For this week, I decided to devolve away from Mahabharata and Ramayana and look at the Jataka tales. I liked reading those at the beginning of the semester and thought it would be fun to explore those again! Since these are a collection of stories and I have been told they all have a lesson or moral attached, for my reading notes, I will be pointing out that lesson I learned from each story. I am hoping to use some of these in my portfolio later! I decided to put what I thought was the most important lesson (RIGHT NOW) at the top, so I hope to take a moment to read it!
The Foolish, Timid Rabbit: We read this story at the beginning of the semester about the Rabbit who thought the world was breaking up. I think one thing to learn from this story (in relation to the COVID-19 news) is the importance of fact-checking where your information is coming from. I think we are all playing a big game telephone in relation to the virus news coming out, similar to the way the animal was reacting in the story. So it is important that instead of "he said, she said" we remember to fact check where we are getting our information before we start to freak out. It is also important to stay calm in a time of crisis, instead of getting worried and panicking.
The Monkey and the Crocodile: This story is about a crocodile who tries to trick a monkey so he could get the monkey's heart for his mother crocodile to eat, but it is the monkey who ends up tricking the crocodile instead. The lesson learned from this story is the deceit is bad and although it may seem to work in our favor, it will inevitably come back to us. Therefore, we should not attempt to deceit people. This was a pretty clever story though.
How the Turtle Saved his Own Life: This story is about how a king's sons became afraid of a Turtle, and the king asked to have it killed. After a series of suggestions were made, someone recommended throwing the Turtle into the river and the Turtle tricked the king into thinking this was the worst punishment for him (but actually he was a safest in the river). I think a lesson we can learn from here is about looking for opportunities. Although the Turtle tricked the King, he was an opportunity to save himself and took it. Sometimes in a dreadful situation, we have to take the opportunity in front of us for our benefit.
The Merchant of Seri: This story is about two merchants, one who is greedy and the other who I pleasant. One tries to trick the old woman to sell him her "golden bowl" (which the old women did not know was golden) for little money while the other is kind and takes the pot by giving the women money. I think one lesson we can learn from this story is the importance of being genuine. The mean one tried to trick the women into thinking the bowl was not worth money and should be given to him for free, but the other one was kind and genuine about the bowl being worth money and did not try to trick the old women. Therefore the more genuine person was the one who ended up on top in the end.
The Turtle who couldn't stop Talking: We read this story earlier this semester about the Turtle that wouldn't stop talking and ends up falling from a stick when his geese friends tried taking him with them. I think a simple lesson from this story is the importance of knowing when it is significant to talk but also knowing when it more important to keep your mouth shut and listen. Although each of our opinions is important, sometimes it is more important to listen to what's going on and not talk.
The Ox who won the Forfeit: This story was about a man who said his Ox was so strong and placed a bet on how much his Ox could pull. But he was mean to his Ox that day so the Ox lost on purpose. The next day, the man apologized to the Ox and treated it with respect and the Ox pulled the wagons, allowing the man to win his money back. One great lesson here is always treating other people, creatures, and things with respect. Even if we are the boss or in charge, that does not give us permission to treat those who work for us poorly. Respect is one of the most important things we can give others.
The Sandy Road: This story is about a group of men who lose their water on their journey across the desert. However, when they start to dig a well near a potential water location, they run into a rock which stops their progress, but they don't give up and continue until they are able to get the water. I think the lesson in this story is to never give up. Even when life puts hurdles in front of you, who should persevere and also keep the morale of those around you high.
The Quarrel of the Quails: This story was about a man who was using the call of the Quail's leader to get them in one location to capture them. Soon the leader and other Quails caught onto the trick and decided to all go to him when he calls but flies away with the net so they can escape. They did this multiple-days in a row. One lesson we can learn from this is the significance of working together. When the quails figured out the man's plan, they hatch their own plan and executed it together which in turn saved their life. Working together can sometimes be the best and only way to avoid danger. When the quails in the story started fighting, they got caught in the net and the man was able to catch and sell them. SO the lesson is that working together is important and so is cohesion within the group and trust others.
The Measure of Rice: This story was a bit confusing to understand, but essentially, the King replaces his honest Valuer with one that is foolish and dishonest. When a guy whose horses were traded for some rice tricks the Valuer, the King is ashamed and chases the Valuer out of the Kingdom. I think one lesson we can learn from this is the importance of honesty. In this case, the honest valuer was replaced by the dishonest one. but this leads the King himself to be ashamed. We can learn from this story the value of honesty in the long run. Although the King was able to profit for a short while, the dishonest person made him look bad eventually and he suffered a loss. Therefore, the importance of honesty is what needs to be highlighted here.
