| J.481 |
Takkaariya Jaataka | Takka Jaataka | Mahaatakkaari Jaataka |
Brahmadatta had, as chaplain, a tawny-brown brahmin who was toothless and whose wife
had a paramour of the same attributes. Wishing for the death of the latter, the chaplain
asked the king to build the southern gate of the city anew, and declared that on
the day of opening, a tawny-brown brahmin should be sacrificed to the guardian spirits.
The king agreed, but the chaplain, unable to restrain his wife’s conduct, told her
about it. The news spread and all tawny-brown brahmins fled from the city, leaving,
on the auspicious day, only the chaplain. The people demanded that he should be sacrificed
to avert ill-luck, and that his pupil Takkariya (the bodhisatva) should be appointed
in his place. The chaplain confessed his plan to Takkariya, who thereupon related
several stories showing how ‘silence is golden’. In the end, Takkariya allowed the
chaplain to flee from the city and had the corpse of a goat buried under the city
gates in the dead of night. The story was related in reference to Kokalika who came
to grief by abusing the Chief Disciple. The tawny-brown brahmin is identified with
Kokalika. |
60/293 |
Jaataka |
Khuddhaka |
J.iv.242ff. |
silence is golden |