Tuṇdila Jātaka

Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was the King in Benares, the Bodhisatta was conceived by a wild pig. In due time she gave birth to two male pigs. One day she took them and lay down in a pit. An old woman from a village was at the gate of Benares. She was going home with a basket full of cotton from the cotton field. As she walked, she tapped the ground with her stick. The sow was frightened by the sound, and she left her young and ran away.

The old woman saw the young pigs. She felt sympathy for them, so she put them in the basket and took them home. She called the elder pig Mahātuṇḍila (Big snout), the younger one Cullatuṇḍila (Little snout). And she raised them as if they were her own children.

In time they grew up and became fat. When the old woman was asked to sell them, she answered, “They are my children,” and she would not sell them. Then on one feast day, some lewd fellows were drinking strong drink. And when their meat was gone, they wondered where they could get more. They discovered that there were pigs in the old woman’s house. So they took some money and went there. They said to the old woman, “Mother, take this money and give us one of those pigs.” She said, “Enough, young men. Are there people who would give their children to buyers to eat their flesh?” And so she refused them.

Then the fellows said, “Mother, pigs cannot be children of humans. Sell them to us.” But they could not get her to sell them even though they asked again and again. But then they gave the old woman some of their strong drink, and when she was drunk, they said, “Mother, what would you do with the pigs? Take the money and spend it.” They put the money into her hand. She took the money and said, “I cannot give you Mahātuṇḍila, but take Cullatuṇḍila.” “Where is he?” “There he is in that bush.” “Call him.” “I don’t see any food with which to entice him.”

The fellows sent out for a pot of rice. The old woman took it, and filling the pig’s trough at the door, she waited next to it. Thirty fellows stood by with nooses in their hands. The old woman called to him, “Come, little Cullatuṇḍila, come.” But Mahātuṇḍila heard this and thought, “Mother has never given the call to Cullatuṇḍila. She always calls me first. There must be some danger for us today.” He told his younger brother this, saying, “Brother, mother is calling you. Go and find out what is going on.” He went out, and seeing them standing by the food trough he thought, “Death will come to me today.”

And so in fear he turned back—shaking—to his brother. Mahātuṇḍila said, “Brother, you are shaking today while you watch the entrance. Why are you doing this?” He explained what he had seen, and then he spoke the first stanza:

Something strange today I fear,

The trough is full, and mistress by.

Men, noose in hand, are standing near

To eat appears a jeopardy.

Then the Bodhisatta said, “Brother Cullatuṇḍila, the purpose for which my mother raised us all this time has become clear today. But do not grieve.” And with a sweet voice and the ease of a Buddha, he expounded the Dharma and spoke two stanzas:

You fear, and look for aid, and quake,

But, helpless, where else can you flee?

We’re fattened for our flesh’s sake,

Eat, Tuṇḍila, and cheerfully.

Plunge bold into the crystal pool,

Wash all the stains of sweat away,

You’ll find our ointment wonderful,

Whose fragrance never can decay.

As he considered the Ten Perfections ((1) generosity, (2) morality, (3) renunciation, (4) wisdom, (5) energy, (6) patience, (7) truthfulness, (8) resolution, (9) loving-kindness, and (10) equanimity)—setting the Perfection of Loving-kindness before him as his guide—and uttering the first line, his voice reached and extended to Benares over 12 leagues (about 42 miles or 67 kilometers). At the instant they heard it, the people of Benares—from kings and viceroys downwards—came. And those who did not come stood listening in their houses. The King’s men broke down the bush. They levelled the ground and scattered sand. The drunkenness left the lewd fellows, and throwing away the nooses, they stood listening to the Dharma. The old woman’s drunkenness left her, also. The Bodhisatta began to preach the Dharma to Cullatuṇḍila among the throng.

Cullatuṇḍila heard him and thought, “My brother says this to me. But it is never our custom to plunge into the pool and to wash away sweat from our bodies. And after washing away old stains to get new ointment. What does my brother mean by this?” So he spoke the fourth stanza:

But what is that fair crystal pool,

And what the stains of sweat, I pray?

And what the ointment wonderful,

Whose fragrance never can decay?

The Bodhisatta said, “Then listen with attentive ear.” And so—expounding the Dharma with the ease of a Buddha—he spoke these stanzas:

Dharma is the fair crystal pool,

Misdeed the stain of sweat, they say.

Virtue’s the ointment wonderful,

Whose fragrance never will decay.

Men that lose their life are glad,

Men that keep it feel annoy.

Men should die and not be sad,

As at mid-month’s festal joy.

So the Great Being expounded the Dharma in a sweet voice with a Buddha’s charm. The multitudes by thousands snapped their fingers and waved their cloths in celebration. The air was full of the cry, “Well said, well said.” The King of Benares honored the Bodhisatta with a royal place. He gave glory to the old woman. He had both pigs bathed in perfumed water, clothed with robes, and ornamented with jewels on their necks. He gave them the same rank as his sons in the city, and he guarded them with a great care. The Bodhisatta gave the Five Precepts to the King, and all of the inhabitants of Benares and Kāsi kept the Precepts.

After that, the Bodhisatta preached the Dharma to them on the holy days (new and full moon). He sat in judgment and decided cases. While he lived, no one filed unjust suits. When the King died, the Bodhisatta performed the last honors to his body. Then he had a book of judgments written. He said, “Observe this book when you settle suits.” And so, having expounded the Dharma to the people and preached to them with devotion, he left for the forest with Cullatuṇḍila while the people wept and lamented. Then the Bodhisatta's teaching lasted for 60,000 years.