by Sarah Shaw
1.‘Whoever puts up a flag of righteousness, but secretly indulges in evil,
is friendly to beings with what is called “the practice of a cat”!’
The mouse king said this and then sprang up, caught him by the throat and bit his windpipe, just under the jaw, so that his larynx burst and he died. The troop of mice returned to the cat and ate him up with a ‘munch munch’ sound. Or rather it is said that those who came first did, as those who came later did not get any at all. And from that time the company of mice lived without fear. The Teacher gave this dhamma talk and made the connection with the birth: ‘At that time the hypocritical monk was the cat and I was the king of the mice.’
Notes
1 The title of the story and the verse, the older parts of the text, refer to a cat, though the prose speaks of a jackal (sigala). Other Indian counterparts are discussed in M. Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature, II, p.122, n.2, who cites a parallel in the Mahabharata, V, 160, 13. Manu notes that ‘anyone whose religion is just a flag, who is insatiably greedy, fraudulent, a hypocritical deceiver of people, violent, allying himself with anyone and everyone, should be recognized as a man who acts like a cat’ (W. Doniger with B.K. Smith, The Laws of Manu (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1991), p. 92 (4.195).
2 R.F. Gombrich and G. Obeyesekare, Buddhism Transformed: Religion and Change in Sri Lanka, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988), p. 46.
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The story of the kimsuka tree
Kimsukopama Jataka (248)
Vol. II, 184–5
The Buddha, a long-sighted tactician, made efforts to ensure that there would be minimal grounds for discord about the path after his death. The intention of this story about a tree that appears different in various seasons would have been to defuse potential causes of schism or splits as regards the methods involved in attaining enlightenment. On several occasions in the suttas the Buddha draws attention to the varied qualities of the arahats, or enlightened beings. While each has attained freedom, different qualities of excellence emerge according to the nature of the person involved. Some, such as Moggallana, are skilled in calm meditation (samatha) and the development of psychic powers. Some, such as Sariputta, his chief disciple, are highly developed in insight (vipassana). 1 This sense of variation within the single system is also reflected in the ways in which arahats attain enlightenment. Although all need some degree of calm, insight and virtue (sila), the extent to which people pursue these at different stages of development varies according to temperament. Meditation subjects are usually given according to temperament, a practice that dates from the earliest texts. 2 Some people are more suited to a way that is principally based on insight first, and then calm, while others might need more calm in the first instance. 3 In one sutta, the Buddha notes that once enlightenment has been obtained, it is natural that the one who has a particular quality of excellence himself will appreciate others who exhibit it too. 4So, different meditation subjects are given to the brothers, according to their needs. Once they have attained enlightenment they themselves need to investigate to understand how others have reached the same point: the tree appears different to different viewers at different times.
With its use of two verses, this story highlights the different perspectives of the Bodhisatta, commenting in the past, and the Buddha, in the present, able to compare the two situations.
Story from the present
‘You all saw the kimsuka tree‘
The Teacher told this story while staying in the Jetavana Grove about the kimsuka tree. Four monks approached the Thus-gone for a meditation subject. Each took a meditation subject and went back to his night-time and daytime haunts. One of them became an arahat after exploring the six spheres of contact, 5 one after exploring the five aggregates, 6 one after exploring the four great elements 7 and another after exploring the eighteen bases. 8 They asked the Teacher about their distinctive attainments. Then this thought arose in one monk. ‘Nibbana is of a single nature for all these kinds of meditation. How do all these methods lead to arahatship?’ he asked the Teacher. ‘This diversity is like the brothers and the sight of the kimsuka tree’ he said. ‘Explain this matter to us.’ So, asked by the monks, the Buddha narrated a story of long ago.
