Jataka 349
Sandhibheda Jātaka
The Lion and the Bull
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
One of the forms of wrong speech is causing discord in the community. Imagine what the world would be like if we all followed the Buddha’s advice on this matter. We live in the age of the big lie. Between irresponsible news reporting and the internet, it is just as the Nazis stated. If you tell a lie big enough and loudly enough, people will soon believe it.
Note in particular the lines in the poem:
Thus did bull and lion fall
Prey to meanest beast of all.
The “meanest beast” being divisive speech.
“Nothing in common.” The Master told this story when he was at Jetavana. It is about the moral precept on slander. Once upon a time the Master heard that there were six monks who collected slanderous stories. He called them before him and asked, “Is it true, brothers, that you collect slanderous stories about your brothers who are inclined to quarrelling and strife and contention, and that quarrels that would not otherwise arise, spring up, and when they arise have a tendency to grow?”
“It is true,” they said. Then he reprimanded those monks and said, “Brothers, backbiting speech is like to a blow with a sharp sword. A firm friendship is quickly broken up by slander, and people who listen are inclined to be estranged from their friends. This was the case with the lion and the bull.” And so saying he told them this story from the past.
Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born as his son. And after being educated at Takkasilā University, when his father died, he ruled his kingdom righteously.
At that time a certain cowherd, who was tending cattle in their sheds in the forest, came home and inadvertently left behind a cow that was with calf. A firm friendship sprang up between this cow and a lioness. The two animals became fast friends and went about together.
So after some time the cow gave birth to a calf and the lioness gave birth to a cub. These two young creatures also by the force of family ties became fast friends and wandered about together. Then a certain forester, after observing their affection, took such goods as are produced in the forest and went to Benares and presented them to the King. And when the King asked him, “Friend, have you seen any unusual marvel in the forest?” he answered, “I saw nothing else that was wonderful, my lord, but I did see a lion and a bull wandering about together. They were very friendly towards one another.”
“If a third animal appears,” the King said, “there will certainly be trouble. Come and tell me if you see the pair joined by a third animal.”
“Certainly, my lord,” he answered.
Now when the forester had left for Benares, a jackal tended to the lion and the bull. When the forester returned to the forest and saw this he said, “I will tell the King that a third animal has appeared,” and he left for the city.
Now the jackal thought, “There is no meat that I have not eaten except for the flesh of lions and bulls. By setting these two against each other, I will get their flesh to eat.” And he said to both of them separately, “This is the way he speaks of you.” In this way he caused a division between the two of them. This started a quarrel between them, and soon they were reduced to a dying condition.
But the forester came and told the King, “My lord, a third animal has turned up.”
“What is it?” asked the King.
“A jackal, my lord.”
The King said, “He will cause them to quarrel and will bring about their deaths. We will find them dead when we arrive.”
And so saying, he mounted his chariot and traveled the road pointed out by the forester. He arrived just as the two animals destroyed one another. The jackal was highly delighted and was eating, first the flesh of the lion, and then that of the bull. When the King saw that they were both dead, he stood up in his chariot, and addressing his charioteer gave utterance to these verses:
Nought in common had this pair,
Neither wives nor food did share,
Yet behold how slanderous word,
Keen as any two-edged sword,
Did devise with cunning art
Friends of old to keep apart.
Thus did bull and lion fall
Prey to meanest beast of all.
So will all bed-fellows be
With this pair in misery,
If they lend a willing ear
To the slanderer’s whispered sneer.
But they thrive exceeding well,
E’en as those in heaven that dwell,
Who to slander ne’er attend—
Slander parting friend from friend.
Figure: The jackal causes discord between friends
The King spoke these verses, and bidding them to gather together the mane, skin, claws, and teeth of the lion, returned to his own city.
The Master, having ended his lesson, thus identified the birth: “At that time I was the King.”
