Surādha — The Book of the Twos · Chapter One · Poem 8 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; two four-line verses, without a translated attribution
Speaker
Surādha, declaring his own attainment
Form
Two four-line verses, a fourfold declaration followed by an explicit statement of a goal met
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 plain, stacked declaration of attainment
Why this text
Surādha declares his own attainment in four stated claims — rebirth ended, the victor's instruction fulfilled, the ‘net’ given up, the leash to existence eradicated — then closes by naming exactly why he went forth from lay life, and confirming that this precise goal has now been reached.
Reading guide
Four claims, stacked in sequence
The first verse states four distinct things in sequence: rebirth is ended, the victor's teaching is fulfilled, what is called a ‘net’ is given up, and the leash to existence is eradicated. Each clause stands on its own, without elaboration or simile — a compact inventory rather than a developed image.
A net, named rather than described
The verse doesn't describe what the ‘net’ actually looks like or does; it simply reports that ‘what they call a net’ — jālasaṅkhāto — has been given up, alongside ‘the leash to existence’, bhavanetti. Both figures for craving and entanglement are invoked by name only, assuming the listener already knows the image.
A stated motive, and its exact fulfillment
The second verse does something less common in this collection: it names the specific reason Surādha went forth — ‘from the lay life to homelessness’ — and then confirms, in the same breath, that this precise goal has been reached: ‘the ending of all fetters’. Motive and fulfillment are paired explicitly, rather than left for the reader to infer that the original aim and the final attainment match.
Naming the victor, as promised two poems earlier
This poem's ‘jinasāsanaṁ’, ‘the victor's instruction’, is the direct fulfillment of the ‘-jina’ root flagged two poems earlier in Meḷajina's own name (Thag 2.6) — the same epithet for the Buddha, now spelled out in full as part of a formal declaration rather than carried implicitly in someone's name.
A name beside a name, adjacency without confirmation
Surādha follows Rādha (Thag 2.7) immediately, and his name is simply Rādha's own name with the prefix ‘su-’, ‘good’, attached. The shared root and the adjacency invite an obvious guess that the two were related, but neither poem's text, and no bilara-data comment for either, confirms this — this guide states only what the text itself supports: two consecutive poems, one name built from the other.
Key terms
jinasāsanaṁ — “the victor's instruction” — the teaching, named as fulfilled in this verse's second clause.
jālasaṅkhato — “what they call a net” — a figure for craving or entanglement, named rather than described.
bhavanetti — “the leash to existence” — a second figure for what binds one to further rebirth, paired with the net image.
agārasmā anāgāriyaṁ — “from the lay life to homelessness” — the standard phrase for going forth, naming the original motive this verse then confirms was fulfilled.
sabbasaṁyojanakkhayo — “the ending of all fetters” — the goal this verse states was reached, closing the poem.
The text
The text in full: two verses, without a translated attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Rebirth is ended for me; the victor’s instruction is fulfilled; what they call a “net” is given up; the leash to existence is eradicated.
§2I’ve reached the goal for the sake of which I went forth from the lay life to homelessness: the ending of all fetters.
· · ·
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
How many distinct claims does the first verse state?
Correct: C. Rebirth ended, the teaching fulfilled, the net given up, the leash eradicated.
Question 2 of 10
Does the verse describe what the 'net' actually looks like?
Correct: D. Invoked by name only, assuming the listener knows the image.
Question 3 of 10
What does the second verse name as the reason Surādha went forth?
Correct: C. The standard phrase for going forth, stated explicitly.
Question 4 of 10
How does the poem link Surādha's original motive to his final attainment?
Correct: C. An explicit pairing, less common in this collection than leaving the connection implicit.
Question 5 of 10
What does 'jinasāsanaṁ' fulfill from two poems earlier?
Correct: B. The same Buddha-epithet, now spelled out in full.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'bhavanetti' mean?
Correct: A. A second figure for what binds one to further rebirth.
Question 7 of 10
What relationship does the guide claim between Rādha (Thag 2.7) and Surādha?
Correct: D. A textually honest, cautious observation rather than an unconfirmed claim.
Question 8 of 10
What does Surādha's own name literally build from?
Correct: B. The immediate adjacency to Thag 2.7 in the text.
Question 9 of 10
What is this poem's overall style?
Correct: B. Four claims, then a stated motive and its fulfillment.
Question 10 of 10
What does 'sabbasaṁyojanakkhayo' mean?
Correct: A. The poem's closing claim, matching the motive stated just before it.
