Tirita-Vaccha Jataka: The Power of Gratitude and Generosity

In a distant time, the Bodhisatta was born as an ascetic, living a simple and peaceful life in the forest. During this period, the king of the land went off to battle in a border region. Unfortunately, the battle ended in defeat, and the king was forced to flee for his life. Riding his elephant, the king sought refuge deep within the forest.

The next morning, while the Bodhisatta was out gathering wild fruit, the king passed by his humble hut. Exhausted and parched, the king desperately sought water but found no waterpot or bucket at the nearby well. In his desperation, he tied a rope from his elephant to his own garments and tried to climb down the well, but he could not quite reach the water. In a final act of desperation, believing that dying with water was better than dying without, the king jumped into the well.

When the Bodhisatta returned that evening, he discovered the king trapped in the well. Without hesitation, the Bodhisatta retrieved a ladder, rescued the king, and cared for him for several days, allowing him time to regain his strength. Once the king had recovered, he expressed his gratitude and promised that he would visit the Bodhisatta one day.

Six weeks later, the king made good on his promise and visited the ascetic. The Bodhisatta, in turn, received him warmly. The king showed great honor, allowing the Bodhisatta to sleep in the royal park. The next morning, the king invited him to the palace, where he treated him with great respect, offering him the seat of honor on the throne and sharing his food with him. The king went so far as to build a hut for the Bodhisatta, with a covered walkway, and he commanded his gardener to follow the Bodhisatta’s instructions during his stay.

However, the king’s advisors grew uneasy at the special treatment being shown to the ascetic. They felt that an ascetic, no matter how noble, was not deserving of such high honor. Concerned, they took their grievances to the crown prince. The prince, after hearing their concerns, went to his father to ask why the ascetic was being treated so.

The king explained to his son the reason for his actions: it was because the Bodhisatta had saved his life when he had been trapped in the well. The king explained that no amount of riches or territory could ever repay the Bodhisatta for his life-saving act. Even if he offered his entire kingdom, it would never be enough to express his gratitude. Upon hearing this, the advisors understood and no longer resented the ascetic’s honored treatment. They saw that the king’s actions were driven by deep gratitude and recognized that the Bodhisatta’s noble deed merited such respect.

The Lesson in the Lifetime of the Buddha

In the time of the Buddha, the king in the story was recognized as an earlier birth of Ananda, one of the Buddha’s closest disciples. One day, a king received a gift of one thousand splendid, expensive robes. He distributed these robes to his five hundred wives, and they, in turn, gave them to Ananda, who was their dharma teacher. The next morning, the king noticed that his wives were not wearing their new clothes and became angry, suspecting that Ananda had been secretly selling the robes for profit. The king confronted Ananda, asking why he had taken five hundred robes when the Buddha’s rules allowed his disciples to own only three.

Ananda explained that, although he had accepted the robes, he had not kept them for himself. Instead, he had distributed them to other disciples in need. To ease the king’s concerns, Ananda further explained that the robes were not wasted: old robes were turned into cloaks, then shirts, then bed sheets, mats, towels, and finally, the fabric was chopped up and mixed into mortar for building houses. The king, satisfied with this explanation, gave Ananda the remaining five hundred robes.

As a gesture of gratitude, Ananda passed these additional robes on to a young disciple who had been particularly helpful to him—sweeping his room, serving him food and drink, and cleaning the bathroom. Ananda gave the robes to the young disciple and allowed him to distribute them to other young monks.

Some disciples later questioned the Buddha about Ananda’s decision to give such a large gift to someone junior to him. The Buddha explained that Ananda’s act of generosity was acceptable because it was given out of gratitude. The Buddha said, “One good deed deserves another,” and taught that gratitude, not status, was the guiding principle of the gift. He then shared this story of the Bodhisatta’s kindness and how the king had repaid him for his life-saving actions in a past life.

Moral of the Story

The Tirita-Vaccha Jataka emphasizes the power of gratitude and how it can inspire generosity and noble acts. The Bodhisatta’s selfless rescue of the king, followed by the king’s expression of deep gratitude, teaches us that true honor is not given based on social rank, but on the merit of actions. It also shows that when one is deeply grateful, the natural response is to act with generosity and kindness.

In the Buddha’s explanation, we learn that gratitude is a powerful motivator in both the worldly and spiritual realms. Ananda’s act of giving, driven by gratitude and not by material attachment or social hierarchy, exemplifies how one can cultivate virtuous actions even in small, everyday acts. This story teaches that the virtue of gratitude is a key to a compassionate, interconnected world. Gratitude fosters generosity, kindness, and respect, and these qualities lead to peace and harmony among all beings.