Asilakkhaṇa — Book of the Ones · Kusanāṭivagga (Reed-stalk Chapter), Poem 6 of 10 — the only poem in this later vagga with a Sujato translation
Setting
No narrative scene in the canonical verse itself
Speaker
Unspecified in the canonical verse itself
Form
One four-line stanza
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
★★☆☆☆ — a plain verse, but its own comment openly admits the story behind it is missing
Why this text
This is the first of this site's three standalone Jātaka selections, each drawn from a much later vagga where only this one poem, among its ten, happens to carry a Sujato translation. Unusually for this collection, Sujato's own comment here does not supply the commentarial story at all — only a wry aside about its tone — and this reading guide says so plainly rather than inventing what isn't there.
Reading guide
A plain-spoken verse about mixed fortune
The verse states its point with no ornament: ‘that is good for some, ill for others. Therefore not all is good, nor is all ill.’ Whatever event or circumstance the verse originally illustrated, its own content is a bare, general observation — the same thing can be a blessing to one person and a misfortune to another.
Per Sujato's comment, a story this reading guide cannot supply
Sujato's own comment on this verse is unusually brief: ‘this innocuous verse is wryly deadpan in the context of the rather outrageous slapstick of the origin story.’ No further detail of that origin story is given. This reading guide states that plainly rather than guessing at what the ‘outrageous slapstick’ might have been — the traditional title itself, ‘The Mark on the Sword’, hints that a blemish or marking on a sword was somehow central to it, but this site has no translated source that says more. This poem is also this site's most isolated Jātaka selection: it is the sole translated poem among all ten of its own vagga, so unlike every other poem in this collection, it arrives with no translated neighbors on either side to supply context.
Key terms
Tadevekassa kalyāṇaṁ — “that is good for some” — the verse's opening half of its central contrast.
sabbaṁ na kalyāṇaṁ — “not all is good” — the verse's summary conclusion, paired with its mirror, ‘nor is all ill’.
outrageous slapstick — Sujato's own phrase for the tone of this poem's untranslated origin story — describing its tone, not its plot, which this reading guide does not have access to.
Asilakkhaṇajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, literally ‘the mark on the sword’, per Sujato's own translation ‘The Mark on the Sword’.
Kusanāṭivagga — “Reed-stalk Chapter” — the thirteenth vagga of the Ekakanipāta, otherwise entirely without a Sujato translation apart from this one poem.
The text
The text in full: a single verse, standing alone with no translated commentarial story to accompany it. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“That is good for some, ill for others. Therefore not all is good, nor is all ill.
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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 verse say about good and ill fortune?
Correct: B. The verse's own plain, general observation.
Question 2 of 10
What conclusion does the verse draw from this?
Correct: C. A summary statement following directly from the opening contrast.
Question 3 of 10
What does Sujato's own comment say about this verse's tone, relative to its origin story?
Correct: D. Sujato's own characterization, in his own words.
Question 4 of 10
Does Sujato's comment supply the plot of this poem's commentarial story?
Correct: A. Unusual for this collection; this reading guide states that plainly rather than inventing details.
Question 5 of 10
What does the traditional title, 'The Mark on the Sword', hint at, without confirming it?
Correct: B. A hint from the title alone, since no translated source confirms more.
Question 6 of 10
What makes this poem unusually isolated compared to most others in this collection?
Correct: C. Unlike most of this collection's poems, it has no translated neighbors on either side.
Question 7 of 10
What vagga (chapter) does this poem belong to?
Correct: D. The thirteenth vagga of the Ekakanipāta.
Question 8 of 10
Is this poem still part of the Ekakanipāta (Book of the Ones), despite coming after this site's earlier eight-chapter selection?
Correct: A. A correction worth noting: this poem's own nipāta is the same one covered earlier, just a much later chapter within it.
Question 9 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: B. The poem's own traditional Pali title, per Sujato's translation.
Question 10 of 10
How does this reading guide handle the missing story context, per this site's general practice?
Correct: C. Consistent with this site's practice of not asserting more than the source material supports.
