Note 2 — Concerning the Golden Peacock

During the reign of six Kings it could not be captured on account of the spell, but at last a hunter with the assistance of a tame peahen owing to whose presence the bird forgot to utter the spell, succeeded in catching it in a spring net.2 The Peacock proved to the satisfaction of the King that he had been a devout monarch himself in a former life, keeping the five Precepts, and after being rewarded with an existence in the heaven of Śakra had been re-born on earth as a Golden Peacock. After this he was allowed to return to “the golden hill of Daṇḍaka.” The bird admitted that “all who eat of me become immortal and have eternal youth.” In the second story the Peacock was released by the hunter, whom he converted to Buddhism.