Tipallattha — Book of the Ones · Chapter Two (Sīlavagga) · Poem 6 of 10
Setting
No narrative scene in the canonical verse itself
Speaker
Unspecified in the canonical verse itself
Form
One four-line stanza, densely packed with wordplay
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
★☆☆☆☆☆ — the most densely wordplay-packed verse in this chapter
Why this text
This poem completes the deliberately composed pair begun at Ja 15, cataloging in just four lines a set of six survival tricks for a clever deer — each phrase, per Sujato's comment, doing double duty as wordplay chiming against terms in its companion verse.
Reading guide
A deer's earned second chance, densely described
Where Ja 15 ended in refusal, this verse describes a deer who has, per Sujato's comment, attentively learned the ruses of deer after all: ‘triply collapsed with many illusions, eight-hooved, a midnight drinker — he's breathing on the ground through one nostril! Excelling with these six tricks, he deserves a chance.’
Six specific tricks, named by the comment
Sujato's comment spells out what the verse only compresses: the ‘six tricks’ are the three ways of playing dead, the eight hooves (making little sound with a dainty tread), sneaking a drink at midnight, and breathing through one nostril — a full catalog of deceptive survival behavior packed into a single dense stanza.
Wordplay linking this poem to its companion
Sujato's comment traces deliberate verbal echoes between this verse and Ja 15: ‘aṭṭha’ (eight) chimes with ‘aḍḍha’ (midnight) here, just as ‘chahi kalāhi’ (six tricks) chimes with ‘sattahi kālāti’ (seven times) in the previous poem — confirming, at the level of individual sound, that these two verses were composed as a matched set.
Key terms
tipallattha — “triply collapsed” — the first of the deer's six survival tricks, one of three distinct ways of playing dead.
aṭṭhakkhuraṁ — “eight-hooved” — per Sujato's comment, possibly referring to a dainty, quiet tread rather than a literal extra pair of hooves.
aḍḍharattāpapāyiṁ — “a midnight drinker” — one of the six tricks, sneaking a drink under cover of darkness.
chahi kalāhi — “with these six tricks” — the verse's own summary count, chiming deliberately with ‘sattahi kālāti’ (seven times) in Ja 15.
Tipallatthamigajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, ‘The Triply Collapsed Deer’.
The text
The text in full: a single verse, densely packed with wordplay chiming against its companion poem, Ja 15, discussed above. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“About that deer—triply collapsed with many illusions, eight-hooved, a midnight drinker—he’s breathing on the ground through one nostril! Excelling with these six tricks, he deserves a chance.”
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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 this verse describe, following on from Ja 15's refusal?
Correct: D. 'Excelling with these six tricks, he deserves a chance.'
Question 2 of 10
How many specific survival tricks does Sujato's comment identify in this verse?
Correct: A. A full catalog of deceptive survival behavior packed into a single dense stanza.
Question 3 of 10
What wordplay does Sujato's comment identify linking this verse to Ja 15?
Correct: B. Confirming, at the level of individual sound, that the two poems were composed as a matched set.
Question 4 of 10
What might 'eight-hooved' actually refer to, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: C. One of several places where the verse's compressed language requires the comment to unpack it.
Question 5 of 10
What is one of the deer's six tricks, according to the comment?
Correct: D. Listed alongside three ways of playing dead, eight hooves, and breathing through one nostril.
Question 6 of 10
What is this poem's relationship to Ja 15?
Correct: A. Confirmed by Sujato's own comment on both poems.
Question 7 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: B. The sixteenth poem overall, and the sixth of the Sīlavagga.
Question 8 of 10
How would you describe this verse's density, compared to most others in this chapter?
Correct: C. Flagged directly in this reading guide's own difficulty rating as the chapter's most compressed verse.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: D. Part of the same ten-poem Sīlavagga.
Question 10 of 10
Why does the verse's conclusion say the deer 'deserves a chance'?
Correct: A. Reversing the outcome of the paired poem, Ja 15, where the same pupil was given up on.
