Sumaṅgala — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Five · Poem 3 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; an ecstatic declaration of freedom from farm labor
Speaker
Sumaṅgala, exclaiming his own release, then commanding himself by name
Form
One eight-line verse, built almost entirely on doubled repetition
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
★☆☆☆☆ — ecstatic doubling as its own rhetorical device
Why this text
‘Well freed! Well freed!’ Sumaṅgala opens, before naming exactly what he's freed from: not sensual desire in the abstract, but his sickles, his ploughs, and his little hoes — a farmer's own tools, named specifically, renounced with unrestrained relief.
Reading guide
Repetition as the verse's central technique
‘Well freed! Well freed!’, ‘done with them, done!’, ‘practice absorption Sumaṅgala! Practice absorption Sumaṅgala!’ — this verse expresses its joy almost entirely through insistent doubling rather than elaborate description, each key phrase said twice in a row.
Three specific tools, not an abstract craving
‘Three crooked things’ are named precisely: sickles, ploughs, and little hoes — the ordinary, backbreaking equipment of farm labor, giving this verse's relief a concrete, physical target rather than a general renunciation of sensual pleasure.
Self-naming three times, each paired with a command
Sumaṅgala's own name appears three times in this verse's closing lines, each instance directly commanding himself: ‘practice absorption, Sumaṅgala’, repeated, then ‘stay heedful, Sumaṅgala’ — a more concentrated use of self-naming-as-command than Hārita's single instance earlier in this book.
Key terms
sumuttika — “well freed” — the verse's doubled opening exclamation.
tīhi khujjakehi — “from three crooked things” — introducing the specific tools named next.
naṅgala — “plough” — one of the three farming tools this verse names.
khuddakuddāla — “little hoe” — the third of the three tools.
appamatta — “heedful” — the quality of the verse's final command to Sumaṅgala.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Well freed! Well freed! I’m very well freed from three crooked things: my sickles, my ploughs, and my little hoes. Even if they were here, right here—I’d be done with them, done! Practice absorption Sumaṅgala! Practice absorption Sumaṅgala! Stay heedful, Sumaṅgala!
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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 does this verse open?
Correct: D. Repetition as the verse's opening technique.
Question 2 of 10
What three things does Sumaṅgala say he's freed from?
Correct: B. A former farmer's own specific tools, named directly.
Question 3 of 10
How many times does the verse repeat 'practice absorption, Sumaṅgala'?
Correct: B. Doubled, matching the verse's overall pattern.
Question 4 of 10
What rhetorical device does this verse rely on most heavily?
Correct: D. Nearly every key phrase said twice in a row.
Question 5 of 10
How does Sumaṅgala's self-naming compare to Hārita's earlier in this book?
Correct: A. A more concentrated use of self-naming-as-command here.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'naṅgala' mean?
Correct: A. One of the three farming tools named in this verse.
Question 7 of 10
What quality closes the verse, in its final command to Sumaṅgala?
Correct: C. Appamatta, the verse's final instruction.
Question 8 of 10
Is Sumaṅgala's relief in this verse directed at an abstract craving or a concrete circumstance?
Correct: B. Physical, ordinary tools, named precisely.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'khuddakuddāla' mean?
Correct: A. The third of the three tools this verse names.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Five?
Correct: C. Continuing the chapter's sequence of ten poems.
