Week 4 Reading Diary: Jataka (Shedlock)

For this weeks reading I choose to read Jataka Tales Unit by Shedlock. Below is a brief description of the stories that I found the most enjoyable from the Jataka Tales Unit.

Buddha Statue, Mihintale, Sri Lanka

Reading Part A: 

The Parrot that Fed His Parents: I found this story to be especially beautiful. It was about a Parrot flock who would fly to a rice field everyday to eat and take their fill. One parrot, the parrot king and also the reincarnation of Buddha, would take his fill and then also take more back to his home with him. The farmer began to take notice and set a trap for the parrot king. When the farmers caught the parrot king they questioned him about why he would take more than he needed. They asked him if he was just greedy storing the food away? He answered I am not greedy. I take food to my parents who are no longer able to fly to get their food and I also take food to the young who are not able to get food either. Moved by the parrot-kind’s story the farmers let the parrot go and told him they could have all the rice they would like.

The Bull that Proved His Gratitude: This was another story that I found very beautiful from the Jataka Tales Unit. The story started off with a young bull, the reincarnation of Buddha, and and older women who took care of the bull like her son. The bull was very grateful for her care that she had given him began to notice that she was struggling with money. He set out to find a job to help her. He came upon a merchant who was trying to pull 500 carts. The merchant could not do it and offered the bull 1000 Pences to pull the carts. When the bull received the money and gave it to his “mother” she saw that he was tired and run down from pulling all the carts. She gave him a bath and oil and a drink. He had shown his gratitude and she was gracious for his work. 

Reading Part B:

The Dreamer in the Wood: This story was a lot like Aladdin. The King of Gods, Sakka, wanted to test the Buddha to make sure he was good of heart. The Buddha was ask to wish for three things and those things the King of Gods would grant. Because the Buddha lived a peaceful life he asked for 
1. To be free of three bad things (Malice, Hatred and Greed). Sakka asked why these things were bad and after Buddha explain Sakka asked for the his next wish.
2. Buddha asked that no disease come to this place (a forest)
3. “Let no creature ever be harmed for me in body or in mind”.
Sakka had failed to exploit Buddha as not good of heart. 


The Poisonous Tree: This was a fantastic story about a tree called a what-fruit tree. Its fruit is deadly poisonous, but it looks exactly like a mango tree. The Buddha, leading the group, warned the caravan that in this forrest grows fruit that is deadly “do not eat these fruits.” Some in the caravan raced forward and did not listen to the Buddha. They ate the fruit while others waited. When the Buddha reached the tree on the outskirts of a village he explained that it was poisonous. He gave the men whom had at the fruit a remedy to help them recover. The villagers were perplexed that no one in the caravan had died and they questioned how the Buddha knew the fruit was poisonous. Buddha stated - 

"When near a village grows a tree
Not hard to climb, 'tis plain to me,
Nor need I further proof to know,

No wholesome fruit thereon can grow!" 

Jataka Tales Unit. Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie L. Shedlock (1920).