Kañcanakkhandha — Book of the Ones · Chapter Six (Āsīsavagga) · Poem 6 of 10
Setting
No narrative scene in the canonical verse itself
Speaker
Unspecified in the canonical verse itself
Form
One stanza (six lines), nearly identical to Ja 55
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
★☆☆☆☆☆ — nearly identical to Ja 55, hinging on one deliberately ambiguous word
Why this text
This poem is, per Sujato's own comment, ‘almost identical’ to the previous poem, differing only in its key term — a term Sujato's comment shows carries a deliberate double meaning connecting a story about smelting gold to the verse's own spiritual sense of a ‘cheerful’ heart.
Reading guide
Nearly the same verse, one term changed
The verse repeats Ja 55's structure almost exactly: ‘he whose heart is well-forged, a man of cheerful mind, develops skilful qualities for the sake of sanctuary from the yoke. Gradually he would attain the ending of all fetters.’ Per Sujato's comment, the underlying story concerns a man who discovers a large lump of gold, but must break it into four pieces to make it useful.
A single term carrying two meanings at once
Sujato's comment explains that the key term ‘pahaṭṭha’ normally means ‘cheerful’, but the traditional commentary connects it instead with gold that has been ‘forged’ until luminous and radiant — two etymologically related but distinct senses, both meant to be heard together: a heart made bright and cheerful, like gold made bright through smelting.
A twin poem, distinguished by exactly one word
Where Ja 55 used ‘alīna’ (not stuck) to reframe a story about a monster's sticky coat, this poem uses ‘pahaṭṭha’ (forged, cheerful) to reframe a story about smelting gold — the same underlying spiritual teaching, delivered twice, each time anchored to a completely different narrative through a single well-chosen pun.
Key terms
pahaṭṭhena cittena — “heart that is well-forged” (or “cheerful”) — the verse's own double meaning, per Sujato's comment connecting gold-smelting to spiritual brightness.
pahaṭṭha — a term Sujato's comment identifies as carrying two related senses at once: “cheerful” and, per the traditional commentary, “forged (of gold) until luminous”.
Kañcanakkhandha — “mass of gold” — the large lump discovered in the underlying story, giving this poem its traditional title.
Kañcanakkhandhajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, ‘The Mass of Gold’.
Ja 55 — the previous poem, sharing this poem's structure almost entirely, differing chiefly in this one key term.
The text
The text in full: a single six-line verse, nearly identical to Ja 55, discussed above. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1He whose heart is well-forged, a man of cheerful 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 does Sujato's own comment say about this poem's relationship to Ja 55?
Correct: D. One of the closest textual pairs in this whole collection.
Question 2 of 10
What does the underlying story concern, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: A. A completely different narrative from Ja 55's monster-fighting prince.
Question 3 of 10
What two senses does the key term 'pahaṭṭha' carry at once, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: B. A heart made bright and cheerful, like gold made bright through smelting.
Question 4 of 10
What single word primarily distinguishes this poem from Ja 55?
Correct: C. Each key term anchors the shared verse structure to a different underlying story.
Question 5 of 10
What does this poem's underlying story require to make the gold useful?
Correct: D. A practical detail from the commentarial story.
Question 6 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: A. The fifty-sixth poem overall, and the sixth of the Āsīsavagga, completing its third matched pair.
Question 7 of 10
What spiritual goal does this poem, like Ja 55, direct its imagery toward?
Correct: B. The shared closing lines of both poems in this matched pair.
Question 8 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: C. Part of the same ten-poem Āsīsavagga.
Question 9 of 10
How many lines make up this verse?
Correct: D. Matching Ja 55's own six-line form exactly.
Question 10 of 10
What technique does this pair of poems (Ja 55/56) illustrate about this chapter's structure?
Correct: A. One of the most tightly matched examples of this chapter's five-pair structure.
