| J.157 |
Gu.na Jaataka | Siiha Jaataka |
The Bodhisatva was once a lion and one day while out hunting, he sank into a bog
and remained there starving for seven days until rescued by a jackal. To show his
gratitude, the lion took the jackal and his wife home with him and the two animals
and their wives lived together -- the lion and the jackal going out together hunting.
Later, the lioness grew jealous of the she-jackal and tried to frighten her away
in the absence of their husbands. When the lion heard of this, he told his wife how
the jackal had saved him in his hours of danger and thenceforth they all lived happily
together. The jackal was identified with Ananda. The Jataka was told in reference
to a gift made by Ananda. Once when he had been preaching to the women of Pasenadiís
palace, they gave him five hundred new garments with which the king had just presented
them. The king hearing of this, was at first annoyed, but on questioning Ananda,
was satisfied that no gift given to the Sangha could ever be wasted. Delighted with
this discovery, the king gave a further five hundred robes to Ananda himself, all
of which Ananda presented to a young attendant monk who was conscientious in his
duties. The attendant monk, in turn, distributed the robes amongst other less conscientious
monks who wondered why the attendant monk had been singled out by Ananda for favouritism.
When the matter was related to the Buddha, he assured the monks that the attendant
monk had been deserving of Anandaís gift. The Jataka is also called the Siha Jataka
and probably also the Sigala Jataka. |
57/044 |
Jaataka |
Khuddhaka |
J.ii.023ff. |
gratitude |