Somamitta — The Book of the Twos · Chapter Two · Poem 4 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; an extended six-line first verse followed by a four-line second verse
Speaker
Somamitta, warning against reliance on lazy companions
Form
A six-line verse building an extended simile, followed by a four-line instruction
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
★★☆☆☆ — a vivid extended simile, plainly applied
Why this text
Somamitta pictures someone lost in a great sea who clambers onto a little log and sinks anyway, then applies the image directly: a person who otherwise lives well sinks too, by relying on a lazy companion — so seek out the noble ones instead, secluded, energetic, and practicing absorption.
Reading guide
A sinking log, in a great sea
The first verse spends its opening lines on pure image: lost in the middle of a great sea, clambering onto a little log offers no real safety — ‘you'll sink’ regardless. Only in the second half of the verse does the poem name what the log stands for: relying on a lazy person, which drags down even someone who ‘lives well’ on their own.
A second poem with an extended first verse
Like Thag 2.12 (Jotidāsa) two poems earlier, this poem's first verse runs to six lines rather than the book's usual four — the second such variation in this chapter, both times using the extra length to build out an image before applying it.
Direct instruction: who to dwell with instead
The second verse gives the positive counterpart: dwell with the noble ones, ‘secluded and determined’, ‘always energetic’, ‘astute’, and practicing absorption (jhāyī) — a specific, named alternative rather than just a warning to avoid bad company.
Good company, elsewhere on this site
This site's own SN 3.18, ‘Good Friends’, records the Buddha correcting Ānanda's suggestion that good friendship is only ‘half the spiritual life’ — insisting instead that it is the whole of it. This poem's sea-and-log simile makes a matching point from the opposite direction: the cost of bad company, rather than the value of good.
Key terms
mahaṇṇave — “in a great sea” — the setting for this poem's opening simile.
kusītaṁ — “a lazy person” — what the little log stands for, once the simile is applied.
parivījjeyya — “should avoid” — the direct instruction closing the first verse.
āraddhavīriyehi — “always energetic” — one of several qualities named for the noble companions to seek out instead.
jhāyibhi — “who practice absorption” — the closing quality named for the companions this poem recommends.
The text
The text in full: a six-line verse followed by a four-line verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1If you’re lost in the middle of a great sea, and you clamber up on a little log, you’ll sink. So too, a person who lives well sinks by relying on a lazy person. Hence you should avoid such a lazy person who lacks energy.
§2Dwell with the noble ones who are secluded and determined and always energetic; the astute who practice absorption.
· · ·
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 happens if you clamber onto a little log lost in a great sea, according to the first verse?
Correct: D. No real safety in a small log against a great sea.
Question 2 of 10
What does the little log stand for, once the simile is applied?
Correct: D. Even someone who otherwise lives well sinks by relying on laziness.
Question 3 of 10
How long is this poem's first verse?
Correct: C. The second such extension in this chapter, after Thag 2.12.
Question 4 of 10
What qualities does the second verse name for the companions this poem recommends?
Correct: D. A specific, positive alternative rather than only a warning.
Question 5 of 10
What does this site's own SN 3.18 record the Buddha insisting about good friendship?
Correct: C. A correction of Ānanda's own earlier suggestion.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'kusītaṁ' mean?
Correct: A. What this poem's simile warns against relying on.
Question 7 of 10
Which earlier poem in this chapter also has an extended six-line first verse?
Correct: B. Jotidāsa's poem, two positions earlier in the chapter.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'jhāyibhi' mean?
Correct: A. The closing quality named for the recommended companions.
Question 9 of 10
Does the poem only warn against bad company, or does it also name a positive alternative?
Correct: B. A complete instruction, not just a caution.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Two?
Correct: B. Following Mahācunda, Jotidāsa, and Heraññakāni.