Story from the past
Once upon a time in Var an asi, during the reign of Brahmadatta, the king had four sons. They sent for their charioteer and said, ‘We’d like to see a kimsuka, a thingumme tree. 9Show us a kimsuka tree.’ The charioteer said, ‘Very well, I’ll show you one’. But he did not show it to them when they were together. He got the elder brother to sit upon the chariot, took him to the forest and showed him one, pointing out, ‘This is a kimsuka’. He showed him the tree at a time when there were just buds on the trunk. Another he showed when the leaves were fresh, another at the time when it was flowering and another at the time when it was bearing fruit. In due course the four brothers were sitting down and one said, ‘What kind of a tree is a kimsuka?’ One put forward the observation, ‘It is just like a charred stump’. A second, ‘It is like a banyan tree’. A third, ‘It is like a piece of flesh’. A fourth, ‘It is like an acacia’. As they were not satisfied with one another’s explanation they went to their father. ‘Sire, what kind of a tree is a kimsuka?’ ‘How have you all explained it?’ he asked. So they told him the way that each had described it. The king said, ‘You four saw the kimsuka tree. The charioteer showed you the whole of the kimsuka, but you did not question him in detail and ask, “What is it like in this season? or “What is it like in that season? So doubts arose in you.’ Saying this he uttered a first verse:
1. ‘You all saw the kimsuka tree, so why are you all confused?
You did not enquire from the charioteer about all the conditions!’
The Teacher gave them this explanation. ‘So, monks, just as the four brothers made distinctions through not asking about the kimsuka and generated doubt, so you have produced puzzlement in this matter too.’ 10 Saying this, as the Fully Awakened Being he produced the second verse:
2. ‘Thus by all the knowledges of which dhammas are not known,
These men have doubt in dhammas just as the brothers did in the kimsuka.’
The Teacher gave this talk about the teaching and explained the birth story. ‘At that time I was the king of Varanasi.’
Notes
1 See A I 23ff.
2 A famous example of the problems of meditating without a teacher is Meghiya, who tries and fails and then is given several meditation subjects to suit his temperament (Udana, 4.1).
3 See for instance A II 157. On this subject, see L.S. Cousins, ‘Samatha-Yana and Vipassana-Yana’, G. Dhammapala et al. eds, Buddhist Studies in honour of Hammalava Saddhatissa (Nugegoda 1984), pp. 56–68.
4 See Mahagosinga Sutta, no. 32, M I 212–19.
5 The six spheres of contact are the six areas in which sense perception occurs: body, smell, taste, sight, sound and the mind itself, considered in early Buddhism to be a sense too.
6 The five khandhas of form, feeling, perception, volitional activities and consciousness comprise the basic components of a being and are a usual subject for insight practice as a means of discerning ‘not-self’.
7 The four great elements are earth, water, air and fire, which may be found in the outside world and within one’s own body, with bones and sinews under the category of earth, blood and phlegm water, winds in the body air and warmth fire. Practices involving the four elements are usually associated with the development of calm, samatha, which may then be developed to the pursuit of insight, vipassana.
8 The eighteen bases (dhatus) occur in Buddhist abhidhamma, or higher philosophy, and involve a breakdown of the six contacts at the spheres of sense. The list comes to eighteen through the three principles necessary for each of the six sense contacts to occur: sight, visible shape and eye consciousness for instance are all required for contact at the eye door to occur, hearing, a sound and ear consciousness for contact at the ear do
or. In early Buddhism the mind is regarded as the sixth sense (DhS 1333).
9 The kimsuka tree. This literally means ‘whatever you like’ or ‘what do you call it’, so denoting a strange tree (PED 213). The English translation ‘thingumme’ suggests the right air of confusion. It is the popular name for Butea frondosa, a moderate-sized deciduous, known as Dhak or Palas. It flowers from February to April. The flowers appear in clumps and are densely crowded on branches which are at that time leafless. The leaves fall off in spring, when orange-red flowers blossom with the appearance of a flame. Its leaves are used as plates and wrapping, it produces a yellow dye and is regarded as medicinal in ayurveda. Despite the PTS translation, it is not the Cercis siliquastrum, or Judas tree. For a discussion of the tree see Bhikkhu Bodhi, Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Oxford: Wisdom/PTS, 2000), II, n.204, 1427–8, which explains its name as an ancient Indian joke.
