Jātaka Tales: Volume 5

Jātaka Tales

Folk Tales of the Buddha’s Previous Lives

Volume 5

as told and illustrated by Eric K. Van Horn

originally translated by William Henry Denham Rouse, Cambridge University

originally edited by Professor Edward Byles Cowell, Cambridge University

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Smashwords Publishing

eBook ISBN: 9780463729762

First Edition 2020

Dedicated to my children,

Without whom I might never have discovered

this wonderful literature.

Also by this author:

The Travel Guide to the Buddha’s Path

The Little Books on Buddhism series:

Book 1: The Little Book of Buddhist Meditation: Establishing a daily meditation practice

Book 2: The Little Book on Buddhist Virtue: The Buddha’s teachings on happiness through skillful conduct

Book 3: The Little Book of the Life of the Buddha

Book 4: The Little Book of Buddhist Wisdom: The Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths, the three marks of existence, causality, and karma

Book 5: The Little Book of Buddhist Mindfulness & Concentration

Book 6: The Little Book of Buddhist Daily Living: The Discipline for Lay People

Book 7: The Little Book of Buddhist Rebirth

Book 8: The Little Book of Buddhist Awakening: The Buddha’s instructions on attaining enlightenment

The Jātaka Tales series:

Jātaka Tales: Volume 1

Jātaka Tales: Volume 2

Jātaka Tales: Volume 3

Jātaka Tales: Volume 4

Table of Contents

Introduction to Volume 5

201: Bandhanāgāra Jātaka, The Prison

202: Keḷisīla Jātaka, The Prankster

203: Khandha-vatta Jātaka, The Duty to Snakes

204: Vīraka Jātaka, Vīraka the Strong

205: Gaṇgeyya Jātaka, Belonging to the Ganges

206: Kuruṇga Miga Jātaka, Belonging to the Ganges

207: Assaka Jātaka, The Story of Assaka

208: Suṃsumāra Jātaka, The Crocodile and the Monkey

209: Kakkara Jātaka, The Jungle Cock

210: Kandagalaka Jātaka, The Story of Kandagalaka

211: Somadatta Jātaka, The Story of Somadatta

212: Ucchiṭṭha Bhatta Jātaka, The Leftover Rice

213: Bharu Jātaka, The Story of Bharu

214: Puṇṇa Nadī Jātaka, Rivers at Flood

215: Kaccapa Jātaka, The Tortoise

216: Maccha Jātaka, The Fish Story

217: Seggu Jātaka, The Greengrocer’s Daughter

218: Kuṭa Vāṇija Jātaka, The Dishonest Trader

219: Garahita Jātaka, The Story of Blaming

220: Dhammaddhaja Jātaka, The Story of Dhammaddhaja

221: Kāsāva Jātaka, The Yellow Robe

222: Cūla Nandiya Jātaka, Little Nandiya

223: Puṭa Bhatta Jātaka, A Bowl of Rice

224: Kumbhīla Jātaka, The Virtuous Ape

225: Khanti Vaṇṇana Jātaka, Praising Forgiveness

226: Kosiya Jātaka, Kosiya’s Story

227: Gūtha Pāṇa Jātaka, The Dung Beetle

228: Kāmanīta Jātaka, The Brahmin Kāmanīta

229: Palāyi Jātaka, The Debater

230: Dutiya Palāyi Jātaka, The Second Debater

231: Upāhana Jātaka, The Pair of Shoes

232: Vīṇā Thūṇa Jātaka, The Lute with Broken Strings

233: Vikiṇṇaka Jātaka, The Barbed Harpoon

234: Asitābhū Jātaka, The Story of Asitābhū

235: Vacchanakha Jātaka, The Story of Vacchanakha

236: Baka Jātaka, The Crane

237: Sāketa Jātaka, The Story of Sākata

238: Ekapada Jātaka, One Foundation

239: Harita Māta Jātaka, The Green Frog

240: Mahāpiṇgala Jātaka, The Great Yellow King

241: Sabbadāṭha Jātaka, All-tusk

242: Sunakha Jātaka, The Dog

243: Guttila Jātaka, Guttila the Musician

244: Vīticcha Jātaka, Free from Desire

245: Mūlapariyāya Jātaka, The Root of All Things

246: Telovāda Jātaka, The Lesson

247: Pādañjali Jātaka, The Story of Pādañjali

248: Kiṃsukopama Jātaka, The Riddle Tree

249: Sālaka Jātaka, Brother in the Tree

250: Kapi Jātaka, The Monkey

Abbreviations Used for Pāli Text References

AN: Aṇguttara Nikāya, The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha

Bv: Buddhavaṃsa, Chronicle of Buddhas

BvA: Buddhavaṃsatthakathā, commentary to the Buddhavaṃsa

Cv: Cullavagga, the smaller book, the second volume in the Khandhaka, which is the second book of the monastic code (the Vinaya)

