Sīlavahatthi — Book of the Ones · Chapter Eight (Varuṇavagga) · Poem 2 of 9
Setting
No narrative scene in the canonical verse itself
Speaker
Unspecified in the canonical verse itself
Form
One four-line stanza
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 on the bottomless demands of an ungrateful person
Why this text
This poem opens a matched pair with the next, Ja 73, both on the theme of ingratitude — here, a magnificent elephant freely gives up his own ivory to the very man he just rescued, once that man's gratitude curdles into greed.
Reading guide
A verse on the bottomless demands of ingratitude
The verse states its point in the sharpest possible terms: an ungrateful person, always looking for opportunity, would still not be satisfied even if given the whole earth. The generosity of whoever they depend on is treated as inexhaustible, and used accordingly.
Per Sujato's comment, a rescue repaid with greed
A magnificent white elephant rescues a lost man and carries him home on his own back. But, falling prey to greed, the man then asks the elephant for ivory from his own tusks — and the noble creature freely gives them up to the very person who had just been saved by him. This poem and the next, Ja 73, form a back-to-back pair on ingratitude toward a rescuer, each approaching the theme from a different angle.
Key terms
akataññussa posassa — “an ungrateful person” — the verse's opening description, its subject throughout.
niccaṁ vivaradassino — “always looking for opportunity” — the ungrateful person's defining habit of mind.
sabbañce pathaviṁ dajjā — “even if given the whole earth” — the verse's extreme measure of how much would still not be enough.
Sīlavahatthijātaka — the traditional title of this tale, ‘The Virtuous Elephant’.
Ja 73 — the next poem in this chapter, forming a matched pair with this one on the theme of ingratitude toward a rescuer.
The text
The text in full: a single verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1An ungrateful person, always looking for opportunity, even if given the whole earth, would still not be satisfied.
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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 verse say about an ungrateful person, even if given the whole earth?
Correct: D. The verse's own extreme measure of ingratitude's bottomless demands.
Question 2 of 10
What habit of mind does the verse attribute to the ungrateful person?
Correct: A. A restless watchfulness for what more can be extracted.
Question 3 of 10
Per Sujato's comment, what does the elephant do for the lost man?
Correct: B. An act of pure, freely given generosity, no request made in return.
Question 4 of 10
What does the rescued man then ask the elephant for?
Correct: C. Greed replacing whatever gratitude the rescue itself might have earned.
Question 5 of 10
How does the elephant respond to this request?
Correct: D. The elephant's own generosity remains undiminished by the man's ingratitude.
Question 6 of 10
What poem immediately follows this one, forming a matched pair on ingratitude?
Correct: A. Together, the two poems approach the same theme from different angles.
Question 7 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: B. The seventy-second poem overall, and the second of the Varuṇavagga.
Question 8 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the chapter's structure?
Correct: C. Part of the same nine-poem selection from the Varuṇavagga.
Question 9 of 10
What broader theme does the verse illustrate through the elephant's generosity?
Correct: D. The elephant's own conduct is almost incidental to the verse's real target.
Question 10 of 10
How does the elephant's own conduct contrast with the man's, per this reading guide?
Correct: A. The story pairs an ideal of generosity against a portrait of ingratitude.