10 The puzzlement would not have arisen for the monks from doubt, for this hindrance to the mind is completely eliminated at stream-entry. Their lack of real investigation, however, is being heavily criticized through this comparison of their disagreement to the doubts of the brothers.
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The story of the tortoise
Kacchapa Jataka (273)
Vol. III, 359–61
In the introduction to the Jatakas the Bodhisatta is told, ‘Just as the earth remains unperturbed at both the pure and impure thrown down upon it, and avoids both anger and favour, so you too be balanced at all times to the happy and the painful.’ 1 This story of a very mischievous monkey, the only Jataka that is explicitly assigned within the tale itself to equanimity, tests this in a funny and decidedly undignified way. W.H.D. Rouse, out of deference to Victorian sensibilities, translated the tale in 1895 into Latin. Its humour, however, is characteristic of ancient Indian folk tales. A Pancatantra story entitled ‘The monkey that pulled the wedge’ involves a comparable situation that lacks the timely intervention of a compassionate Bodhisatta. 2 The ancient editors clearly felt that a little laughter would not go amiss in considering the potentially remote qualities of the last and, by the usual ordering of Indian lists of this kind, in some ways pre-eminent perfection. 3 Equanimity, the aspect of feeling untroubled by difficulties or excitement, is not the same as indifference to the sufferings of others, as the great Buddhaghosa notes and as this story shows. 4
Story from the present
‘Who is this with food that has been collected?‘
While staying in the Jetavana Grove the Teacher told a story about the calming of a dispute between two chief ministers of King Kosala. The story from the present is told in the second book. 5
Story from the past
Once upon a time, during the reign of Brahmadatta in Varanasi, the Bodhisatta took rebirth in a family of Brahmins in the kingdom of Kasi. When he came of age he learnt all crafts at Taxila and then, abandoning sense pleasures, he left home to become a holy man. He made his dwelling at the foot of the Himalayas, on the banks of the Ganga, and built a hermitage. Reaching the higher knowledges and the meditative attainments he enjoyed the play of meditation. In this birth, they say, the Bodhisatta reached an excellent state of balance and was fulfilling the perfection of equanimity. Now, while he was sitting at the door of his leaf hut a certain reckless and badly behaved monkey used to put his penis into the Bodhisatta’s ears and ejaculate there. The Bodhisatta was not at all perturbed but just sat there in a state of equilibrium. One day a certain tortoise emerged from the water and slept, basking in the sunshine, with his mouth open. When he saw him, the lewd monkey placed his penis into the tortoise’s mouth. Now, when the tortoise woke up he bit the penis as if he were closing it in a box. The monkey experienced intense pain and unable to endure the painful feeling the monkey thought, ‘O who is there that can release me from this terrible suffering? I’ll go to him!’ Then he thought, ‘There is no one else other than the ascetic who is able to release me from this suffering. I’ll have to go to him.’ Lifting the tortoise up with both hands, he went to the Bodhisatta. The Bodhisatta, making a joke with the badly behaved monkey, said the first verse:
1. [360] ‘Who is the priest who comes with food in a bowl,6 hands filled?
From where do you bring almsfood?
What faithful person have you approached?’
When he heard this, the badly behaved monkey spoke the second verse:
2.‘I am a witless monkey: I’ve touched what should not be touched!
You are able to release me, dear sir, and, set free, I may go to the mountain.’
The Bodhisatta then conversed with the tortoise and spoke a third verse:
3.‘The tortoises are Kassapas, the monkeys are Kondannas:
Kassapa, free the Kondanna now that you have had sexual intercourse with him.’ 7
[361] The tortoise listened to the Bodhisatta’s words and, with a mind made clear because of them, released the monkey’s penis. The monkey, freed, paid homage to the Bodhisatta and fled, and never again saw him nor did he return to the spot. The tortoise also paid homage to the Bodhisatta and went back to his own place. The Bodhisatta, not lapsing at all in his meditation, had his next birth in a Brahma heaven.