Dhp: Dhammapada, The Path of Dhamma, a collection of 423 verses

DhpA: Dhammapada-aṭṭhakathā, commentary to the Dhammapada

DN: Digha Nikāya, The Long Discourses of the Buddha

Iti: Itivuttaka, This Was Said (by the Buddha), a.k.a., Sayings of the Buddha

Ja: Jātaka Tales, previous life stories of the Buddha

JaA: Jātaka-aṭṭhakathā, commentary on the Jātaka Tales

Khp: Khuddakapāṭha, Short Passages

MA: Majjhima Nikāya Aṭṭhakathā, commentary on the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (by Buddhaghosa)

MN: Majjhima Nikāya, The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha

Mv: Mahāvagga, the first volume in the Khandhaka, which is the second book of the monastic code (the Vinaya)

Pm: Pātimokkha, The Code of Monastic Discipline, the first book of the monastic code (the Vinaya)

SN: Saṃyutta Nikāya, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha

S Nip: Sutta Nipāta, The Sutta Collection, literally, suttas falling down, a sutta collection in the Khuddaka Nikāya consisting mostly of verse

Sv: Sutta-vibhaṇga: Classification of the Suttas, the origin stories for the Pātimokkha rules

Thag: Theragāthā: Verses of the Elder Monks

ThagA: Theragāthā-aṭṭhakathā, Commentary to the Theragāthā

Thig: Therīgāthā: Verses of the Elder Nuns

ThigA: Therīgāthā-aṭṭhakathā, Commentary to the Therīgāthā

Ud: Udana, Exclamations, the third book of the Khuddaka Nikāya

Vin: Vinaya Pitaka, Basket of Discipline, the monastic rules for monks and nuns.

Introduction to Volume 5

I was writing a friend of mine recently about this project, and I wrote this:

It is probably because of my work with the Jātaka Tales that I have come to think of the suttas more as stories than as didactic teachings. I mean, I know they are teachings, but the discourses always give a context. We know where the Buddha was, who was there, and so on. And we learn so much about the characters of the people. These were real people and real events. We are just so blessed to have had them preserved for 2500 years by the Saṇgha. It gives me a great deal of humility to think that I am the beneficiary of generation after generation of such loving care.

One of these stories is one that I revisited recently because of Vesak, the annual celebration of the Buddha’s birth, his enlightenment, and his passing away. By tradition these all happened on the same day, which is the full moon day in May.

Several months before the Buddha passed away, one of his two chief disciples – Sāriputta – also passed away. Sāriputta is one of the giants of Buddhism. Some of the most complex discourses in the Pāli Canon were given by Sāriputta. He was the great intellect of Dhamma.

To give you some idea of what the Buddha thought of Sāriputta – as well as his other chief disciple Moggallana - see this passage from the Ukkacala Sutta [SN 47.14]. It is the Buddha’s praise for his chief disciples after they passed away. (They died very close to each other):

"This assembly, oh bhikkhus, appears indeed empty to me, now that Sāriputta and Maha Moggallana have passed away. Not empty, for me, is an assembly, nor need I have concern for a place where Sāriputta and Maha Moggallana dwell.

"Those who in the past have been Holy Ones. Fully enlightened Ones, those Blessed Ones, too, had such excellent pairs of disciples as I had in Sāriputta and Maha Moggallana. Those who in the future will be Holy Ones, fully Enlightened Ones, those Blessed Ones too will have such excellent pairs of disciples as I had in Sāriputta and Maha Moggallana.

"Marvelous it is, most wonderful it is, bhikkhus, concerning those disciples, that they will act in accordance with the Master’s Dispensation, will act in according to his advice; that they will be dear to the four Assemblies (monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen), will be loved, respected and honored by them.

This is high praise indeed, from the Buddha himself.

