Kumāputta — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Four · Poem 6 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; a checklist verse defining the ascetic life
Speaker
Kumāputta, offering instruction in general terms
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 threefold refrain resolving into a precise definition
Why this text
‘Learning is good, living well is good, the life without abode is always good’ — three short claims, each opening with the same word, before the verse narrows to something precise: ‘questions on the meaning, actions that are skillful’, named directly as ‘the ascetic life for one who has nothing’.
Reading guide
A threefold refrain, then a precise definition
Sādhu, ‘good’, opens all three of the verse's first claims — learning, living well, homelessness — before the final two lines shift register entirely, defining exactly what ‘the ascetic life’ consists of rather than simply praising it further.
Homelessness named as a virtue in itself
Aniketavihāra, ‘dwelling without a fixed abode’, is called good ‘always’ — not merely a circumstance forced on a renunciant, but a quality actively valued in its own right.
A term shared with Gosāla's verse earlier in this chapter
‘Skillful action’ translates padakkhiṇakamma, sharing its root with padakkhiṇaṁ, the term Sujato's note on Gosāla's verse (Thag 1.23) explained as playing on dakkha, ‘skilled’ — the same word family surfacing a second time within this same chapter.
Key terms
sādhu — “good” — the word opening all three of this verse's first claims.
aniketavihāra — “dwelling without a fixed abode” — homelessness, named as a virtue in its own right.
atthapucchana — “questioning about the meaning” — the first of two activities this verse defines the ascetic life by.
padakkhiṇakamma — “skillful action” — sharing its root with a term already noted in Gosāla's verse (Thag 1.23) earlier in this chapter.
akiñcana — “one who has nothing” — the verse's closing description of the ascetic life's practitioner.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Learning is good, living well is good, the life without abode is always good. Questions on the meaning, actions that are skillful: this is the ascetic life for one who has nothing.
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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 word opens all three of this verse's first claims?
Correct: A. A threefold refrain opening the verse.
Question 2 of 10
What three things does the verse's opening call 'good'?
Correct: B. The verse's threefold opening refrain.
Question 3 of 10
What two things does the verse's final definition name?
Correct: A. The precise content the verse gives to 'the ascetic life'.
Question 4 of 10
How is the person practicing this ascetic life described, closing the verse?
Correct: C. Akiñcana, closing the verse's definition.
Question 5 of 10
What does 'aniketavihāra' mean?
Correct: D. Homelessness, named good 'always' in this verse.
Question 6 of 10
What term in this verse shares a root with a term already seen in this chapter?
Correct: B. The same word family, dakkha, surfacing a second time in this chapter.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'atthapucchana' mean?
Correct: A. One of two activities defining the ascetic life in this verse.
Question 8 of 10
Does this verse treat homelessness as a mere circumstance or as a valued quality?
Correct: B. Called good 'always', not simply tolerated.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'akiñcana' mean?
Correct: D. The verse's closing description of who lives this ascetic life.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Four?
Correct: C. Continuing the chapter's sequence of ten poems.
