The Culla-Bodhi Jataka: Overcoming Anger and Attachment

In the Culla-Bodhi Jataka, the Bodhisatta was once an ascetic living in the Himalayas with his wife, a woman as beautiful as a nymph and as righteous as the Bodhisatta himself. Their marriage had been arranged by their families against their will, and even before renouncing their wealth and worldly life, they led a life of pure celibacy, completely free from desire and sin.

The King’s Desire and the Bodhisatta’s Detachment

One day, while the Bodhisatta and his wife were in the city to gather salt and seasoning, they took up residence in the royal park. When the king visited the park, he saw the Bodhisatta’s wife and immediately fell in love with her beauty. He asked the Bodhisatta what their relationship was, and the Bodhisatta replied, “In the past, she was my wife, but she is nothing to me now.”

The king, though skeptical of the Bodhisatta’s detachment, had his men seize her and take her to the palace, showering her with luxury and honor in an attempt to win her favor. However, the wife resisted fiercely, loudly condemning the king’s actions and expressing her disdain for his extravagance. She rejected his wealth and attempted allure.

The Bodhisatta’s Calm and the King’s Realization

The Bodhisatta, upon hearing her cries, remained calm and did nothing. Eventually, the king, frustrated by the wife’s resistance, assumed the Bodhisatta was harboring anger against him. The king went to the Bodhisatta to confront him, but the Bodhisatta sat quietly, sewing his cloak and said nothing in response.

The king accused the Bodhisatta of secretly harboring anger in his heart, to which the Bodhisatta responded calmly, explaining how anger brings only ruin and misery. He shared his wisdom about overcoming anger through the cultivation of kindness and how he had risen above anger’s influence by embracing peace and detachment.

Impressed by the Bodhisatta’s words, the king realized the futility of his actions. He set the wife free, asked for forgiveness, and offered the Bodhisatta and his wife a place to stay in the royal park, promising to provide for all their needs. The Bodhisatta and his wife lived there until her death, after which the Bodhisatta returned to the Himalayas to spend his remaining years in solitude.

In the Lifetime of the Buddha: Overcoming Anger

In the lifetime of the Buddha, one of his disciples was filled with anger and stubbornness. The Buddha, seeing the disciple’s troubled state, told him this story to demonstrate the destructive power of anger and the immense benefits of overcoming it. Upon hearing the story, the disciple’s mindset shifted, and he made great progress in controlling his temper, realizing the importance of cultivating kindness and peace.

Rebirths of the Key Figures

In the story, the Bodhisatta’s wife was an earlier birth of the Buddha’s wife, and the king was an earlier birth of Ananda, one of the Buddha’s closest and most trusted disciples.

Moral of the Story:

The Culla-Bodhi Jataka teaches us that true detachment is not about severing relationships or renouncing the world but about transcending our attachments and desires. By mastering our emotions, particularly anger, and cultivating kindness, we can rise above suffering and live with peace and wisdom. The story highlights the importance of not reacting impulsively to desire or anger, but instead approaching situations with calmness, detachment, and compassion—principles that lead to true freedom.