Sakuṇa — Book of the Ones · Chapter Four (Kulāvakavagga) · Poem 6 of 10
Setting
A tree sheltering a flock of birds, catching fire
Speaker
The Bodhisatta, warning the flock
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, urgent verse
Why this text
This tale gives voice to a familiar frustration: an urgent, correct warning dismissed by those too complacent to act on it — per Sujato's comment, the birds mock the Bodhisatta as someone who is ‘always seeing crocodiles in a drop of water’ even as their own shelter begins to burn around them.
Reading guide
An urgent warning, addressed directly
The verse gives the warning itself: ‘you sky-flyers staying near the great evergreen, this fire is emerging! Geese! Flee to the quarters! The threat is born from the refuge!’ The final line's paradox — danger arising from the very shelter meant to protect — gives the warning its particular urgency.
A warning dismissed as excessive caution
Per Sujato's comment, noticing a fire starting in the tree under which the flock shelters, the Bodhisatta tries to warn them — but the foolish birds dismiss him, mocking him as someone who is ‘always seeing crocodiles in a drop of water’, a vivid idiom for chronic, unwarranted alarm. The verse itself does not record whether the flock ultimately listens in time.
An identified species and a poetic term for a tree
Sujato's comment identifies ‘vakkaṅga’ (named for its curved neck) as the cakravāka or Brahminy goose, and notes that ‘jagatirūha’ (literally ‘planet-growth’) is simply a poetic term for a tree, rather than referring to any specific species.
Key terms
jagatirūha — “evergreen”, literally “planet-growth” — per Sujato's comment, a poetic term for a tree in general, not a specific species.
vakkaṅga — “geese”, per Sujato's comment the cakravāka or Brahminy goose, named for its curved neck.
jātaṁ saraṇato bhayaṁ — “the threat is born from the refuge!” — the verse's central paradox, danger arising from the very place meant to provide safety.
Sakuṇajātaka — the traditional title of this tale, simply ‘Bird’.
always seeing crocodiles in a drop of water — the flock's own mocking idiom, per Sujato's comment, dismissing the Bodhisatta's warning as excessive, unwarranted alarm.
The text
The text in full: a single verse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1You sky-flyers staying near the great evergreen, this fire is emerging! Geese! Flee to the quarters! The threat is born from the refuge!
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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 Bodhisatta notice, per Sujato's comment?
Correct: D. Prompting his urgent warning to the flock.
Question 2 of 10
How does the flock respond to the Bodhisatta's warning?
Correct: A. A vivid idiom for chronic, unwarranted alarm — even as the danger was real.
Question 3 of 10
What paradox does the verse's final line state?
Correct: B. Giving the warning its particular urgency — the shelter itself has become the danger.
Question 4 of 10
What does Sujato's comment identify 'vakkaṅga' as?
Correct: C. One of several precise naturalist identifications across this chapter's comments.
Question 5 of 10
What does 'jagatirūha' (evergreen) actually mean, per the comment?
Correct: D. Not referring to any particular species.
Question 6 of 10
Does the verse itself confirm whether the flock ultimately escapes in time?
Correct: A. Consistent with this collection's typically compressed, unresolved verse form.
Question 7 of 10
What is this poem's traditional title?
Correct: B. The thirty-sixth poem overall, and the sixth of the Kulāvakavagga.
Question 8 of 10
Who speaks the warning in this verse?
Correct: C. Attempting, per the comment, to save the flock from complacency.
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 familiar human frustration does this tale give voice to?
Correct: A. A recognizable dynamic well beyond the literal birds of the story.
