Vaḍḍhamāna — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Four · Poem 10 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting in the verse itself; the commentary places an earlier incident before Vaḍḍhamāna's ordination
Speaker
An unnamed voice urging Vaḍḍhamāna, per the commentary, out of laziness
Form
One four-line verse, followed in the Pali by an untranslated chapter colophon and mnemonic summary 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
★☆☆☆☆ — the same urgent template as the poem before it, redirected to a different craving, plus a commentarial backstory
Why this text
This verse repeats Tissa's opening almost exactly — struck by a sword, head on fire — but redirects its urgency toward a different target: not sensual desire, but bhavarāga, desire for continued existence. Sujato's note adds a commentarial story behind the verse, and a cautious aside connecting Vaḍḍhamāna's name to the founder of Jainism.
Reading guide
The same template as the poem just before it, one word changed
‘Struck by a sword, head on fire, a mendicant should wander mindful’ matches Tissa's verse (Thag 1.39) almost word for word. Only the final target changes: kāmarāga, sensual desire, becomes bhavarāga, desire for continued existence — two of early Buddhism's three classic cravings, named in sequence across these two neighboring poems.
A commentarial story explaining the verse's occasion
Sujato's note reports that, per the commentary, Vaḍḍhamāna committed some offense as a layman serious enough that the Buddha overturned his alms bowl against him — a formal act of censure the note describes as ‘like stepping on a fire’. He repented, asked forgiveness, and later ordained — but grew lazy, prompting the Buddha to address him with this verse.
A cautious aside about the Jain founder
The note also observes that the commentary places Vaḍḍhamāna's birth in the royal Licchavī family of Vesālī — the same clan and region traditionally associated with the Jain founder Mahāvīra Vaḍḍhamāna. Sujato raises the possibility that this verse was meant to needle the Jain founder by name, while stating plainly that the commentary itself never draws this connection — a speculation offered, not a claim confirmed.
A monk otherwise unknown
Unlike Gavampati in the poem just two before this one, praised for a specific named feat, Sujato's note describes this Vaḍḍhamāna as ‘unknown elsewhere’ in the canon — his only surviving trace outside the commentarial story is this single verse.
A chapter's own close, left untranslated
As at the end of Chapters One through Three, the Pali text here carries vaggo catuttho, ‘the fourth chapter is finished’, followed by an uddāna naming all ten monks of this chapter in sequence: Gahvaratīriya, Suppiya, Sopāka, Posiya, Sāmaññakāni, Kumāputta, Kumāputtasahāyaka, Gavampati, Tissa, and Vaḍḍhamāna. Sujato's translation leaves both untranslated, and neither appears in this page's text below.
Key terms
bhavarāga — “desire for continued existence” — the target this verse redirects Tissa's urgency toward.
pattanikkujjana — the formal act of “overturning the bowl” against someone — the censure the commentary says the Buddha used against Vaḍḍhamāna as a layman.
Licchavī — the clan the commentary associates with Vaḍḍhamāna's birth — the same clan traditionally linked to the Jain founder Mahāvīra.
paribbaje — “should wander” — the verse's closing instruction, shared word for word with Tissa's verse (Thag 1.39).
vaggo catuttho — “the fourth chapter is finished” — the untranslated Pali colophon closing this chapter.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Like they’re struck by a sword, like their head was on fire, a mendicant should wander mindful, to give up desire for rebirth.
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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 does this verse share with Tissa's verse (Thag 1.39) just before it?
Correct: D. The same template, with one target word changed.
Question 2 of 10
What target does this verse's urgency redirect toward, compared to Tissa's verse?
Correct: A. Two of the three classic cravings, named across two neighboring poems.
Question 3 of 10
According to the commentary Sujato's note cites, what happened to Vaḍḍhamāna as a layman?
Correct: B. A serious offense prompting an extreme monastic response.
Question 4 of 10
What does the note say happened after Vaḍḍhamāna repented?
Correct: C. The occasion the commentary gives for this verse.
Question 5 of 10
What cautious speculation does Sujato's note raise about Vaḍḍhamāna's name?
Correct: A. A possibility raised, explicitly not confirmed by the commentary itself.
Question 6 of 10
Does the commentary itself draw a direct link between Vaḍḍhamāna and the Jain founder?
Correct: D. A speculation offered by Sujato, not a claim in the commentary.
Question 7 of 10
How does Sujato's note describe Vaḍḍhamāna's presence elsewhere in the canon?
Correct: B. A monk whose only surviving trace is this verse and its commentarial story.
Question 8 of 10
What does the Pali text carry immediately after this poem, left untranslated by Sujato?
Correct: B. The same untranslated colophon pattern seen at the end of Chapters One through Three.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'pattanikkujjana' refer to?
Correct: C. The extreme monastic response the commentary attributes to the Buddha here.
Question 10 of 10
How many more chapters remain in the Book of the Ones after this one?
Correct: C. Twelve chapters in total make up the Book of the Ones.
