This reading guide does not assert a specific matching text for this poem in other Buddhist literatures.
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — short, combining two of this book's recurring images
Why this text
This verse closes the first half of the Book of the Ones with an instruction that combines two images already seen separately in this book: the difficulty of a crossing, and the figure of Māra, here named together with his mount as an obstacle to be overcome before the goal already described in Thig 1.7 can be reached.
Reading guide
A name meaning peace, set against difficulty
‘Upasamā’ means ‘peace’ or ‘calm’. The verse addressed to her does not describe peace as already present, but as something reached only by crossing something genuinely difficult first.
A flood named as death's own territory
The crossing is described starkly: ‘Death's dominion so hard to pass’ — not a minor obstacle but a domain belonging to death itself, framing the practice ahead as a genuine contest rather than a formality.
Māra named again, with his mount
This is the second poem in the book to name Māra, after Thig 1.7's Vīrā, here specifying ‘Māra and his mount’ — the same antagonist figure, described with an added detail of his own transport.
The same destination as Vīrā's verse
This poem closes with the identical phrase that closed Thig 1.7: ‘bear your final body’ — the same attainment, here offered as instruction rather than reported as already achieved.
Key terms
Upasamā — a nun's name, also the Pali word for ‘peace’ or ‘calm’ — the verse's instruction moves toward this state through difficulty, not around it.
ogha — “flood” — a common canonical image for the forces (sensuality, existence, views, ignorance) that sweep beings along in the cycle of rebirth.
maccu — “death”, personified here as having a ‘dominion” — territory this verse instructs Upasamā to cross through, not avoid.
Māra — the personification of death and temptation, named here for the second time in this book, after Thig 1.7.
antimadeha — “final body” — the same term closing Thig 1.7, repeated here as this verse's own closing image.
The text
The text in full: a single four-line verse, with no attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Upasamā, cross the flood, Death’s dominion so hard to pass. When you have vanquished Māra and his mount, bear your final body.
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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 name 'Upasamā' mean?
Correct: B. A state this verse presents as reached through difficulty, not present already.
Question 2 of 10
How does the verse describe the flood Upasamā must cross?
Correct: B. Framing the practice ahead as a genuine contest, not a formality.
Question 3 of 10
Who is named as an obstacle in this verse, as in Thig 1.7?
Correct: B. The second appearance of Māra in this book.
Question 4 of 10
What phrase closes this verse, identical to Thig 1.7's closing?
Correct: B. The same attainment, here offered as instruction rather than reported as achieved.
Question 5 of 10
What does 'ogha' mean?
Correct: A. A common canonical image this verse draws on.
Question 6 of 10
What is described as having a 'dominion' in this verse?
Correct: B. Personified territory this verse instructs crossing through.
Question 7 of 10
How does this poem's structure compare to Thig 1.7's?
Correct: B. Closing the book's first half by drawing together earlier threads.
Question 8 of 10
What position does this poem hold in the Book of the Ones?
Correct: B. Following Bhadrā's verse, closing the book's first half.
Question 9 of 10
Does this poem have a closing attribution?
Correct: B. Continuing the bare, unattributed pattern of several poems in this book.
