In times gone by, the Bodhisatta, having embraced the religious life, dwelt with a body of followers at Isipatana. A jackal was in the habit of fouling the well from which the ascetics obtained their water. One day the ascetics caught the jackal and led him before the Bodhisatta. When questioned, the jackal said that he merely obeyed the “law” of his race, which was to foul the place where they had drunk. The Bodhisatta warned him not to repeat the offence.

The story was related concerning the fouling of the water at Isipatana by a jackal. When this fouling was reported to the Buddha, he said it was caused by the jackal which had been guilty of the same offence in the Jātaka story. J.ii.354 ff.