No narrative setting beyond what the verse itself states; no closing attribution
Speaker
The nun Saṅghā, speaking entirely in the first person
Form
A single six-line verse, closing the Book of the Ones
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
★★☆☆☆ — brief, but naming a real and difficult cost directly
Why this text
This poem closes the Book of the Ones, and it does not soften what renunciation actually meant for its speaker: Saṅghā names her home, her cattle — and her child — among what she gave up to go forth, stated in the same breath and without any special pleading or justification attached.
Reading guide
A list that does not spare its hardest item
‘I gave up my home, my child, my cattle, and all that I love’ — the child is named directly within a list of possessions and property, neither singled out for special grief nor omitted out of discretion.
Renunciation as loss, not only gain
Where several poems in this book describe renunciation primarily as arriving at something — peace, freedom, extinguishment — this verse opens by naming what leaving required giving up first, cost stated before attainment.
The same uprooting image as Thig 1.15
‘Plucked out craving, root and all’ repeats Thig 1.15's exact image for the total removal of craving — the same phrase closing the book that it appeared partway through.
A closing poem that closes on repetition, not novelty
The Book of the Ones ends not with a new image but with ‘I'm at peace, I'm quenched’ — language closely echoing several other poems in this same book, suggesting a shared destination reached by many different roads, including the difficult one this final poem names directly.
Key terms
Saṅghā — this verse's speaker, whose name shares its root with ‘saṅgha’, the monastic community.
putta — “child” — named directly among what Saṅghā gave up to go forth, alongside her home and cattle.
avijjā — “ignorance” — named as dispelled in this verse's closing lines, the same obstacle named in Thig 1.3's image of shattered darkness.
taṇhā — “craving” — described here, as in Thig 1.15, as ‘plucked out, root and all’.
santi, nibbuta — “peace” and “quenched” — the pair of terms closing this final poem of the Book of the Ones, echoing language used across several earlier poems in the same book.
The text
The text in full: a single six-line verse, closing the Book of the Ones. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1I gave up my home, my child, my cattle, and all that I love, and went forth. And now that I’ve given up desire and hate, dispelled ignorance, and plucked out craving, root and all, I’m at peace, I’m quenched.
· · ·
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 Saṅghā name among what she gave up to go forth?
Correct: B. The child named directly, without being singled out or omitted.
Question 2 of 10
How does the verse treat the mention of her child?
Correct: B. Stated plainly, neither singled out for grief nor omitted out of discretion.
Question 3 of 10
How does this poem's structure differ from several others in this book?
Correct: B. Renunciation presented as loss as well as gain.
Question 4 of 10
What phrase does this poem share word for word with Thig 1.15?
Correct: B. The same total-removal image used earlier in the book.
Question 5 of 10
What position does this poem hold in the Therigatha?
Correct: B. The eighteenth and last poem of the first of the Therigatha's many books.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'putta' mean?
Correct: B. Stated without euphemism in this verse's opening list.
Question 7 of 10
What does this poem's closing language suggest about the destination it describes?
Correct: B. Peace and quenching, described in terms close to several other poems in this same book.
Question 8 of 10
Does this poem have a closing attribution?
Correct: B. Continuing the bare, unattributed pattern of several poems in this book.
Question 9 of 10
What does Saṅghā's name share its root with?
Correct: B. A name closely tied to the community she joined by going forth.
Question 10 of 10
What overall impression does this closing poem leave about the Book of the Ones?
Correct: B. A closing note that neither hides nor dwells on what was given up.
