Sirima — The Book of the Twos · Chapter Two · Poem 10 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; two four-line verses closing Chapter Two, followed in the Pali by an untranslated chapter colophon and mnemonic verse
Speaker
Sirima, on the true weight of praise and blame
Form
Two mirrored four-line verses, without a translated attribution, followed by the chapter's own untranslated structural close
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 clean, symmetrical pair of verses, plus a chapter's own structural close
Why this text
Sirima closes Chapter Two with a mirrored pair of verses: if others praise someone with no immersion, they praise in vain; if others criticize someone who does have immersion, they criticize in vain — in both cases the actual presence or absence of immersion is what matters, not the opinion offered.
Reading guide
A mirrored pair: praise, then blame
The two verses run in exact parallel structure — the first verse states that praise given to someone ‘with no immersion’ is void, since ‘one has no immersion’ regardless of what others say; the second verse reverses every term, applying the identical logic to criticism aimed at someone who ‘does have immersion’.
Immersion as the only relevant fact
Both verses converge on the same point from opposite directions: external opinion, whether praise or blame, is ‘moghaṁ’, ‘in vain’ or ‘futile’, because it doesn't change the actual presence or absence of samādhi. The self's own state is the only fact that matters.
A different angle again on external judgment
This is the fourth poem in the Book of the Twos so far to take up how external opinion or gain relates to actual attainment (after Thag 2.2, 2.5, and 2.17 on honor and gains) — but where those poems warned against honor as a danger or a misallocated resource, this poem takes a more detached view: praise and blame alike are simply void, neither harmful nor beneficial, when measured against what's actually true.
A chapter's own closing line, left untranslated
Immediately after this poem, the Pali carries vaggo dutiyo, ‘the second chapter is finished’ — followed by this chapter's own uddāna, naming all ten monks in sequence: Cunda (an abbreviation of Mahācunda), Jotidāsa, Heraññakāni, Somamitta, Sabbamitta, Kāḷa (an abbreviation of Mahākāḷa), Tissa, Kimila (Kimbila), Nanda, and Sirimā — closing with the exact same collective epithet already seen closing Chapter One: ‘dasa therā mahiddhikā’, ‘these ten senior monks of great power’, word for word identical to Chapter One's own closing line. This mnemonic is absent from Sujato's translation and not included in this page's text.
Key terms
asamāhito — “with no immersion” — the condition of the person praised in vain in the first verse.
susamāhito — “with immersion” — the reversed condition of the person criticized in vain in the second verse.
moghaṁ — “in vain” or “futile” — the shared verdict both verses reach about external opinion.
samādhi — “immersion” — the actual fact both verses treat as the only thing that matters, regardless of what others say.
vaggo — “chapter” — the structural unit this poem closes, marked in the untranslated Pali colophon ‘vaggo dutiyo’, ‘the second chapter is finished’.
The text
The text in full: two mirrored verses, without a translated attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1If others praise one who has no immersion, they praise in vain, as one has no immersion.
§2If others criticize one who does have immersion, they criticize in vain, as one does have immersion.
· · ·
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 does the first verse say about praising someone with no immersion?
Correct: C. External opinion doesn't change the actual fact.
Question 2 of 10
How does the second verse relate to the first?
Correct: C. An exact mirrored structure.
Question 3 of 10
What single fact do both verses treat as the only thing that actually matters?
Correct: C. Praise and blame alike are void against this one fact.
Question 4 of 10
How does this poem's approach to honor and opinion differ from Thag 2.2, 2.5, and 2.17?
Correct: D. A more detached final angle on a recurring book theme.
Question 5 of 10
What Pali phrase, left untranslated by Sujato, immediately follows this poem?
Correct: C. The same kind of structural colophon that closed each chapter of the Book of the Ones.
Question 6 of 10
What does the chapter's closing uddāna say, compared to Chapter One's own closing line?
Correct: D. An identical formulaic closing line, confirmed across two consecutive chapters.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'moghaṁ' mean?
Correct: A. The shared verdict both verses reach about external opinion.
Question 8 of 10
Is the chapter's mnemonic verse included in this page's text?
Correct: B. Consistent with how this site handles untranslated structural material.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'susamāhito' mean?
Correct: A. The condition of the person criticized in vain, in the second verse.
Question 10 of 10
How many poems make up Chapter Two of the Book of the Twos?
Correct: B. Mahācunda through Sirima, named in sequence in the untranslated uddāna.
