Sabbamitta — The Book of the Twos · Chapter Two · Poem 5 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; two four-line verses, without a translated attribution
Speaker
Sabbamitta, whose name means ‘friend to all’, describing people hurting people
Form
Two four-line verses — a bleak repeating pattern, then a direct imperative
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 stark, almost misanthropic tone, sharpened by its speaker's own name
Why this text
Sabbamitta describes people bound to, dependent on, and endlessly hurting one another, then asks what's the point of people at all, closing with a direct instruction: go, abandon them, having been hurt by so many — a striking verse from a speaker whose own name means ‘friend to all’.
Reading guide
A repeating pattern, four ways in four lines
The first verse states the same relationship four times, each with a different verb: people are attached to people, depend on people, are hurt by people, and hurt people. The repetition itself does the work, building a closed loop with no exit named.
A question, then a direct imperative
The second verse asks ‘what's the point of people’ at all, then answers with instruction rather than resignation: ‘go, abandon these people, who've hurt so many people’. Unlike Thag 1.109 (Saṅgharakkhita) in the Book of the Ones, which this project has previously noted ends on an unresolved critical description, this poem does supply a closing instruction — bleak in content, but not left open.
A name that cuts against the poem's own content
Sabbamitta's name means ‘friend to all’ — sabba, ‘all’, plus mitta, ‘friend’ — standing in stark, unmissable irony against a verse that concludes by instructing the reader to abandon people entirely. Nothing in the poem or in bilara-data explains this tension; it is simply there for the reader to notice.
Key terms
jano — “people” or “a person” — repeated as both subject and object throughout the first verse's closed loop.
heṭhīyati — “is hurt” — one of the four relationships named in the first verse's repeating pattern.
attho — “point” or “benefit” — what the second verse questions regarding people at all.
ohāya — “abandon” — the direct imperative closing the poem.
mitta — “friend” — the second half of Sabbamitta's own name, standing in irony against the poem's content.
The text
The text in full: two verses, without a translated attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1People are attached to people; people depend on people; people are hurt by people; and people hurt people.
§2So what’s the point of people, or those born of people? Go, abandon these people, who’ve hurt so many people.
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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 the first verse restate the relationship between people, each with a different verb?
Correct: C. Attached to, dependent on, hurt by, and hurting — a closed loop.
Question 2 of 10
What question does the second verse ask?
Correct: D. A pointed rhetorical question opens the second verse.
Question 3 of 10
What instruction closes the poem?
Correct: D. A direct imperative, not a resigned shrug.
Question 4 of 10
How does this poem's ending compare to Thag 1.109 (Saṅgharakkhita), previously noted in this project?
Correct: C. A bleak content, but with a stated instruction rather than an open question.
Question 5 of 10
What does Sabbamitta's own name mean?
Correct: D. Standing in irony against the poem's own content.
Question 6 of 10
Does anything in the poem or in bilara-data explain this irony?
Correct: B. An observation left unresolved by the source material itself.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'jano' mean?
Correct: A. Repeated as both subject and object across the first verse.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'ohāya' mean?
Correct: A. The direct imperative closing the poem.
Question 9 of 10
What is the overall tone of this poem?
Correct: B. A bleak repeating pattern, sharpened further by the speaker's own name.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Two?
Correct: B. Following Mahācunda, Jotidāsa, Heraññakāni, and Somamitta.
