16. THE STORY OF VAJRADAUNSTRA THE LION AND THE JACKAL

In a jungle there lived a lion by the name of Vajradaunstra.

A jackal and a wolf were his attendants.

One day an expectant female camel, who was in labour pains, was left behind by a caravan.

In the deep jungle, she fell a prey to the lion.

When he had torn off her womb, a little baby camel acme out.

The lion and the other animals fed themselves on the female camel's flesh and were all very content.

But the lion spared the young camel and brought him home alive.

He said to him, 'Little camel, you have nothing to fear, either from me or from anyone else, so run about fearlessly in the jungle, just as you please.'

And so the four of them began to live together very happily.

They entertained one another by telling stories.

The baby camel began to grow up but he would never leave the lion even for a moment.

One day, the lion had a fight with a wild elephant.

The elephant wounded the lion so badly with his tusks that he was unable even to walk.

Exhausted with hunger, he said to the others, ' Go and look for some animal that I can kill, even in this condition, so that your hunger and mine can be satisfied.'

And so the jackal, the wolf and the camel wandered in the jungle until evening, but they could not find any animal at all.

So they returned empty handed.

The jackal began to think, 'If the lion would only kill the baby camel , then we could all feed on him for a couple of days.

But our master will not kill him, because he has given him the assurance that his life will be safe.

However, with the help of my wits, I shall influence the camel in such a way that he will offer himself, of his own accord, to the lion."

With his thought the jackal approached the camel and said to him, ' Oh you camel ! The Master is dying of hunger.

If he does die, we too shall be destroyed.

So I am going to tell you how you could be useful to him. Please listen carefully.'

'Do tell me,' said the baby camel 'and I shall attend to it quickly. And if I do anything for the master, according to our religion, I shall be rewarded a hundred-fold in my next life.'

'Then friend' said the jackal, 'you should offer your body to the master to save his life, and for this sacrifice, the master will guarantee that you will be given a body, twice your present size in your next life.'

'Very Well then', replied the baby camel, 'I agree'.

Then all the animals went to the lion and said, 'Master! The sun has already gone down and we have still not been able to find any animal.

But if you will guarantee that this baby camel will have a body twice his present size in the next life, then he is prepared to offer himself to you as a holy sacrifice.'

'Indeed I do promise that I shall be so', replied the lion.

Hardly had he uttered these words than the wolf and the jackal fell upon the camel and tore up his body.

And that was the end of him.

Afterward the lion said to the jackal and the wolf 'Watch this carcass carefully.

I shall go to the river for a bath and worship the gods'.

Then the lion went off.

"When he had gone, the jackal thought to himself, 'How can I contrive to enjoy this carcass all to myself?'

He thought about it for a little while, then he hit upon a plan.

He said to the wolf, 'Ho! Wolf! You're hungry, aren't you? Until the master comes back, have a few mouthfuls of this camel's flesh.

I'll make up a story to tell him as an excuse, when he returns.'

But the wolf had hardly begun to eat, when the jackal shouted, 'Look out.! Here's the master coming back! Leave it alone! Get away from it'

The wolf immediately stopped eating.

When the lion arrived, he saw that someone had contaminated his food

He frowned and said angrily, 'Who has contaminated my food? Tell me his name and I shall kill him on the spot!'.

The wolf started looking at the jackal, as much as to say, 'Well, go on, say something to cool him down.'

But the jackal only smiled and said to the wolf, 'You contaminated the master's food even when I told you not to.

Now enjoy the fruit of what you have done.'

When the wolf heard this he was afraid for his life and took to his heels.

At this point, a heavily loaded caravan was coming along the same path.

The leading camel had a large bell round his neck.

When the lion heard the jingling sound in the distance, he said to the jackal, 'Go and see where this terrifying noise is coming from.

I've never heard it before.'

The jackal went a little way off, then returned and said, 'Master! Leave this place as quickly as you can, if you want to stay alive!'

'Friend', said the lion, 'why are you frightening me? Tell me, what is it?'

