Other Translations: Deutsch
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JÄtaka Stories of Past Lives 59
EkakanipÄta The Book of the Ones
ÄsÄ«savagga Hope
9. BherivÄdakajÄtaka The Drummer: a past life story
āDhame dhame nÄtidhame, Blow, blow, donāt overblow, A drummer with his boy earned money playing drums at a festival. On the return journey, however, the boyās incessant beating attracted the attention of bandits. | The story and title speak of a ādrumā (bheri), while the verse uses dhamati, which normally means āblowsā. The repeated idiom recalls the onomatopoetic Sanskrit dhamadhamÄ, which in Marathi, Hindi, Kannada, and Nepali has the sense of a repeated drumbeat. On the other hand, the next verse is almost identical and concerns the blower of a conch or horn. Rather than rendering the two verses to match the commentary, I assume they originally had the same sense.
atidhantaƱhi pÄpakaį¹; for overblowing is bad.
Dhantena hi sataį¹ laddhaį¹, By blowing a hundred was gained, Sataį¹ is explained as āa hundred dollarsā. But there is a play on words here, for sataį¹ can also mean āthe good, the trueā.
atidhantena nÄsitanāti. by overblowing it was lost.
BherivÄdakajÄtakaį¹ navamaį¹.