Añjanavaniya — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Six · Poem 5 of 10
Setting
The Añjana Wood, where he built his hut
Speaker
Añjanavaniya, named for the wood itself
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 chapter's hut theme, without the shared formula
Why this text
Añjanavaniya's name simply means ‘of the Añjana Wood’ — a place-based name, like Sītavaniya and Kosalavihārin elsewhere in this book, given after the location of his own hut. His verse keeps this chapter's hut theme but drops the rain-and-invitation frame that carried the four poems before it, closing instead with the same three-knowledges formula heard from Sugandha in Chapter Three.
Reading guide
A name taken from the place itself
Añjanavaniya built his hut having ‘plunged into the Añjana wood’, and his name simply records that location — the same place-name pattern already seen with Sītavaniya in Chapter Two and continuing later in this chapter with Kosalavihārin.
The formula breaks, but the hut remains
Unlike the four poems before this one, Añjanavaniya's verse does not invite the rain god or describe his hut as roofed against the wind. The rain-and-hut formula that opened this chapter ends with Uttiya's verse; this poem keeps only the hut itself, now as the site of attainment rather than shelter from weather.
The same closing couplet as Sugandha, three chapters back
Añjanavaniya's final two lines — ‘I've attained the three knowledges and fulfilled the Buddha's instructions’ — repeat Sugandha's closing couplet from Chapter Three (Thag 1.24) word for word, a formula this collection uses for a monk's own plain declaration of completed practice.
Key terms
Añjanaṁ vanaṁ — “the Añjana Wood” — the specific forest Añjanavaniya's name records, and where he built his hut.
āsandi — here rendered “plunged” — describing how Añjanavaniya entered the wood before building his hut.
tisso vijjā — “the three knowledges” — recollection of past lives, the divine eye, and the ending of defilements, named as Añjanavaniya's attainment.
kuṭikaṁ katvā — “having made a hut” — this verse's only remaining trace of the chapter's shared hut theme.
kataṁ buddhassa sāsanaṁ — “fulfilled the Buddha's instructions” — the closing declaration shared word for word with Sugandha's verse in Chapter Three.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1I plunged into the Añjana wood and made a hut to live in. I’ve attained the three knowledges and fulfilled the Buddha’s instructions.
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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 the name Añjanavaniya mean?
Correct: D. The same place-naming pattern seen elsewhere in this book.
Question 2 of 10
How does this verse compare structurally to the four poems just before it?
Correct: B. The formula that opened the chapter ends with Uttiya's verse.
Question 3 of 10
What does Añjanavaniya's closing couplet share with Sugandha's verse in Chapter Three (Thag 1.24)?
Correct: B. 'I've attained the three knowledges and fulfilled the Buddha's instructions.'
Question 4 of 10
What are the 'three knowledges' this verse names?
Correct: C. A standard traditional set of attainments.
Question 5 of 10
What place-named elder from earlier in this book does Añjanavaniya's name resemble in pattern?
Correct: D. Both named after the place where they built their huts.
Question 6 of 10
What does Añjanavaniya do before attaining the three knowledges, according to the verse?
Correct: A. The verse's opening action, before the closing declaration.
Question 7 of 10
Which poem in this chapter does the rain-and-hut formula end with, according to this reading guide?
Correct: B. Añjanavaniya's verse is the first in this chapter to drop it.
Question 8 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Six?
Correct: C. Poem 5 of 10, opening the chapter's second half.
Question 9 of 10
What single word from this chapter's theme survives in Añjanavaniya's verse?
Correct: A. The hut remains, now as a site of attainment rather than shelter from weather.
Question 10 of 10
What does 'tisso vijjā' mean?
Correct: A. Named directly as Añjanavaniya's own attainment.
