Susārada — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Eight · Poem 5 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; a general teaching on the value of good company
Speaker
An unnamed voice stating a general principle
Form
One four-line verse, building to a concluding maxim
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
★☆☆☆☆ — plain vocabulary, a proverb-like structure
Why this text
This verse states a simple chain: seeing those who have ‘practiced well’ cuts off doubt and grows intelligence — ‘even a fool grows wise’ — and concludes that meeting good people is therefore good. Sujato's translation renders its opening phrase with the same English wording used for this collection's own opening frame in Thag 1.1, though the underlying Pali is a different word.
Reading guide
A chain from seeing to wisdom
The verse moves in three steps: seeing those who have practiced well (suvihitāna dassanaṁ) is good; that seeing cuts off doubt and grows intelligence; and this is powerful enough that ‘even a fool grows wise’. The closing line draws the general conclusion — meeting good people (sataṁ samāgamo) is good — making this one of the collection's clearest single-verse statements of a broader theme found throughout the wider canon: the value of association with virtuous companions.
The same English phrase, a different Pali word
This verse's opening — ‘good is the sight of those who've practiced well’ — is translated with the same phrase, ‘practiced well’, that Sujato uses for this collection's own opening frame in Thag 1.1 (‘hear now from those who've practiced well’). But the underlying Pali differs: Thag 1.1 uses bhāvitatta (‘developed in oneself’), while this verse uses suvihita (‘well disposed, well ordered’). The echo exists at the level of Sujato's translation choice, not as a repetition in the Pali text itself — a distinction worth keeping clear rather than treating the two verses as sharing a phrase in the original.
A third verse reaching for 'seeing'
This verse's dassanaṁ (‘sight, seeing’) shares its root with dassin in Thag 1.71, which opened this chapter, and with passati in Thag 1.61, which opened the previous one. ‘To see’ is common vocabulary throughout the canon, so this alone does not suggest a deliberate design across these poems — but it is the third time within five poems that this particular root has surfaced.
Key terms
suvihita — “well disposed, well practiced” — translated with the same English phrase as Thag 1.1's bhāvitatta, though the two Pali words differ.
dassana — “sight, seeing” — from the same root as dassin (Thag 1.71) and passati (Thag 1.61).
kaṅkhā — “doubt” — what this verse says is ‘cut off’ by seeing good people.
paṇḍita — “wise” — what even a fool (bāla) is said to become.
sataṁ samāgama — “meeting of good people” — the verse's concluding maxim.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Good is the sight of those who’ve practiced well: doubt is cut off and intelligence grows—even a fool grows wise! That’s why it’s good to meet good people.
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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 three steps does this verse's chain of reasoning follow?
Correct: A. The verse's own three-step progression.
Question 2 of 10
What phrase does Sujato's translation of this verse's opening share with Thag 1.1's opening frame?
Correct: A. Both are translated with this English phrase.
Question 3 of 10
Does this verse's Pali word for 'practiced well' match Thag 1.1's exactly?
Correct: B. A translation-level echo, not a textual repetition in the Pali.
Question 4 of 10
What does 'dassana' mean?
Correct: C. Sharing its root with dassin (Thag 1.71) and passati (Thag 1.61).
Question 5 of 10
According to this reading guide, does the recurrence of 'seeing'-rooted words across three poems suggest a deliberate design?
Correct: B. A cautious, non-committal framing of the observation.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'kaṅkhā' mean?
Correct: D. What the verse says is cut off by seeing good people.
Question 7 of 10
According to the verse, what happens even to a fool who meets good people?
Correct: C. Bālampi karonti paṇḍitaṁ, 'even a fool grows wise'.
Question 8 of 10
What is the verse's concluding maxim?
Correct: A. Tasmā sādhu sataṁ samāgamo, the verse's final line.
Question 9 of 10
What broader canonical theme does this verse's maxim connect to, according to this reading guide?
Correct: D. A well-known broader theme, of which this verse is a compact statement.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Eight?
Correct: C. Midway through the chapter's ten poems.
