In 300 B.C, the Jataka Tales were written for the
mankind to gain knowledge and morality. Ever since, Jataka tales have
become story books that are both enjoyable as well as knowledgeable.
Originally written in Pali language, Jataka Buddhist tales have been
translated in different languages around the world. The luminous fables
of ‘Jataka’ are intended to impart values of self-sacrifice,
morality, honesty and other informative values to people.
No less than 547 in number, Jataka Tales are an important part of
Buddhist literature. Jatak stories represent former incarnations of
Buddha, at times like an animal, a bird and sometimes like a human
being, the future Siddhartha Gautama. The setting of the stories is made
in or near Benares (Varanasi), which is a holy city in north central
India. Some of the popular story/ tale from Jatak collection are
provided here.
Golden Swan
This is another nice story from the album of Jataka Kathaye (Tales).
Once upon a time, there was a swan / goose that had striking golden
feathers. This swan lived in a pond. There was a house near this pond,
where a poor woman lived with her two daughters. The people were really
poor and were leading a tough life. The swan found that the poor mother
was passing a hard time with her daughters.
Power of a Rumour
This one is a nice story from the album of Jataka Kathaye/ Tales. Once
upon a time, it happened in a forest that a hare was resting under a
banyan tree. He had an intuition of doom and thought, “What would
happen to me, if the earth will break? “. Suddenly, he heard a
weird striking sound. He said, “It’s happened, the earth is
breaking up”. He jumped up and ran madly without even observing the
direction.
Jackal who saved lion
Here is another interesting story from the collection of Jataka Tales.
Once upon a time, there lived a lion in a forest. One day, when he went
to drink water in a river, one of his feet got stuck into the damp mushy
mud of the river. He tried a lot to get out of the mud, but to no avail.
He had to lie without food for days because he didn’t find any
help. On one fortunate day, a kind jackal came to drink water from the
river. When he saw the lion, he went closer to the lion and said, “What
is the matter? Why are you resting here?”
Cunning Wolf
It is an interesting story from the collection of Jataka Tales. Once
upon a time, some people from a certain town went into a forest for an
excursion. They want to enjoy the holiday to its fullest. They took
baskets full of eatables with them. They ate all the meat they had
brought with them till the noon time. They didn’t leave anything
for the dinner and suddenly realized that what they would eat in the
dinner. They wanted to enjoy the vacation and without proper food, it
was quite impossible.
Elephant and Dog
This is another interesting story / tale from the Jataka collection.
Once upon a time, there was a royal elephant that used to reside in the
premises of the king’s palace. The elephant was very dear to the
king, so he was cared, well-fed and well-treated. There was a Dog who
used to live in the neighborhood of the Elephant shed. He was very weak
and skinny. He was always fascinated by the smell of the rich sweet rice
being fed to the royal elephant.
Hawks and Their Friends
It is another interesting story from the album of Jataka Tales. Once
upon a time, there lived a family of Hawks in a lake near a forest. The
family included Female-Hawk, Male-Hawk and their Kid-Hawks. All of them
were passing their days happily. There also lived a Lion, a Kingfisher
and a Turtle on the northern, the eastern and the southern shore of this
lake respectively. One day, the Female-Hawk asked her husband, “Sweetheart,
how many friends do you have near here?”
Wind and Moon
Here is another nice story from the collection of Jataka kathaye /
tales. Once upon a time, there lived two friends in the shade of a rock.
It would sound strange, but one of them was a lion and the other was a
tiger. They were friends since their childhood. They knew each other
from the time, when they were too small to understand the difference
between the lions and the tigers. Thus, their friendship was not at all
strange to them.
Penny Wise Monkey
Here is another nice tale/ story from the Jataka collection. Once upon
a time, there lived the King of a big and affluent country. The King was
quite fond of traveling. Usually, he didn’t like to visit his own
country; instead he went to other countries. One day, he assembled his
army to move out for a holiday to some distant country. The King and his
soldiers walked for the whole morning in the forest. After this, they
went into the camp to take some rest.
Sandy Road
This is a nice story from the collection of Jataka Tales. Once upon a
time, there lived a merchant in a small village. The merchant dealt in
different kinds of goods. He wanted to sell his goods in the town, in
order to gain good sum of profits. One day, he decided to go to the town
to try his fortune. He arranged for some men who could go along with
him. During the journey, he had to pass through a desert, so he also
arranged for water, rice and firewood.
Merchant of Seri
This is another nice story from the collection of Jataka Tales. Once
upon a time, there lived a merchant of Seri, who sold brass and tin
ware. He used to go from place to place, in order to sell his products.
He was usually accompanied by another merchant, who also sold brass and
tin ware. The second merchant was greedy. He wanted every thing for free
and if he bought something, he paid as little as possible.
