Valliya — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Six · Poem 3 of 10
Setting
A rain-sheltered hut
Speaker
Valliya (distinguished from a second monk of the same name elsewhere in this collection), addressing the rain god directly
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
★☆☆☆☆ — the same formula, one word changed again
Why this text
The formula continues into its third poem: the same rain, the same hut, and this time a third line naming diligence — appamāda — as what Valliya does inside that shelter. His name carries the ordinal ‘(1st)’, marking him as distinct from another monk sharing his name elsewhere in the Theragātha.
Reading guide
Diligence, named directly
Where Godhika named a serene mind and Subāhu named mindfulness immersed in the body, Valliya's third line states simply that he dwells there ‘diligent’ — appamatto, the same quality praised throughout the Theragātha and named explicitly as the Buddha's own final exhortation elsewhere in the canon.
A name that expects a namesake
The ordinal ‘(1st)’ attached to Valliya's name signals that another elder shares it later in the collection, following the same disambiguation pattern already seen with Tissa, Vaccha, and Sumaṅgala earlier in this book.
Three poems in, the formula's real subject
By this third repetition, the shared frame — rain, hut, invitation to the sky — has become almost invisible scaffolding. What each poem is actually about is the single word each speaker chooses for that one open line: serenity, embodiment, now diligence.
Key terms
appamatta — “diligent” or “heedful” — the quality Valliya names as his own variation on the shared formula.
appamāda — “diligence” or “heedfulness” — the broader quality this verse's third line invokes, praised throughout the Theragātha.
kuṭikā — “little hut” — the shared setting continuing from the two poems before this one.
tassaṁ — “there” — the word opening Valliya's third line, referring back to the hut just described.
pavassa — “rain forth” — the closing invitation, identical across all four poems in this run.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1The heavens rain like a sweet song. My hut is roofed and pleasant, sheltered from the wind. I meditate there, diligent: so rain forth, heavens, if you wish.
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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 quality does Valliya name in his verse's third line?
Correct: D. Appamatto, 'diligent' — his own variation on the shared formula.
Question 2 of 10
What does the ordinal '(1st)' attached to Valliya's name signal?
Correct: B. The same disambiguation pattern seen with Tissa, Vaccha, and others earlier in this book.
Question 3 of 10
How do this verse's first two lines compare to the two poems before it?
Correct: C. Rain, hut — the same opening, three poems running.
Question 4 of 10
What did Godhika and Subāhu name in their own third lines, for comparison?
Correct: A. Each poem names a different single quality inside the shared frame.
Question 5 of 10
According to this reading guide, what has the shared frame become by this third repetition?
Correct: B. The real content is the single varying word, not the repeated frame.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'appamāda' mean?
Correct: D. A quality praised throughout the Theragātha.
Question 7 of 10
What does the verse invite the rain god to do?
Correct: B. The same closing invitation shared across this run of poems.
Question 8 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Six?
Correct: C. Poem 3 of 10, continuing the rain-and-hut formula.
Question 9 of 10
What is the setting of this verse?
Correct: A. The same domestic scene shared with the poems before it.
Question 10 of 10
What does 'tassaṁ' mean, opening Valliya's third line?
Correct: A. Referring back to the hut just described.
