Jataka 175
Ādiccupaṭṭhāna Jātaka
The Scoundrel
as told by Eric Van Horn
originally translated by William Henry Denham Rouse, Cambridge University
originally edited by Professor Edward Byles Cowell, Cambridge University
This is the third in the bad monkey series. Apparently monkeys had a very bad name during the Buddha’s time! My own experience is quite different. When I visited Jetavana Park, there were two kinds of monkeys there. They were very well behaved, and they seemed to be completely comfortable with those of us who meditated there.
“There is no tribe.” The Master told this while he was at Jetavana. It is about a scoundrel.
Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born into a brahmin family from Kāsi. When he came of age, he went to Takkasilā University, and there he completed his education. Then he went to the Himalaya and embraced the holy life. He cultivated the Five Faculties (1) faith/confidence, 2) energy, 3) mindfulness, 4) concentration/samadhi and 5) wisdom/insight) and the Attainments (Jhānas), and he became the teacher of a large group of pupils.
He stayed there for a long time until finally he needed to buy salt and seasonings. He went down from the highlands to a border village where he stayed in a leaf-hut. When the recluses were out seeking alms, a mischievous monkey used to enter the hermitage and turn everything upside down. He would spill the water out of the jars, smash the jugs, and finish by making a mess in the place where the fire was.
When the monsoon season ended, the recluses decided to go back to the mountains, and they took leave of the villagers. “At present,” they thought, “the flowers and fruit are ripening on the mountains.” The villagers said to them, “Tomorrow we will come to your huts with alms, and you will eat before you go.”
So on the next day they brought plenty of food and drink. The monkey thought to himself, “I’ll trick these people into giving me some food too.” So he pretended to be someone holy seeking alms. He stood near to the recluses worshipping the sun. When the people saw him, they thought, “Holy are they who live with the holy,” and they repeated the first stanza:
“There is no tribe of animals with such a virtuous one.
See how this poor monkey here stands worshipping the sun!”
In this way the people praised the monkey’s virtues. But the Bodhisatta, observing it, replied, “You don't know the ways of a mischievous monkey, or you would not praise one who deserves no praise,” adding the second stanza:
“You praise this creature’s character because you know him not.
He has defiled the sacred fire, and broke each waterpot.”
Figure: The Rascally Monkey
When the people heard what a rascally monkey it was, they seized sticks and rocks and they pelted him, and they gave their alms to the recluses. The sages returned to the Himalaya, and without once interrupting their meditative bliss they were reborn at last in Brahma’s heaven.
At the end of this discourse, the Master identified the birth: “This scoundrel was the monkey of those days. The Buddha’s followers were the company of recluses, and I was their leader.”
