Book of Protection - Questions to be Answered by a Novice

The Book of Protection

Questions to be Answered by a Novice Monk
(Samanera pañha) (1)

• One is what?	All beings subsist on food
• Two is what?	Name and form (mind and matter).
• Three is what?	Three kinds of feeling.
• Four is what?	Four Noble Truths.
• Five is what?	Five aggregates subject to grasping.
• Six is what?	Internal six-fold base.
• Seven is what?	Seven Factors of Enlightenment.
• Eight is what?	The Noble Eightfold Path
• Nine is what?	Nine abodes of beings.
•Ten is what?	He/she that is endowed with ten attributes is called an Arahant.

The novice referred to here is the seven-year old Sopaka. He was questioned by the Buddha. It is not a matter for surprise that a child of such tender years can give profound answers to these questions. One has heard of infant prodigies. (3)

NOTES:

1. Also known as 'Kumaro Panha', Questions to be answered by the Young One. Khp. 2; cf. A. v. 50 ff; 55 ff.
2. See notes at the end of the book.
3. Vide Encyclopaedia Britannica. Inc., 1955, II. p. 389. Also read The Case for Rebirth. Francis Story. Wheel 12-13. Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka.