Siṅgālapitā — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Two · Poem 8 of 10
Setting
Bhesakaḷā forest, where another, unnamed monk practices
Speaker
Siṅgāla's Father, admiringly predicting this other monk's swift attainment
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
★☆☆☆☆ — an admiring prediction about someone else's practice, not a self-description
Why this text
Unlike every poem in this chapter so far, this verse's speaker describes neither himself nor a generic figure, but a specific fellow monk he has been watching: an ‘heir of the Buddha’ in Bhesakaḷā forest who ‘suffused the entire earth with the perception of bones’. ‘I think he will quickly get rid of sensual desire’, Siṅgāla's Father predicts.
Reading guide
Named through his son, a third naming pattern in this chapter
‘Siṅgāla's Father’ identifies this monk by his relationship to his son, not by clan (as with the three Vacchas) or by place (as with Vanavaccha or Sītavaniya in Chapter One) — a third distinct naming convention appearing within this same chapter.
Admiration and prediction, not self-description
Every poem before this one in the chapter speaks about its own subject directly. This verse instead watches someone else practice and offers a considered assessment — ‘I think he will quickly…’ — a poem of admiring observation rather than self-declaration.
The perception of bones, described on a cosmic scale
‘Suffused the entire earth with the perception of bones’ names a specific traditional practice, meditating on the body reduced to its skeleton, but describes its scope in strikingly expansive terms — not a private inner exercise but something that seems to fill the whole world.
Key terms
dāyāda — “heir” — the verse's opening title for the monk it describes, ‘an heir of the Buddha’.
Bhesakaḷāvana — the forest named as the setting where this other monk practices.
aṭṭhikasaññā — “the perception of bones” — a traditional meditation contemplating the body reduced to its skeleton.
pharati — “suffuses” or “pervades” — the verb describing this meditation's strikingly expansive scope in the verse.
rāga — “desire” or “passion” — specifically sensual desire, which Siṅgāla's Father predicts this monk will soon be rid of.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1There was an heir of the Buddha, a monk in Bhesakaḷā forest, who suffused the entire earth with the perception of bones. I think he will quickly get rid of sensual desire.
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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
Who is the subject of this verse?
Correct: A. A poem of observation and prediction, not self-description.
Question 2 of 10
How does 'Siṅgāla's Father' get his own name?
Correct: C. A third distinct naming convention within this chapter.
Question 3 of 10
What practice does the verse say the observed monk performs?
Correct: A. A traditional meditation on the body reduced to its skeleton.
Question 4 of 10
How does the verse describe the scope of this practice?
Correct: B. An expansive, almost cosmic description of an inner practice.
Question 5 of 10
What does Siṅgāla's Father predict about this monk?
Correct: A. The verse's closing assessment.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'dāyāda' mean, as used in this verse's opening title?
Correct: D. 'An heir of the Buddha', the verse's opening description.
Question 7 of 10
Where is this other monk said to practice?
Correct: B. Named directly as the verse's setting.
Question 8 of 10
How does this poem's structure compare to the rest of this chapter so far?
Correct: B. A shift from self-description to admiring observation of another.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'rāga' mean in this verse's closing line?
Correct: D. Specifically sensual desire, predicted to soon be gone.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Two?
Correct: C. Continuing the chapter's sequence of ten poems.
