Reading Notes: Inayat: Twenty Jataka Tales, Part A

This is a summarization of the Inayat first ten of the Jataka Tales as represented in Part A.  Both parts focus on the previous lives of the Buddha retold through the lens of Noor Inayat. 

Jataka tale painted thanka. Web Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Monkey Bridge:

In the Monkey Bridge, there is a giant monkey that once ruled over 80,000 monkeys in the Himalaya mountains. The Ganges river flowed between the rocks where they lived. The monkeys were truly happy because of the outstanding beautiful tree that would blossom in the spring, providing them with plentiful fruit and shade. One day, however, the chief warned them to be cautious when picking fruit from the tree and not let it fall in the river. This was due to fear of men from the city seeing the fruit and searching for its location to capture all of its fruition. The monkeys heeded the warning until a hidden ants nest had caused fruit to fall in the river and it traveled to King Brahmadatta while he was bathing in the river. He marveled at the mango's beauty and some woodcutters nearby told him it must be from the Himalayas. His longing to taste the sweet fruit grew stronger with each passing day, so he prepared a boat with his men and journeyed to the Himalayas in hopes of finding the glorious fruit. The King and his men saw the fruit being eaten by monkeys, so they decided they would kill the monkeys for their meat and steal their fruit. With the help of the chief, the monkeys were able to climb on his back and on to the reed. Amidst the chaos, the heavy monkey Devadatta jumped heavily on the chief's back causing it to break. King Brahmadatta witnessed it all and ordered the chief be brought down from the tree and bathed in the sweetest perfumes and clothed in yellow garments. The King was shocked and inspired by the chiefs love for his people, so he mourned at his death and built a white and pure temple to always keep the monkey chiefs last words near.

The Guilty Dogs:

A king drove through the city with his white magnificent horses. The horses were taken to the stable at the fall of night, but the chariot was left out. The palace dogs noticed it began to rain which weakened the leather straps on the chariot, so they took their chance and bit and gnawed at the straps until they were satisfied. When finished, they snuck back to their stable. The next day, the stablemen noticed the damage to the harnesses and told the king that the dogs were at fault. Furious with rage, the kind demanded all dogs in the city to be slain, even though not all dogs were responsible. So the leader of the city dogs set out to speak with the king about the unjust proposal. He challenged the king and assured him the royal dogs were responsible and all other dogs should not be punished. So to prove the king wrong, the city dog leader suggested the king give the dogs kusa grass and buttermilk to eat. Immediately after, the royal dogs threw up leather shreds. He thanked the dog for his help and ordered all city dogs to be given rich food and royal care for eternity.

Banyan:

Banyan is the King of the deer and described as having piercing shadows, jeweled eyes, and piercing silvery bright crescent horns. He ruled over some five hundred deer, while another King deer named Branch, ruled over a separate five hundred deer. The King of Benares had the habit of hunting the deer each day, but not everyone was pleased with this. The peasants suffered from their crops being trampled by the King and his horses. They decided to create a plan to force all the deer into the King's gardens so he would avoid hunting on theirs. The King enjoyed being able to hunt in his backyard every day as he killed one each day except for the golden deers. Banyan and Branch were tired of seeing their deer injured, so they composed a plan to send deer to be killed from their groups each day. The time came for a mother 's turn but her child was still week. Branch insisted she still go because that was the plan, but when she approached Banyan, he sent himself as a means to replace her so she may live to strengthen her child. The King was shocked to see the golden deer before him and told him the reasoning behind his approach. From then on the King's heart was filled with love and he spared every living animals life from there on out, thanks to Banyan's example.

The Tortoise and the Geese:

One day two wild geese instructed a kind old tortoise to go with them to the Himalayas. The tortoise wanted to go with them but feared how he would reach their destination because he did not have wings. So the geese took each end of the stick given to the tortoise with their beaks and carried him through the air. As they flew over the roof of Benares, the tortoise noticed some children laughing and making fun of him being carried through the air. The tortoise became very angry and opened to respond to the children, completely forgetting he needed his mouth kept shut to latch on to the stick. The tortoise landed in the courtyard of the King and they all looked in awe and sadness at the cracked green shell of the tortoise. The King desired to know what happened, but no one could ever get a word in because he talked too much. The counselor knew of the incident and how it occurred, so he decided to give the King a life lesson about the consequences of not being able to hold your tongue. The King figured what the counselor was aiming to do and from then kept his words minimal and wise.