The Teacher gave this talk, explained the truths and made the connection with the birth: ‘At that time the two chief ministers were the tortoise and the monkey and I was the ascetic.’
Notes
1 ‘The Far Past’ (J I 24).
2 Patrick Olivelle trans., Pancatantra, 8. The story from the past of this Jataka is also translated by John Garrett Jones, Tales and Teachings, pp. 194–5.
3 The importance of laughter is one of the unexplored areas of Buddhist philosophy. For one helpful study, see Walpola Rahula, ‘Humour in Pali Literature’, Journal of the Pali Text Society, IX, 1981, pp. 156–74.
4 See Path of Purification, p. 347 (Vism IX 108).
5 The Uraga Jataka (154) gives a story from the present where two high-ranking soldiers quarrelled whenever they saw each other. No one could make them agree. The Buddha, seeing that they were both near the attainment of stream-entry, went to the house of one, asked for alms, and spoke to him on the benefits of loving kindness before teaching the four noble truths. He did the same at the other’s house. Both attained stream-entry, confessed their faults to one another and ate together that very day in the Buddha’s presence (J II 12–14).
6 The Critical Pali Dictionary (CPD II 426), following an ancient commentary, reads vaddhitabhattam, ‘with food in a bowl’, for this passage.
7 These are evidently two common family names: see DPPN I 553 and 683. Possibly there is a joke using the names of the two chief ministers? At any rate it seems to have the desired effect on the tortoise who is described as clear in mind (pasanno).
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The story of the one who taught forbearance
Khantivadi Jataka (313)
Vol. III, 39–43
This story is cited in the introduction to the Jatakas as exemplifying the sixth perfection, of forbearance (khanti). ‘I showed no anger to the king of Kasi when he attacked me with a sharp axe as though I was an inanimate thing; this is my perfection of forbearance.’ 1 Andrew Skilton and Kate Cosby point out, in their discussion of this perfection, that in practice in later texts the word khanti sometimes has a rather more positive force than patience or forbearance, its usual translations, being derived from the Sanskrit word kham, meaning ‘to be pleased, willing to’, not the root ksam, ‘to be patient, to endure’, as was supposed. 2 In early Buddhism it tends to be associated with acquiescence under very difficult conditions, so the word ‘forbearance’ has been used in these stories. 3 The tale has been a favourite subject for Jataka art, and depictions of the ascetic are shown in cave 2 at Ajanta, at Bharhut and at Narjunakonda. The tale also features in the Jatakamala collection. 4 It has always been popular in Sri Lanka and was depicted in seven monasteries in the nineteenth century, though only the one at Degaldoruva, near Kandy, remains. 5
Story from
the present
‘The one who cut your hands and feet‘
While staying at the Jetavana Grove the Teacher told this story about a certain angry man. The story is given below. The Teacher said to that monk, ‘Why are you angry during the time of a Buddha who is without anger? Wise men of old, even thought they experienced a thousand blows to the body, and had their hands, feet and nose chopped off by another, still did not become angry.’ So he narrated this story of long ago.
Story from the past
Once upon a time in Varanasi there was a king called Kaalbu, who ruled the kingdom of Kasi. At that time the Bodhisatta took rebirth in a family of rich brahmins who had eighty crore rupees. He was called the young man Kundaka (Red Rice-husk Powder) and when he came to be an adult he went to Taxila where he received teaching in all kinds of skills. He then set up his own household and after the death of his mother and father considered the pile of his wealth. ‘After they produced this wealth my relatives could not take it with them when they went. And neither will I be able to take it with me when I go.’ So he distributed his wealth carefully, giving it to whoever was worthy to have it, and then went forth into the Himalayas and stayed there for a long time, living off various kinds of fruit. Then he went down into inhabited regions in search of salt and pickles. In due course he arrived at Varanasi and stayed in the royal park. The next day he went on an alms round in the city and came to the door of the house of the general of the army. The general, impressed with the man’s bearing and posture, asked him into the house and gave him the food that had been prepared for himself. [40] The general obtained an agreement from him and persuaded him to stay right there in the royal park.