Vimala teaches shunning bad friends, staying afloat rather than sinking with a lazy companion, and dwelling among the secluded and energetic — then closes not only this chapter, but the entire Book of the Threes: sixteen poems, now complete, in a closing structure this collection has not used quite this way before.
Reading guide
Shunning bad company, avoiding the lazy
The first verse advises shunning bad friends in favor of ‘the supreme individual’, sticking to his advice. The second, extended to six lines, builds an image of drowning: clambering onto ‘a little log’ in the middle of a great sea will not save you, and relying on a lazy person sinks even someone who ‘lives well’ the same way. The third closes on the alternative: dwelling among the secluded, determined, and energetic.
No separate chapter marker, because chapter and book coincide
Every closing chapter in the Book of the Twos carried its own marker (vaggo pañcamo, and so on) distinct from the book-level marker that followed. This book has only one chapter, so there is nothing to distinguish: the Pali moves directly from this poem's attribution to Tikanipāto niṭṭhito, ‘the Book of the Threes is concluded’, with no separate chapter-closing line at all.
A name-list uddāna with two epithets, not one
The Tatruddānaṁ that follows names all sixteen elders in sequence, but breaks from both of this collection's single-epithet closing patterns: two elders, not one, receive an added title mid-list — Bākula and Vāraṇa are each called isi, ‘the sage’. This recalls the Book of the Twos' Chapter Four, whose uddāna also scattered two epithets mid-list, though there the two titles differed from each other; here, both elders receive the identical word.
A closing verse that names its poet and counts its poems at once
A final four-line verse follows the name list, doing something neither earlier book's closing summary did alone: it names Vimala specifically — ‘the elder in the Book of the Threes, Vimala, made [it] in extinguishment’ — and immediately gives a bare tally, forty-eight verses and sixteen elders celebrated. The Book of the Ones closed on a verse of praise naming no one in particular; the Book of the Twos closed on a bare tally naming no one at all. This book's closing verse does both together, a genuinely distinct third pattern.
48 verses, 16 elders, a third book complete
With this poem, the Book of the Threes is complete on this site: sixteen poems, each three verses, forty-eight verses in total — exactly matching the closing tally's own count. Following the Book of the Ones (120 poems) and the Book of the Twos (49 poems), the running total now stands at 185 of 264. Eighteen further books remain, each needing its own fresh check of structure, attribution, and closing conventions, exactly as this book's single-chapter structure had to be discovered fresh rather than assumed from the Book of the Twos.
Key terms
uttamapuggalaṁ — “the supreme individual” — who the first verse advises associating with, instead of bad friends.
kusītaṁ hīnavīriyaṁ — “a lazy person who lacks energy” — who the second verse warns against relying on.
Tikanipāto niṭṭhito — “the Book of the Threes is concluded” — this book's sole closing marker, with no separate chapter-level marker preceding it.
isi — “the sage” — the epithet this book's uddāna gives to both Bākula and Vāraṇa, mid-list.
aṭṭhātālīsa gāthāyo, therā soḷasa — “forty-eight verses, sixteen elders” — the closing verse's tally, matching the book's poems exactly.
The text
The text in full: two four-line verses and one six-line verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Shunning bad friends, associate with the supreme individual. Stick to the advice he gave you, aspiring to unshakable happiness.
§2If you’re lost in the middle of a great sea, and you clamber up on a little log, you’ll sink. So too, a person who lives well sinks by relying on a lazy person. Hence you should avoid such a lazy person who lacks energy.
§3Dwell with the noble ones who are secluded and determined and always energetic; the astute who practice absorption.
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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 the first verse advise regarding friends?
Correct: D. Pāpamitte vivajjetvā, bhajeyyuttamapuggalaṁ.
Question 2 of 10
What image does the second, six-line verse use for relying on a lazy person?
Correct: B. Even one who lives well sinks by relying on a lazy person.
Question 3 of 10
What marks this poem's transition from chapter close to book close?
Correct: D. Unlike the Book of the Twos' five chapters, this book's chapter and book close coincide.
Question 4 of 10
How many elders receive an added epithet in this book's own uddāna?
Correct: C. Recalling the Book of the Twos' Chapter Four, though there the two epithets differed.
Question 5 of 10
What does this book's final closing verse do that neither earlier book's closing summary did alone?
Correct: B. A third, distinct pattern combining elements of both earlier books' closings.
Question 6 of 10
What tally does the closing verse give?
Correct: A. Exactly matching sixteen poems of three verses each.
Question 7 of 10
What is the running total of poems completed on this site after this poem, out of 264?
Correct: D. 120 (Book of the Ones) plus 49 (Book of the Twos) plus 16 (Book of the Threes).
Question 8 of 10
What does 'kusītaṁ hīnavīriyaṁ' mean?
Correct: A. Who the second verse warns against relying on.
Question 9 of 10
How does this Vimala relate to Thag 1.50's Vimala in the Book of the Ones?
Correct: C. Thag 1.50 closed Chapter Five of the Book of the Ones with storm and stillness imagery; this poem shares only the name.
Question 10 of 10
What is the next book in the Theragātha, following this one?
Correct: A. Its own structure and conventions still need a fresh check before work continues.
