Abhibhūta — The Book of the Threes · Chapter One · Poem 13 of 16
Setting
A gathering of relatives, addressed directly, without a translated attribution
Speaker
Abhibhūta, teaching his assembled relatives in person
Form
Three four-line verses — a call to listen, an exhortation to effort, and the promised outcome
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 vocabulary, a vivid martial image
Why this text
‘Listen up, all my relatives, those who have gathered here: I'll teach you Dhamma!’ Abhibhūta opens, naming the pain of repeated birth before urging effort — ‘crush the army of death, as an elephant a hut of reeds’ — and promising an end to suffering for whoever meditates diligently.
Reading guide
A sermon delivered in person, to a gathered family
Unlike Thag 3.8 (Vassika), which recounted a family correction after the fact and its distant result, this poem stages the teaching itself: ‘listen up, all my relatives, those who have gathered here’, Abhibhūta announces, before delivering the sermon directly — painful birth, urgent effort, the army of death crushed, and the promised end of suffering, all within the hearing of the family itself.
A martial image, echoing Book of the Ones vocabulary
‘Crush the army of death, as an elephant a hut of reeds’ pairs maccuno senaṁ, ‘the army of death’, with naḷāgāraṁ, a hut built of reeds — the same two building blocks, army and reeds, found in Thag 1.7 (Bhalliya)'s image of ‘the army of the King of Death’ swept away like ‘a bridge built from fragile reeds’. The destroying force differs — a flood there, an elephant here — but the underlying vocabulary, army and reed construction together, recurs across the two books.
A promise, extended to whoever meditates
The third verse widens from Abhibhūta's own family to anyone at all: ‘whoever shall meditate diligently in this teaching and training, giving up transmigration, will make an end to suffering’ — the sermon's close is universal, not limited to the relatives gathered to hear it.
Key terms
ñātayo — “relatives” — who Abhibhūta addresses directly at the poem's opening.
dukkhā jāti punappunaṁ — “painful is birth again and again” — the core teaching announced before any exhortation.
maccuno senaṁ — “the army of death” — the target of the poem's central martial image.
naḷāgāraṁ — “a hut of reeds” — what the elephant crushes, echoing Thag 1.7's reed-bridge vocabulary.
appamatto vihassati — “shall meditate diligently” — the condition for the promise closing the poem.
The text
The text in full: three verses, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Listen up, all my relatives, those who have gathered here: I’ll teach you Dhamma! Painful is birth again and again.
§2Rouse yourselves, try harder! Devote yourselves to the instructions of the Buddha! Crush the army of death, as an elephant a hut of reeds.
§3Whoever shall meditate diligently in this teaching and training, giving up transmigration, will make an end to suffering.
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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
How does this poem open?
Correct: C. A sermon staged in person, unlike Thag 3.8's after-the-fact account.
Question 2 of 10
What core teaching does the first verse announce?
Correct: B. Dukkhā jāti punappunaṁ.
Question 3 of 10
What image does the second verse use for crushing the army of death?
Correct: D. Dhunātha maccuno senaṁ, naḷāgāraṁva kuñjaro.
Question 4 of 10
What vocabulary does this image share with Thag 1.7 (Bhalliya)?
Correct: B. A flood there, an elephant here — but the same army-and-reeds vocabulary.
Question 5 of 10
How does this poem differ from Thag 3.8 (Vassika) in staging its family theme?
Correct: C. A live sermon versus a retrospective account.
Question 6 of 10
Who does the third verse's promise extend to?
Correct: B. A universal close, not limited to the family addressed.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'maccuno senaṁ' mean?
Correct: A. The target of the poem's central martial image.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'naḷāgāraṁ' mean?
Correct: A. What the elephant crushes, echoing Thag 1.7's vocabulary.
Question 9 of 10
What does the second verse urge, before naming the martial image?
Correct: A. Ārambhatha nikkamatha, yuñjatha buddhasāsane.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in the Book of the Threes?
Correct: D. Following Aṅgaṇikabhāradvāja through Uttarapāla.
