Kiṅphala — Book of the Ones · Chapter Six (Āsīsavagga) · Poem 4 of 10
Setting
A tree beside a well-traveled road, laden with fruit
Speaker
A wise caravan leader
Form
One four-line stanza, completing this chapter's second matched 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 of practical deduction
Why this text
This poem completes Ja 53's matched pair with a different kind of everyday deduction: a caravan leader reasons that fruit growing untouched on an accessible tree, right beside a well-traveled road, cannot possibly be as sweet as it looks — because if it were, someone would already have picked it clean.
Reading guide
A conclusion reached from what's absent, not what's present
The verse gives the caravan leader's own reasoning: ‘this tree is not hard to climb, nor is it far from the village. For this reason I know this tree is not sweet-fruited.’ Per Sujato's comment, the tree is laden with fruit that looks like mango, but the wise caravan leader deduces it must be the poisonous ‘what-fruit’ (kiṁphala) precisely because it is so easy to reach and so untouched.
The same deductive refrain, a different domain entirely
Where Ja 53's deduction concerned a social plot detected through human behavior, this poem's deduction is purely practical and botanical — showing this chapter's shared refrain applies just as well to reading nature carefully as to reading people.
Key terms
durāruho — “hard to climb” — what the tree is notably not, contributing to the caravan leader's suspicion.
ākāraṇena jānāmi — “for this reason I know” — the deductive refrain shared word for word with the previous poem, Ja 53.
kiṁphala — the “what-fruit”, a poisonous fruit resembling mango, giving this poem its traditional title.
Kiṁphalajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, ‘The What-fruit’.
duma — “tree”, per Sujato's comment specially indicating a flowering tree in this context.
The text
The text in full: a single verse, completing the matched pair begun at Ja 53. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1This tree is not hard to climb, nor is it far from the village. For this reason I know this tree is not sweet-fruited.
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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 two facts about the tree does the caravan leader observe?
Correct: B. Precisely these accessible qualities lead to his suspicion.
Question 2 of 10
What does the caravan leader conclude about the tree's fruit?
Correct: C. Reasoning from the absence of prior harvesting, not from the fruit's appearance.
Question 3 of 10
What is the fruit actually identified as, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: D. Giving this poem its traditional title.
Question 4 of 10
What refrain does this poem share with Ja 53?
Correct: A. Completing this chapter's second matched pair.
Question 5 of 10
How does this poem's kind of deduction differ from Ja 53's?
Correct: B. Showing this chapter's shared refrain applies across very different domains of careful reasoning.
Question 6 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: C. The fifty-fourth poem overall, and the fourth of the Āsīsavagga, completing its second matched pair.
Question 7 of 10
What role does the speaker hold in this poem's underlying story?
Correct: D. Applying practical, traveled experience to avoid a hidden danger.
Question 8 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: A. Part of the same ten-poem Āsīsavagga.
Question 9 of 10
What does Sujato's comment note about the word 'duma' in this context?
Correct: B. A small philological detail refining the verse's botanical picture.
Question 10 of 10
What underlying principle connects this poem's reasoning to Ja 53's?
Correct: C. Both poems' central figures reason from what is conspicuously not happening.
