Ja 294 Jambukhādakajātaka Compare Æsop’s fable of the Fox and the Crow.
The Birth Story about Eating Jambu Plums (3s)
In the present Devadatta goes round praising his disciple and the disciple praises Devadatta in return, all to seek gains from the layfolk. The Buddha tells a story of a jackal who, wanting a fruit, praised a crow, and how they were scared away.
The Bodhisatta = the Tree Devatā (Rukkhadevatā),
Kokālika = the crow (kāka),
Devadatta = the jackal (sigāla).
Present Source: Ja 294 Jambukhādaka,
Quoted at: Ja 295 Anta.
Keywords: Deceit, Self-praise, Devas, Animals, Birds.
“Who is it sits.”
On the other hand, Devadatta praised Kokālika, in such words as these, “Kokālika comes from a northern brahmin family; he follows the ascetic life; he is learned in Dhamma, a preacher of the Dhamma. Give to Kokālika, help him!” So they went about, praising each other, and getting fed in different houses.
One day the monks began to talk about it in the Dhamma Hall. “Friend, Devadatta and Kokālika go about praising each other for virtues which they haven’t got, and so getting food.” The Teacher came in, and asked what they were talking about as they sat there. They told him. Said he, “Monks, this is not the first time that these men have got food by praising each other. Long ago they did the same,” and he told them a story.
In the past, when Brahmadatta was king of Benares, the Bodhisatta became a Tree Devatā in a certain Jambu plum grove.
1. Koyaṁ bindussaro vaggu saravantānam-uttamo,
Accuto Jambusākhāya moracchāpo va kūjatī ti?
Who is this with a lovely, rich, supremely melodious sound, who chirps unbroken like a young peacock on the Jambu tree’s branch?
In this connection, rich sound, endowed with a rich, undiffused, precise sound.
Lovely means sweet-sounding.
Unbroken means not died, settled.
Chirps like a young peacock, with a pleasing sound like a young peacock, he says: “Who is this that chirps?”
The crow, in his praise, responded with the second:
2. Kulaputto va jānāti kulaputtaṁ pasaṁsituṁ,
Byagghacchāpasarīvaṇṇa, bhuñja samma dadāmi te ti.
A son of good family knows how to praise a good family, my friend, similar to a young tiger, I give to you, please eat.
In this connection, similar to a young tiger, you appear to be similar in form to a young tiger, by this I say, my dear, who are similar to a young tiger.
My friend … I give to you, please eat, friend, eat as much as you need of this black plum fruit that I give to you.
With these words she shook the branch and made some fruit drop.
Then the Devatā of the tree, beholding these two eating, after flattering each other, repeated the third verse:
3. Cirassaṁ vata passāmi musāvādī samāgate,
Vantādaṁ kuṇapādañ-ca, aññamaññaṁ pasaṁsake ti.
I see after a long time those who speak falsely come together, accepting vomit and corpses, and those who praise one another.
In this connection, accepting vomit means a crow eating food vomited by another.
And accepting corpses means a jackal who eats corpses.
After repeating this verse, the Tree Devatā, assuming a fearful shape, scared them both away.
When the Teacher had ended this discourse, he summed up the Jātaka, “At that time the jackal was Devadatta, the crow was Kokālika, but the spirit of the Tree was I myself.”