Dhammapāla — The Book of the Twos · Chapter Five · Poem 2 of 9
Setting
A general teaching, not autobiography, without a translated attribution
Speaker
Dhammapāla, teaching rather than declaring his own attainment
Form
Two four-line verses — a description of the devoted young monk, then an exhortation naming four practices
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
★☆☆☆☆ — plain, general instruction
Why this text
Dhammapāla describes the young monk devoted to the Buddha's teaching — wakeful while others sleep, his life not in vain — before turning to direct exhortation: let the wise devote themselves to faith, ethical conduct, confidence, and insight into the teaching, remembering the instructions of the Buddhas.
Reading guide
A teaching, not a declaration
Unlike most poems in this collection, this one does not report the speaker's own attainment. It opens by describing ‘the young monk who is devoted to the teaching of the Buddha’, then generalizes into a direct exhortation to ‘the wise’ as a class — joining a small set of poems in this collection that teach rather than testify, such as Thag 1.71 and 1.74 in Chapter Eight of the Book of the Ones.
Four practices, named together
The second verse names four things the wise should devote themselves to: saddhā (faith), sīla (ethical conduct), pasāda (confidence or clarity), and dhammadassana (insight into the teaching) — a compact checklist, closing with the instruction to ‘remember the instructions of the Buddhas’.
A name that may echo its own content
Dhammapāla means ‘protector of the Dhamma’. No surviving comment confirms any deliberate connection, but a poem devoted entirely to urging faithful attention to the teaching, spoken by a monk whose name means exactly that, sits comfortably beside this collection's other cases of a name echoing its own verse's content.
Key terms
daharo bhikkhu — “the young monk” — the subject described in the poem's opening line.
jāgaro...suttesu — “wakeful while others sleep” — describing the devoted young monk's vigilance.
amoghaṁ...jīvitaṁ — “his life is not in vain” — the verdict on such a monk.
dhammadassanaṁ — “insight into the teaching” — one of the four things the wise are urged to devote themselves to.
saraṁ buddhāna sāsanaṁ — “remembering the instructions of the Buddhas” — the poem's closing instruction.
The text
The text in full: two verses, without a translated attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1The young monk who is devoted to the teaching of the Buddha, wakeful while others sleep—his life is not in vain.
§2So let the wise devote themselves to faith, ethical behavior, confidence, and insight into the teaching, remembering the instructions of the Buddhas.
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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 this poem do, unlike most declarations in this collection?
Correct: C. Joining a small set of teaching-genre poems, like Thag 1.71 and 1.74.
Question 2 of 10
How is the young monk described in the first verse?
Correct: B. Amoghaṁ tassa jīvitaṁ — his life is not in vain.
Question 3 of 10
What four things does the second verse urge the wise to devote themselves to?
Correct: D. Saddhā, sīla, pasāda, dhammadassana — a compact checklist.
Question 4 of 10
What does the poem close with?
Correct: C. Saraṁ buddhāna sāsanaṁ.
Question 5 of 10
What does the name Dhammapāla mean?
Correct: A. A name this reading guide notes may echo the poem's own teaching content.
Question 6 of 10
What two earlier poems in this collection are cited as similar teaching-genre poems?
Correct: B. Both in Chapter Eight of the Book of the Ones.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'jāgaro...suttesu' mean?
Correct: A. Describing the devoted young monk's vigilance.
Question 8 of 10
Is this poem's connection between the name Dhammapāla and its own content confirmed by any surviving comment?
Correct: B. An observation offered cautiously, without comment support.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'dhammadassanaṁ' mean?
Correct: C. One of the four practices named in the second verse.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Five?
Correct: D. Following Kassapa the Prince's opening exclamation.
