Devasabha — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Nine · Poem 9 of 10
Setting
A retrospective declaration listing several obstacles already overcome
Speaker
Devasabha, in the first person
Form
One four-line verse, five images in sequence
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 dense list
Why this text
Devasabha names five obstacles in a row, all already overcome: bogs and mire crossed, chasms avoided, floods and ties left behind, and all conceit wiped out. It is one of the more crowded single-verse lists in this collection, mixing concrete images — bog, chasm, flood — with abstract categories — ties, conceit.
Reading guide
Five obstacles, one after another
Paṅkapalipā (‘bog and mire’, a near-synonym pair), pātāla (‘chasm’), ogha (‘flood’), gantha (‘tie’), and māna (‘conceit’) — five distinct obstacles named in sequence, each already dealt with: crossed, avoided, escaped, or wiped out. The density of the list is unusual even for this collection, which elsewhere tends to build a single verse around one image or one category rather than several at once.
Floods, echoed from the poem before
Mutto oghā, ‘freed from floods’, repeats the same image the poem immediately before this one, Thag 1.88 (Ajjuna), built its entire verse around — though the two treat it differently. Thag 1.88 dramatizes an active struggle, insight breaking through while still being swept along; here, the flood is simply one item in a completed list, already left behind.
Ganthā, a standard fourfold set
Gantha (‘tie’) is a standard category throughout the wider canon, traditionally enumerated as four: covetousness, ill will, attachment to rites and observances, and dogmatic insistence on one's own views. This verse names the category without breaking it down, the same unglossed treatment several earlier verses in this collection have given other standard lists.
Devasabha, the first of two
Devasabha reads as deva (‘god, deity’) plus sabha (‘assembly, hall’) — ‘an assembly of gods’, or ‘one with a divine assembly’. The ‘(1st)’ marking his name signals, as with Puṇṇa, Tissa, Uttiya, and Valliya earlier in this collection, that another elder later shares this name.
Key terms
paṅkapalipā — “bog and mire” — a near-synonym pair, the first obstacle this verse names as crossed.
pātāla — “chasm, abyss” — the second obstacle, described as avoided.
ogha — “flood” — the same image the poem immediately before this one, Thag 1.88, built its verse around.
gantha — “tie, knot” — traditionally enumerated as four: covetousness, ill will, attachment to rites, and dogmatic views.
māna — “conceit” — the fifth and final obstacle this verse names, said to be wiped out entirely.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1I’ve crossed the bogs, I’ve avoided the chasms, I’m freed from floods and ties, and I’ve wiped out all conceit.
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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
How many distinct obstacles does this verse name as already overcome?
Correct: B. Bog and mire, chasm, flood, tie, and conceit.
Question 2 of 10
What image does this verse share with the poem immediately before it, Thag 1.88?
Correct: C. Mutto oghā, 'freed from floods', echoing Thag 1.88's central image.
Question 3 of 10
How does this verse's treatment of the flood differ from Thag 1.88's?
Correct: D. Ongoing peril in Thag 1.88, versus a settled, completed list here.
Question 4 of 10
What does 'gantha' mean, and how many are traditionally enumerated?
Correct: A. Covetousness, ill will, attachment to rites, and dogmatic views.
Question 5 of 10
Does this verse individually name the four ties?
Correct: D. The same unglossed treatment given to other standard categories in this collection.
Question 6 of 10
What does the name Devasabha mean?
Correct: B. Deva ('god') plus sabha ('assembly').
Question 7 of 10
What does the '(1st)' marking after Devasabha's name signal?
Correct: C. The same disambiguation pattern seen with Puṇṇa, Tissa, Uttiya, and Valliya.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'pātāla' mean?
Correct: A. The second obstacle this verse names, described as avoided.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'māna' mean?
Correct: D. The fifth and final obstacle this verse names.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Nine?
Correct: A. The second-to-last poem, immediately before the chapter's close.
