Vītasoka — The Book of the Twos · Chapter Three · Poem 5 of 10
Setting
A barber's approach, mirror in hand, at the moment of ordination
Speaker
Vītasoka, describing his own moment of insight
Form
Two four-line verses — a concrete scene, then its sudden turn to insight
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 physical scene turning suddenly inward
Why this text
Vītasoka describes a barber approaching to shave his head; picking up a mirror to examine his body first, he sees it appear hollow, darkness lifting — the literal cutting of his hair becoming, in the same breath, the poem's image for no more future lives.
Reading guide
A barber, a mirror, and an unplanned insight
The first verse is entirely concrete: a barber approaches to shave Vītasoka's head, and before the shaving itself, he picks up a mirror and examines his own body. Nothing in the setup signals that insight is coming — the scene reads as an ordinary preparation for ordination.
The body seen hollow, and hair as a double image
The second verse turns without transition: the body ‘appeared hollow’, darkness disappears, and then ‘my fancy hairdo has been cut off’ — a line that works on two levels at once, the literal haircut about to happen and a figure for everything elaborate and self-adorning now cut away, closing on ‘no more future lives’.
A name shared with a figure in later Buddhist legend
The name Vītasoka, ‘free of sorrow’, is also borne by a figure in later Aśokan legend — the emperor Aśoka's own brother, in materials such as the Divyāvadāna. Nothing in this poem or in bilara-data connects the two, and this guide does not assert they are the same person; the name itself is simply attested in more than one Buddhist textual tradition.
Key terms
kappako — “barber” — the figure approaching to shave Vītasoka's head, opening the poem.
ādāsaṁ — “mirror” — picked up to examine the body before the literal shaving takes place.
tuccho kāyo — “hollow body” — what Vītasoka says appears to him, the turning point of the poem.
colā — “fancy hairdo” or elaborate adornment — cut off in the same line that closes on no more future lives.
punabbhavo — “future life” or renewed existence — denied outright in the poem's closing line.
The text
The text in full: two verses, without a translated attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1The barber approached to shave my head. I picked up a mirror and examined my body.
§2My body appeared hollow; I once was blind, but the darkness disappeared. My fancy hairdo has been cut off: now there’ll be no more future lives.
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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
What does the first verse describe happening?
Correct: A. An ordinary preparation for ordination, at first.
Question 2 of 10
What does Vītasoka do before the shaving itself, in the first verse?
Correct: B. An unplanned trigger for what follows.
Question 3 of 10
What does the second verse say Vītasoka's body appeared to be?
Correct: B. The turning point of the poem.
Question 4 of 10
How does the line about his 'fancy hairdo' work?
Correct: C. A double image, closing on 'no more future lives'.
Question 5 of 10
What does this guide say about the name Vītasoka and later Aśokan legend?
Correct: D. A cautious note about a shared name, not a claimed identification.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'tuccho kāyo' mean?
Correct: C. The central image of the poem's turning point.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'punabbhavo' mean?
Correct: D. Denied outright in the poem's closing line.
Question 8 of 10
How does the poem's structure move?
Correct: C. An abrupt transition, without warning or explanation.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'kappako' mean?
Correct: A. The figure approaching to shave Vītasoka's head.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Three?
Correct: B. Following Uttara (2nd), Bhaddaji, Sobhita, and Valliya (3rd).
