Mogharāja — The Book of the Twos · Chapter Five · Poem 4 of 9
Setting
A dialogue, addressed to Mogharāja by name, without a translated attribution
Speaker
An unnamed questioner, then Mogharāja himself in reply
Form
Two four-line verses — a concerned question, then a contented answer
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, conversational language
Why this text
An unnamed voice asks Mogharāja how he will survive the dark, cold nights of winter, given his rough appearance but good heart and constant absorption — and Mogharāja answers not with complaint, but with plain contentment: he'll make his bed under a thatched roof in grain-rich Magadha, ‘like those who live in comfort’.
Reading guide
Addressed by name, directly
The first verse speaks to Mogharāja by name and by description — ‘your skin is nasty but your heart is good’, ‘always immersed in samādhi’ — before raising a practical worry: how will he get by in the cold, dark nights of winter? This direct address by name recalls the collection's earlier instances of one person addressing another directly, such as Thag 1.83's address to Sīha in the Book of the Ones.
An answer in contentment, not complaint
The second verse doesn't deny the hardship — it simply answers it: he's heard the Magadhans have abundant grain, and he'll make his bed under a thatched roof ‘like those who live in comfort’. No claim of hardened endurance, no supernatural comfort — just a plain, practical answer to a plain question.
A name that may match this site's own Sutta Nipāta
This site's Sutta Nipāta collection already includes Snp 5.16, The Questions of Mogharāja — the fifteenth of Bāvarī's sixteen student-brahmins, who asks the Buddha how to view the world so the King of Death does not see him, and receives the answer ‘look upon the world as empty’. No surviving comment on this poem confirms the identification, but Mogharāja is a distinctive enough name — unlike common names such as Kassapa or Tissa — that this reading guide treats the two as plausibly the same person, in the same spirit as its treatment of Nanda and Upavāṇa earlier in this book.
Key terms
chavipāpaka cittabhaddaka — “your skin is nasty but your heart is good” — the opening compliment-with-caveat addressed to Mogharāja.
satataṁ samāhito — “always immersed in samādhi” — how Mogharāja is described.
hemantikasītakālarattiyo — “the dark, cold nights of winter” — the practical worry raised in the first verse.
sampannasassā — “abundant with grain” — describing Magadha, in the answer.
pālālacchannako — “a bed under a thatched roof” — Mogharāja's plain, contented answer.
The text
The text in full: two verses, without a translated attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Your skin is nasty but your heart is good; Mogharāja, you’re always immersed in samādhi. But in the nights of winter, so dark and cold, how will you get by, monk?”
§2“I’ve heard that all the Magadhans have an abundance of grain. I’ll make my bed under a thatched roof, just like those who live in comfort.”
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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 practical worry does the first verse raise?
Correct: D. Addressed to Mogharāja directly, by name.
Question 2 of 10
How does Mogharāja answer, in the second verse?
Correct: C. A practical answer, not a display of hardened asceticism.
Question 3 of 10
What is said of Mogharāja's appearance and heart in the first verse?
Correct: B. Chavipāpaka cittabhaddaka — a compliment with a caveat.
Question 4 of 10
What earlier poem in this collection features a similar direct address to a monk by name?
Correct: A. In Chapter Nine of the Book of the Ones.
Question 5 of 10
What already-translated poem on this site may feature the same Mogharāja?
Correct: C. Bāvarī's fifteenth student-brahmin, who asked how to view the world.
Question 6 of 10
What famous answer does Snp 5.16's Mogharāja receive from the Buddha?
Correct: D. One of the Sutta Nipāta's most quoted single lines.
Question 7 of 10
Is the identification with Snp 5.16's Mogharāja confirmed by a surviving comment on this poem?
Correct: B. Treated with the same caution as Nanda and Upavāṇa earlier in this book.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'sampannasassā' describe?
Correct: B. The practical basis for Mogharāja's contented answer.
Question 9 of 10
What does 'satataṁ samāhito' mean?
Correct: A. How Mogharāja is described in the opening verse.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Five?
Correct: C. Following Kassapa the Prince, Dhammapāla, and Brahmāli.
