Jataka 400
Dabbhapuppha Jātaka
The Jackal of Grassy Hue
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 is story is nominally about greed. But the obvious villain is not necessarily the one who deceives and steals from others. It is also those who are unable to amicably share and be generous to their friends and companions.
“Friend Anutīracārī.” The Master told this story while he was living at Jetavana. It is about Upananda of Sakya (the Buddha’s home country). He was ordained as a monk, but he disregarded the virtues of contentment and became very greedy. At the beginning of the rains retreat, he tried two or three monasteries, leaving at one monastery an umbrella or a shoe, at another a walking stick or a water pot.
He began the rains retreat in a country monastery. He said to the monks there, “You must live simply.” He put on a false front as if he were making the moon rise in the sky. He praised the noble state of contentment. Because of him the monks threw away their pleasant robes and bowls and took pots of clay and robes of dust rags. He put their possessions in his own hut. And when the rains retreat and the pavāraṇā festival (the festival that marks the end of the rains retreat) were over, he filled a cart with these things and headed for Jetavana.
On his journey—behind a monastery in the forest—he wrapped his feet with vines (to appear more humble) and thought, “There must be something to be gotten here.” Then he entered the monastery. Two old monks had spent the rains retreat there. They had received two coarse cloaks and one fine blanket (from the kathina ceremony where annually the monks and nuns get their robes). They could not decide how to divide them, so they were pleased to see him. They thought, “This elder will divide these items between us.” They said, “Sir, we cannot decide how to divide these items. Would you please divide them between us?” He agreed to do this. He gave the two coarse cloaks to them, but he kept the blanket, saying, “This falls to me who knows the rules of discipline,” and then he left.
These elder monks—who loved the blanket—followed him to Jetavana. There they told the story to the monks who knew the rules, saying, “Is it right for those who know the rules to plunder us?” The monks—seeing the pile of robes and bowls brought by the Elder Upananda, said to him, “Sir, you have great merit. You have gained much.” He replied, “Sirs, where is my merit? I gained this in a deceptive manner,” telling them all that had happened.
This started a discussion in the Dharma Hall. They said, "Sirs, Upananda of Sakya is very covetous and greedy.” When the Master discovered the topic of their discussion, he said, “Brothers, Upananda’s deeds are not suited for progress on the path. When a monk explains the Dharma to another, he should first act properly himself, and only then should he preach to others.”
Yourself first establish propriety,
Then teach. The wise should not self-seeking be.
(This is Dhammapada verse 157:
In first establishing himself
In what is proper
And only then teaching others,
The sage will not be stained.
)
With this stanza of the Dhammapada, he taught the Dharma. Then he said, “Brothers, this is not the first time that Upananda has been covetous. He was like this before, and he plundered men’s property before.” And then he told them this story from the past.
Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was a tree spirit who lived by a river bank. A jackal named Māyāvī had taken a wife. He lived in a place by that same river bank. One day his mate said to him, “Husband, I long to eat a fresh rohita fish.” (A rohita fish is a type of carp.) He said, “Rest easy. I will find one for you.” So he went to the river and started to walk along the bank. At that moment, two otters named Gambhīracārī and Anutīracārī were standing on the bank looking for fish. Gambhīracārī saw a great rohita fish. He leaped into the water with a bound and took it by the tail. But the fish was strong and swam away dragging him along. He called to Anutīracārī, “This great fish is big enough for both of us. Come and help me.” Then he spoke the first stanza:
Friend Anutīracārī, rush to my aid, I pray,
I’ve caught a great fish, but by force he’s carrying me away.
Hearing him, the Anutīracārī spoke the second stanza:
Gambhīracārī, luck to you! Your grip be firm and stout,
And as a roc would lift a snake, I’ll lift the fellow out.
(A “roc” is a giant, mythological bird.)
The two of them together were able to capture the rohita fish. They laid him on the ground and killed him. Then they said to each other, “Let’s divide him.” But they quarreled and could not decide how to divide him. At that moment the jackal arrived at that spot. Seeing him, they saluted him and said, “Lord of the grey grass color, this fish was captured by both of us. But a dispute arose because we could not decide how to divide him. Would you divide him equally between us?” And they spoke the third stanza:
A strife arose between us, mark! O you of grassy hue,
Let our contention, honored sir, be settled fair by you.
The jackal hearing them, exaggerated his own ability:
I’ve arbitrated many a case and done it peacefully,
Let your contention, honored sirs, be settled fair by me.
Having spoken that stanza and dividing up the fish, he spoke this stanza:
Tail, Anutīracārī; Gambhīracārī, head,
The middle to the arbiter will properly be paid.
So having divided the fish, he said, “You eat the head and the tail without quarrelling.” And seizing the middle portion in his mouth, he ran away before their eyes. They sat downcast, as if they had lost a thousand gold pieces. Then they spoke the sixth stanza:
But for our strife, it would have long sufficed us without fail,
But now the jackal takes the fish, and leaves us head and tail.
Figure: “But for our strife…”
The jackal was pleased and thought, “Now I will give my wife rohita fish to eat.” He went to her. She saw him coming and—saluting him—spoke a stanza:
Even as a king is glad to join a kingdom to his rule,
So I am glad to see my lord today with his mouth full.
Then she asked him how he had obtained the fish, speaking a stanza:
How, being of the land, have you from water caught a fish?
How did you do the feat, my lord? Pray answer to my wish.
The jackal, explaining what had happened, spoke the next stanza:
By strife it is their weakness comes, by strife their means decay,
By strife the otters lost their prize, Māyāvi, eat the prey.
Then another stanza was uttered by the Perfect Wisdom of Buddha:
Even so when strife arises among men,
They seek an arbiter, he's leader then.
Their wealth decays, and the king’s coffers gain.
After the lesson, the Master taught the Four Noble Truths. Then he identified the birth: “At that time the jackal was Upananda, the otters were the two old men, and I was the tree spirit who witnessed the event.”
