Bhalliya — The Book of the Ones · Chapter One · Poem 7 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; a short verse with a closing attribution
Speaker
An unnamed voice describing Bhalliya; his own name never appears within the verse itself
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 striking new opening image, paired with lines shared word for word with an earlier poem
Why this text
This verse opens with the chapter's first martial image: casting aside the army of the King of Death as easily as a great flood sweeps away a fragile bridge of reeds. Its second half then echoes Dabba's verse (Thag 1.5) almost word for word — except that where Dabba named himself twice, this verse never once says ‘Bhalliya’.
Reading guide
A new image: an army cast aside, a bridge swept away
Where this chapter's verses so far have used domestic or natural images — a hut, a gale, a fire, a taming — this one opens with something closer to warfare: the army of the King of Death, cast aside as easily as a flood sweeps away a bridge built from fragile reeds.
Two lines shared word for word with Dabba's verse
This verse's closing two lines — ‘victorious since his fears have vanished’, ‘fully quenched, steadfast’ — match Dabba's verse (Thag 1.5) almost exactly in the Pali, sharing the same formulaic phrase apetabheravo, ‘fear departed’, that Dabba's verse also used.
Unlike Dabba, never naming himself inside the verse
Dabba's verse says ‘Dabba’ twice within its own four lines. This verse's closing line instead says only ‘tame and steadfast’ — a generic description standing where Dabba's own name once stood — so Bhalliya's identity appears only in the external attribution, not inside the verse itself.
Key terms
maccurāja — the “King of Death”, an epithet for Māra — whose army this verse says has been cast aside.
senā — “army” — the martial image opening this verse, unlike anything used so far in this chapter.
naḷasetu — “a bridge of reeds” — the fragile object in this verse's central simile.
mahogha — “a great flood” — the force said to sweep that reed bridge away.
apetabheravo — “fear departed” — a phrase shared word for word with Dabba's verse (Thag 1.5).
The text
The text in full: one verse, with its closing attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1He has cast aside the army of the King of Death, as a fragile bridge of reeds by a great flood. Victorious since his fears have vanished: tame and steadfast, he has become quenched.
§2That is how this verse was recited by the senior venerable Bhalliya.
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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 image opens this verse?
Correct: B. The chapter's first martial image.
Question 2 of 10
How do this verse's closing two lines compare to Dabba's verse (Thag 1.5)?
Correct: C. A shared formulaic phrase, apetabheravo, 'fear departed'.
Question 3 of 10
Does Bhalliya's own name appear within the verse itself?
Correct: D. A generic description stands where a name might have gone instead.
Question 4 of 10
What is described as fragile in this verse's simile?
Correct: C. Swept away by a great flood in the same line.
Question 5 of 10
What does 'maccurāja' mean?
Correct: B. Whose army this verse says has been cast aside.
Question 6 of 10
How does this verse's opening image compare to the images used earlier in this chapter?
Correct: A. A shift in register from domestic and natural images to warfare.
Question 7 of 10
What force is said to sweep the reed bridge away?
Correct: A. Named directly in the verse's second line.
Question 8 of 10
What word replaces Bhalliya's own name in this verse's closing line?
Correct: B. Contrasting with Dabba's verse, which names Dabba directly instead.
Question 9 of 10
What closes this verse?
Correct: D. The same closing formula used across the collection.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter One?
Correct: A. Continuing the chapter's sequence of ten poems.
