Vānarinda — Book of the Ones · Chapter Six (Āsīsavagga) · Poem 7 of 10
Setting
A river, a crocodile posing as a rock
Speaker
Unspecified in the canonical verse itself
Form
One four-line stanza, opening a new matched pair with Ja 58
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 with a resolved double meaning
Why this text
This poem's underlying story is a well-known trickster tale — a crocodile disguised as a rock, trying to catch a monkey king — but its closing line carries a genuine double meaning that Sujato's comment resolves by pointing directly to the crocodile's own physical behavior in the story.
Reading guide
Four qualities that let the monkey king escape
The verse names its subject's virtues directly: ‘whoever possesses these four qualities like you, lord of langurs — truth, principle, steadfastness, and generosity — escapes the visible foe.’ Per Sujato's comment, a crocodile's pregnant wife craves the heart of the monkey king; her husband tries to satisfy her by pretending to be a rock in the river, but the monkey sees through the disguise.
A double meaning the story itself resolves
Sujato's comment identifies a deliberate ambiguity in the closing word ‘diṭṭha’: the traditional commentary reads it as ‘foe’ (giving ‘defeats the foe’), but its more common sense is simply ‘seen’. The comment resolves this in favor of the more literal reading by pointing to the crocodile's own action in the story: he shuts his eyes and opens his mouth to catch the langur — making ‘escapes the one seen [with eyes shut]’ the more pointed, story-supported reading.
A story from a recognized cycle of tales, and named leaders
Sujato's comment situates this tale within ‘a cycle of dohaḷa stories’ (concerning pregnancy cravings) in the Jātakas, and identifies the ‘vānara’ as a legendary race of aggressive, human-like monkeys, whose leaders (such as Sugrīva or Hanuman in the wider tradition) carry the same title, ‘lord of langurs’, given here.
Key terms
saccaṁ dhammo dhiti cāgo — “truth, principle, steadfastness, and generosity” — the four qualities the verse credits for the monkey king's escape.
dohaḷa — “pregnancy craving” — per Sujato's comment, the trigger for this story, part of a recognized cycle of such tales within the Jātakas.
diṭṭha — a deliberately ambiguous closing term, per Sujato's comment meaning either “foe” (per the traditional commentary) or, more literally, “seen” — resolved by the crocodile's own eyes-shut, mouth-open posture in the story.
vānarinda — “lord of langurs”, per Sujato's comment a traditional title for legendary monkey-king leaders such as Sugrīva or Hanuman.
Vānarindajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, ‘The Lord of Langurs’.
The text
The text in full: a single verse, opening a new matched pair with Ja 58, discussed above. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Whoever possesses these four qualities like you, lord of langurs—truth, principle, steadfastness, and generosity—escapes the visible foe.
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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 crocodile's wife crave, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: A. Setting up her husband's attempted trick.
Question 2 of 10
How does the crocodile try to catch the monkey king?
Correct: B. A disguise the monkey king ultimately sees through.
Question 3 of 10
What four qualities does the verse credit for the monkey king's escape?
Correct: C. Named directly in the verse's opening lines.
Question 4 of 10
What deliberate double meaning does Sujato's comment identify in the closing word 'diṭṭha'?
Correct: D. Resolved by pointing to a specific detail in the crocodile's own physical behavior.
Question 5 of 10
What physical detail does Sujato's comment use to resolve this ambiguity?
Correct: A. Supporting the more literal reading of 'diṭṭha' as 'seen [with eyes shut]'.
Question 6 of 10
What recognized story category does Sujato's comment place this tale within?
Correct: B. Connecting this specific tale to a broader recognized pattern in the tradition.
Question 7 of 10
Who are legendary examples of 'lord of langurs' leaders, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: C. Situating this poem's title within a recognized legendary tradition of monkey leaders.
Question 8 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: D. The fifty-seventh poem overall, and the seventh of the Āsīsavagga, opening its fourth matched pair.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: A. Part of the same ten-poem Āsīsavagga.
Question 10 of 10
What relationship does this poem have to Ja 58?
Correct: B. Continuing this chapter's pattern of matched pairs.