Bibliography: Babbitt. Jataka Tales.
Author: Ellen C. Babbitt
The Foolish, Timid Rabbit: We read this story at the beginning of the semester about the Rabbit who thought the world was breaking up. I think one thing to learn from this story (in relation to the COVID-19 news) is the importance of fact-checking where your information is coming from. I think we are all playing a big game telephone in relation to the virus news coming out, similar to the way the animal was reacting in the story. So it is important that instead of "he said, she said" we remember to fact check where we are getting our information before we start to freak out. It is also important to stay calm in a time of crisis, instead of getting worried and panicking.
The Monkey and the Crocodile: This story is about a crocodile who tries to trick a monkey so he could get the monkey's heart for his mother crocodile to eat, but it is the monkey who ends up tricking the crocodile instead. The lesson learned from this story is the deceit is bad and although it may seem to work in our favor, it will inevitably come back to us. Therefore, we should not attempt to deceit people. This was a pretty clever story though.
How the Turtle Saved his Own Life: This story is about how a king's sons became afraid of a Turtle, and the king asked to have it killed. After a series of suggestions were made, someone recommended throwing the Turtle into the river and the Turtle tricked the king into thinking this was the worst punishment for him (but actually he was a safest in the river). I think a lesson we can learn from here is about looking for opportunities. Although the Turtle tricked the King, he was an opportunity to save himself and took it. Sometimes in a dreadful situation, we have to take the opportunity in front of us for our benefit.
The Merchant of Seri: This story is about two merchants, one who is greedy and the other who I pleasant. One tries to trick the old woman to sell him her "golden bowl" (which the old women did not know was golden) for little money while the other is kind and takes the pot by giving the women money. I think one lesson we can learn from this story is the importance of being genuine. The mean one tried to trick the women into thinking the bowl was not worth money and should be given to him for free, but the other one was kind and genuine about the bowl being worth money and did not try to trick the old women. Therefore the more genuine person was the one who ended up on top in the end.
The Turtle who couldn't stop Talking: We read this story earlier this semester about the Turtle that wouldn't stop talking and ends up falling from a stick when his geese friends tried taking him with them. I think a simple lesson from this story is the importance of knowing when it is significant to talk but also knowing when it more important to keep your mouth shut and listen. Although each of our opinions is important, sometimes it is more important to listen to what's going on and not talk.
The Ox who won the Forfeit: This story was about a man who said his Ox was so strong and placed a bet on how much his Ox could pull. But he was mean to his Ox that day so the Ox lost on purpose. The next day, the man apologized to the Ox and treated it with respect and the Ox pulled the wagons, allowing the man to win his money back. One great lesson here is always treating other people, creatures, and things with respect. Even if we are the boss or in charge, that does not give us permission to treat those who work for us poorly. Respect is one of the most important things we can give others.
The Sandy Road: This story is about a group of men who lose their water on their journey across the desert. However, when they start to dig a well near a potential water location, they run into a rock which stops their progress, but they don't give up and continue until they are able to get the water. I think the lesson in this story is to never give up. Even when life puts hurdles in front of you, who should persevere and also keep the morale of those around you high.
(Mem making rice from The Sandy Road story; image provided by Wikimedia Commons)
The Quarrel of the Quails: This story was about a man who was using the call of the Quail's leader to get them in one location to capture them. Soon the leader and other Quails caught onto the trick and decided to all go to him when he calls but flies away with the net so they can escape. They did this multiple-days in a row. One lesson we can learn from this is the significance of working together. When the quails figured out the man's plan, they hatch their own plan and executed it together which in turn saved their life. Working together can sometimes be the best and only way to avoid danger. When the quails in the story started fighting, they got caught in the net and the man was able to catch and sell them. SO the lesson is that working together is important and so is cohesion within the group and trust others.
The Measure of Rice: This story was a bit confusing to understand, but essentially, the King replaces his honest Valuer with one that is foolish and dishonest. When a guy whose horses were traded for some rice tricks the Valuer, the King is ashamed and chases the Valuer out of the Kingdom. I think one lesson we can learn from this is the importance of honesty. In this case, the honest valuer was replaced by the dishonest one. but this leads the King himself to be ashamed. We can learn from this story the value of honesty in the long run. Although the King was able to profit for a short while, the dishonest person made him look bad eventually and he suffered a loss. Therefore, the importance of honesty is what needs to be highlighted here.
Bibliography: Babbitt. Jataka Tales.
Author: Ellen C. Babbitt
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