Famous Illustrated BUDDHA TALES Published in 2018 by MAPLE PRESS PRIVATE LIMITED Corporate & Editorial Office A 63, Sector 58, Noida 201 301, U.P., India phone +91 120 455 3581, 455 3583 Email: [email protected] Website: www.maplepress.co.in Copyright © Maple Press Private Limited ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing by the publisher.
Contents 1. Honesty Always Pays 2. The Two Merchants 3. The Sage who was a Cheat 4. Money Kills 5. The Ace Bowman 6. Good and Bad Company 7. The Lion’s Skin 8. Faithful Monkeys 9. The Wicked Pupil 10. The Cruel King 11. A Handful of Oil Seeds 12. A Monkey Business 13. The Five Rules of Morality 14. The Great Horseman 15. The Good Pupil 16. The Forgiving Monk 17. The Oleanders 18. The Weaver Bird’s Nest 19. The Stupid Rabbit
Honesty Always Pays T here in a town lived two peddlers, both dealing in pearl trinkets. While one of them was honest, the other was a crook. Once the two of them went to the neighbouring town to sell their goods. In that town there was a big building, once owned by a rich diamond merchant. After a sudden loss in the business many of the family members of that household had died. The sole survivors were a girl and her grandmother who did menial jobs to earn their living. The greedy peddler came to the door of that house, crying, “Pearl trinkets for sale!” The young girl heard his cry and begged her grandmother, “Please buy me a trinket, grandmother.” The granny said, “We are very poor, dear. There is not enough grain at home to feed us, let alone money. How do I get you the pearl trinket?” The girl suddenly remembered an old bowl. “Look! Grandma!” she cried, “Here is an old bowl. Let us try to trade it for something nice.” The golden bowl belonged to the great merchant, her late great grandfather. After his death, it had been thrown amongst the old unused things. Since it hadn’t been used for a very long time, it looked totally black. The old woman examined the bowl. Since it was black, she could not realize that it was made of gold. She felt that it may have some value. She showed the bowl to the peddler, who took it in his hand. Suspecting its real value, he scratched its back with a needle. He assured himself that it was made of real gold, worth several thousand rupees. He immediately started planning on how to cheat the old woman and the girl. So, pretending to be angry, he growled, “Why did you bring me this bowl? It isn’t worth half a penny!” Then, throwing the bowl onto the floor, he walked out of the house.
Soon, the honest peddler came into that same street. He appeared at the door of the same house, crying, “Beads for sale!” Once again the young girl made the same request to her grandmother. The old woman said, “My dear, the first peddler refused to take the bowl. What have we got now to offer?”
“Oh, but that trader was nasty, Grandmother. I think this man will take it.” “All right, then. Call him in.” When the peddler came into the house, they showed him the bowl. The peddler immediately recognized that the bowl was made of gold. He told the old woman, “Mother, this bowl is worth several thousands of rupees. I am sorry, I can’t take this in exchange to the beads I have. The whole of my stock will not equal the worth of this bowl.” Stunned at this, the old woman said, “Sir, another peddler who came before you said that it is not even worth half a penny. He actually got angry, threw it on the floor, and went away! It must be your goodness that has made the bowl of gold. Please take it. Just give my granddaughter whatever she wants to have from your collection. We will be happy.” The peddler gave whatever he had; five hundred rupees and another five hundred rupees worth of goods in return for the bowl, and left the place. Just then, the greedy peddler returned to the house as if to accept their deal half heartedly. He asked the old woman to bring out their bowl, saying he would give them something or the other for it. The old woman flared at him saying, “You cheat! You told us that our golden bowl was not worth even half a penny. And now, we feel good that we didn’t make the bargain with you. Another peddler came here. He told us the bowl’s real worth, and has indeed made the deal. We’re happy even if he gave us just whatever he had with him. You are too late!” When the peddler heard this, he was outraged, and hysterical. He cried, “Oh! I’m robbed of my golden bowl.” Then, throwing away all his goods, he tore off his shirt, and ran towards the river, into which he slipped and drowned. The honest trader returned home and spent his life in charity and other good works. Moral: Honesty is rewarded
The Two Merchants A long time ago, there were two traders living in the same city. One of them was wise and the other was foolish. One day each of the two traders loaded five hundred carts with costly wares and left together in the same direction at the same time. The wise merchant thought, “Those carts going first will level the road, and I will be able to travel along the smoothened road. Their oxen will graze off the coarse old grass, and mine will have sweet new grass from beneath. My men will find newly grown fruits, when the old ones would have been eaten by those men. Also, the other merchant will fix the price for the goods and I can sell mine at a larger profit.” So he said to the other merchant, “Friend, both of us cannot travel at the same time, with so much of load. Wouldn’t you rather go first and I shall follow?” The foolish trader thought, “If I take the lead. I will get a good road, my oxen will have fresh grass to eat, my men will eat the first ripened fruit, and I will be able to fix my own price for my goods.” So he agreed to the other merchants suggestion. The foolish merchant set out in his caravan, filling several barrels of water. The forest area was haunted by a devil, which saw the merchant’s caravan passing through the place. The devil, in the disguise of a prince, rode along in his carriage with his attendants. He then drew his carriage beside the merchant’s cart, greeted him kindly, and asked, “What do you have in these carts?” “Expensive goods!” answered the merchant. Then pointing to the cart loaded with barrels of water, the devil asked him, “What is in this cart?” “That is full of water,” replied the merchant. “But there is water available ahead. You could travel much faster and lighter without those heavy barrels; throw away the water.” Then the devil rode away quickly with his men. The merchant broke all the jars, and ordered his men to drive quickly. Soon they got weary and exhausted, but couldn’t find water anywhere! At sunset, the men drew their carts into a circle, untied their oxen, they fainted
