Veṭuka — Book of the Ones · Chapter Five (Atthakāmavagga) · Poem 3 of 10
Setting
No narrative scene in the canonical verse itself
Speaker
Unspecified in the canonical verse itself
Form
One four-line stanza, continuing this chapter's refrain sequence
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
★☆☆☆☆ — one short verse with a cross-cultural fable parallel
Why this text
This poem's tale of a pet viper turning on its keeper closely resembles Aesop's fable The Farmer and the Viper, a similarity Sujato's own comment notes directly, adding that this same story pattern continues to be retold in modern songs and politics.
Reading guide
A warning ignored, ending in destruction
The verse continues the chapter's refrain, closing: ‘ends up destroyed like the pole acrobat's father.’ Per Sujato's comment, the underlying story concerns an ascetic who kept a viper as a pet, despite being warned it would turn on him one day — caring for it, the comment notes, ‘like a father.’
A story paralleled well beyond this collection
Sujato's comment observes this tale is ‘similar to Aesop's fable The Farmer and the Viper’, and that the same underlying pattern ‘is retold in modern songs and politics’ — a rare case in this partial selection where a comment explicitly reaches outside the Buddhist canon entirely to note a cross-cultural parallel.
A contrasting picture of trust well placed
Sujato's comment also points to this site's own SN 42.8, where a different pole acrobat and student are protected specifically because they do listen to each other's wise advice — the same acrobatic image used there to show trust rewarded, in direct contrast to this poem's story of trust betrayed.
Key terms
veḷuka — “pole acrobat”, also the name given to the pet viper in the underlying story, per Sujato's comment named for the bamboo tube (veḷu) it lived in.
nihato seti — “ends up destroyed” — the fate of someone who ignores good counsel, closing this poem's refrain.
Aesop's The Farmer and the Viper — a Western fable Sujato's comment identifies as closely similar to this tale's underlying story.
Veḷukajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, ‘The Pole Acrobat’.
SN 42.8 — the already-completed page on this site with a contrasting pole-acrobat image, where mutual trust is rewarded rather than betrayed.
The text
The text in full: a single verse, continuing the refrain sequence begun at Ja 41. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1One who does not follow advice when instructed by an ally who wants to help, ends up destroyed like the pole acrobat’s father.
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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 poem's illustration concern, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: C. Cared for 'like a father', per the comment.
Question 2 of 10
What Western fable does Sujato's comment identify this tale as similar to?
Correct: D. A rare case where the comment reaches outside the Buddhist canon to note a cross-cultural parallel.
Question 3 of 10
What does Sujato's comment say about this story pattern's later use?
Correct: A. A pattern still recognizable and referenced today.
Question 4 of 10
What already-completed page on this site does Sujato's comment point to for a contrasting image?
Correct: B. The same acrobatic image, used there to show trust rewarded rather than betrayed.
Question 5 of 10
Why was the viper named Veḷuka, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: C. Giving this poem its traditional title.
Question 6 of 10
What is the fate of the person who ignored the warning in this poem?
Correct: D. Closing this poem's version of the chapter's shared refrain.
Question 7 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: A. The forty-third poem overall, and the third of the Atthakāmavagga.
Question 8 of 10
How did the ascetic treat the viper, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: B. Making the eventual betrayal more poignant.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: C. Part of the same refrain sequence as Ja 41, 42, 44, and 45.
Question 10 of 10
What term does Sujato's comment note is used for 'pole acrobat' at SN 42.8, differing from this poem's term?
Correct: D. Two different words for the same profession, appearing in contrasting stories.
