Mahāsīlava — Book of the Ones · Chapter Six (Āsīsavagga) · Poem 1 of 10
Setting
No narrative scene in the canonical verse itself
Speaker
The king himself, reflecting after his ordeal
Form
One four-line stanza, the first half of a matched pair with Ja 52
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 opening a matched-pair structure
Why this text
This poem opens the Āsīsavagga (‘Hope Chapter’), the first of five back-to-back matched pairs that structure this entire chapter — each pair sharing nearly identical wording, differing in one key term or image. This poem's own theme, hope surviving brutal reversal, sets the tone the whole chapter will develop.
Reading guide
Hope vindicated after brutal reversal
The verse states its conclusion plainly: ‘a man should have hope, the astute should not be disillusioned. Now I truly see myself — as I wished, so I became.’ Per Sujato's comment, a good king, deposed by a violent foe, is subjected to brutal torture — yet neither slips from his own virtue nor loses hope, persevering until he eventually regains the crown.
The first of five matched pairs structuring this chapter
This poem forms a matched pair with the next, Ja 52 (A Short Tale of Janaka): both share the identical second half — ‘now I truly see myself...’ — differing only in their opening verb (hope versus effort) and their closing image. This same pattern — near-identical twin verses completing a single idea from two angles — recurs four more times across this chapter (Ja 53/54, 55/56, 57/58, 59/60).
Key terms
āsīsetha — “should have hope” — the verse's opening instruction, giving this whole chapter its name (Āsīsavagga).
na nibbindeyya paṇḍito — “the astute should not be disillusioned” — shared word for word with the next poem, Ja 52.
yathā icchiṁ tathā ahū — “as I wished, so I became” — the king's own vindication after enduring torture and reclaiming his throne.
Mahāsīlavajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, opening the Āsīsavagga.
Ja 52 — the next poem, forming this chapter's first matched pair with this one.
The text
The text in full: a single verse, opening the first of five matched pairs structuring this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1A man should have hope, the astute should not be disillusioned. Now I truly see myself—as I wished, so I became.
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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 structural pattern does this poem open, unique to this chapter?
Correct: C. This same pattern recurs at Ja 53/54, 55/56, 57/58, and 59/60.
Question 2 of 10
What happens to the king in this poem's underlying story, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: D. Persevering until he eventually regains the crown.
Question 3 of 10
What does the verse's closing line state?
Correct: A. Vindication after enduring the ordeal with unbroken hope.
Question 4 of 10
What does this poem share word for word with Ja 52?
Correct: B. Differing in the opening verb and closing image, per this chapter's matched-pair structure.
Question 5 of 10
What does the verse's opening word, 'āsīsetha' (should have hope), give to this chapter?
Correct: C. This poem's opening word directly names the whole chapter.
Question 6 of 10
What chapter does this poem open?
Correct: D. This collection's sixth ten-poem chapter.
Question 7 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: A. The fifty-first poem overall, and the first of the Āsīsavagga.
Question 8 of 10
What quality does the king in the underlying story maintain throughout his ordeal?
Correct: B. Neither slipping from virtue nor losing hope despite brutal torture.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: C. Opening this collection's sixth ten-poem chapter, and its first matched pair.
Question 10 of 10
How many matched pairs, including this one, structure the whole Āsīsavagga?
Correct: D. Ja 51/52, 53/54, 55/56, 57/58, and 59/60.