and fell down. At night, the devil came back, attacked them all and devoured them. Only the carts were left. The news of a lost caravan without any people reached the city. After six weeks, the wise merchant left with his five hundred carts, filling many of them with several barrels of water. When he reached the devil’s place
he told his men, “Do not drink water or eat anything here. All are poisonous.” When they reached the middle of the forest, the devil appeared as a prince with his troop. The merchant noticed the devil’s red eyes, and said to himself: “This stranger does not cast any shadow. He must be the devil who had killed the foolish merchant. Let me be clever!” The devil approached him with the same advice to throw away the barrels of water. The merchant said, “We know who you are. We do not throw away our water before we find water elsewhere.” Surprised at his boldness, the devil rode away. Then the merchant’s men said to him, “Sir, those men seem to be right. Let us throw away the water so that we can proceed quicker with lightened carts.” The merchant then told them the truth, “Friends, this place has always been known as the ‘Waterless Desert’. The prince we saw is a devil. He is persuading us to throw away all our water, because, after we throw the water, we will grow tired and faint, and then he will kill us all. The other merchant who went before us must have been fooled by this devil. So, speed up!” When they grew tired, they prepared food and had it. After the animals and men went down to sleep, the merchant and some of his assistants stood guard all through the night, with swords in hand. At daybreak, the merchant replaced some of his weak carts for the stronger ones of the other merchant, and his common goods for the costly ones. He was able to sell his stock of wares at two or three times their value, and returned to his own city as a rich man. Moral: Foolish ones come to utter destruction, while those who are wise, come out successful
The Sage who was a Cheat L ong ago, a crook lived in a village, and cheated people in the disguise of being a learned sage. A rich man became his ardent follower and built a small hermitage for him in the forest, also he provided him with excellent food from his own house. The rich man had a great fear of robbers and decided that the safest way to protect his money was to hide it. Believing the sage to be holy and pure, he brought a hundred pieces of gold to the hermitage, buried them there, and told the sage to keep watch over the treasure. “There is no need to tell about wealth to a man like me who has given up all good things in life. We hermits never desire what belongs to others.” “That is wonderful,” said the rich man, and went back to his home with complete faith in the hermit’s words. As soon as the rich man was out of sight, the sage chuckled to himself, “There’s enough here to last a man his whole life!” Allowing a few days to pass, the sage dug up the gold and reburied it conveniently outside his hermitage. One fine day, when the rich man came there to give him food, he said, “My good sir, I’ve been staying here, supported by you, for a long time. But, living so long in one place is like living in the worldly pleasures, which is not good for a sage like me. I cannot remain here any longer; the time has come for me to leave.” “Well, then,” said the rich man, “If you must go, good luck to you.”
Half-heartedly he saw the sage off till the outskirts of the village and returned home. After walking a short while, the sage thought it would be a good idea to give the rich man an impression of honesty about himself. Sticking a straw in his matted hair, he hurried back to the village.
When the rich man saw him, he asked, “Sir, what brings you back here? Have you decided to stay back?” The sage said, “No, my dear fellow! It is this straw that brought me here.” Surprised, the rich man asked, “Straw?” The sage explained, “My dear fellow, this straw on my head belongs to this hermitage’s roof. This hermitage belongs to you. How can I take away even a small thing that belongs to another person? So I have brought it back to you!” Overwhelmed, the rich man thought, “This sage is so honest that he won’t take even a straw from other person’s land!” The sage then left. At that time a merchant was traveling to the border of another town on business and happened to stop at that same little village. He saw the sage coming back with the piece of straw. Growing suspicious about the sage, he went to the rich man and asked him, “Sir, did you give the sage any expensive thing to be kept safe?” “Yes,” the rich man said, “a hundred pieces of gold.” “Well, why don’t you just go and see if they are still safe?” the merchant suggested. The landowner went to the hermitage, dug where he had left his money, and found all of it to be missing. Rushing back to the merchant, he cried, “None of it is there! The thief is certainly that sage. Let us catch him!” The two men ran after the rogue sage and caught him. They kicked him and beat him until he showed them where he had hidden the gold. Moral: Falsity does not last for long
Money Kills L ong ago, there was a sage, who, by the sheer power of his meditation, had acquired command over the movement of the stars. Whenever there was an auspicious alignment of stars, he would make the sky rain diamonds and pearls! Once, as he was passing through a dense forest with his favourite disciple, he was confronted by a robber. The robber presumed that either the sage or his disciple must be in possession of money. He tied the sage to a tree and told the disciple, “If you want your teacher’s life to be saved, you have to give me money.” The disciple said, “Sir, please spare my guru! I don’t have money now. I will go to the city, collect money from people and return. You will have to kindly wait till that time.” The robber agreed. The disciple left the place, and escaped. As night came, the sage looked up at the sky, and started studying the configuration of stars. He thought, “Why should I suffer at the hands of the robber, when I possess the power to let the sky shower diamonds? Just now the configuration of stars is favourable. Let me meditate and get him the diamonds. Then I will also be released!”
