Ārāmadūsaka — Book of the Ones · Chapter Five (Atthakāmavagga) · 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, opening a new two-poem refrain pair
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 built on deliberate wordplay
Why this text
This poem opens a new, shorter two-poem refrain pair (continuing at Ja 47), shifting the chapter's concern from ignored advice to misunderstood instructions — and Sujato's comment unpacks a deliberate play on two different senses of a single Pali word that the English translation alone cannot fully capture.
Reading guide
Good intentions undone by literal-minded misunderstanding
The verse opens a new refrain: ‘surely not with one who misunderstands the meaning does good conduct lead to happiness. The simpleton destroys the good, like the monkey groundskeeper.’ Per Sujato's comment, a lazy groundskeeper asks monkeys in the park to water the trees in his absence; they set to work with genuine good cheer, but misconstrue the instructions and pull up each tree to examine its roots before watering — ruining the whole park through good intentions alone.
A single word carrying two different senses at once
Sujato's comment explains that the verse plays on two meanings of ‘attha’: in the opening line it means ‘meaning, basis’ (glossed as ‘reason, cause’), while later it means ‘good, benefit’ — the same word doing double duty, a wordplay the English translation must render with two different words, losing the original's single-word pun.
Key terms
anatthakusalena — “one who misunderstands the meaning” — the flawed figure at the center of this poem's warning.
attha — a Pali word Sujato's comment identifies as carrying two distinct senses within this single verse: ‘meaning/basis’ and ‘good/benefit’.
kapi ārāmiko — “the monkey groundskeeper” — the well-meaning but literal-minded figures at the center of the underlying story.
Ārāmadūsakajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, ‘Spoiling the Park’.
Ja 47 — the next poem in this chapter, sharing this poem's exact opening and closing formula with a different illustration.
The text
The text in full: a single verse, opening a two-poem refrain pair built on deliberate wordplay, discussed above. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Surely not with one who misunderstands the meaning does good conduct lead to happiness. The simpleton destroys the good, like the monkey groundskeeper.
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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 do the monkeys do, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: B. Despite setting to work with genuine good cheer.
Question 2 of 10
What wordplay does Sujato's comment identify in this verse?
Correct: C. A single word doing double duty, which the English translation must render with two different words.
Question 3 of 10
Who asks the monkeys to water the trees?
Correct: D. Setting up the well-meaning but disastrous misunderstanding.
Question 4 of 10
What is the underlying cause of the park's destruction?
Correct: A. The monkeys genuinely wanted to help, but misconstrued what helping actually required.
Question 5 of 10
What relationship does this poem have to Ja 47?
Correct: B. A new, shorter two-poem refrain pair within this chapter.
Question 6 of 10
What does the verse's opening line claim about someone who misunderstands the meaning?
Correct: C. Setting up the poem's central warning about action without understanding.
Question 7 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: D. The forty-sixth poem overall, and the sixth of the Atthakāmavagga.
Question 8 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: A. Opening a new, shorter refrain pair within the same chapter.
Question 9 of 10
How does this poem's concern differ from the previous five poems' shared refrain?
Correct: B. A related but distinct kind of failure within the same broader chapter theme.
Question 10 of 10
What animal is specifically responsible for the park's ruin?
Correct: C. Acting as groundskeepers in the absence of the human keeper.
