Jataka 344
Ambacora Jātaka
The Story of Ambacora
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
This story feels like a good, old fashioned, get off my lawn tale.
“She that ate your mangoes.” The Master told this story while he was at Jetavana. It is about an elder who kept watch over mango fruit. When he was old, they say, he became a recluse and built a hut of leaves for himself in a mango orchard on the outskirts of Jetavana. He not only ate the ripe fruit that fell from the mango trees himself, but he also gave some to his kinsfolk.
Once when he had set out on his round of alms-begging, some thieves knocked down his mangoes. They ate some and took off with others. At that moment the four daughters of a rich merchant, who had been bathing in the river Aciravatī, wandered into the mango orchard. When the old man returned and found them there, he charged them with having eaten his mangoes.
“Sir,” they said, “We just got here. We have not eaten your mangoes.”
“Then take an oath,” he said.
“We will, sir,” they said, and they took the oath. The old man having shamed them by making them take an oath, let them go.
The monks, hearing of his action, started a discussion in the Dharma Hall. It was about how the old man exacted an oath from the daughters of a merchant who had entered the mango orchard where he lived, and after shaming them by administering an oath to them, let them go. When the Master came and asked what the topic of their discussion was, he said, “Not now only, monks, but in the past also this old man, when he kept watch over mangoes, made certain daughters of a rich merchant take an oath, and after putting them to shame let them go.” And then he told them this story from the past.
Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was reborn as Sakka. At that time a false recluse built a hermitage of leaves in a mango orchard on a river bank near Benares. He kept watch over the mangoes, ate the ripe fruit that fell from the mango trees, and also gave some to his kinsfolk. He supported himself by various deceptive practices.
At this time Sakka, king of heaven, thought “Who, I wonder, in this world of men support their parents, pay honor to the aged members of their family, give alms, keep the moral law and observe the fast day? Which of them after adopting the holy life, devote themselves to the duties befitting priests, and which of them are guilty of misconduct?”
And exploring the world he saw this wicked recluse keeping watch over his mangoes, and he said, “This false recluse, abandoning his duties as a priest, is continually watching a mango orchard. I will frighten him deeply.”
So when he had gone into the village for alms, Sakka—using his supernatural power—knocked down the mangoes. He made it look as if they had been plundered by thieves. At that moment four daughters of a merchant of Benares entered the orchard, and the false recluse—on seeing them—stopped them and said, “You have eaten my mangoes.”
They said, “Sir, we have just arrived. We have not eaten them.”
“Then take an oath,” he said.
“If we do that, may we go?” they asked.
“Certainly, you may,” he said.
“Very well, sir,” they said. The eldest of them swore an oath uttering the first stanza:
She that did your mangoes eat,
Her own lord soon should be cursed,
That with dye grey hairs would cheat
Let his life then be the worst.
The recluse said, “Stand on one side.” And he made the second daughter of the merchant take an oath, and she repeated the second stanza:
Let the maid that robbed your tree
Vainly for a husband seek,
Past her teens though she may be
May her fortunes all be bleak.
And after she had taken an oath and stood on one side, the third maiden uttered the third stanza:
She that your ripe mangoes ate
Weary path shall tread alone,
And at meeting place too late
Grieve to find her lover gone.
When she had taken an oath and stood aside, the fourth maiden uttered the fourth stanza:
She that did your tree despoil
Gaily dressed, with wreath on head,
And bejeweled with sandal oil
Still shall seek a virgin bed.
The recluse said, “This is a solemn oath you have taken. Others must have eaten the mangoes. So now you may be gone.” And so saying, he sent them away. Sakka then presented himself in a terrible form, and drove the false recluse from the place.
Figure: Sakka in a bad mood
The Master, his lesson ended, thus identified the birth: “The heron in the former tale was the heron in this, but I was the King of Benares.”