He then told the robber, “My son, I can make the sky rain diamonds by my meditating powers. If you would allow me, I will do it now.” Glad to hear this, the bandit released the sage, who went to the river, took a holy bath, sat down and started meditating. And soon, there was a shower of diamonds! The robber gathered them all, and left the place.
As soon as he left, a gang of robbers encountered this robber, who said, “Go to that sage sitting there. He has got some magical powers by which he can let the sky shower diamonds.” The robbers came to the sage and demanded money and valuables. Unfortunately, now the alignment of the stars had changed. The sage tried to convince the gang of robbers by pleading, “No, sir! Please listen to me. Earlier the stars were in a favourable position. Now they have changed. I can’t make the sky shower diamonds.” But the robbers shouted at him, “You wicked man! Don’t try to fool us! If you can’t get the diamonds for us, then there is no need for you to live too!” So saying, they killed the sage as well as the other robber, and took all the diamonds that he had. Now that the gang had the entire bundle, they started fighting with each other. Their fight became so terrible, that they started killing each other and ultimately only two of them remained alive. They both agreed to share booty equally, and decided to hide it in a safe place. Then one of them said to the other, “Friend, now that we have the diamonds and both of us are hungry, let me stay back here. You go to the nearby village, have some food, and then bring me some. I will keep a watch over the bundle.” When the other left, this robber thought, “Why should I wait for that person to return and lose a share of the booty? Why not kill him when he comes back, so that I can have the entire loot?” The person who had left for the village too thought, “Hmm, this is the right chance! Let me mix some poison in the food I get for him. He will eat the food and die, then I will have the entire bundle of diamonds. I will be the richest person in the country then!” As planned, the robber who had kept the watch killed the other robber the moment he returned with the food. Happy about gaining all the diamonds, he sat down to eat the food. Alas! He too died of the poison! Moral: Those who desire money through unfair means will meet a disastrous
end
The Ace Bowman I n a far away land, there lived a king known for his righteousness. He had a son who was wise and handsome. The king named him Asadrisa, meaning matchless. Soon another son was born to the king and queen. The two princes were brought up with great love and care. When Prince Asadrisa was sixteen, the king sent him away for studies. He learnt the three Vedas, the eighteen arts as well as archery from an eminent teacher. When he returned to his state, he was greeted as a skilled archer. Slowly, the king became old. He told his trusted minister, “I’m becoming old. I feel it is time that my elder son Asadrisa ascend the throne. Let my younger one become his deputy.” But Prince Asadrisa declined the offer, and the younger prince was crowned the king. Prince Asadrisa continued to live in the palace in a humble manner. Days went by, and the elder king died. With twist of fate, Asadrisa’s younger brother and his ministers developed hatred against Prince Asadrisa, and drove him away from the kingdom.
Prince Asadrisa reached a far away kingdom, and met the king there. He said, “O mighty king! I am a skilled archer. I’d like to serve your kingdom.” Impressed by his confidence, the king appointed him the chief commander of his army. This infuriated the other good archers of the kingdom. They all decided to drive him out of the kingdom, and waited for an opportunity.
Once, the king went to his garden, where a special bed was laid for him to rest beneath a mango tree. Up in the tree was a ripe mango. The king called the best of his archers and asked them, “Can you bring down that mango with an arrow?” The archers replied, “Your Majesty! Bringing down that mango is not a difficult task. You have seen our skills several times. Why don’t you ask the new archer to do the job?” The king called Prince Asadrisa, “My dear man! Can you strike that mango and bring it down at one shot?” Prince Asadrisa confidently replied, “Yes, your Majesty! If I am given a little space, I will shoot it down.” “Where do you want the space?” the king asked. “Where your bed stands now!” replied the prince. The king had the bed removed and made space for him. The prince then asked the king, “Your Majesty! Should I shoot this mango down with an arrow going up or one coming down?” “Son! I have not seen anything shot down with an arrow coming downwards. Do it that way,” said the king. The prince shot the arrow, which went up piercing the stem. When it came down, it cracked like a bolt of lightning. Those present around wondered and asked each other, “What is this sound?” “It is the sound of the arrow coming down,” one of them said. The people got frightened that the arrow might fall on them. The prince however did not let the arrow and the mango fall on the ground. He caught the arrow in one hand and the mango in the other. Everyone was amazed at this feat, and praised the archer for his matchless skill. The king also showered wealth and fame on him. Days passed by. Once, Asadrisa learnt that his brother’s kingdom was surrounded by a powerful enemy king. He took permission from his king and reached his brother’s palace. He assured his brother full support in the battle. He took the lead and killed maximum soldiers from the enemy’s side. Panicking at the powerful fight put up by Asadrisa, the enemy king retreated with his troops. Thus Asadrisa saved his motherland. The younger brother realized his mistake, and requested Asadrisa to rule the kingdom. But Asadrisa refused as before, and returned to his own employer in the far away kingdom.
