The Selfless Monkeys: A Tale of Sacrifice and Karma

In a past life, the Bodhisatta was a monkey, leading a troop of eighty thousand in the Himalayas alongside his brother. Their mother, who was blind, relied on them to care for her. One day, the brothers gathered wild fruit and sent some back to their mother. However, the monkeys they entrusted to deliver it failed to do so, leaving their mother without food. As a result, she grew weak and withered away, becoming little more than skin and bone.

In response, the brothers decided to abandon their leadership of the troop and leave the wilderness, hoping to find a better way to care for their mother. They settled near a banyan tree, where the hunter—harsh and cruel, yet warned by his former teacher of his inevitable destruction if he didn’t change—came across the family. The hunter saw the blind mother and decided to kill her.

When the Bodhisatta saw this, he rushed down and begged the hunter to spare his mother, offering his own life in exchange. The hunter, however, killed the Bodhisatta instead. Seeing his brother fall, the other monkey immediately offered his own life to save their mother, and he too was killed. Finally, the hunter killed the blind mother.

He placed all three bodies on a pole and started back toward his village. But on his way, a lightning bolt struck his home, burning it to the ground and killing his wife and children in the fire. When the hunter arrived at the charred remains of his house, the last pole collapsed, striking his head. The earth then opened up beneath him, swallowing him into the flames of hell.

In the Lifetime of the Buddha:

The hunter in this story was an earlier birth of Devadatta, the Buddha’s antagonist, who attempted to kill the Buddha three times. The Buddha told his disciples this story to show them that Devadatta’s cruelty and wickedness were not limited to this life but had been part of his nature for many lifetimes.

The Bodhisatta’s brother, who offered his life in place of their mother’s, was an earlier birth of Ananda, the Buddha’s closest disciple. The hunter’s teacher, who had warned him of his impending doom, was an earlier birth of Sariputta, one of the Buddha’s top disciples. And the Bodhisatta’s blind mother was an earlier birth of the Buddha’s foster mother, Mahapajapati Gotami.

Moral:

1. Sacrifice for Family: The Bodhisatta and his brother’s willingness to sacrifice their lives for their mother demonstrates the profound bond of love and duty that transcends personal safety and ambition.
2. Karma and Consequences: The hunter’s violent actions, despite being warned, led to his tragic end, illustrating the inevitable consequences of cruelty and disregard for life.
3. The Ever-Present Nature of Virtue and Vice: This story shows that both virtue and vice follow beings through many lifetimes, with Devadatta’s cruelty being a constant part of his nature even before he became the Buddha’s enemy.

The story of the Bodhisatta and his family exemplifies the selfless devotion to loved ones and the ultimate truth that actions—whether good or bad—shape one’s destiny across many lifetimes.