Eraka — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Ten · Poem 3 of 10
Setting
No narrative frame; a repeated direct address, building a short logical chain
Speaker
Unnamed; this reading guide does not resolve whether Eraka is being addressed by another voice or addressing himself
Form
One six-line verse, naming its listener four times
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 repetitive structure
Why this text
This verse names its own listener, Eraka, four separate times in six short lines, hammering home a simple chain of reasoning: sensual pleasures are suffering; one who enjoys them enjoys suffering; one who doesn't, doesn't. It is the most insistent name-repetition found anywhere in this collection so far.
Reading guide
Named four times in one breath
Eraka appears as a direct address at the end of lines one, two, four, and six — far more insistent than Thag 1.83, where Sīha's name appeared just once within the verse. The repetition itself does rhetorical work: each restatement of the name anchors a fresh step in the verse's logic, so that by the end ‘Eraka’ has become almost a refrain as much as a name.
A syllogism, not a story
The verse's structure is a clean chain: sensual pleasures are suffering, stated twice for emphasis; therefore whoever enjoys sensual pleasures enjoys suffering; and by the same logic, whoever doesn't enjoy them doesn't enjoy suffering. No narrative, no simile, carries any of this — the whole verse is argument, restated with each named address to Eraka.
Whose voice, addressing whom?
As with Thag 1.83 (Sīha), this reading guide does not resolve who is speaking. The verse could be someone else's exhortation to Eraka — a teacher's, perhaps — or it could be Eraka addressing himself, repeating his own name the way a person might drill a lesson into their own mind. Unlike Thag 1.5 and Thag 1.8, where the name Vīra doubled as a plain descriptive word within the elder's own self-report, this verse's structure of repeated direct address doesn't fit that pattern as easily.
A name, possibly a plant
Eraka may relate to a word for a kind of reed or grass used elsewhere in the wider canon's vocabulary. Given the uncertainty, this reading guide notes the possibility without treating it as established.
Key terms
kāma — “sensual pleasure” — the subject of this verse's entire argument.
kāmayati — “enjoys, desires” — a verb built directly from kāma, repeated through the verse.
dukkha — “suffering” — what the verse says sensual pleasure both is and leads to.
Eraka — the name repeated four times in this verse, possibly related to a word for a kind of reed or grass.
kāmā dukkhā — “sensual pleasures are suffering” — the verse's opening claim, stated twice.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Sensual pleasures are suffering, Eraka! Sensual pleasures aren’t happiness, Eraka! One who enjoys sensual pleasures enjoys suffering, Eraka! One who doesn’t enjoy sensual pleasures doesn’t enjoy suffering, Eraka!
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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 times does this verse address its listener by name?
Correct: C. At the end of lines one, two, four, and six.
Question 2 of 10
How does this compare to Thag 1.83, where Sīha was addressed?
Correct: B. Thag 1.83 used the name once; this verse uses it four times.
Question 3 of 10
What is the verse's overall structure?
Correct: C. Restated with each direct address to Eraka.
Question 4 of 10
Does this reading guide resolve whether Eraka is being addressed by someone else or is addressing himself?
Correct: D. The verse's grammar doesn't settle the question.
Question 5 of 10
How does this verse's use of Eraka's name differ from Vīra's self-naming in Thag 1.5 and Thag 1.8?
Correct: B. A different kind of name-repetition than the earlier wordplay case.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'kāmayati' mean?
Correct: A. A verb built directly from kāma, 'sensual pleasure'.
Question 7 of 10
What does this verse say happens to one who does not enjoy sensual pleasures?
Correct: A. The verse's final logical step, mirroring the claim about those who do enjoy them.
Question 8 of 10
What does this reading guide suggest 'Eraka' may possibly relate to?
Correct: A. Noted as a possibility, not established fact.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'dukkha' mean?
Correct: D. What the verse says sensual pleasure both is and leads to.
