Khuddaka Nikaya - Jataka - Tika-Nipata - Jambu-Khadaka Jataka

Jataka Vol. II: Book III. Tika-Nipāta: No. 294. Jambu-Khādaka-Jātaka



p. 299
No. 294.
JAMBU-KHĀDAKA-JĀTAKA 1.
"Who is it sits," etc.--This story the Master told at the Bamboo-grove, about
Devadatta and Kokālika. At the time when Devadatta began to lose his gettings
and his repute, Kokālika went from house to house, saying, "Elder Devadatta is
born of the line of the First Great King, of the royal stock of Okkāka 2, by an
uninterrupted noble descent, versed in all the scriptures, full of ecstatic
sanctity, sweet of speech, a preacher of the law. Give to the Elder, help him!"
In these words he praised up Devadatta. On the other hand, Devadatta praised up
Kokālika, in such words as these: "Kokālika comes from a northern brahmin
family; he follows the religious life; he is learned in doctrine, a preacher of
the law. Give to Kokālika, help him!" So they went about, praising each other,
and getting fed in different houses. One day the brothers began to talk about it
in the Hall of Truth. "Friend, Devadatta and Kokālika go about praising each
other for virtues which they haven't got, and so getting food." The Master came
in, and asked what they were talking about as they sat there. They told him.
Said he, "Brethren, this is not the first time that these men have got food by
praising each other. Long ago they did the same," and he told them an old-world
tale.
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Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was king of Benares, the Bodhisatta became a
tree-sprite in a certain rose-apple grove. [439] 9 Crow perched upon a branch of
his tree, and began to eat the fruit. Then came a Jackal, and looked up and
spied the Crow. Thought he, "If I flatter this creature, perhaps I shall get
some of the fruit to eat!" So in flattery he repeated the first stanza:
"Who is it sits in a rose-apple tree--
Sweet singer! whose voice trickles gently to me?
Like a young peacock she coos with soft grace,
And ever sits still in her place."
The Crow, in his praise, responded with the second:
"He that is noble in breeding and birth
Can praise others' breeding, knows what they are worth.
Like a young tiger thou seemest to be:
Come, eat, Sir, what I give to thee!"
With these words she shook the branch and made some fruit drop.
p. 300
[paragraph continues] Then the spirit of the tree, beholding these two eating,
after flattering each other, repeated the third stanza:
"Liars foregather, I very well know.
Here, for example, a carrion Crow,
And corpse-eating Jackal, with puerile clatter
Proceed one another to flatter!"
After repeating this stanza, the tree-sprite, assuming a fearful shape, scared
them both away.
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When the Master had ended this discourse, he summed up the Birth-tale; "At that
time the Jackal was Devadatta, the Crow was Kokālika, but the Spirit of the Tree
was I myself."



Footnotes
299:1 Compare No. 295, and Æsop's fable of the Fox and the Crow.
299:2 A fabulous king, the same as Ikshvāku. See reff. in J. P. T. S. 1888, p.
17.



Next: No. 295. Anta-Jātaka