Pāli Dictionary

Upāhana Jātaka

Jātaka

A birth story about an elephant trainer’s pupil who insists on equal pay to his teacher and is stoned to death after failing a rigged skill contest the night before which his teacher secretly trained an elephant to disobey commands, told concerning Devadatta’s base ingratitude.

Once the Bodhisatta was an elephant-trainer and taught his art to a young man of Kāsi. The latter wished to take service under the king, but would not accept any fee less than that paid to his teacher. A contest of skill was arranged to settle the point. The night before the contest the Bodhisatta taught an elephant to do all things awry, going back when told to go forward, etc. At the time of the contest the pupil could not match this in any way and was defeated and stoned to death by the onlookers. The Bodhisatta thereupon declared that a low-bred churl was like an ill-made shoe (upāhana). The story was told concerning the base ingratitude of Devadatta. J.ii.221 ff.

Ja 231

All entries named Upāhana Jātaka

Found an error in the dictionary?