Pañcāvudha — Book of the Ones · Chapter Six (Āsīsavagga) · Poem 5 of 10
Setting
No narrative scene in the canonical verse itself
Speaker
Unspecified in the canonical verse itself
Form
One stanza (six lines), opening a new matched pair with Ja 56
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 of this collection's most famous underlying stories
Why this text
This is one of the most celebrated tales associated with the Jātaka tradition — a prince named for a prophecy who fights a monster with five weapons, only to become stuck fast to its coat with every attack — but Sujato's own comment reveals the verse attached to it reads the story against itself, turning a tale of martial courage into a warning about violence.
Reading guide
A prophecy fulfilled, and a hero stuck fast
Per Sujato's comment, a prince named ‘Five-Weapons’ after a birth prophecy fulfills it when, returning from his studies, he encounters a ferocious native spirit in a forest and fights it with five weapons in turn — but each attack only sticks him tighter to the monster's own shaggy coat. The monster, recognizing his courage even in defeat, ultimately lets him go.
A verse that reads the story's own central image against itself
The canonical verse itself makes no direct mention of the monster or the weapons: ‘he whose heart is not stuck, a man of intrepid mind, develops skilful qualities for the sake of sanctuary from the yoke. Gradually he would attain the ending of all fetters.’ Sujato's comment explains the connection: getting ‘stuck’ or ‘bound’ to an adversary can be read as a metaphor for violence itself — one who lives by the sword becomes bound to the kamma of killing, becoming the same as those he fights. The verse is linked to the story precisely through the contrasting image of a mind that is not bound at all.
The first of this chapter's final three matched pairs
This poem opens a matched pair with Ja 56 (The Mass of Gold), sharing every line except one key term — the two poems ‘almost identical’, per Sujato's comment on the following poem.
Key terms
alīnena cittena — “heart that is not stuck” — the verse's own reframing of the underlying story's central image of the prince's weapons sticking to the monster.
yogakkhemassa pattiyā — “for the sake of sanctuary from the yoke” — the true, spiritual goal the verse redirects the story's martial imagery toward.
allīna — “stuck, bound” — per Sujato's comment, read as a metaphor for the kamma of violence, binding attacker to victim.
Pañcāvudhajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, ‘Prince Five-Weapons’.
Ja 56 — the next poem, forming a near-identical matched pair with this one, differing chiefly in one key term.
The text
The text in full: a single six-line verse, opening a new matched pair with Ja 56. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1He whose heart is not stuck, a man of intrepid mind, develops skilful qualities for the sake of sanctuary from the yoke. Gradually he would attain the ending of all fetters.
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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 happens to Prince Five-Weapons when he fights the forest spirit, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: C. One of the tradition's most famous images, later inspiring the monster's own choice to release him.
Question 2 of 10
Does the canonical verse itself directly mention the monster or the weapons?
Correct: D. The connection to the story comes entirely through a reinterpreted central image.
Question 3 of 10
How does Sujato's comment explain the connection between the verse and the story?
Correct: A. The verse contrasts this with a mind that is not bound at all.
Question 4 of 10
Why does the monster ultimately release the prince, per the comment?
Correct: B. A resolution achieved through the monster's own recognition, not through force.
Question 5 of 10
What does this poem's structure share with Ja 56?
Correct: C. Per Sujato's comment on Ja 56, the two verses are 'almost identical'.
Question 6 of 10
What is the true goal the verse redirects toward, away from the story's literal combat?
Correct: D. 'Gradually he would attain the ending of all fetters.'
Question 7 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: A. The fifty-fifth poem overall, and the fifth of the Āsīsavagga, opening its third matched pair.
Question 8 of 10
How many lines make up this verse?
Correct: B. Slightly longer than the four-line form most common in this chapter.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: C. Part of the same ten-poem Āsīsavagga.
Question 10 of 10
Why does the prince's name commemorate a prophecy, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: D. The story frames his entire adventure as the fulfillment of that early prediction.
