Dummedha — Book of the Ones · Chapter Five (Atthakāmavagga) · Poem 10 of 10 (closing the chapter, and the first fifty poems)
Setting
A newly crowned king, addressing his kingdom
Speaker
The Bodhisatta, as a new king
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
★☆☆☆☆ — one short verse built on a clever bluff
Why this text
This poem closes both the Atthakāmavagga and the first fifty poems of the entire Ekakanipāta selection with an unusually clever twist: a threat that works precisely because it is never actually carried out, since simply announcing it eliminated the problem it was meant to solve.
Reading guide
A threat announced, and never needing to be fulfilled
The verse gives the king's own announcement: ‘a sacrifice of simpletons by the thousand was pledged by me. Now I shall sacrifice many an unrighteous man.’ Per Sujato's comment, the Bodhisatta, though personally an unbeliever, had regularly offered flowers to a deity while still crown prince; upon ascending the throne, he announces he must repay the deity by sacrificing a thousand evildoers.
A calculated bluff that achieves its goal without violence
Sujato's comment delivers the poem's real point: ‘the bluff had the intended effect, for from that day not a single evildoer was to be found.’ The threat of sacrifice was never carried out, because announcing it was itself sufficient to eliminate the wrongdoing it targeted — a solution achieved entirely through calculated announcement rather than any actual violence.
A technical term shared with a poem outside this selection
Sujato's comment notes that ‘upayācita’ (‘pledged’), meaning a promise made to propitiate a deity, also occurs at Ja 544, which lies outside this site's own 82-poem selection; this reading guide notes the cross-reference without a linked page.
Closing the Atthakāmavagga, and the first fifty poems of the collection
This poem closes the Atthakāmavagga, the fifth of eight chapters this site's selection draws from within the Ekakanipāta — and, per the source text's own structural marker, ‘paṭhamo paṇṇāsako’, the first fifty poems of the entire Ekakanipāta as well. The source text's own untranslated summary verse (uddāna) immediately follows, naming all ten poems of this chapter in sequence — not presented here as quoted text, since it carries no separate translation, but noted for completeness, as at the close of the previous four chapters.
Key terms
dummedhānaṁ sahassena — “a sacrifice of simpletons by the thousand” — the king's own opening pledge, giving this poem its traditional title.
upayācita — “pledged” — per Sujato's comment, a promise made to propitiate a deity, also found at Ja 544 (outside this site's own selection).
adhammiko jano — “unrighteous man” — the actual, unspoken target of the king's announced threat.
Dummedhajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, ‘The Simpleton’.
paṭhamo paṇṇāsako — “the first fifty” — the source text's own structural marker, following this poem, dividing the Ekakanipāta into blocks of fifty poems.
The text
The text in full: a single verse. The chapter's own untranslated closing summary verse (uddāna), which follows immediately in the source text, is not quoted here since it carries no English translation, but its content — the ten poem titles of this chapter in sequence — matches this reading guide's own further reading list below. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1A sacrifice of simpletons by the thousand was pledged by me. Now I shall sacrifice many an unrighteous man.
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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 newly crowned king announce?
Correct: B. Fulfilling a promise made while he was still crown prince, offering flowers to the deity.
Question 2 of 10
What does Sujato's comment reveal about the actual outcome of this threat?
Correct: C. The threat achieved its goal entirely through announcement, without any actual violence.
Question 3 of 10
What was the king's real, unspoken goal?
Correct: D. Achieved by framing evildoers as the sacrificial targets, making everyone afraid to be classified as one.
Question 4 of 10
What does Sujato's comment say about the term 'upayācita'?
Correct: A. Noted for completeness without a linked page, since Ja 544 falls outside this site's 82-poem selection.
Question 5 of 10
What two things does this poem close, per this reading guide?
Correct: B. A double closing marker in the source text itself.
Question 6 of 10
Is the chapter's closing summary verse (uddāna) presented as quoted text in this reading guide?
Correct: C. Consistent with the same practice at the close of the previous four chapters.
Question 7 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: D. The fiftieth poem overall, and the tenth and final poem of the Atthakāmavagga.
Question 8 of 10
What personal detail does Sujato's comment give about the Bodhisatta's own beliefs?
Correct: A. Making his eventual 'sacrifice' announcement a calculated strategy rather than genuine religious devotion.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: B. Its closing position is directly confirmed by the chapter's own summary verse and the 'first fifty' marker following immediately after.
Question 10 of 10
What makes this poem's solution to wrongdoing distinctive?
Correct: C. One of this collection's cleverer illustrations of psychological rather than physical solutions to a social problem.
