Jambugāmikaputta — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Three · Poem 8 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; three rhetorical questions addressed to an unnamed ‘you’
Speaker
Jambugāmikaputta; the text does not name who he addresses
Form
One four-line verse, entirely in the form of rhetorical questions
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 verse built entirely from rhetorical questions, with its addressee left unnamed
Why this text
This verse is built from three rhetorical questions: ‘aren't you obsessed with clothes? Don't you just love jewelry? Is it not you—and no-one else—who spreads the scent of virtue?’ The text never names who is being addressed, though the pattern of self-address elsewhere nearby in this chapter makes a self-examination reading the most natural one.
Reading guide
Rhetorical questions with no named addressee
Unlike verses that clearly quote another speaker (as in Sīvaka's poem in Chapter Two) or clearly address the self by name (as in the poem immediately after this one), this verse's ‘you’ is never identified — the questions stand without a stated target.
A plausible reading as self-examination
Given the pattern of self-address found elsewhere in this book — Dabba and Vīra naming themselves within their own verses, Hārita addressed directly by name in the very next poem — the most natural reading here is that Jambugāmikaputta questions himself, rhetorically ruling out vanity and affirming that he himself, not ornament, is what carries virtue's scent. This guide offers that reading without asserting it as certain.
Virtue described through the language of scent
The verse's final line uses fragrance as its image for ethical conduct: ‘the scent of virtue’, contrasted directly against the external adornment of clothes and jewelry named in the two lines before it.
Key terms
vatthapasuta — “obsessed with clothes” — the first vanity this verse's questions rule out.
bhūsanārata — “delighting in jewelry” or “loving ornaments” — the second vanity named.
sīlamaya gandha — “the scent made of virtue” — ethical conduct described through the image of fragrance.
netarā pajā — “no other people” — emphasizing that it is specifically this ‘you’, and no one else, who carries this scent.
vāyati — “diffuses” or “emits” — the verb describing how this scent spreads.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Aren’t you obsessed with clothes? Don’t you just love jewelry? Is it not you—and no-one else—who spreads the scent of virtue?
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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 is this verse structured?
Correct: D. No narrative detail — only questions.
Question 2 of 10
Does the text name who this verse addresses?
Correct: B. An unnamed 'you' throughout.
Question 3 of 10
What two vanities does the verse's questions rule out?
Correct: C. Named in the verse's first two questions.
Question 4 of 10
What does the verse's final question affirm instead?
Correct: A. The verse's closing rhetorical claim.
Question 5 of 10
Why does this guide suggest a self-examination reading is plausible, though not certain?
Correct: B. An inference from context, not a claim stated in the text itself.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'sīlamaya gandha' mean?
Correct: A. Ethical conduct described through the image of fragrance.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'vatthapasuta' describe?
Correct: A. The first vanity named in this verse's questions.
Question 8 of 10
What image does the verse use for virtue, in contrast to clothes and jewelry?
Correct: B. Fragrance as the closing image, replacing literal ornament.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'netarā pajā' emphasize?
Correct: D. A pointed emphasis on this one addressee, singled out.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Three?
Correct: C. Continuing the chapter's sequence of ten poems.
