Kusanali Jataka (#121)
The Bodhisatta was once a minor fairy living in kusha grass. When a pillar in the palace needed to be replaced, the carpenters chose the home of an important tree fairy. The Bodhisatta took the form of a chameleon and shook his head rapidly to make the tree look rotten, thus saving his friend’s home.
Dummedha Jataka (#122)
The Bodhisatta was once an elephant. He was so beautiful and perfect that people gave praise to him and not the king. So, out of jealousy, the king tried to kill him. The mahout and the Bodhisatta flew to another kingdom, where a righteous king respected them.
Nangalisa Jataka (#123)
The Bodhisatta was once a teacher. One of his students was good-hearted but extremely dumb. The Bodhisatta asked the student to tell him something he had seen or done that day and make a comparison. Every answer compared things to the shaft of a plow, so the Bodhisatta knew that this boy was stupid beyond hope.
Amba Jataka (#124)
The Bodhisatta was once an ascetic. When a drought came, one of his companions gave water to the forest animals, and they repaid his kindness by bringing enough fruit for the entire monastery to eat. The Bodhisatta used this to teach that good deeds are rightly rewarded.
Katahaka Jataka (#125)
The Bodhisatta was once a royal treasurer. One of his slaves married a wealthy merchant’s daughter in a faraway kingdom by claiming to be the Bodhisatta’s son. He soon became arrogant. The Bodhisatta did not expose the lie, but tricked the slave into becoming humble by teaching his wife a secret verse to say when he complained.
Asilakkhana Jataka (#126)
The Bodhisatta was once a prince. The king’s chaplain sniffed swords to see which were lucky, and one time he sneezed and sliced off the tip of his nose. The king forbade the Bodhisatta to marry a beloved princess, so they arranged a false exorcism (that included him pretending to be a corpse who sneezed) as a way to elope.
Kalanduka Jataka (#127)
The Bodhisatta was once a royal treasurer. One of his slaves married a wealthy merchant’s daughter in a faraway kingdom by claiming to be the Bodhisatta’s son. The Bodhisatta sent a parrot to find the slave, then had him captured and brought back.
Bilara Jataka (#128)
The Bodhisatta was once a rat. A jackal pretended to be holy and tricked the Bodhisatta into leading his pack to worship him. Each time they met the jackal, he ate the last one in line. When the Bodhisatta discovered this, he killed the jackal.
Aggika Jataka (#129)
The Bodhisatta was once a rat. A jackal pretended to be holy and offered to look after the rats by counting them each morning and evening to see if any were missing. Each time they met the jackal, he ate the last one in line. When the Bodhisatta discovered this, he killed the jackal.
Kosiya Jataka (#130)
The Bodhisatta was once a teacher. One of his students had a wicked wife who feigned illness when he was home and met with her lovers when he went out. The Bodhisatta advised him to tell his wife she either had to take a foul medicine made from cow urine or get beaten. She stopped her bad behavior.
Asampadana Jataka (#131)
The Bodhisatta was once a royal treasurer. His friend lost his fortune, so the Bodhisatta gave him half of his own. Later, the same hardship befell the Bodhisatta, but his friend only gave him a portion of rice bran. The angry king intervened, and the Bodhisatta got back what he had previously given.
Pancagaru Jataka (#132)
(Duplicate of Jataka #96) The Bodhisatta was once a prince. He knew he would never become a king in his own city, but was told if he could safely journey to Taxila in seven days, he would become king there. He arrived without being killed by an enchanting and persistent ogress, but the king invited her to spend the night with him, and everyone in the palace died. The people knew that the Bodhisatta must be a good man because he resisted the ogress, so they made him their new king. This caused him to value the importance of tenacity.
Ghatasana Jataka (#133)
The Bodhisatta was once a bird. He led a flock living in a giant tree that stretched out over a lake. A naga living there grew tired of their dung fouling his home, so he shot flames out of the water to force the birds away. The Bodhisatta told his flock to flee, but some stayed behind and died.
Jhanasodhana Jataka (#134)
The Bodhisatta was once an ascetic. His dying words were, “Neither conscious nor unconscious.” His chief disciple explained the meaning, but the other disciples did not believe him, so the Bodhisatta came down from heaven to confirm the explanation was correct.
Candabha Jataka (#135)
The Bodhisatta was once an ascetic. His dying words were, “Moonlight and sunlight.” His chief disciple explained the meaning, but the other disciples did not believe him, so the Bodhisatta came down from heaven to confirm the explanation was correct.
Suvannahamsa Jataka (#136)
The Bodhisatta was once a golden mallard. He could remember his previous life and went to check on his former family, which had become poor. So he occasionally gave them golden feathers to sell. One day his widow got greedy and plucked all his feathers, but because they were taken by force, they became normal, and she lost her source of easy money.
Babbu Jataka (#137)
The Bodhisatta was once a stone cutter. A rich woman reborn as a mouse befriended the Bodhisatta and gave him a coin a day from her old hidden treasure to buy them both lunch. When some cats threatened her, the Bodhisatta carved a block of crystal that she used to kill the cats.
Godha Jataka (#138)
The Bodhisatta was once a lizard. He respected an ascetic living nearby, but this ascetic left and another one arrived. After a villager served him lizard meat, he wanted to eat more and tried unsuccessfully to kill the Bodhisatta. His true nature now exposed, the ascetic fled.
Ubhatobhattha Jataka (#139)
The Bodhisatta was once a tree fairy. A fisherman got his hook snagged in a sunken tree and thought it was a giant fish. He didn’t want to share, so he had his wife create a commotion so nobody would see him reel it in. Tree branches poked his eyes and blinded him and his wife, who acted crazy, got beaten and fined. The Bodhisatta said the fisherman had failed twofold: in the water and on land.
Kaka Jataka (#140)
The Bodhisatta was once a crow. A mischievous crow defecated on the head of the king’s chaplain, who thereafter hated all crows. When some elephants suffered severe burns, the chaplain got revenge by suggesting crow fat as medicine, and many crows were slaughtered. But the Bodhisatta explained to the king that crows have no fat and kings should not act until they know all the facts.
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