come to understand — his mentor's remark answered, in the end, with a principle rather than a plain yes or no.
Key terms
upajjhāya — “preceptor” or “mentor” — the one who speaks the verse's opening line, prompting Sīvaka's answer.
sāmaṇera — “novice” — Sīvaka's own status, per this poem's file title, distinct from the thera title used elsewhere in this collection.
gāma — “village” — where Sīvaka says his body still lives.
arañña — “wilderness” or “forest” — where Sīvaka says his mind has already gone.
na bandhanti — “they cannot chain” — the verse's closing verb, naming what cannot be done to ‘those who know’.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1My mentor said to me: “Let’s leave here, Sīvaka.” My body lives in the village, but my mind has gone to the wilderness. I go there even when lying down—you can't chain those who know.
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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
How does this verse open?
Correct: B. A rare instance in this collection of another person's speech quoted directly.
Question 2 of 10
Where does Sīvaka say his body lives?
Correct: A. Contrasted directly with where his mind has gone.
Question 3 of 10
Where does Sīvaka say his mind has gone?
Correct: A. The verse's central split between body and mind.
Question 4 of 10
According to the verse, when does Sīvaka's mind go to the wilderness?
Correct: C. Presence in the wilderness independent of active effort.
Question 5 of 10
What does Sīvaka's file title identify him as?
Correct: D. The collection's first novice voice encountered so far.
Question 6 of 10
How does the verse close?
Correct: C. A shift from personal situation to general principle.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'ārañña' mean?
Correct: B. Where Sīvaka's mind is said to have gone.
Question 8 of 10
Who speaks the verse's opening quoted line?
Correct: B. Named directly as the one who prompts Sīvaka's answer.
Question 9 of 10
How many lines does this verse have?
Correct: C. Slightly longer than this chapter's typical four-line verses.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Two?
Correct: D. Continuing the chapter's sequence of ten poems.
