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Jātaka Stories of Past Lives 57
Ekakanipāta The Book of the Ones
Āsīsavagga Hope
7. Vānarindajātaka The Lord of Langurs: a past life story
“Yassete caturo dhammā, Whoever possesses these four qualities A crocodile’s wife, being pregnant, conceives an irresistible craving (dohaḷa) to eat the heart of the monkey king. Her husband tries to satisfy her by pretending to be a rock in the river, but the monkey sees through his ruse. This is one of a cycle of dohaḷa stories in the Jātakas, which deal with the ascension of consciousness. Here the ascension fails due to the crocodile’s greed and foolishness, so it cannot consume the monkey’s heart, i.e. intelligence.
vānarinda yathā tava; like you, lord of langurs—In legend, the vānara is a race of aggressive human-like monkeys with long tails and hairy skin like blankets. Their leaders such as Sugrīva or Hanuman are titled “lord of langurs”. Such leaders are often found in artwork depicted as langurs, with their prominent sideburns lending them a decidedly human appearance.
Saccaṁ dhammo dhiti cāgo, truth, principle, steadfastness, and generosity—
diṭṭhaṁ so ativattatī”ti. escapes the visible foe. This last line plays on a double meaning. The commentary explains diṭṭha as “foe” (Sanskrit dviṣṭa) and the phrase as “defeats the foe”. But the crocodile shuts his eyes and opens his mouth to catch the langur, pointing to the more common meaning of diṭṭha as “seen” (Sanskrit dṛṣṭa), and yielding the sense, “transcends the seen”. The clever monkey defeats his enemy because he sees beyond mere appearances, while the crocodile is blinded by his greed.
Vānarindajātakaṁ sattamaṁ.