Sāmaññakāni — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Four · Poem 5 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; a short verse naming a specific practice and its effects
Speaker
An unnamed voice describing those who develop this path
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
★☆☆☆☆ — a dense stack of descriptive terms for a single named path
Why this text
Seeking happiness, this verse says, people find it ‘through this practice’ — and gain a good reputation besides — before the verse names exactly what practice it means: ‘the noble eightfold path’, described in four stacked terms, developed toward freedom from death.
Reading guide
Happiness described as found, not directly pursued
The verse's opening line notes that those ‘seeking happiness’ find it ‘through this practice’ — happiness arriving as a result of the practice rather than something chased for its own sake, with social effects like reputation and fame named before the practice itself is even identified.
A path named with four stacked qualifiers
Once named, the path is described densely: ariya (‘noble’), aṭṭhaṅgika (‘eightfold’), añjasa (‘direct route’), and uju (‘straight’) — four descriptive terms compressed onto a single path before the verse names its final goal.
A doctrinal landmark named directly
This is the first poem in this chapter-by-chapter reading of the Theragātha to name the noble eightfold path explicitly — a formula appearing elsewhere on this site in the Khuddakapatha, here given its own concentrated four-line treatment.
Key terms
sukha — “happiness” — what this verse says is found through practice, not pursued directly.
kitti — “reputation” — named as a further effect of this practice, alongside growing fame.
ariya — “noble” — the first of four terms describing the path this verse names.
aṭṭhaṅgika — “eightfold” — identifying this path specifically as the eightfold path.
añjasa — “direct route” — one of the path's four stacked descriptive terms, paired with uju, “straight”.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Seeking happiness, they find it through this practice. They get a good reputation and grow in fame, those who develop the direct route: the noble eightfold path to realize freedom from death.
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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
According to this verse, how do those seeking happiness find it?
Correct: D. Happiness arriving as a result, not chased directly.
Question 2 of 10
What two social effects does the verse name, besides happiness?
Correct: B. Named before the practice itself is identified.
Question 3 of 10
What specific path does the verse eventually name?
Correct: D. The verse's central, doctrinal subject.
Question 4 of 10
How many descriptive terms does the verse stack onto this path?
Correct: C. Noble, eightfold, direct route, and straight.
Question 5 of 10
What is this path developed toward, according to the verse?
Correct: B. The verse's stated final goal.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'ariya' mean?
Correct: A. The first of four terms describing the path.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'aṭṭhaṅgika' mean?
Correct: A. Identifying this path specifically.
Question 8 of 10
Where else on this site does the noble eightfold path appear, according to this guide?
Correct: B. A formula appearing elsewhere on this site as well.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'añjasa' mean?
Correct: A. One of the path's four stacked descriptive terms.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Four?
Correct: C. Continuing the chapter's sequence of ten poems.
