Puṇṇamāsa — The Book of the Twos · Chapter Three · Poem 6 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; two four-line verses, without a translated attribution
Speaker
Puṇṇamāsa, examining his own body through the Dhamma as a mirror
Form
Two four-line verses — giving up the hindrances, then a mirrored self-examination
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 clear metaphor, directly echoing the poem just before it
Why this text
Puṇṇamāsa gives up the five hindrances for the sake of sanctuary from the yoke, then takes the Dhamma itself as a mirror for knowing and seeing himself, examining his own body inside and out until it appears hollow — the identical closing image used one poem earlier, by Vītasoka, with a literal mirror instead of a figurative one.
Reading guide
Giving up the hindrances, for sanctuary
The first verse states plainly that the five hindrances have been given up, ‘for the sake of sanctuary from the yoke’ — yogakkhema, a term for safety from what binds one to continued existence.
The Dhamma itself as a mirror
The same verse then supplies this poem's central image: ‘I took Dhamma as a mirror, for knowing and seeing myself’. Where Thag 2.25 (Vītasoka) used a literal handheld mirror at the moment of a haircut, this poem makes the teaching itself the reflective surface.
The same closing image, one poem later
The second verse examines the body ‘all of it, inside and out’, closing with the identical phrase used to close Thag 2.25: ‘my body appeared hollow’. Two consecutive poems, two different mirrors — one literal, one the Dhamma itself — arriving at the same image for the body's nature.
A second Puṇṇamāsa, closing a book in each case
Puṇṇamāsa (1st), at Thag 1.10, closed Chapter One of the Book of the Ones. This second monk of the same name appears mid-chapter here rather than at a chapter's close, sharing only the name and a broadly similar register of settled, examined attainment.
Key terms
nīvaraṇe — “hindrances” — the five given up in this poem's opening line.
yogakkhemassa — “sanctuary from the yoke” — what giving up the hindrances is said to secure.
dhammādāsaṁ — “the Dhamma as a mirror” — this poem's central image, taking the teaching itself as a reflective surface.
santarabāhiraṁ — “inside and out” — describing the thoroughness of the body's examination in the second verse.
tuccho kāyo — “hollow body” — the identical closing image already used to close Thag 2.25, one poem earlier.
The text
The text in full: two verses, without a translated attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1I gave up the five hindrances for the sake of sanctuary from the yoke. I took Dhamma as a mirror for knowing and seeing myself.
§2I examined this body, all of it, inside and out. Internally and externally my body appeared hollow.
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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 say Puṇṇamāsa gave up?
Correct: C. For the sake of sanctuary from the yoke.
Question 2 of 10
What does Puṇṇamāsa take as a mirror, in this poem's central image?
Correct: B. The teaching itself as the reflective surface, unlike the poem just before it.
Question 3 of 10
What closing image does this poem share, word for word, with Thag 2.25?
Correct: C. Two different mirrors, the identical closing image.
Question 4 of 10
How does this poem's mirror differ from Vītasoka's in Thag 2.25?
Correct: B. The same image, rendered literally in one poem and figuratively in the next.
Question 5 of 10
What does 'yogakkhemassa' mean?
Correct: D. What giving up the hindrances is said to secure.
Question 6 of 10
Where does Puṇṇamāsa (1st) appear in this collection?
Correct: D. The earlier monk of the same name, in a different book.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'santarabāhiraṁ' mean?
Correct: A. Describing the thoroughness of the body's examination.
Question 8 of 10
How thoroughly does the second verse say the body was examined?
Correct: D. A complete, deliberate examination.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'nīvaraṇe' mean?
Correct: A. The five given up in the poem's opening line.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Three?
Correct: B. Following Uttara (2nd), Bhaddaji, Sobhita, Valliya (3rd), and Vītasoka.
