Uttiya — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Six · Poem 4 of 10
Setting
A rain-sheltered hut
Speaker
Uttiya (marked '(2nd)', distinct from another monk of the same name), 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 formula's fourth and final word
Why this text
Uttiya's verse closes the run of four rain-and-hut poems that opened this chapter. His variation is solitude: he dwells in his hut ‘without a partner’, adutiyo — a literal ‘without a second’, closing a sequence that has now named a serene mind, embodied mindfulness, diligence, and finally aloneness itself.
Reading guide
The fourth word: aloneness
Adutiyo, ‘without a second’ or ‘without a partner’, is Uttiya's variation on the shared third line — a direct statement that he dwells in his hut alone, closing this run on the theme of solitary practice itself.
Four poems, four words, one formula
Read together, the run now reads as a small set: Godhika named serenity, Subāhu named the body, Valliya named diligence, and Uttiya names solitude — four different single words filling the same fixed frame, each pointing at a distinct facet of the same contentment.
A second Uttiya, elsewhere
The ordinal ‘(2nd)’ marks this Uttiya as distinct from another elder sharing his name, following the same pattern already seen with Valliya just before him and with Tissa, Vaccha, and Sumaṅgala earlier in this book.
What comes after the formula breaks
The next poem, Añjanavaniya's verse, keeps this chapter's hut theme but drops the shared rain-and-invitation frame entirely — the formula that has carried the chapter's first four poems ends here.
Key terms
adutiya — “without a second” or “without a partner” — Uttiya's variation, naming solitude directly.
kuṭikā — “little hut” — the shared setting closing out this four-poem run.
tassaṁ — “there” — the word opening Uttiya's third line, as in Valliya's verse just before it.
pavassa — “rain forth” — the closing invitation, shared across all four poems in this formula.
Theragāthā — “Verses of the Senior Monks” — this collection's own title; this run of four poems is one of its clearest examples of a shared formula varied by individual speakers.
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 dwell there without a partner: 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 does Uttiya's third line name as his own variation on the shared formula?
Correct: D. Adutiyo, 'without a second' — a direct statement of aloneness.
Question 2 of 10
What four words, in order, do the four poems in this run each contribute, according to this reading guide?
Correct: A. Godhika, Subāhu, Valliya, and Uttiya, in sequence.
Question 3 of 10
What does the ordinal '(2nd)' attached to this Uttiya's name signal?
Correct: B. The same disambiguation pattern seen with Valliya and others in this book.
Question 4 of 10
According to this reading guide, what happens with the next poem, Añjanavaniya's verse?
Correct: D. The four-poem formula ends with this verse.
Question 5 of 10
What does 'adutiya' mean?
Correct: A. A literal statement of solitary dwelling.
Question 6 of 10
How do this verse's first two lines compare to the three poems before it?
Correct: B. Rain, hut — unchanged across all four poems.
Question 7 of 10
What does the verse invite the rain god to do?
Correct: B. The same closing invitation shared across this whole run.
Question 8 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Six?
Correct: C. Poem 4 of 10, closing 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 three poems before it.
Question 10 of 10
Besides Uttiya himself, which other elder in this run is marked with a disambiguating ordinal?
Correct: C. Valliya (1st), the poem immediately before this one.
