Sārambha-Jātaka

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Source: Converted from Archaic translation by Robert Chalmers
JATAKA No. 88

SARAMBHA-JATAKA

"Speak kindly."--This story was told by the Master while at Shravasti city, about the rule touching abusive language. The introductory story and the story of the past are the same as in the Nandivisala-jataka above (*1).

But in this case there is the difference that the Bodhisattva was an ox named Sarambha, and belonged to a brahmin of Taxila in the kingdom of Gandhara(near Afghanistan & Pakistan including Kandahar). After telling the story of the past, the Master, as Buddha, uttered this stanza:-

Speak kindly, abuse not your fellow; Love kindness; abuse breeds sorrow.

When the Master had ended his lesson he identified the Birth by saying, "Ananda was the brahmin of those days, Uppalavanna his wife, and I Sarambha."

Footnotes:

(1)No. 28.