Nacca — Book of the Ones · Chapter Four (Kulāvakavagga) · Poem 2 of 10
Setting
A grand ball to choose a husband for a princess
Speaker
The Golden Swan, king of all birds, addressing a peacock suitor
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 gentle rejection
Why this text
This is the traditional origin of a long-running idea in Indian storytelling: the peacock as visually magnificent but foolish and undignified — a suitor rejected not for any flaw in beauty, but for immodest self-display at the worst possible moment.
Reading guide
Beauty praised in full, then a rejection
The verse first lavishes genuine praise: ‘your cry is sweet, your back brilliant, your neck the color of sapphire, and your feathers a full fathom long’ — before the turn: ‘still, because of your dancing, I will not give you my daughter.’ The rejection is not about appearance at all, but about behavior.
A princess's own preference, overruled by a dance
Per Sujato's comment, when the Golden Swan was elected king of all the birds, he held a great ball to choose a husband for his daughter the princess. She herself favored the glorious peacock — but when he danced, immodestly displaying himself before the assembly, her father turned down the ‘shameless suitor.’ Sujato's comment notes this story draws on an Indian tradition of the peacock as visually splendid but foolish and clumsy.
Key terms
rudaṁ manuññaṁ — “your cry is sweet” — the first of several genuine compliments the verse pays the peacock.
naccena te dhītaraṁ no dadāmi — “because of your dancing, I will not give you my daughter” — the verse's turn from praise to rejection.
Golden Swan — per Sujato's comment, the king of all birds, presiding over the ball to choose his daughter's husband.
Naccajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, ‘Dancing’.
peacock as splendid but foolish — an established Indian storytelling tradition, per Sujato's comment, that this tale draws on and helps establish.
The text
The text in full: a single verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1Your cry is sweet, your back brilliant, your neck the color of sapphire, and your feathers a full fathom long; still, because of your dancing, I will not give you my daughter.
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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's opening praise?
Correct: D. Setting up a turn from praise to rejection.
Question 2 of 10
Why does the Golden Swan ultimately refuse the peacock as a suitor?
Correct: A. The rejection is about behavior, not beauty.
Question 3 of 10
Who originally favored the peacock as a suitor, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: B. Her father overruled her preference after witnessing the peacock's dance.
Question 4 of 10
What occasion, per the comment, brings the birds together?
Correct: C. Setting the scene for the peacock's disqualifying dance.
Question 5 of 10
What Indian storytelling tradition does Sujato's comment say this tale draws on?
Correct: D. This tale is identified as a traditional origin point for that idea.
Question 6 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: A. The thirty-second poem overall, and the second of the Kulāvakavagga.
Question 7 of 10
Who speaks this verse?
Correct: B. Addressing the peacock directly with both praise and rejection.
Question 8 of 10
What color is the peacock's neck compared to in the verse?
Correct: C. One of several genuine compliments preceding the rejection.
Question 9 of 10
Where does this poem sit in the collection's own chapter structure?
Correct: D. Part of the same ten-poem Kulāvakavagga.
Question 10 of 10
What overall lesson does this tale suggest about outward beauty?
Correct: A. The peacock's genuine beauty is fully acknowledged, yet still insufficient.
