Kuruṅgamiga — Book of the Ones · Chapter Three (Kuruṅgavagga) · Poem 1 of 10
Setting
An antelope addressing a hunter hidden in a tree
Speaker
The four-horned antelope
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 of alert self-preservation
Why this text
This verse opens the Kuruṅgavagga with a model of wariness rewarded: the antelope sees through a hunter's disguise and simply declines the trap, without confrontation or drama — Sujato's comment grounds the animal itself in a specific, real species and its documented natural behavior.
Reading guide
Seeing through a trap, and simply walking away
The verse is spoken directly to the hidden hunter: ‘the four-horned antelope knows that it's you who tosses fruit from the beechwood tree. I'll go to another beechwood, I don't like your fruit.’ Per Sujato's comment, a wary antelope spots a hunter hiding in a tree dropping bait, and simply seeks food elsewhere rather than confronting the danger directly.
A specific, documented animal and tree
Sujato's comment identifies the ‘kuruṅga’ as the four-horned antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis), citing the Mṛgapakṣiśāstra's description of it as short and red, with branched horns, wide eyes, shrewd and patient, grazing mostly on grass — and the ‘sepaṇṇi’ as the beechwood or gamhar tree (Gmelina arborea), which grows to 30 metres and bears edible fruit. This kind of concrete natural detail grounds the verse's simple lesson in an identifiable real setting.
Key terms
kuruṅga — the four-horned antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis), per Sujato's comment described in the Mṛgapakṣiśāstra as shrewd and patient.
sepaṇṇi — the beechwood or gamhar tree (Gmelina arborea), whose fruit the hunter uses as bait.
na me te ruccate phalaṁ — “I don't like your fruit” — the antelope's plain, undramatic refusal.
Kuruṅgamigajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, opening the Kuruṅgavagga.
Mṛgapakṣiśāstra — a medieval Sanskrit text on animals and birds, cited repeatedly in Sujato's comments across this chapter for naturalist detail.
The text
The text in full: a single verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1The four-horned antelope knows that it’s you who tosses fruit from the beechwood tree. I’ll go to another beechwood, I don’t like your fruit.
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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
Who is the verse addressed to?
Correct: A. 'The four-horned antelope knows that it's you who tosses fruit from the beechwood tree.'
Question 2 of 10
How does the antelope respond to recognizing the trap?
Correct: B. A model of wariness rewarded, without confrontation or drama.
Question 3 of 10
What species does Sujato's comment identify the 'kuruṅga' as?
Correct: C. Described in the cited Mṛgapakṣiśāstra as shrewd and patient.
Question 4 of 10
What tree does the comment identify as the 'sepaṇṇi'?
Correct: D. Growing to 30 metres and bearing edible fruit, used here as bait.
Question 5 of 10
What medieval text does Sujato's comment cite for naturalist detail about the antelope?
Correct: A. Cited repeatedly across this chapter's comments for naturalist detail.
Question 6 of 10
What chapter does this poem open?
Correct: B. This collection's third ten-poem chapter.
Question 7 of 10
What quality does the verse model in the antelope's behavior?
Correct: C. Recognizing danger and simply avoiding it, without unnecessary confrontation.
Question 8 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: D. The twenty-first poem overall, and the first of the Kuruṅgavagga.
Question 9 of 10
What does the antelope's final line state plainly?
Correct: A. Ending the encounter without conflict.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: B. Opening this collection's third ten-poem chapter.
