Jataka Tale — The King’s Pets
Once upon a time, when Dhananjaya was the reigning king in Varanasi, the Bodhisatta — a being who would become Buddha in a future life — was born a parrot named Radha. He was a well grown bird with perfectly formed limbs. He had a younger brother named Potthapada.
A certain fowler trapped the two birds and brought them to the king in Varanasi. The king put the pair in a golden cage and took care of them; giving them honey and parched corn to eat in a golden dish, and sugar water to drink. Great attention was paid to them and they attained the highest degree of honour.
Then a certain forester brought a big black monkey, called Kalabahu, as a present for the king. From the fact of his coming more recently than the parrots, he received the greater attention, while the attention paid to the parrots fell off. The Bodhisatta, through his possession of Buddha qualities, said not a word; but his younger brother, through the absence of these same qualities, was unable to put up with the honour paid to the monkey. He said, “Brother, formerly in this royal house men gave us savory food, but now we get nothing; they offer it all to the monkey Kalabahu. As we receive neither attention nor honour from the king, what are we to do? Come, let us flee and live in the forest.” And as he talked to his brother he composed this stanza:
Once we enjoyed of food abundant store,
this monkey now has what was ours before;
Come, Radha, let us to the forest hie,
such scurvy treatment what can justify?
Radha, on hearing this, responded to his younger brother with a stanza of his own:
Gain, and loss, and praise, and blame,
pleasure, pain, dishonor, fame;
All as transient states conceive,
why should Potthapada grieve?
Potthapada, unable to get rid of his grudge against the monkey, had his own response:
Radha, wisest bird alive,
sure thou knowest things to come;
This vile creature who shall drive,
from the court to his old home?
And Rahda uttered the final verse:
Oft will his puckered face and moving ears,
the royal children fill with foolish fears;
Soon Kalabahu through some impish freak,
far far away his food will have to seek.
In a very short time, the monkey, by shaking his ears and the like — before the young princes, terrified them. In their alarm, they made an outcry. The king asked about the commotion, and hearing the cause, said, “Drive him away.” So the monkey was driven away, and the parrots were restored to their former position of honour.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
This story is adapted from The Jataka, translated from the Pali Canon and edited by professor E.W. Cowell; published by the Cambridge University Press in 1895.
