Jataka 326
Kakkāru Jātaka
The Heavenly Flowers
as told by Eric Van Horn
originally translated by H.T. Francis and R.A. Neil, Cambridge University
originally edited by Professor Edward Byles Cowell, Cambridge University
The importance of honesty in the Buddha’s Dharma cannot be overstates. This story makes that point painfully clear.
“He that from dishonesty acts.” The Master told this story while he was at Jetavana. It is about Devadatta, and how after causing a schism in the Saṇgha, he went away with his chief disciples. And when the assembly broke up, a hot stream of blood gushed from his mouth. The monks discussed the matter in the Dharma Hall. They said that Devadatta had created a schism by speaking falsely, and afterwards he fell sick and suffered from diarrhea. The Master came and asked what the monks were discussing as they sat together. And on hearing what it was, he said, “Not now only, monks, but in the past, too, this fellow was a liar. And not only now, but in the past he also suffered pain as a result of lying.” And so saying he told them this story from the past.
Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (the Tāvatiṃsa heaven). Now at this time there was a great festival in Benares. A crowd of Nāgas (serpent gods) and Garuḍa birds (a bird deity) and terrestrial deities went to watch the festival. And four divine beings from the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, wearing wreaths made of heavenly kakkāru flowers, went to see the festival. The fragrance of these flowers filled the city for a distance of 60 kilometers. People wandered about, wondering who wore these flowers. The gods said, “They are watching us,” and flying up from the royal court, by an act of supernatural power, they stood poised in the air. The multitude gathered together, and the King with his vassal princes asked from what world of the gods they had come.
“We come from the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.”
“For what purpose did you come?”
“To see the festival.”
“What are these flowers?”
“They are the heavenly kakkāru flowers.”
“Sirs,” they said, “in the world of the gods you may have other flowers to wear. Give these to us.”
The gods answered, “These divine flowers are only fit for those who have great powers. They are not fit for the base, foolish, faithless and defiled beings in this world of humans. But for anyone in the world of humans who are endued with virtue, for them they are suitable.” And with these words the chief among these divine beings repeated the first stanza:
He that from corrupt act refrains,
His tongue from lying word restrains,
And reaching dizzy heights of fame
Still keeps his head—this flower may claim.
On hearing this the family priest thought, “I do not possess one virtuous quality. But I will get these flowers by telling a lie, and then the people will credit me with having these virtues.” Then he said, “I am endowed with these qualities.” He had the flowers brought to him, and he put them on. Then he begged for more flowers from a second god who replied in the second stanza:
He that should honest wealth pursue
And riches gained by fraud eschew,
In pleasure gross excess would shun,
This heavenly flower has duly won.
Then the priest said, “I am endowed with these virtues.” He had more flowers brought to him, and he put them on. Then he begged of the third god who uttered the third stanza:
He that from fixed purpose ne’er swerves
And his unchanging faith preserves,
Choice food alone scorns to devour,
May justly claim this heavenly flower.
The priest said, “I am endowed with these virtues.” He had the flowers brought to him and he put them on. Then he begged of the fourth god who spoke the fourth stanza:
He that good folk will ne’er attack
When present, nor behind their back,
And all he says, fulfils in deed,
This flower may claim as his due weed.
The priest said, “I am endowed with these virtues.” He had the flowers brought to him, and he put them on.
So these divine beings gave the four wreaths of flowers to the priest and returned to the world of gods. As soon as they were gone, the priest was seized with a violent pain in the head. It was as if it were being pounded by a sharp spike or crushed by an instrument of iron. Maddened with the pain he rolled up and down and cried out with a loud voice. When people asked, “What does this mean?” he said, “I claimed these virtues when I did not have them. I lied and so begged these flowers of the gods. Take them off my head.”
Figure: “Take them off my head!”
They tried to remove them, but they could not because they were fastened on as if by an iron band. Then they picked him up and took him home. He lay there crying aloud for seven days. The King spoke to his councilors and said, “This wicked brahmin will die. What are we to do?” “My lord,” they answered, “let us again celebrate a festival. Then the sons of the gods will come back.”
And so the King held another festival. The sons of the gods returned and filled all the city with the perfume of the flowers. Then they took their stand in the same place in the royal court. The people gathered together, and bringing that wicked brahmin, they laid him down before the gods on his belly. He prayed to the gods, saying, “My lords, spare my life.” They said, “These flowers are not meant for a wicked and evil man. You thought in your heart to deceive us. You have received the reward of your false words.”
After thus rebuking him in the presence of the people, they removed the wreath of flowers from his head. And having admonished the people, they returned to their home.
The Master, having ended his lesson, identified the birth: “At that time Devadatta was the brahmin, Kassapa was one of the divine beings, Moggallāna was another, Sāriputta a third, and I was the chief god.”
(Kassapa, Moggallāna, and Sāriputta were three of the chief disciples of the Buddha. After the Buddha died, Kassapa assumed leadership of the Saṇgha, and he presided over the First Buddhist Council.)
