The Dangers of Reckless Speech: Lessons from the Cuckoo and Cula Kokalika

In a past life, the Bodhisatta was a wise king’s advisor. The king was known for his excessive talkativeness, and the Bodhisatta wished to guide him toward speaking more thoughtfully. One day, while the king was resting in his park under a mango tree, an event provided the perfect opportunity for the Bodhisatta to give advice.

Above them, a crow had raised a cuckoo in her nest. The cuckoo, not realizing the right time to speak, uttered its first cry prematurely. The sound was so strange to the crow that she immediately pecked the cuckoo to death and threw its body to the ground at the king’s feet.

Curious, the king asked the Bodhisatta why the crow had killed the cuckoo. The Bodhisatta saw this as the perfect moment to impart a lesson. He explained how the cuckoo, by speaking out of turn, revealed that it was not the crow’s offspring. Just as the cuckoo’s untimely cry led to its demise, anyone who speaks recklessly and at the wrong moment will eventually face suffering. The king, understanding the lesson, became more cautious with his words from that moment on.

In the Lifetime of the Buddha
The young cuckoo in this story was an earlier birth of Cula Kokalika, a disciple of the Buddha known for his greed and boastfulness. On one occasion, Sariputta and Moggallana, two of the Buddha’s chief disciples, spent a rainy season at Cula Kokalika’s home but instructed him not to reveal their presence to the local people.

After the rainy season, Sariputta and Moggallana left, and immediately afterward, Cula Kokalika boasted to the locals about having hosted the great disciples. The villagers, eager to make merit, gathered food and robes and hurried after the two monks to offer their donations. However, when Sariputta and Moggallana saw the offerings, they politely refused them and told the people to keep their gifts. This angered Cula Kokalika, who was upset that he did not benefit from the donations.

Later, when Sariputta and Moggallana returned with a thousand disciples for another pilgrimage, the townspeople greeted them eagerly, bringing even more gifts. However, once again, Sariputta and Moggallana refused to accept the donations, and this time Cula Kokalika became furious. He began to criticize the monks, calling them greedy and selfish. Sariputta and Moggallana left the town, and the villagers, upset by his behavior, demanded that Cula Kokalika apologize and make peace with the monks. When he failed to do so, the people insisted that he leave the town.

Afraid of losing his place, Cula Kokalika went to the Buddha’s monastery, where he immediately began to speak ill of Sariputta and Moggallana. Even when the Buddha rebuked him for his inappropriate words, Cula Kokalika persisted in his complaints. As a result, painful boils erupted on his body, and he fell to the ground in agony. A former teacher of Cula Kokalika, who had been observing from heaven, came down to urge him to make peace, but Cula Kokalika’s anger remained unchecked. He refused to let go of his grudge and continued his harsh words.

In the end, Cula Kokalika’s uncontrolled speech and bitterness led to his death, and he was reborn in hell.

Moral of the Story
The Kokalika Jataka illustrates the dangers of speaking out of turn and allowing anger and greed to dictate one’s words. Just as the cuckoo’s untimely cry led to its death, so too did Cula Kokalika’s reckless speech bring about his downfall. The story teaches that speaking without thought, especially in anger or selfishness, will ultimately cause suffering.

The Buddha used this story to show that even in past lives, Cula Kokalika’s words were the source of his destruction. It is a reminder that words, when spoken at the wrong time or with ill intentions, can lead to disastrous consequences.