Sītavaniya — The Book of the Ones · Chapter One · Poem 6 of 10
Setting
The Cool Grove, a place-name built directly into this monk's own name
Speaker
An unnamed voice describing Sītavaniya
Form
One four-line verse, with a closing attribution note
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
★☆☆☆☆ — a compact portrait naming one specific practice directly
Why this text
Sītavaniya's very name records where he practiced: ‘Sītavaniya’ means ‘of the Cool Grove’, and his one verse opens by naming that same place. Unlike the epithet-stacked verses around it, this poem names one specific practice directly — guarding mindfulness of the body.
Reading guide
A name that is also a place
‘Sītavaniya’ is formed directly from ‘Sītavana’, the Cool Grove — a charnel-ground-adjacent forest used by early monks for solitary practice. His verse opens by naming this same place, so that his identity and his practice site are recorded in the very same word.
One named practice, not only stacked epithets
Where several verses in this chapter accumulate general attainment terms — content, victorious, steadfast — this one names a specific practice directly: ‘guarding mindfulness of the body’, the first poem in this chapter to identify what, exactly, its subject was doing.
An idiom for fear overcome, not a literal claim
‘Goosebumps vanished’ translates an idiom for fear itself — hair standing on end being the physical marker of terror — so the phrase describes fearlessness achieved, not a literal physical detail.
Key terms
Sītavana — the “Cool Grove”, a forest site used for solitary practice — the place-name built directly into this monk's own name.
eka — “alone” or “solitary” — describing how Sītavaniya practiced at that grove.
santusita — “content” — an epithet recurring across several verses in this chapter.
kāyagatāsati — “mindfulness of the body” — the one specific practice this verse names directly, unlike its neighbors' more general epithets.
apetalomahaṁsa — “goosebumps vanished”, literally “hair standing departed” — an idiom for fear overcome, not a literal physical description.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with its closing attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1The monk who went to the Cool Grove is solitary, content and serene, victorious, with goosebumps vanished, guarding mindfulness of the body, steadfast.
§2That is how this verse was recited by the senior venerable Sītavaniya.
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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 'Sītavaniya' mean?
Correct: A. A name built directly from the place his verse names.
Question 2 of 10
What specific practice does this verse name directly?
Correct: B. The first poem in this chapter to name a specific practice.
Question 3 of 10
How does this verse differ from several others in this chapter?
Correct: A. A concrete practice, not only a list of attainment terms.
Question 4 of 10
What does 'goosebumps vanished' describe, according to this guide?
Correct: D. Hair standing on end as the physical marker of fear, now gone.
Question 5 of 10
What kind of place is the Cool Grove associated with?
Correct: B. The setting built into Sītavaniya's own name.
Question 6 of 10
Is Sītavaniya described as practicing alone or with company?
Correct: C. Named directly in the verse's opening lines.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'santusita' mean?
Correct: B. One of the epithets shared with several other poems in this chapter.
Question 8 of 10
What connects Sītavaniya's identity and his practice site especially closely?
Correct: C. Name and place recorded in the very same word.
Question 9 of 10
What closes this verse?
Correct: D. The same closing formula used across the collection.
Question 10 of 10
How many lines does this verse have, not counting its attribution?
Correct: C. The standard length for most poems in this chapter.