Moral: A true fighter doesn’t desire power
Good and Bad Company A n unemployed youth lived in the seatown of Peddapuram. Wanting to earn some money, he went out looking for a job, and arrived at a seaport. The sailors employed him on their ship as a crew member. Once, while he was sailing with his fellowmen on the ship, a terrible storm struck and the ship sank. The young man swam to safety, and landed on a lonely island. He was very hungry, and started looking for some food. He came across a tree, and saw a small shining stone near it. As soon as he took it into his hands, he started flying. He flew across mountains, and landed in a hermitage. This hermitage was inhabited by three hermit brothers. The young man requested them to give him shelter. Thus he stayed there and served the three brothers. Each of them was divinely blessed with one object. The eldest hermit had a divine knife, which, when commanded, would cut anything. The sage always commanded the knife to get food. The middle one had a divine drum, which, when beaten, could save them from danger. The youngest hermit had a divine pitcher, which, when turned upside down, poured streams of milk and curd. The three hermits lived happily by the virtue of these divine things. One day, when the three brothers were sleeping, the young man took the divine knife, rubbed it, and ordered it to behead the three sages. The knife did as commanded. Then he flew to the city with the divine knife, drum, pitcher and the magical stone. The king of this city was a tyrant. The young man, with the help of his magical objects, killed the king and his supporters. The people hailed him as the new king. He righteously ruled the kingdom and took the name Dadhivahana for himself.
Once, Dadhivahana went out for boating in the river. His men threw a net- basket into the whirlpool. A ripe mango was caught into the net. It was a big, golden, divine mango, sent by the Gods. He ate it right there and sowed its seed in his garden. Days went by and the mango tree bore sweet golden fruits. It was the most
wonderful mango tree in the whole of the kingdom. Soon it became the talk of the town. King Dadhivahana became popular by sending his mangoes to other kings. He, however, disfigured the fruit so that it would not germinate. The other kings grew jealous of Dadhivahana for this reason. One of those kings called his gardener and said, “Do something and spoil the taste of Dadhivahana’s mangoes.” The gardener went to Dhadhivahana’s palace, bowed to him and spoke of his excellent gardening skills. The king was impressed and employed him in his service. The new gardener made many improvements in king Dadhivahana’s garden. The king was so pleased with the new gardener, that he removed his old gardeners. When the new gardener was convinced that he had gained Dadhivahana’s confidence, he planted neem and other bitter creepers around the mango tree. In due course, their roots and branches entwined together. The mango tree which bore sweet fruits also turned bitter. When this was achieved, the gardener fled due to fear of punishment. Dadhivahana asked one of his learned ministers, “How come this mango tree’s fruits turned bitter?” The minister visited the garden and looked around for the reason. Then, he replied “O mighty king! Your mango tree is surrounded by neem. Its roots are entwined with the neem roots.” The king ordered all the neem trees to be cut and laid them far away from the mango tree. With proper care, the mango tree once again started bearing sweet fruits. Moral: In the company of bad, good too turns bad
The Lion’s Skin A goods trader lived in a village, and went from one place to another to sell his goods. He always carried his goods on his donkey’s back. Whenever he reached a particular village, he would unload his donkey and cover it with a lion’s skin. Then he would leave it to graze in the nearby fields, till the donkey had its fill. The farm owners thought the donkey to be a real lion, and so feared to drive him away. This way, the donkey slowly grew very healthy. He was not tired of walking any distance with any amount of load on its back. The trader’s business flourished and the donkey was happy too.
