Vajjiputta — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Seven · Poem 2 of 10
Setting
The wilderness, dwelling alone
Speaker
Vajjiputta, comparing himself to a discarded log
Form
One four-line verse, built on a single paired simile
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 sharp reversal packed into two similes
Why this text
Vajjiputta compares his own solitary life to something ordinary people would consider worthless: ‘a log dumped in a forest’. Then the verse turns that worthlessness inside out — he is envied by many, the way beings in hell envy one bound for heaven.
Reading guide
A name marking regional origin, not clan or place of dwelling
Vajjiputta, ‘son of a Vajjian’, names its bearer by the region of his birth or family, the Vajji confederacy northeast of Magadha — a different kind of place-based name from Sītavaniya or Kosalavihārin earlier in this collection, which named where a monk lived rather than where he came from.
A self-image chosen for its lowliness
A discarded log has no purpose left, no further use to anyone — the verse deliberately picks the least flattering possible image for a solitary forest-dwelling monk's own life, before reversing it entirely in the second half.
Envy measured against its opposite
The verse's second simile doesn't simply say Vajjiputta is envied; it specifies the intensity by comparing it to the envy of beings in hell for one headed to heaven — the widest possible gap in fortune the canon's cosmology can supply, applied to something as modest as a life alone in the wilderness.
A second Vajjiputta, expected elsewhere
The ordinal ‘(1st)’ marks this monk as distinct from another elder sharing his name later in the collection, following the same pattern already seen with Tissa, Vaccha, Valliya, and Uttiya earlier in this book.
Key terms
Vajjiputta — “son of a Vajjian” — naming this monk by his regional origin, the Vajji confederacy.
apaviddhaṁ — “dumped” or “discarded” — describing the log this verse compares its speaker to.
dārukaṁ — “log” or “piece of wood” — the verse's central, deliberately unflattering self-image.
pihayanti — “are jealous of” or “envy” — what the verse says many people feel toward Vajjiputta.
nerayikā — “beings in hell” — the extreme comparison the verse uses to measure that envy.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1We dwell alone in the wilderness, like a log dumped in a forest. Lots of people are jealous of me, as beings in hell are of one going to heaven.
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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 Vajjiputta compare himself to, dwelling alone in the wilderness?
Correct: B. A deliberately unflattering, purposeless image.
Question 2 of 10
What does the name Vajjiputta mean?
Correct: D. A different kind of place-based name from Sītavaniya or Kosalavihārin.
Question 3 of 10
According to the verse, who envies Vajjiputta?
Correct: C. The verse's second, reversing half.
Question 4 of 10
What comparison does the verse use to measure that envy?
Correct: D. The widest possible gap in fortune the canon's cosmology supplies.
Question 5 of 10
What does the ordinal '(1st)' attached to Vajjiputta's name signal?
Correct: B. The same disambiguation pattern seen with Tissa, Vaccha, Valliya, and Uttiya.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'dāruka' mean?
Correct: A. The verse's central self-image.
Question 7 of 10
According to this reading guide, why does the verse choose a discarded log as its self-image?
Correct: B. A lowliness chosen precisely to set up the verse's reversal.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'pihayanti' mean?
Correct: A. What many people are said to feel toward Vajjiputta.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Seven?
Correct: C. Poem 2 of 10.
Question 10 of 10
What does 'nerayikā' mean?
Correct: A. The extreme comparison used to measure Vajjiputta's envied status.