"Master", said the jackal, 'Yama the God of Dearh, is very angry with you, because you have killed a camel before the hour appointed for his death.

He has come personally and has brought with him, the father and grandfather of the camel, to have revenge on you, and the noise you hear, comes from the bell that he has tied round the leading camel's neck.'

"When the lion saw the caravan approaching, he left off eating the camel and ran for his life

After that, the jackal had the camel's flesh all to himself and it lasted him many, many days.

The wise indeed say: Spurn the company of the wicked else you will come to grief.

17. THE STORY OF THE MONKEY AND A BIRD CALLED SUCHIMUKHA

A troupe of monkeys was living somewhere in the mountains.

It was winter. And the rain, accompanied by a strong wind, drenched their bodies, and they shivered with cold.

Some of the monkeys found some red Gunja fruits and began to blow them, hoping to make fire from them.

A bird saw their vain attempts and said to them, 'What big fools you are! Those aren't embers of fire, they're only Gunja fruits.

You're wasting your time! These fruits can never protect you against the cold! Find some place to shelter in a jungle or a cave or a burrow, where the rain and the wind can't reach you.'

'Fool yourself!' said one of the old monkeys. 'What is it to do with you!'

But disregarding what the old monkey had said, the bird persisted in asking why the monkeys were making such an effort and all to no purpose and he refused to stop his chatter.

One monkey, who had become frustrated by his vain effort, caught hold of the bird by the wings and smashed him against a stone, killing him.

The wise indeed say: Never give advice unless you are asked for it.

18. THE STORY OF THE SPARROW AND THE MONKEY

Somewhere in the jungle, there grew a huge tree.

On its long branches, a pair of sparrows had made their home.

One day, in winter, whilst the pair was sitting happily together, a light rain began to fall.

After some time, a monkey, battered by the strong winds, came and stood under the tree, his teeth chattering with cold.

When the female sparrow saw him in this state, she said to the monkey,'With your hands and feet, you look like a human being.

So why don't you make a home yourself?'

The monkey got angry and shouted, "Why don't you shut your mouth, you wicked woman ?"

But the female sparrow kept on advising the monkey.

Then the monkey said to himself, " What a cheek this female bird has, giving me advice! This insolent woman thinks, she is an educated woman and won't stop yapping.

She makes me want to kill her!"

Then the monkey said ,"Why should you worry?"

But the female sparrow kept chattering ceaselessly.

Without much ado, the monkey climbed up the tree and tore up the nest in thousand pieces.

The wise indeed say: Give your advice only to those who deserve it else you will come to grief.

19. THE STORY OF DHARMABUDDHI AND PAPABUDDH

In a village lived rwo friends, Dharmabuddhi (Virtuous mind) and Papabuddh i (Wicked mind )

One day the wicked man thought to himself, 'I am not only poor but also not so bright, so I shall get the virtuous man's help, go with him to another kingdom and make some money.

Then I shall cheat him of his share of the fortune, and live happily everafter.'

And so after a few days, the wicked man said to the to the virtuous man 'My friend! How are you planning to provide for your old age?

Let's go to a foreign country and make money there! Besides, unless you travel abroad, what stories will you tell your grandchildren?

The virtuous man readily agreed to accompany the wicked man and carry out his plan.

He took leave of his parents and, on an auspicious day, set out with the wicked man on their travels.

Through the virtuous man's cleverness, the two of them made a lot of money and after sometime, returned home extremely pleased with themselves.

As they were approaching their own village, the wicked man said to the virtuous man, ' Friend !It's not a good idea to carry all this money home, because then our friends and relatives will want a share of it.

So let us take home only nominal amount and bury the rest in the jungle.

When the necessity arises, we can come back and dig it out.'

'Very well then,'replied the virtuous man', 'we will'. And so after burying most of the money, they returned home with the remainder and lived happily.

After a few days at dead of night, the wicked man went to the jungle, uncovered all the money that was buried there, took it out, and closed the pit as it had been before.

Then he returned home with the money.