Sāriputta had a particularly close relationship with Ānanda. Ānanda is one of the most endearing people from the Buddha’s time. He was the Buddha’s cousin, although Ānanda was 15 years younger than the Buddha. Ānanda at one point became the Buddha’s personal attendant, but that does not begin to do justice to the role he played. He was the CEO of the Saṇgha. He controlled access to the Buddha, like a chief of staff. You can imagine that a lot of people wanted access to the Buddha, and Ānanda is the one who guarded and protected his time.

But unlike all of the other important disciples during the Buddha’s time, Ānanda was not perfectly enlightened. That did not happen to Ānanda until after the Buddha passed away. So one of his endearing qualities is that he is still flawed. In the Buddhist texts he often acts as our surrogate. He asks the kinds of questions that we would ask.

And yet, despite his flaws, he was enormously important in the Saṇgha. And he and Sāriputta often resolve problems in the Saṇgha together. There is the famous dispute at the monastery in Kosambi (Kosambiya Sutta [MN 48]) which was finally resolved by the intervention of Sāriputta and Ānanda. As a result of these sorts of situations, Ānanda had a close relationship with Sāriputta, and he was very fond of him.

So when Sāriputta passed away, Ānanda – not being fully enlightened – was quite distraught:

Venerable sir, since I heard that the Venerable Sāriputta has attained final Nibbāna, my body seems as if it has been drugged, I have become disoriented, the teachings are no longer clear to me.

The Buddha compassionately but firmly reminds Ānanda of what the Dhamma teaches us:

Why, Ānanda, when Sāriputta attained final Nibbāna, did he take away your aggregate of virtue, or your aggregate of concentration, or your aggregate of wisdom, or your aggregate of liberation, or your aggregate of the knowledge and vision of liberation?

No, he did not, venerable sir. But for me the Venerable Sāriputta was an advisor and counsellor, one who instructed, exhorted, inspired, and gladdened me. He was tireless in teaching the Dhamma; he was helpful to his brothers in the holy life. We recollect the nourishment of Dhamma, the wealth of Dhamma, the help of Dhamma given by the Venerable Sāriputta.

"But have I not already declared, Ānanda, that we must be parted, separated, and severed from all who are dear and agreeable to us? How, Ānanda, is it to be obtained here: ‘May what is born, come to be, conditioned, and subject to disintegration not disintegrate!’? That is impossible. It is just as if the largest branch would break off a great tree standing possessed of heartwood: so too, Ānanda, in the great Bhikkhu Saṅgha standing possessed of heartwood, Sāriputta has attained final Nibbāna. How, Ānanda, is it to be obtained here: ‘May what is born, come to be, conditioned, and subject to disintegration not disintegrate!’? That is impossible.

"Therefore, Ānanda, dwell with yourselves as your own island, with yourselves as your own refuge, with no other refuge; dwell with the Dhamma as your island, with the Dhamma as your refuge, with no other refuge.

Those bhikkhus, Ānanda, either now or after I am gone, who dwell with themselves as their own island, with themselves as their own refuge, with no other refuge; who dwell with the Dhamma as their island, with the Dhamma as their refuge, with no other refuge — it is these bhikkhus, Ānanda, who will be for me topmost of those keen on the training."

So of course the Buddha is teaching a lesson here. And it is a lovely, poetic, and iconic passage: dwell with yourselves as your own island.

But it is also a powerful story. It can easily stand alone as one without the Dhamma teaching.

I know that a lot of people find the language and the idioms of the Pāli Canon difficult. And I understand that. It took me a year to work my way through the Majjhima Nikāya the first time that I read it. But one way to make the discourses more accessible is read them as stories. Ask yourself basic questions. What is going on here? Rephrase the passages into story elements. Remember that these are real people These are real events. And as I have said so many times before, we find that in the 2500 years since the Buddha passed away, the human mind and the human condition has not changed one bit.

I hope you find these stories enjoyable and useful.

Eric K. Van Horn

Rio Rancho, NM

May 12, 2020

201: Bandhanāgāra Jātaka,

The Prison

This is a story whose basic message is lost beneath not-so-veiled misogyny. The basic metaphor is fine. It says that chains and ropes and manacles are nothing compared to the fetters of sense desires. But these stories have obviously been doctored to represent women in a negative way. The Buddha’s decision to ordain women was