Reading guide
The complete traditional list of ascetic practices, in canonical order
Verses three through fifteen name, one per verse and in exactly their standard sequence, all thirteen of the traditional dhutaṅga (ascetic observances): rag-robes, alms-food, three robes only, indiscriminate alms-gathering, eating in one sitting, eating only from the bowl, refusing food offered later, forest-dwelling, living at a tree's root, living in the open, living in a charnel ground, accepting whatever seat is given, and never lying down to sleep. Verses sixteen through twenty add five further qualities — few wishes, contentment, seclusion, aloofness, energy — as a coda beyond the formal thirteen.
The most extensive peyyāla abbreviation anywhere in this collection
After verses two and three establish the template in full, the Pali source abbreviates the second, third, and fourth lines of all seventeen following verses (verses four through twenty) with ‘… pe …’, trusting the reader to supply the identical refrain each time, with only the opening word naming a different quality. This is by far the longest run of peyyāla shorthand in this collection, dwarfing the single- or few-verse cases already found in Thag 7.1, Thag 14.1, and Thag 15.1. Sujato's English translation reconstructs the full refrain at every occurrence regardless.
A former king, and the specific weight of what he gave up
The twenty-first verse names the exact objects surrendered with unusual specificity: ‘giving up a valuable bronze bowl, and a precious golden one, too, I took a bowl made of clay’, calling it his ‘second initiation’. Few poems in this collection itemize a renunciation this concretely.
Fear behind high walls, versus fearlessness in the open forest
The twenty-second and twenty-third verses draw the poem's central contrast directly: once living in ‘a citadel with walls so high... guarded by swordsmen’ yet ‘trembling with fear’, now ‘free of cowardice, with fear and dread given up’, having ‘plunged into the forest’. Security and fear turn out to have been directly proportional, not inversely so.
The same elder already heard exclaiming 'what bliss!'
This site's own Ud 2.10, With Bhaddiya, already tells of this same former king repeatedly exclaiming ‘Oh, what bliss!’ alone in the forest, puzzling fellow monks who assumed he must be pining for his old royal comforts — until asked directly, he explains the opposite is true. This poem's own contrast between guarded fear and unguarded fearlessness is the same realization stated in first-person testimony.
Key terms
The text
§1I rode on an elephant’s neck, wearing luxurious clothes. I ate boiled fine rice with pure meat sauce.
§2Today I am fortunate, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§3Wearing rags, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§4Living on almsfood, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§5Possessing only three robes, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§6Wandering for alms indiscriminately, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§7Sitting alone, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§8Eating only what’s put in the alms-bowl, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§9Never eating too late, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§10Living in the wilderness, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§11Living at the foot of a tree, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§12Living in the open, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§13Living in a charnel ground, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§14Accepting whatever seat is offered, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§15Not lying down to sleep, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§16Few in wishes, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§17Content, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§18Secluded, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§19Aloof, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§20Energetic, persistent, happy with the scraps in my bowl: Bhaddiya son of Godhā practices absorption without grasping.
§21Giving up a valuable bronze bowl, and a precious golden one, too, I took a bowl made of clay: this is my second initiation.
§22I used to live in a citadel with walls so high, with battlements strong and gates, all guarded by swordsmen—and yet I trembled with fear.
§23Today I am fortunate, free of cowardice, with fear and dread given up. Bhaddiya son of Godhā has plunged into the forest and practices absorption.
§24Established in the entire spectrum of ethics, developing mindfulness and wisdom, gradually I attained the ending of all fetters.
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