Valliya — The Book of the Twos · Chapter One · Poem 3 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; two four-line verses, without a translated attribution
Speaker
An unnamed voice, addressing a monkey directly in the second half
Form
Two four-line verses, the second a direct address
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
★★☆☆☆ — an extended animal image, left for the reader to interpret
Why this text
A monkey climbs up to a little hut with five doors, circling and knocking on each one, again and again — then a voice tells it plainly to stand still, because it has been caught by wisdom and won't get far. This is the second monk named Valliya in the collection, and the first poem in this chapter without a translated attribution.
Reading guide
A monkey, a hut with five doors
The first verse is pure image: a monkey approaches a ‘little hut with five doors’ and circles it, knocking repeatedly. The most natural reading treats the five doors as the five sense faculties and the monkey as the restless mind roving among them — a common kind of figure for an untrained mind — though the verse itself never states this explicitly, and this guide does not treat that reading as textually proven.
Caught by wisdom, not by force
The second verse addresses the monkey directly: ‘stand still, don't run’, because ‘things are different now’ — it has been caught not by a trap or a captor but by wisdom (paññā) itself, and won't go far. Restraint here is framed as an achieved understanding, not a physical confinement.
Who is speaking to whom is left open
Nothing in the text identifies the voice addressing the monkey. It could be read as Valliya speaking to his own formerly restless mind, now settled — a self-address in the same vein as Jambugāmikaputta's unnamed questions in Thag 1.28 — or as an external observation. This guide does not settle the question, since the poem itself doesn't.
A second Valliya, a different kind of hut
The Book of the Ones already introduced Valliya (1st) at Thag 1.53, part of a chapter where every single poem mentioned a kuṭikā, a little hut sheltering its occupant from rain. This poem's kuṭikā is the same word but a wholly different image — not a physical shelter but a five-doored figure for the body and its senses, with a monkey standing in for the mind rather than a monk addressing a rain god. A third Valliya, still to come later in this book, continues the name into a third poem.
Key terms
makkaṭo — “monkey” — the central image of this poem's first verse, addressed directly in the second.
pañcadvārāyaṁ — “five-doored” — describing the hut the monkey circles, most naturally read as the five sense faculties.
kuṭikā — “little hut” — the same word used for a literal rain shelter at Thag 1.53, here reused for a different, figurative structure.
niggahīta — “caught” or “restrained” — what the second verse says has happened to the monkey, by wisdom rather than by force.
paññāya — “by wisdom” — naming what has caught the monkey, the verse's key turn from image to explanation.
The text
The text in full: two verses, without a translated attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1A monkey went up to the little hut with five doors. He circles around, knocking on each door, again and again.
§2Stand still monkey, don’t run! Things are different now; you’ve been caught by wisdom—you won’t go far.
· · ·
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?
Correct: A. A single sustained image opens this poem.
Question 2 of 10
What is the most natural reading of the hut's five doors?
Correct: B. Though the guide notes this reading is not stated explicitly in the text itself.
Question 3 of 10
What does the second verse tell the monkey to do?
Correct: D. A direct, plain command opens the second verse.
Question 4 of 10
What has caught the monkey, according to the verse?
Correct: D. Restraint framed as understanding, not physical capture.
Question 5 of 10
Does the poem explicitly identify who is speaking to the monkey?
Correct: C. An honest gap in what the text itself specifies.
Question 6 of 10
How does this poem's 'kuṭikā' differ from the one at Thag 1.53?
Correct: C. The same word, two very different images.
Question 7 of 10
Which chapter, in the Book of the Ones, had every single poem mention a kuṭikā?
Correct: B. The chapter introducing Valliya (1st) at Thag 1.53.
Question 8 of 10
How many monks named Valliya appear across the Theragātha?
Correct: C. Valliya (1st) at Thag 1.53, Valliya (2nd) here, and a third still to come.
Question 9 of 10
Does this poem carry a translated closing attribution, like Thag 2.1 and 2.2?
Correct: B. A structural shift beginning with this poem.
Question 10 of 10
What does 'niggahīta' mean?
Correct: A. Describing what has happened to the monkey, by wisdom.
