Bodhisatta’s Patience: The Monkey’s Fate

In a time long ago, the Bodhisatta was born as a buffalo, a creature known for its strength, patience, and humble demeanor. His life was simple, spent grazing in the fields and quietly going about his duties. One day, a mischievous monkey, who lived high in the trees nearby, began to take delight in tormenting the gentle buffalo. The monkey would swing down from his perch, grab hold of the buffalo’s horns, swing from his tail, and, to add insult to injury, defecate on the buffalo’s back.

The buffalo, though subjected to this rudeness day after day, did nothing in response. His patience was boundless, and he understood that such behavior was the work of an immature mind. He let the monkey do as he pleased, enduring the humiliation without anger or resentment.

The Question of the Tree Fairy

One day, a tree fairy, who lived in the same tree as the mischievous monkey, took notice of the situation. She saw how the buffalo silently bore the monkey’s behavior and asked him, “Why do you allow this monkey to treat you so cruelly? Why do you not use your strength and trample him underfoot, or use your horns to gore him? Surely he deserves punishment for his insolence.”

The buffalo, in his wisdom and patience, answered calmly, “I have no reason to harm the monkey. It is my nature to bear such offenses with patience. I know that my destiny is guided by moral conduct, and I must follow that path. Besides, I trust that one day this monkey will misbehave toward a different buffalo, and that buffalo will respond as he sees fit. When that time comes, I will be free of this irritation, guiltlessly so.”

The Monkey’s Fate

As the days passed, the monkey continued his mischief, climbing down from the trees to torment the buffalo whenever he could. But one day, as fate would have it, the buffalo moved to another part of the field, and a different buffalo stood beneath the tree. The monkey, as was his habit, climbed down and began his antics once more, swinging from the buffalo’s horns and taunting him with his defecation.

But this buffalo, unlike the Bodhisatta, was not as patient. When the monkey tried to swing from his horns and back, the buffalo shook him off with a powerful jerk. Furious at the intrusion, the buffalo gored the monkey with his sharp horns, sending him flying through the air. Before the monkey could recover, the buffalo trampled him into the ground, crushing him completely underfoot.

And so, as the Bodhisatta had predicted, the monkey received the fate he had earned by tormenting the wrong creature, suffering at the hands of another buffalo who was not so merciful.

In the Lifetime of the Buddha

Many years later, during the time of the Buddha, a similar tale unfolded. A family owned a pet monkey who liked to play mischief by climbing onto the back of the elephants in the family’s stable. One day, the monkey climbed onto the back of a particularly patient and virtuous elephant, doing as monkeys do—defecating on its back and swinging about. The elephant, embodying patience and tolerance, endured the monkey’s antics without retaliation.

However, when the monkey returned the next day, it was greeted not by the patient elephant but by another elephant, one who was not so kind. When the monkey attempted the same mischief, the elephant, enraged by the insult, grabbed the monkey with its trunk, threw him to the ground, and then trampled him underfoot, just as the other buffalo had done to the monkey in the past.

When the Buddha heard his disciples discussing this incident, he smiled gently and told them the story of the Bodhisatta’s earlier life as a buffalo. He explained that the mischievous monkey who had tormented the buffalo was the same monkey in the present story who had caused trouble for the elephant. The violent elephant, who had punished the monkey, was the previous incarnation of the bad buffalo from the past.

The Lesson

The Mahisa Jataka teaches the value of patience and the importance of moral conduct. The Bodhisatta, as the buffalo, showed great wisdom by understanding that mischief and cruelty eventually catch up with those who practice them. His own patient endurance, combined with his wisdom in knowing that karma would correct the situation, allowed him to remain unscathed by the monkey’s actions.

It also demonstrates that the consequences of one’s actions are inevitable. Just as the monkey’s misdeeds led to a fitting punishment, the elephants in both lifetimes acted in accordance with their own natures. One, like the Bodhisatta, chose mercy and patience, while the other, consumed by anger, delivered justice in a more brutal form.

Through the Buddha’s recounting of this tale, his disciples understood that no harm goes unnoticed, and that those who sow cruelty will one day reap the same. In the end, the story reinforces the idea that patience, understanding, and moral conduct lead to peace, while reckless actions driven by anger or cruelty bring about their own destruction.