Once, the trader loaded his donkey as usual and went out for business. He came across the fields of rice and barley near the neighbouring village. As always, the trader unloaded the donkey and covered him with a lion’s skin before driving him into the fields. The man keeping guard on that field saw a lion roaming into the fields. Out of fear, he did not drive it away. Instead, he
went to the village and gathered the village folk around. Then he told them, “Dear friends, here is a warning to you all! A lion has escaped from the nearby forest, and is hiding itself in the fields. So it will be better for you all not to go into the fields. If at all you happen to go there, take precautions!” Hearing him, the village elders thought that they all should gather together to fight the lion and drive him away. All villagers got weapons from their homes, and they walked to the fields together. They surrounded the fields on three sides and made a loud noise so that the lion would run into the forest. The donkey, grazing merrily under the lion’s skin, paid no attention at first. He was still grazing when people came near him and the sound of drums grew large. Suddenly, he started braying in panic. The people were initially taken aback to hear a lion bray. But soon they realized the truth. It was neither the sound of a lion, nor the sound of a tiger or a cheetah. It was a donkey who was grazing in the fields all this while under a lion’s skin. At once, they all pounced on the donkey and beat him with sticks and logs. The trader, who had gone to sell his good, saw the miserable condition of his donkey when he returned. With a heavy heart he took the donkey home. Moral: Sometimes, it is disastrous to speak out
Faithful Monkeys I n a dense forest, lived two monkey brothers who led a large tribe of monkeys. These two monkeys lived happily, while looking after other monkeys and also serving their blind mother who lived beneath a bush. Everyday, after eating to their stomachs full, they sent sweet fruits to their mother too. But the sweet fruits did not reach their mother. Other monkeys from the group ate the fruits. Thus, the old monkey had to go without food. At one stage, she became so weak that she could not even sit. When the elder of the two monkey brothers came to visit his mother, he noticed her condition. He asked her, “Mother, we send you the sweetest fruits every day. But you still look weak and worn out. Why?” The mother monkey said with a surprise, “Sweetest fruits! So far I have not tasted such fruits as you describe!” The son monkey understood what must have happened to the fruits. He thought, “What a bad son I am! When my mother is going without food, I am staying with the other monkeys. If I continue living there, my mother will die for sure. I cannot let that happen.” So he told his brother, “Dear brother, I have decided to make you the head of the monkeys. I will serve our mother.” The younger brother refused, saying, “No brother, I am not at all interested in becoming the head. I too want to serve our mother.” Thus the two quit their leadership and moved to another forest with their mother. There, they lived on a banyan tree.
In the nearby city lived a youth, who, after completing his studies, went to his teacher to take his leave. The teacher saw him off with an instruction, “My dear son! Remember, those who indulge in sinful deeds do not prosper, but suffer in ruins. You must not be harsh or cruel to anyone.” The youth saluted his teacher and left. But, ignoring his teacher’s instruction,
he soon became a hunter. One day, he could not catch any prey. It was already evening and he was contemplating to go home, just then he saw the two monkeys and their blind mother. The youth observed the mother monkey and thought, “It is better to carry this old monkey than going back empty handed.” Just then, the elder monkey brother saw the hunter and said to his brother, “This hunter wants to kill our mother. I think it is my duty to save her. I will give my life to him. After my death, you must serve her.” He quickly jumped from the tree, as the youth was about to aim at his mother. He addressed the hunter and said, “Please don’t kill my mother. She is blind, old and weak. Have pity on her. You can take my life instead.” Saying thus, he sat in front of the hunter, who shot an arrow and killed him. The hunter then got greedy and again aimed his arrow towards the mother. Now the younger monkey thought, “What a remorseless man he is! He is again aiming at my mother. Now, it is my turn to save her!” So, he too came out of his hiding place, and pleaded, “Please do not kill my mother. Spare her, and kill me instead.” Then, he too sat in front of the hunter, and the hunter killed him. Even after hunting the two monkeys, the hunter was not satisfied. He killed their old mother too, and walked home, without any regret. Suddenly, the sky was overcast, and there was thunder and lightning everywhere. When the hunter reached home, he discovered that the lightning had killed his wife and two sons, and had burnt down his house to ashes, except for a pillar. As he was standing there crying for his loss, the pillar fell upon his head, killing him instantly. While dying, he remembered his teacher’s words. Moral: Those who are cruel will bear the consequence of their sinful deeds
