Dhammadinnā — The Book of the Ones · Poem 12 of 18
Setting
No narrative setting; no closing attribution
Speaker
Not identified; the verse speaks impersonally of whoever fits its description, rather than addressing or describing Dhammadinnā by name within the text
Form
A single four-line verse, nothing more
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
Dhammadinnā is a well-known figure elsewhere in the canon, declared by the Buddha to be foremost among nuns who teach the Dhamma; this reading guide does not assert this verse itself has a specific matching text.
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — impersonal phrasing worth noticing on its own terms
Why this text
This verse is attributed to Dhammadinnā, one of the most learned women named anywhere in the early canon — elsewhere praised by the Buddha as foremost among nuns who teach the Dhamma, after giving a masterful doctrinal exposition to her former husband. Yet the verse itself names no one at all: it speaks generally of ‘one who is eager and determined’, not of Dhammadinnā specifically.
Reading guide
A name absent from its own verse
Unlike most poems in this book, which address or describe their subject by name, this verse never mentions Dhammadinnā within the text itself — only the title identifies whose verse it is.
A description that could fit anyone who qualifies
The verse's opening line, ‘one who is eager and determined’, is phrased as a general condition rather than a personal address — describing a type of mind, not a specific individual's story.
A direction opposite the ordinary current
The verse's closing image is directional: such a mind is ‘said to be heading upstream’ — moving against the current of ordinary craving and habit, rather than being carried along by it.
A learned teacher, known elsewhere in the canon
Dhammadinnā appears in a well-known discourse elsewhere in the canon giving an extended doctrinal exposition to her former husband, praised afterward by the Buddha himself as equal to his own teaching — a reputation this brief, impersonal verse gives no direct hint of.
Key terms
Dhammadinnā — the nun this verse is attributed to, known elsewhere in the canon as foremost among nuns who teach the Dhamma.
ussoḷhī — “eagerness” or “determination” — the quality this verse's opening line names as the starting condition for the mind it describes.
kāmaguṇa — “pleasures of sense” — what this verse says the described mind is not bound to.
paṭisotagāmī — “heading upstream” — a canonical image for moving against the current of ordinary craving, used here as this verse's closing description.
sati — “awareness” or “mindfulness” — what the eager, determined mind is said to be filled with.
The text
The text in full: a single four-line verse, with no attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1One who is eager and determined would be filled with awareness. Their mind not bound to pleasures of sense, they’re said to be heading upstream.
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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
Does this verse name Dhammadinnā anywhere within its own text?
Correct: B. Unlike most poems in this book, which address or describe their subject by name.
Question 2 of 10
How is the verse's subject described?
Correct: B. A description of a type of mind, not a personal narrative.
Question 3 of 10
What does the verse say such a mind is filled with?
Correct: B. Named directly in the verse's opening.
Question 4 of 10
What direction does the verse describe this mind as moving in?
Correct: B. 'Heading upstream' — a canonical image for resisting the pull of habitual craving.
Question 5 of 10
What is Dhammadinnā known for elsewhere in the canon?
Correct: B. A reputation this brief, impersonal verse gives no direct hint of.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'kāmaguṇa' mean?
Correct: A. Named in the verse's third line.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'ussoḷhī' mean?
Correct: A. The opening quality named in this verse.
Question 8 of 10
What position does this poem hold in the Book of the Ones?
Correct: B. Following the second Muttā's celebrated verse.
Question 9 of 10
Does this poem have a closing attribution?
Correct: B. Continuing the bare, unattributed pattern of several poems in this book.
Question 10 of 10
What is unusual about this poem compared to most others in this book?
Correct: B. A notable structural contrast with the book's more personally addressed poems.
