Ekadhammasavanīya — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Seven · Poem 7 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; a direct declaration of attainment
Speaker
Ekadhammasavanīya, describing his own complete liberation
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
★☆☆☆☆ — direct, with one embedded wordplay
Why this text
Ekadhammasavanīya's own name records an unusually rapid path to awakening: eka-dhamma-savanīya, ‘attained through hearing a single teaching’. His verse opens with a wordplay Sujato's translation marks directly: ‘my defilements have been burnt away, by practicing absorption’ — jhāpitā, ‘burnt’, sharing its root with jhāna, meditative absorption.
Reading guide
A name recording a claim about speed
Where Sugandha's verse (Thag 1.24) states outright that he attained the three knowledges in a single rainy season, Ekadhammasavanīya's name makes an even more compact version of the same claim — that hearing one teaching was enough — built directly into what he is called, rather than stated in the verse itself.
A wordplay Sujato's own translation flags
Jhāpitā, ‘burnt away’, and jhāna, ‘absorption’, share a root in jhāyati — a pun the Pali makes available and that Sujato's translation marks explicitly with a bracketed note, ‘by practicing absorption’, rather than leaving the wordplay invisible in English.
A complete declaration, stated without narrative
The verse's remaining three lines list total liberation in escalating terms: rebirth into every state of existence eradicated, transmigration through births finished, no future lives remaining — each line restating the same completion from a slightly different angle, without any narrative frame around it.
Key terms
jhāpitā — “burnt away” — describing Ekadhammasavanīya's defilements, sharing a root with jhāna.
jhāna — meditative absorption — the practice this verse's opening wordplay points toward without naming outright.
bhavā — “states of existence” or “rebirth” — what this verse says has been entirely eradicated.
jātisaṁsāro — “transmigration through births” — the verse's third statement of the same completion.
punabbhavo — “future rebirth” or “renewed existence” — what this verse says will no longer occur.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1My defilements have been burnt away by practicing absorption—rebirth into all states of existence is eradicated, transmigration through births is finished, now there’ll be no more future lives.
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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 Ekadhammasavanīya mean?
Correct: D. A claim about speed built directly into the name.
Question 2 of 10
What wordplay does the verse's opening line contain, according to this reading guide?
Correct: B. A wordplay Sujato's translation flags with a bracketed note.
Question 3 of 10
How does Sujato's translation mark this wordplay?
Correct: B. An explicit editorial choice to surface the pun for English readers.
Question 4 of 10
What earlier poem in this collection makes a similar claim about the speed of attainment?
Correct: C. Sugandha states it in the verse; Ekadhammasavanīya's name states it instead.
Question 5 of 10
What does the verse say has been 'entirely eradicated'?
Correct: A. Bhavā sabbe samūhatā — total liberation stated directly.
Question 6 of 10
How many times does the verse restate the same completion, from different angles?
Correct: C. Eradicated rebirth, finished transmigration, no future lives — three angles on one claim.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'jātisaṁsāro' mean?
Correct: A. The verse's third statement of complete liberation.
Question 8 of 10
Does this verse include a narrative setting, according to this reading guide?
Correct: B. A list of completions, stated without any surrounding story.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Seven?
Correct: C. Poem 7 of 10.
Question 10 of 10
What does 'punabbhavo' mean?
Correct: D. What the verse says will no longer occur.