The Wicked Pupil A rich man had a wise and able son. This boy grew up to be a master trainer of elephants. The tuskers trained by him deftly demonstrated various warfare skills. Impressed by his ability, the king appointed him as the chief trainer of all his elephants. Some time later, a city youth came to him to undergo training for becoming an elephant trainer. He learnt all the skills sincerely, and in due course of time, could handle the elephants well. The master had not with held any tricks from his pupil. When the youth became an expert in all the tricks, he told his teacher, “Teacher, I too want to serve the king like you.” The teacher recommended him to the king saying, “Your Majesty! My pupil wants to serve you. I can assure the same quality in him as you find in me.” The king was satisfied and said, “Ok, let him also serve me. But, he will get only half of what you get as income!” When the teacher told this to his pupil, he said, “Sir! I know as much as you do. Then why should I be paid just half of your pay? I will serve the king only if I am paid as much as you, otherwise I will not serve him.” The teacher told his pupil’s decision to the king, who said, “If he really knows as much as you, then he will have to demonstrate it. If his skills match yours, he will get as much as you are getting.” The teacher conveyed the king’s opinion to his pupil. As the competition was arranged for the next day, it was announced to the public. The pupil was confident of his abilities. As for the teacher, he knew that he had trained his pupil well, but was still superior to him in wisdom! Therefore, he trained a particular elephant to perform the wrong tricks that night. He told the elephants, “When I say, ‘Go ahead,’ you should step back; when I say, ‘step back,’ you should go ahead. When I ask you to ‘stand up’, you should ‘lie down’; and when I ask you to ‘lie down,’ you should remain standing. When I ask you to ‘hold a thing,’ you should put it down; and when I ask you to ‘put
something down’ you should hold it.” The next morning, he rode his favourite elephant and arrived at the royal courts. His pupil also reached there on a grand elephant. A huge crowd had gathered there to witness the spectacle. The king too arrived and the show was about to start. In the meanwhile, the teacher had replaced his pupil’s original elephant with the one he had trained the previous night. The pupil was not aware of this. The spectators were very eager to witness the tricks of the elephants. The show started. When the pupil asked the elephant to go ahead, it stepped back. When he commanded it to step back, it raced ahead. When he ordered it to stand up, it lay down! The elephant did everything contrary to the pupil’s commands. When it was the teacher’s turn, he exhibited his skills most confidently with his favourite elephant. The pupil was astonished by this spectacular show. The audience shouted, “You wicked pupil! So, you aspire to compete with your teacher? You are not aware of your limitations. You think you know as much as your teacher does?” The people then pelted stones at the pupil, and beat him up with sticks. He ran away from that place and was never seen again in the king’s palace. Moral: Never try to compete with your master
The Cruel King O nce there was a king, who was hot tempered, cruel and known for his high handedness. He treated both his subjects and his family harshly. So he was disliked by everyone in his kingdom. No one respected him genuinely, but showed respect out of fear of him. After a long rule, he died. As if waiting for the occasion, the people rejoiced that day, and there were grand celebrations across the kingdom. Thereafter, his son was crowned the king. As his coronation was underway, the kingdom wore a festive look. Trumpets were sounded; streets were decorated with banners and flags, canopies were erected outside the houses, and bands played everywhere! After the king was crowned, he sat on the throne surrounded by his ministers, the chief priests and the teachers. Everyone looked happy. In a corner of the court, however, stood a sentry, weeping. Seeing him cry, the new king called him and asked, “Sentry! Today is a festive day, when I’m crowned as the new king. Everyone is happy. But why are you crying? Don’t you want me as your king? Or do you cry for my father who is no more?” The sentry replied, “O mighty king! I’m very sorry for spoiling your mood. I’m not crying because you have become the new king; neither am I crying for your father’s death. I am happy that he is dead now, because whenever I went up and down the stairs, he used to strike my head eight times. I am afraid that if he strikes Yama, the God of Death, in the same manner, he might send him back to earth again. Then, he will resume beating me as earlier. That is why I am crying.” The king laughed at this and convinced the sentry by saying, “Don’t worry! My father’s body has been consumed by a thousand logs of wood. A hundred pitchers have dowsed his pyre. The place where he was burnt; has been thoroughly washed. Those who pass on to the other world never return.”
The king’s words convinced the sentry. He stopped crying, and started serving the new king fearlessly. Moral: One need not fear the dead!
A Handful of Oil Seeds T he king of Varunanagaram had a son. He wanted him to get the best education, and thus he sent him to a learned teacher’s ashram for his studies. The prince became a good disciple of his teacher. It was the daily routine of the teacher to go to the nearby river for his bath. Many students went with him too, including the prince. One day, an old woman came to the river bank and spread some oil seeds there to dry them. The prince found the seeds, and without a second thought, picked a handful of them to eat. The old woman saw the prince eating the seeds, but kept quiet. The next day, the same thing happened again, and then the third day as well. This was too much for the old woman, who went to the teacher and complained, “O respected sir! One of your pupils has been eating the oil seeds everyday without my permission. I want the youth to be taught a lesson so that he will not do it ever again.” The next day, when the prince took a handful of seeds, the teacher came from behind and caught hold of his hand. Then he started beating him with a stick as the old woman stood watching. The prince felt insulted at this. Then, without a word, he returned to the ashram. The incident had strongly sowed the seeds of revenge in his mind. Years later, after completing his studies, he left his teacher’s place and returned to Varanasi. In the course of time, the prince became the king of Varanasi. Even after such a long time, he still remembered the teacher’s punishment. He thought it was the right time to take revenge on the teacher and planned to invite him to his palace to give a harsh punishment!
