Kaṇḍi — Book of the Ones · Chapter Two (Sīlavagga) · Poem 3 of 10
Setting
No narrative scene in the canonical verse itself
Speaker
Unspecified in the canonical verse itself
Form
One stanza (six lines)
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
★☆☆☆☆ — short, but ethically difficult content
Why this text
This verse voices an explicit prejudice against women's leadership, and this reading guide presents it honestly rather than passing over it — including Sujato's own direct comment, which states plainly that ‘reality has disproven this ancient prejudice’ and identifies this as the first of several misogynistic verses in this collection, reflecting the adaptation of pre-Buddhist material into the Jātaka tradition.
Reading guide
A verse that curses women's rule alongside an arrow's wound
The verse links three curses together: ‘curse the dart, the arrow that deeply strikes a man. Curse the nation where women rule. Those creatures are cursed who fall to women's sway.’ The underlying story, per Sujato's comment, tells of a naive mountain buck who falls for a doe skilled in the ways of men; when the path grows dangerous, she lets him lead the way, so that he alone falls to the arrow.
Sujato's own direct comment on this verse's prejudice
Sujato's comment does not pass over this verse's misogyny in silence. It states directly: ‘reality has disproven this ancient prejudice, as women leaders are at least as successful as men in both perception and results. This is the first of many misogynistic Jātakas. These show how Jātaka stories were adapted from non-Buddhist sources, introducing bigotry into Buddhism.’ This reading guide includes that comment in full, rather than presenting the verse's claim without context.
A story about one deer's specific betrayal, not a general truth
Read against its own commentarial story, the verse's generalization is itself undercut by the specifics of the tale: the doe in the story is not condemned for being a leader, but for a personal act of self-interest in a moment of danger — the verse's broader claim about ‘the nation where women rule’ does not actually follow from the story it is attached to.
Key terms
dhiratthu — “cursed be!” — the imprecation repeated three times across the verse.
itthī pariṇāyikā — “where women rule” — the target of the verse's second curse, explicitly identified by Sujato's comment as an ancient prejudice disproven by reality.
dhikkitā — “cursed” — per Sujato's comment, a word of unique occurrence in Pali, from the same root as ‘dhiratthu’.
Kaṇḍijātaka — the traditional title of this tale, ‘The Arrow’.
misogynistic Jātakas — Sujato's own term, in his comment on this verse, for a category of tales adapted from non-Buddhist sources that introduced this kind of bigotry into the tradition.
The text
The text in full: a single six-line verse, presented here alongside Sujato's own direct critical comment on its content, discussed above. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Curse the dart, the arrow that deeply strikes a man. Curse the nation where women rule. Those creatures are cursed who fall to women’s sway.
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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 verse's claim regarding women's leadership?
Correct: A. A direct, unambiguous critical comment included in full in this reading guide.
Question 2 of 10
What does Sujato's comment identify this verse as an example of?
Correct: B. Reflecting the introduction of bigotry into Buddhism through adapted pre-Buddhist material.
Question 3 of 10
What does the commentarial story actually describe?
Correct: C. A specific, personal act of self-interest, not a general case about women's rule.
Question 4 of 10
How does this reading guide characterize the relationship between the story and the verse's broader curse against 'women's rule'?
Correct: D. The doe is condemned for a personal betrayal, not for being a leader.
Question 5 of 10
How many curses does this verse link together?
Correct: A. All three are marked with the repeated imprecation 'dhiratthu' (cursed be).
Question 6 of 10
What does 'dhikkitā' mean, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: B. Reinforcing the verse's repeated cursing language.
Question 7 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: C. The thirteenth poem overall, and the third of the Sīlavagga.
Question 8 of 10
Why does this reading guide include Sujato's critical comment in full, rather than presenting the verse alone?
Correct: D. Consistent with this site's practice of engaging honestly with ethically difficult historical material.
Question 9 of 10
What specifically betrays the mountain buck, per the commentarial story?
Correct: A. The specific act of self-interest the story actually turns on.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