The Fairy and the Hare:

A young hare lived in the forest and he only has three friends. Those friends consist of a jackal, water-weasel, and monkey. After a long day of hunting for food, they decided to sit down and have a talk. The hare encouraged them to love all creatures of the wood and be generous with food. He insisted they give any food found in the woods to a poor creature, so they all agreed to do just that. One day a fairy named Sakka disguised herself as an old beggar man and put the four friends loyalty and trust to the test. So one by one she approached each of the friends to see how they would respond. She reached the hare last and he had nothing to give her besides his own flesh. He happily prepared wood and a fire to burn so that he may roast in it, but the fire did not burn him. At last, the beggar transformed into the fairy and she told him of the tests she had putten him and his friends through. Because of the kindness shown by the hare, they all passed the test and the hare told them the story. The fairy assured the hare that his kindness would be known throughout the entire earth.

The Golden Feather:

A poor family lived in a small hut in the forest. One day their father told them he would have to leave them momentarily but promised to return with an abundance of riches and beautiful things. As he journeyed through the forest, he met a fairy who asked about his whereabouts. Without warning, the fairy turned the man into a goose with golden feathers. The father was in shock and very sad because he did not know how he would be able to gain riches as a goose. He perched upon a tree and saw his reflection in the water below. Suddenly, he realized his feathers were gold, so he returned to his family's hut and urged them to pluck a gold feather to sell it. Again and again, the golden goose would return for his family to pluck a feather. The mother became worried that one day the goose might never return, so she planned to pluck all of its feathers the next time around. Because his wife was greedy, she left the goose unable to fly and put him away in a barrel with very little food to eat. The fairy had given the feathers charm, so every feather plucked would turn back to white. When the goose grew all his feathers back, he flew far away to a forest where every bird was happy.

The Young Parrot:

A flock of parrots with their king and queen lived in wood silk cotton trees. The child parrot of the king and queen was the most beautiful and grew up to be the largest and most glorious parrot. The parrot being strong decided to go and find food in the fields. He found the most fertile field and from it received an abundance of grains. The farmer was told of the birds doing and sought at once to capture the large and beautiful parrot that lead the pack. The laborer and the owner of the field made a trap of horse hair. The next day the big parrot's foot was caught. The parrot called for help after his family had eaten, but all flew away in fear. When the master got a hold of the trapped parrot, he explained why he took grain from his field and how important it was for him to provide for his old parents. After hearing the story, the farmer allowed the parrot to continue to take grains from his field and the parrot flew back to tell the others the story and they lived happily ever after.

The Empty Lake:

In a lake covered with waterlillies, many fish gathered around to hear a story told by one of their own. The story told of a king that used to rule the lake who had a golden back. But there came a time when mother earth forgot to send rain showers and the sun thirsted for the water continuing to dry it up. Crows began to devour their companions. So the King Fish called out a prayer and the Queen rain heard and then King Thunder, immediately the lake began to fill with raindrops. Never again would the lake be empty promised Queen Rain.

The Swan Kingdom:

Sixty thousand swans lived in lake Manasa governed by King Dhritarashtra and Sumuhka. The swans were very beautiful, but nothing compared to their King. He had feathers of shining silver. The King of Benares thirsted to see the great lake and swans with his own eyes. So he ordered there to be made an even greater lake than Manasa. He aimed for all the world to hear it so the birds of Manasa would desire to leave Manasa just to see it. One day to swans in passing heard a call of invitation and they gazed upon the beautiful new lake in awe and longed to live there. They went back to tell all the other birds. So King Dhritarashtra set out with the others to go see of this so-called superb lake. When they reached the waters they could not believe their eyes, shortly after the King is captured by Brahmadatta's loyal guards. Upon hearing the story of Sumuhka's loyalty, King Dhritarashtra grew happy and love filled his heart. So he at once released the birds and they lived a happy life in lake Mansa.

The Master's Test:

A poor and weak teacher instructs his pupils to find him money. He tells them the best way is to seize a rich man's purse. One youth hesitated to respond and was confused at the request of the master. He worried that there is no place where no one is watching, so stealing a rich man's purse would be obvious. The master embraced him because he understood the point of view and the lesson trying to be taught. The others bent their heads in shame and from then on remembered the important lesson.

Inayat. Twenty Jataka Tales.

Author: Noor Inayat (Khan)

Web Source: Inayat:Twenty Jataka Tales Part A