Piyañjaha — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Eight · Poem 6 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; four paired, paradoxical instructions
Speaker
An unspecified voice, in a form this reading guide does not resolve as either command or resolve
Form
One four-line verse, built entirely from four paired contrasts
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
★★★☆☆ — compact, but genuinely puzzle-like
Why this text
Piyañjaha's verse is built entirely from four paired inversions: settle down when others rise, rise when others settle; remain when others depart; take no delight when others delight. Read together, they describe a habit of deliberately taking the opposite position from whatever the crowd is doing — and the verse never explains why.
Reading guide
Four deliberate inversions
Each line pairs a locative plural (‘among those who...’) with a contrasting action: settle when others spring up, spring up when others settle; dwell when others have left their dwelling; take no delight when others delight. No narrative frames these four lines, and no simile explains them — the pattern itself, repeated four times, is the entire content of the verse.
A name that matches its own message
Piyañjaha's name reads literally as piya (‘dear, pleasant’) plus jaha (‘one who has given up, abandoned’, from jahati) — ‘one who has given up what is dear’. This pairs naturally with the verse's fourth line in particular, declining delight when others delight, though the name matches the verse's overall theme rather than quoting any of its specific wording.
Command, resolve, or plain description?
This reading guide does not settle whether the verse's four lines are meant as direct instruction to a listener, a private resolve spoken to oneself, or a plain description of how this monk already lives. Sujato's English renders them as direct counsel (‘settle down... don't delight...’), but the verse supplies no addressee and no first-person marker to confirm who, exactly, is being told to act this way.
A third riddle-like verse in close range
This poem joins a small cluster of compact, riddle-like verses that give no narrative or explanation for their own pattern — alongside Thag 1.61 (Vappa) and Thag 1.63 (Pakkha) from the chapter before this one. All three withhold the very thing a reader might most want: a stated reason for the pattern they describe.
Key terms
uppatati — “springs up, rises” — the first action named in the verse's paired contrasts.
nipatati — “settles down, falls” — paired against uppatati in the verse's first two lines.
vasati — “dwells, remains” — the verb behind the verse's third line, about remaining when others depart.
ramati — “delights, takes pleasure” — the verb behind the verse's fourth line, declined in the final contrast.
Piyañjaha — “one who has given up what is dear” — piya (‘dear’) plus jaha (‘one who abandons’).
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Settle down when others spring up; spring up when others settle down. Remain when others have departed; don’t delight when others delight.
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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 structure does this entire verse follow?
Correct: A. The pattern itself, repeated four times, is the verse's content.
Question 2 of 10
According to the verse, what should happen when others spring up?
Correct: B. Uppatantesu nipate, the verse's first contrast.
Question 3 of 10
According to the verse, what should happen when others delight?
Correct: D. Ramamānesu no rame, the verse's fourth and final contrast.
Question 4 of 10
What does the name Piyañjaha literally mean?
Correct: C. Piya ('dear') plus jaha ('one who abandons').
Question 5 of 10
How does this reading guide describe the connection between Piyañjaha's name and this verse?
Correct: C. A thematic match, not a literal quotation.
Question 6 of 10
Does this reading guide resolve whether the verse is addressed to a listener, a private resolve, or a description of how the monk already lives?
Correct: B. The grammatical person is left genuinely ambiguous.
Question 7 of 10
What two earlier poems does this reading guide compare this verse to, as a small cluster of riddle-like verses?
Correct: D. Both from Chapter Seven, offering no stated reason for their own pattern.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'vasati' mean?
Correct: B. The verb behind the verse's third line.
Question 9 of 10
What is withheld from all three of the riddle-like verses this reading guide groups together?
Correct: A. Each states its pattern without explaining it.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Eight?
Correct: C. Midway through the chapter's ten poems.