After a few days, the wicked man went to the virtuous man and said, 'Friend! I have a large family and as a result my money is all gone.

Let's go and fetch some more from the place where we buried it.'

'All right then', replied the virtuous man , 'we will'

. When the two arrived at the place, they dug up the pit and found the money pot empty.

The wicked man began to beat his head, crying out, 'Oh you ! Only you and nobody else could have stolen the money and filled in the pit! Give me my half share or I shall make a complaint against you in the court of law.'

'You scoundrel!' said the virtuous man! 'Don't you talk like that! I am indeed a virtuous man. I could never commit such a theft.' And so, fighting like this, they went to the judges and accused each other.

The judges ordered them to submit themselves to trial by fire to find out the truth.

But the wicked man said to them, 'This decision is not good, for the Spirit of the jungle nearby will be my eye witness.

And he will be able to reveal to us, which one is a thief and which one is an honest man'.

'You are right', said the judges. 'we are very anxious to know the truth about this.

So, tomorrow morning you must both accompany us to the jungle."

After that, the wicked man went home and said to his father, 'I have stolen a huge amount of money belonging to the virtuous man and we have taken the matter to the court.

Now only your co-operation will save me.

Otherwise I shall lose not only the money but also my life'.

'My son!" said the father. 'Tell me quickly what I can do to save you and make the money secure.'

'Well," said the wicked man, "in the jungle, there is a huge tree, which is hollow inside.

You get into the hollow now so that, tomorrow morning, when we come with the judges, to find out the truth, you can shout from inside the tree, 'The so called virtuous man is the thief. '

His father agreed to this arrangement and left immediately for the forest.

Next morning the wicked man took an early bath and accompanied by the virtuous man and the judges went to the huge tree.

He asked in a loud voice,"Oh Spirit of the Jungle 'Tell us which one is a thief' "

Immediately the wicked man's s father, hidden inside the hollow of the tree, replied, 'Listen! The so called virtuous man has stolen the money,'

When the judges heard this, they were wonderstruck.

They opened their eyes wide and immediately started discussing how to punish the guilty according to the law.

But meanwhile the virtuous man put a heap of dried leaves and grass in front of the hollow of the tree and set fire to it.

When the fire was blazing, out came the wicked man's father, crying pitifully, with half his body burnt and his eyes popping out.

'Friend', they all said to him, '' what has happened to you ?

And he told them all that his son had done.

Then they hanged the wicked man on the same tree.

The judges praised the virtuous man.

The wise indeed say: Avoid the company of the wicked or you will pay a heavy price for it.

20. THE STORY OF THE FOOLISH HERON, THE BLACK SNAKE AND THE MUNGOOSE

In a jungle there was a huge Banyan tree.

A number of herons had built their nests in it.

Now in the hollow of the tree lived a black snake.

He used to eat up the heron's young, before their wings had sprouted.

One heron, whose children had been eaten by the snake, came to the bank of the river nearby with tears in his eyes.

A crab saw him and asked, 'Uncle! Why are you crying?'

'What can I do?' said the heron, 'I am so unlucky that all my children have been eaten up by the snake, who lives in the hollow of the tree.

I'm crying because I am heart-broken. Tell me how could I kill the black snake?

Now when the crab heard this, he thought to himself, 'This heron is a natural enemy of our species.

What I'll do is tell truth and lies in such a way that all the other herons will be completely destroyed."

And so, the crab said to the heron, 'Uncle! If this is the case, then scatter some bits of fish and mutton from the burrow of the mongoose to the snake's hole, so that the mongoose will follow the food, reach the snake's hole and kill him.'

The heron listened to the crab's advice and did as he had told him to.

As the crab had anticipated, the mongoose followed the trail of fish and mutton, reached the snake's hole and killed him.

But unfortunately, in due course, the mongoose also killed off all the herons living on the top of the tree as well.

The wise indeed say:'The solution of the problem should not be worse than the problem itself.

That is, while trying to solve the problem, you should not complicate the problem further.