Sālikedāra Jātaka

Once upon a time, a king named King Magadha reigned in Rājagaha. At that time there was a brahmin village named Sālindiya. It lay to the northeast of the city. In this northeastern district there was a property that belonged to King Magadha. And in Sālindiya there was a brahmin whose name was Kosiyagotta. He had an estate of 1,000 acres where he grew rice. When the crop was standing, he erected a stout fence and gave the land in charge to his own men. To one of them he gave 50 acres, to another 60, and so he distributed some 500 acres of his estate among them. The other 500 he assigned to a hired man for a wage. The man made a hut there, and he lived there day and night.

Now to the northeast of this estate there was a great forest of silk cotton trees (simbali, or Bombax Heptaphyllum). They were growing on the flat top of a hill. And in this wood lived a great number of parrots.

At that time the Bodhisatta was born into this flock of parrots as the son of the king of the parrots. He grew up handsome and strong. His body was as big as the hub of a cartwheel. And when his father had grown old, he said to him, “I am no longer able to go far from home. Please take care of the flock.” And in this way, he assigned the care of it to his son. From the next day on, he refused to permit his parents to go foraging. When the whole flock was away, he flew to the Himalaya hills. There he ate his fill of the clumps of rice that grew wild there, and when he returned, he brought sufficient food for his mother and father and fed them with it.

One day the parrots asked him a question. “Formerly,” they said, “the rice was ripe by now on the Magadha farm. Is it ready to be picked now or not?” “Go and see,” he replied, and he sent two parrots to find out. The parrots departed. They landed in the Magadha lands in the part that was guarded by the hired man. There they ate rice, and they brought back one clump of the rice. They dropped it before the Great Being’s feet, saying, “Such is the rice that grows there.” On the next day, he went to the farm. There he landed with the entire flock. The man who was the caretaker ran this way and that trying to drive off the birds, but he could not drive them away. The rest of the parrots ate and flew off with empty beaks. But the parrot king gathered some rice and brought it back to his parents. On the next day the parrots ate the rice there again, and so on afterwards. Then the man began to think, “If these creatures go on eating for another few days, there will not be a single bit of rice left. The brahmin will have put a price on the rice, and he will fine me for that amount. I will go tell him what is happening.” Then taking a handful of rice with a gift along with it, he went to see the brahmin. He greeted him and stood on one side. “Well, my good man,” the master said, “is there a good crop of rice?” “Yes, brahmin, there is,” he replied, and he repeated two stanzas:

“The crop of rice is very nice, but I would have you know,

The parrots are devouring it, I cannot make them go.

“There is one bird, of all the herd the finest, who first feeds,

Then takes a bundle in his beak to meet his future needs.”

When the brahmin heard this, he developed an affection for the parrot king. “My man,” he said, “do you know how to set a snare?” “Yes, I know.” Then the master addressed him in this stanza:

“Then set a snare of horse’s hair that captured he may be,

And see you take the bird alive and bring him here to me.”

The farm watchman was quite pleased that no price had been put on the rice and there had been no mention of a fine. He went straightaway and made a snare of horsehair. Then he determined where the parrots were likely to arrive that day. Very early on the next day he made a cage about the size of a water pot. He set the snare, then he sat down in his hut waiting for the parrots to come.

The parrot king came amidst his flock. He did not look greedy in way. He arrived at the same place as the day before. There he placed his foot right into the noose. When he discovered that his foot was caught, he thought, “Now if I yell out the cry of the captured, my kinsfolk will be so terrified that they will fly away foodless. I must endure until they have finished their food.” When at last he saw that they had taken their fill, being in fear for his life, three times he cried out the cry of the captured. All the birds flew off. Then the king of the parrots said, “All these are my kith and kin, and not one of them has returned to help me! What have I done?” And upbraiding them, he uttered a stanza:

“They ate, they drank, and now away they hasten everyone,

I am caught within a snare, what evil have I done?”

The watchman heard the cry of the parrot king and the sound of the other parrots flying. “What is that?” he thought. He got up from his hut and went out to the snare. There he saw the king of the parrots. “The very bird for which I set the snare is caught!” he cried in high delight. He took the parrot out of the snare, tying both of his feet together. Then he made his way to Sālindiya village, where he delivered the bird to the brahmin. The brahmin—in his strong affection for the Great Being—took hold of him tightly in both hands. And seating him on his hip, he spoke these two stanzas:

“The bellies of all others are outbellied far by you,

First a full meal, then off you fly with a good beak-full, too.

“Have you a granary there to fill or do you hate me sore?

I ask it you, come tell me true—where do you put your store?”

On hearing this, the parrot king answered. He spoke in a human voice sweet as honey this seventh stanza:

“I hate you not, O Kosiya! No granary I own,

Once in my wood I pay a debt, and also grant a loan,

And there I store a treasure up, so be my answer known.”

Then the brahmin asked him:

“What is that loan, the one you grant? What is the debt you pay?

Tell me the treasure you store up, and then fly free away.”

To this request of the brahmin the parrot king replied, explaining his intent in four stanzas:

“My callow chicks, my tender brood, whose wings are still ungrown,

Who shall support me by and bye, to them I grant the loan.

“Then my old ancient parents, who far from youth’s bounds are set,

With that within my beak I bring, to them I pay my debt.

“And other birds of helpless wing, and weak full many more,

To these I give in charity, this sages call my store.

“This is that loan, the one I grant, this is the debt I pay,

And this the treasure I store up, now I have said my say.”

The brahmin was pleased when he heard this holy discourse from the Great Being, and he repeated two stanzas:

“What noble principles of life! How blessed is this bird!

From many men who live on earth such rules are never heard.

“Eat, eat your fill howe’er you will, with all your kindred too,

And parrot! Let us meet again. I love the sight of you.”

With these words, he looked upon the Great Being with a soft heart as though it were his most precious child. And loosening the bonds from his feet, he rubbed them with oil that had been refined a hundred times. He placed him on a seat of honor. He gave him sweetened corn on a golden dish to eat, and he gave him sugar water to drink. After this the king of the parrots warned the brahmin to be careful, reciting this stanza:

“O Kosiya! Within your hut right here

I had both food and drink and friendship dear.

Give to those whose burden has been laid down,

Support your parents when they old are grown.”

The brahmin then delighted in heart. He expressed his ecstasy in this stanza:

“Surely Luck’s goddess came herself today

When I set eyes upon this peerless bird!

I will do kindly deeds and never stay,

Now that the parrot’s sweet voice I have heard.”

But the Great Being refused to accept the thousand acres that the brahmin offered. He would take only eight acres. The brahmin set up boundary stones and turned this property over to him. Then, raising his hands to his head in reverence, he said, “Go in peace, my lord, and console your weeping parents.” Then he let him go. Much pleased, he took a clump of rice and carried it to his parents. He dropped it before them, saying, “Arise now, my dear parents!” They arose at his word with weeping faces. Then flocks of parrots gathered, asking, “How did you get free, my lord?” He told them the whole story from beginning to end. And Kosiya followed the advice of the king of the parrots. He distributed many alms to the righteous men, ascetics, and brahmins.