Sopāka — The Book of the Ones · Chapter Four · Poem 3 of 10
Setting
No narrative setting; a short verse moving from one intimate case to a universal one
Speaker
Sopāka, offering instruction in general terms
Form
One four-line verse
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
★☆☆☆☆ — a well-known image, extended from one child to all beings
Why this text
‘Just as a mother would be good to her beloved only child, so, to creatures all and everywhere, let one be good’ — the same core image, and the term ekaputta, ‘only child’, found in this site's own translation of the Discourse on Love (Khuddakapatha, Kp 9).
Reading guide
A shared image with this site's Discourse on Love
This verse's mother-and-only-child image shares its central term, ekaputta, with the Khuddakapatha's Kp 9, the Discourse on Love — though the wording is not identical between the two, the same core image of total, protective care extended toward one child is common to both.
From the narrowest case to the widest possible scope
The verse's structure moves in one direction: starting from the most intimate, particular relationship imaginable — a mother and her only child — and extending the same quality outward to ‘all and everywhere’, the broadest scope a sentence could name.
Goodness named as a skill, not only a feeling
The verb kusalī siyā, translated ‘would be good’, carries the sense of skillfulness as much as warmth — goodness toward others framed partly as something practiced and developed, not purely a spontaneous emotion.
Key terms
ekaputta — “only child” — the term shared with this site's own translation of the Discourse on Love (Kp 9).
piya — “beloved” or “dear” — describing the child in this verse's opening image.
kusalī — “good” or “skillful” — the specific quality this verse extends from one child to all beings.
pāṇa — “creature” or “living being” — the object of this verse's universal extension.
sabbattha — “everywhere” — the verse's closing word, naming its widest possible scope.
The text
The text in full: one verse, with no separate attribution line in this chapter. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Just as a mother would be good to her beloved only child; so, to creatures all and everywhere, let one be good.
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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 image opens this verse?
Correct: D. The verse's central, well-known image.
Question 2 of 10
To what scope does the verse extend this image?
Correct: B. From one intimate case to the broadest possible scope.
Question 3 of 10
What term does this verse share with this site's own Discourse on Love (Kp 9)?
Correct: A. A shared central image, though the wording is not identical.
Question 4 of 10
Is the wording of this verse identical to the Discourse on Love's version of this image?
Correct: B. A shared image and term, not a verbatim quotation.
Question 5 of 10
What does 'kusalī' suggest about the quality this verse describes?
Correct: B. Goodness framed partly as something practiced, not only felt.
Question 6 of 10
What does 'ekaputta' mean?
Correct: C. The term at the center of this verse's opening image.
Question 7 of 10
What does 'sabbattha' mean?
Correct: D. The verse's closing word, naming its widest scope.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'pāṇa' refer to?
Correct: C. The object of this verse's universal extension.
Question 9 of 10
How does this verse's structure move, from beginning to end?
Correct: A. One child, then all creatures everywhere.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Four?
Correct: C. Continuing the chapter's sequence of ten poems.