He sent his messenger to the teacher to bring him to the court. However, the teacher sent back the messenger saying, “The prince is young now. I will not be able to convince him. I will see him when he is in his middle age.” Years passed by, and one day the teacher arrived in Varanasi. The king called him in. Even in his middle age, his anger had not subsided. He addressed his
chief minister and said sarcastically, “This great man here! My teacher! He has come here to die in my hands! My back still hurts where he had beaten me. Neither can I forgive my teacher, nor have forgotten the incident. Just for a handful of seeds, he had beaten me and it was an insult! I will not spare him today.” Saying so, he started to draw his sword. The teacher was well aware what would happen if the king got off his throne. Yet he said calmly and without fear, “My son! Remember one thing. If a teacher punishes a wrong doer to discipline him, it is not an act of animosity. If I had not disciplined you that day, you would have gone from small thefts to bigger robberies. Then you would have been a curse to your family, and would not have become the king. Tell me honestly, didn’t you benefit from my punishment? Have you not become a respectable gentleman now?” The court ministers agreed with the teacher and told the king, “Your Majesty! Whatever glory you have now is because of your teacher. You have ascended the throne only because of your teacher!” The king suddenly came to senses and realized his mistake. He recalled the teacher’s virtue and said, “O my respected teacher! Please forgive me. I give all this authority and glory to you. Please accept the throne.” However, the teacher declined the king’s offer. The king then appointed him as his royal priest and ruled under his guidance through charity and righteous ways. Moral: A teacher’s punishment is actually a reward for the student
A Monkey Business K ing Visvasena had a beautiful garden surrounding his palace. The garden was maintained by an expert gardener. As the royal festival was approaching, the gardener planted exotic flowering plants. When they bloomed, the garden looked beautiful. The garden was inhabited by some monkeys who, along with the gardener, also looked after the garden. Once the gardener had to leave for a week on an urgent business. He called the monkeys and instructed them, “Water the plants till I return. Mow down the grass; remove the weeds, and prune the plants whenever needed.” The monkeys promised to obey him. The gardener gave them watering cans and left. From the next day, the monkeys started looking after the garden and watering the plants. When the head monkey saw all this, he advised them, “Have patience. Don’t waste water. We must preserve it. I have a solution. Uproot all the plants, measure the length of their roots, and water them accordingly. More water for the longer roots, and less water for the shorter ones.” The monkeys followed the advice of their chieftain. Some of the monkeys immediately got into the task of uprooting the plants while some others measured the roots, watered them accordingly and replanted them into the soil. They watered all the plants in the garden in the same manner. Just then, a wise courtier arrived in the garden. When he saw the monkeys engaged in the awkward business, he said, “Hey you fools. What are you doing to the plants? Who advised you to water the plants in this manner?” The monkeys replied, “Our chief, the head monkey.” The wise man said, “If the head monkey, the supreme one, is so foolish, there is no wonder about you being foolish.” The monkeys said, “You, human being, just shut your mouth! You are insulting our chief! How do we know what amount of water a plant needs, if we don’t measure its root?”
The wise man left the place dumbfound. Moral: It is no use giving advise to the fools
The Five Rules of Morality O nce, the kingdom of Kalinga went without rains for a very long time. A severe draught followed. People starved, animals died, the crops would not grow! Everyone wandered along with their children in search of food. Finally, in desperation, they made a representation to their king. “Your Majesty! Our fields are barren. There has been no rain for many years. There is a severe famine. Please, do something to make our rice fields grow,” they pleaded. The king asked them, “What did the other kings do when there were no rains in their kingdoms?” The people replied, “Your Majesty! When there was a drought, the other kings gave alms, fasted, and slept on the bed of grass for a week. That brought the rains to their kingdoms.” The king too followed the same things, but no rain came! Then the king asked his ministers, “I did my duty. But it did not rain. What should I do now?” The chief advisor told him, “Your Majesty! The Kuru king of Indraprastha has an elephant named Dhananjaya. If you could bring that elephant, he would bring rains since he is considered to be auspicious.” The king sent priests to fetch the elephant. The priests undertook a long journey and arrived in Indraprastha, where they stayed at the king’s charity home. When the king reached there on his auspicious elephant, they addressed him, and said, “Your Majesty! We heard about your devotion and morality and, therefore, we have come here to ask for your auspicious elephant.”
“Charity is our traditional calling. I will give you my auspicious elephant,” said the king and made a formal offering. He placed the elephant’s trunk into the priests’ hands, poured out perfumed water form a golden pot and gave them his elephant. The priests returned to Kalinga with the elephant. Still, there were no rains. Desperate, the king asked the chief priest, “Now tell me, why it doesn’t
rain even now?” He replied, “The king of Indraprastha observes the rules of morality. It is actually by virtue of the king’s qualities that it rains there.” The king asked the priests to return the auspicious elephant to the other king and come back with the rules of morality inscribed on a golden slab. The priests went to Indraprastha, returned the elephant to the king, and said, “Your Majesty! Even the presence of this elephant in our land could not bring the rains. We have heard that you observe some principles of morality. If you can kindly give us those rules, our king would also like to observe them. He has sent us to get those rules inscribed on a golden slab.” The king then described the five rules of morality. The five rules were: You should not kill living beings. You should not steal. You should not commit adultery. You should not tell a lie. You should not drink wine. He also said that along with him, his mother, his queen, the deputy minister, all the priests in the kingdom, the subjects, the rich merchants, traders, the sentries and the charioteers and courtesans followed the same rules. The priests of Kalinga returned to their king with the rules inscribed on the slab. Their king observed those rules very religiously along with everyone in his kingdom. Consequently, there were profuse rains in the land. It resulted in good crops, and the land prospered. Moral: The combined goodness of a kingdom can create miracles
The Great Horseman O nce, a king faced revolt at the hands of his chieftains in a part of his kingdom. He rushed there with his troops, but the rebels defeated the king, and tried to kill him. The king somehow escaped and reached in the centre of a village. One of the villagers, a kind hearted person, saw his condition and invited him into his house. He was not aware that the person was indeed the king himself. The villager told his wife to extend the best hospitality to the visitor saying, “Dear! He is our guest. We must keep him comfortable.” The villager’s wife served the king the best food, while the villager unbridled the king’s horse, watered it, and fed it with grass. In this way, the king and his horse were taken care of and recovered from their wounds. On the fourth day, the king said, “Friend! My name is Mahashvaroha (The Great Horseman). My house is situated in the middle of the town. Now, I must go. If you ever happen to be in the town, just ask the sentry at the southern gate about me. He will bring you to me.” Once home, the king waited for the village man to visit him, but he did not turn up. Months went by, and the king increased the taxes in his kingdom, including at the village of his host. The other villagers approached that villager, who was actually their village representative. They said, “Brother! That Great Horseman whom you served for four days is our king. He has increased the taxes on our village. Why don’t you request him to relieve us from this crisis since we are poor people?” The villager said, “Well, I will go. But I cannot go empty handed. My friend has two children and a wife. I will have to carry clothes and ornaments to be given to the four of them as gifts.”
