Cūḷaka — The Book of the Twos · Chapter Five · Poem 6 of 9
Setting
A described natural scene, without a translated attribution
Speaker
Cūḷaka, describing peacocks, earth, and sky before turning inward
Form
Two four-line verses — a nature description, then a turn to meditative attainment
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
★☆☆☆☆ — vivid, alliterative description
Why this text
Cūḷaka describes peacocks calling with their fair crests and blue necks, the earth lush with grass and dew, the sky full of beautiful clouds — before turning to the happiness of one practicing absorption, and urging the reader to realize that supreme state, so very pure, subtle, and hard to see.
Reading guide
A rare nature poem
Most of this collection reports attainment or teaches directly. This poem instead spends its entire first verse on an outer scene — calling peacocks, lush earth, a sky full of clouds — before the second verse turns inward to the happiness of meditative absorption. The poem does not explain how the scene relates to the reflection that follows; the two are simply set beside each other, left unexplained, in contrast to Therīgāthā's Thig 3.4 (Dantikā), where an elephant being tamed is explicitly what triggers her insight.
A name, confirmed by comment to echo its own poem
Sujato's comment states plainly: this name ‘echoes the name of the monk, which means “plumed”’. Cūḷaka (‘little crest’) directly echoes susikhā (‘fair-crested’), the very word describing the peacocks in his own opening line — joining this collection's other instances of a name echoing its own verse's content, such as Kappaṭakura's pun on ‘rag’ two poems earlier in this book. Unlike some of those earlier cases, which were this reading guide's own observation, this one is confirmed directly by a surviving comment.
Subtlety, echoed from the poem just before
This poem's closing line describes the goal as ‘so very pure, subtle, and hard to see’ (susukkasukkaṁ...sududdasaṁ) — echoing Thag 2.45's own description of ‘a meaning so very subtle and fine’, written just one poem earlier in this same chapter, though the two poems otherwise share no vocabulary.
A poem built from repeated sounds
The Pali text leans heavily on words beginning su- (‘good, fair, well’) — susikhā, supekhuṇā, sunīlagīvā, sumukhā, sugajjino, susaddalā, subyāpitambu, suvalāhakaṁ, sukallarūpo, sunikkamo, susukkasukkaṁ — a deliberate alliterative device giving the description of natural beauty a percussive, incantatory quality.
Key terms
susikhā — “fair-crested” — describing the peacocks, and echoing the speaker's own name.
sukallarūpo — “happy in mind, uplifted in appearance” — describing one practicing absorption.
sunikkamo — “an easy going-forth” — how the poem describes leaving the household life for a good person.
susukkasukkaṁ — “very pure, radiantly pure” — describing the goal named in the poem's closing lines.
accutaṁ padaṁ — “the undying state” — a term for nibbāna, named at the poem's close.
The text
The text in full: two verses, without a translated attribution. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1The peacocks cry out with their fair crests and tails, their lovely blue necks and fair faces, their beautiful song and their call. This broad earth is lush with grass and dew, and the firmament is full of beautiful clouds.
§2One practicing absorption is happy in mind, and their appearance is uplifting; going forth in the teaching of the Buddha is easy for a good person. Realize that supreme state that does not pass, so very pure, subtle, and hard to see.
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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 first verse describe?
Correct: C. A rare register for this collection.
Question 2 of 10
What does the second verse turn to?
Correct: A. An inward turn, left unexplained in its relation to the scene.
Question 3 of 10
What does Sujato's comment say about the speaker's name?
Correct: D. Cūḷaka echoes susikhā directly.
Question 4 of 10
How does this case of a name echoing its own content differ from Kappaṭakura's?
Correct: B. A stronger form of evidence than observation alone.
Question 5 of 10
What phrase does this poem's closing echo from Thag 2.45, written one poem earlier?
Correct: A. Susukkasukkaṁ...sududdasaṁ echoes Thag 2.45's susukhumanipuṇatthadassinā.
Question 6 of 10
What sound does the Pali text repeat heavily throughout?
Correct: A. An alliterative device giving the description a percussive quality.
Question 7 of 10
How does this poem's nature-then-insight structure compare to Therīgāthā's Thig 3.4 (Dantikā)?
Correct: C. Dantikā's elephant-taming scene is explicitly what triggers her insight.
Question 8 of 10
What does 'accutaṁ padaṁ' mean?
Correct: B. Named at the poem's close.
Question 9 of 10
What does the poem say makes going-forth easy?
Correct: D. Sunikkamo sādhu subuddhasāsane.
Question 10 of 10
Where does this poem fall in Chapter Five?
Correct: B. Following Kassapa the Prince, Dhammapāla, Brahmāli, Mogharāja, and Visākhapañcālaputta.