The villagers arranged for these gifts, and the villager arrived at the southern gates of the town. From there, the sentry took him to the king. When the king saw the man, he was so excited that he hugged him warmly. The man handed over the gifts to the king and his family. Overwhelmed, the king accepted them all. Then he served him delicious food and commanded his
ministers, “Let my friend be given a clean shave and a perfumed bath. Give him royal clothes and ornaments and produce him before me in a kingly way.” The ministers did exactly as they were told. The king then called all his ministers, and declared, “This friend of mine will rule half of my kingdom! His family will stay with us! I also remove the taxes that were levied on his village recently.” Some of the king’s ministers grew jealous on hearing this. They told many unpleasant things about the man to the prince. They said, “Prince, the king has given away a half of the kingdom to a villager, and calls him his friend! We feel humiliated and are worried for you.” The prince asked the king, “Father! I don’t understand what makes you get overwhelmed towards this ordinary person?” The king replied, “Son, do you know where I took shelter after I had been defeated in the rebellion? This man gave me shelter in his house. I could come back to rule only on account of his hospitality. Why should I not give away a part of my wealth to him? Even a little act of kindness brings great rewards!” The king’s explanation silenced the prince and the ministers. They accepted the villager as their king and started showing respect to both the kings. Moral: It is unjust to deny anything to the deserving one
The Good Pupil A teacher had five hundred students. When his daughter reached her youth, the teacher thought about her marriage. He wanted to marry her to one of his students, and decided to test who was genuinely good and suitable amongst them to take care of his daughter. He called his pupils and said, “My dear students, I want to get my daughter married to one of you. I don’t have enough clothes and ornaments. So I want each of you to get some clothes and ornaments from your relatives’ homes without any one seeing you take them. I will accept only those clothes and ornaments that you bring without being caught.” The students obeyed their teacher’s instructions and went to their respective relatives’ homes. They brought the clothes and ornaments from there as they had been told. Everyone of the pupils had brought some clothes and ornaments. But, there was one, who had returned empty handed. The teacher called him and asked, “My dear son! Did you bring any cloth or ornament?” The student said, “No sir!” The teacher wondered and asked him, “Why not son?” The pupil replied, “You would not have accepted anything that was brought if someone had seen it. I could not find any secret place where no one saw what I was bringing.” The pupil then went onto explain, “Even if no one else was there, I was watching myself taking the ornaments and clothes, and my conscience did not allow for it.”
The teacher was pleased at this young student’s honesty and goodness. He said, “My dear son! I do have all the money and ornaments for my daughter’s wedding. I was just testing the morality of my pupils so that I could marry my daughter to the suitable one. I have decided that you are the right match for my daughter.”
Then the teacher married off his daughter to the good student. To the other pupils he said, “You may take the money you brought back to your homes.” Moral: Be righteous and truthful. One who follows the right doctrine succeeds in life
The Forgiving Monk A householder’s son took his formal education at Taxila and returned home to become a good scholar. Some years later his parents died, leaving behind their wealth. He then thought, “My parents have left such a great wealth behind them. They could not take anything with them!” This thought made him weary, and he gave away all his wealth to live an ascetic’s life in the distant mountains. Once, he came down to Dharamsala and stayed at the hermitage there. In the morning, when he went out to beg for alms, he stopped at the gates of the commander’s residence. The army chief invited him into his house to have a meal. Then he requested the monk to stay with him and built a cottage for him in the royal park. One day, the king arrived in the park for entertainment. He was accompanied by a number of beautiful singers and dancers. Charmed by the sweet strains of their music, the king dozed off. So, the singers left the instruments and roamed into the park. They walked through the park and saw the monk meditating. One damsel said, “Friends, look at the monk sitting beneath that tree. Let us listen to his sermons.” They saluted the monk and said, “Venerable sir! Please give us a sermon.” In the meantime, the king got up and looked around. When he found that none of the damsels were around, he got angry, and shouted at one of his guards, “Where are those girls whom I brought here?” The attendant replied, “Your Majesty! They are sitting in the company of a monk.” The king became furious, took out his sword, went to the monk and asked, “Hey! What are you teaching them? What is your doctrine?” The monk replied, “Your Majesty, it is forgiveness.” The king asked, “What is forgiveness?” The monk explained, “It means not getting angry when being abused or insulted.” “Oh! In that case, let me see how forgiving you are,” said the king and, calling
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