Discourse on Phandana Jātaka

“Your Royal Highnesses....Long time ago, during the reign of King Brahmadatta in Bārāṇasī, there was a village of carpenters just outside the city; and there was a brahmin who was a carpenter by profession, he brought wood from the forest and made them into chariots for his living.

At that time, there was a Kyo tree (Melicoca trijuna tree) in the region of the Himalayas. A bear used to go and sleep under that tree with ease and comfort after his meal. One day a dried branch broke due to a strong wind and fell on the bear’s back, hurting it slightly. The bear ran away through fright but soon returned to find the cause of his injury. He did not see any enemy.

So he thought to himself: ‘There is no wild beast, such as lion, leopard or tiger, around here to harm me; and there can't be anyone except the tree spirit who might be jealous of mine sleeping under the tree, and have caused me harm. I will surely have my revenge on him,’ thus making a mountain out of a molehill. The bear hit the tree and scratched it with its paws, saying: ‘I have not eaten your leaves, nor broken your branches, you don't show any spite towards other animals taking rest under your tree, but you are jealous of me. What fault have I got. You just wait for two, three days and I will have your tree uprooted and cut up into pieces.’

Having threatened the tree spirit, the bear kept on knocking round in the neighbourhood, looking for a person capable of causing damage to the tree.

The brahmin carpenter, accompanied by a few hands, went into the forest in a small vehicle in search of wood for the construction of chariots. They left the vehicle in a place and went into the forest with hatchets and choppers. They went round looking for the right type of wood and eventually reached near the melicoca trijuna tree.

When the bear saw the brahmin carpenter, it thought: ‘Today, I shall have my retaliation against my enemy,’ and he went and stood at the base of the tree. As the carpenter passed by the tree, the bear seized the opportunity of addressing^[1] him thus:

‘My dear man, you have come into the forest with a hatchet in your hand. Tell me frankly which tree you have in mind to cut down?’

When the carpenter heard the words of the bear, he uttered in amazement: ‘Dear boys, it is strange that a bear speaks the language of the humans, a thing I have hitherto never seen or heard.’

He thought to himself then, such a bear speaking the human language would know the kind of wood suitable for making chariots, and so he asked the bear:

‘Dear bear king, you have wandered all over, up the hills and down the valleys, please tell me honestly which kind of wood is most suitable for construction of chariots?’

When the bear heard of this, he felt that his wish was going to be fulfilled then and he replied in verse:

‘Pidauk (Pterocarpus Indicus) is not strong enough to use as frame work; cutch (Acacia Catechu) is equally unsuitable; Ingyin, the Sal tree (Shorea Siamensis) is the same; and Myaukngo (Lythrum fructicosum) is out of the question (equally weak). There is a certain kind of tree known as Melicoca trijuga; the wood of that tree is the strongest for the construction of chariots.’

The carpenter was delighted to hear it and so he thought to himself: ‘I've come into the jungle on a truly auspicious day and even a beast, like the bear, pointed out to me the most suitable kind of wood for the construction of chariots. What a fortune!’ and he asked the bear:

‘My dear bear.... how about the branches and leaves of that tree and its stem?'

Dear good friend, please tell me every thing so that I know all about that tree.’ The bear gave his reply in two verses:

‘My dear friend, brahmin, there is a certain tree whose branches and twigs bend downwards and keep on hanging down. They are pliant, durable and strong. I am now standing at the base of that tree, it is called Melicoca trijuna. Its wood is the right stuff for making circumference of wheel, axle, shaft and all other components of a chariot.’

After uttering these two verses, the bear made off with a happy mind to some other place suitable for seeking his prey. Then the carpenter started to make arrangements for cutting down the tree. The guardian spirit of the tree thought: ‘Although I had not thrown down anything on his back, the bear has been harbouring a grudge against me and sowed the seed of enmity for nothing. He has now plotted to cause destruction of my habitation. With the destruction of my dwelling, I am certain to be destroyed too. I shall have to bring about his destruction with a ruse.’ He then transformed himself into the form of a human labourer and approaching the carpenter asked him: ‘O man, you have got a beautiful tree; what do you intend to do, once you have cut it into wood?’ The carpenter replied: ‘I will make it into a chariot frame.’

‘Who has told you that the wood of this tree is good for making chariot?’ queried the tree spirit. ‘A bear told me so,’ was the reply. The tree spirit said: ‘That’s good. The bear has given you a good advice. Indeed, the chariot you are going to make, according to the advice of the bear, should turn out to be a fine looking one. I too should like to give you a suggestion, that is, strengthen your chariot frame work with a girdle of bear’s skin, removed from round its neck. This will make it stronger than if it were secured with tin plates, and increase your income from the chariots.’

When asked by the carpenter: ‘O my dear man, from where can I get the bear’s skin?’ the tree spirit said:

‘O man, are you still a young boy not to know that the tree is inanimate; it will remain here and will not run away. Just hurry after the bear who has told you about the tree and ask him by showing great respect: ‘O my Lord, which part of the tree you have shown me should be cut?’ and persuade him back to the tree. Then suspecting nothing, he would point out with his long stretched-out snout: ‘Cut here, cut here.’ At that moment, you cut him down with a sharp axe and put him to death. Then strip him off his leather, eat his flesh and attend to the business of cutting down the tree.’

Thus the seed of enmity was sown. On hearing the guardian spirit of the tree, the brahmin carpenter expressed his feeling of delight in these words: ‘O How marvellous, this is an auspicious day for me.’ He returned home after killing the bear and cutting down the tree.

The Buddha concluded His discourse by expounding the following Abhisambuddha verses in order to exhort and instruct the feuding kinsmen.

Iccevaṃ phandano issaṃ
Isso ca pana phandānaṃ
aññamaññam vivādena
aññamaññamghatayuṃ

Your Royal Highnesses.... In this manner, the tree spirit quarrelled with the bear; and the bear in turn disputed with the tree spirit. Their animosity finally led to their destructions.

Evameva manussānam
Vivādo yattha jāyati
mayuranaccaṃ naccanti
yatha te issaphandanā.

Your Royal Highnesses.... When people fight against one another, they do so like the bear and the tree spirit in the manner of a dancing peacock. Just as a peacock could not dance without exposing the private parts of its body, so the people fighting one another are not capable of concealing what is to be concealed.... (a reference to the derogatory remarks concerning the origin of the Sakyanas and Koliyans made by the warring factions).

Tam vo vadāmi bhaddaṃ vo
yāvantettha samāgatā
samodatha mā vivadatha
mā hotha issaphandanā

Your Royal Highnesses, may you always be blessed with glory and graciousness, you, who, have gathered together on the banks of Rohini, I exhort you to act after the manner of the waters of the two rivers, Ganges and Jumna, harmoniously mixing together with loving-kindness. Avoid fighting one another and caused mutual destruction. Do not follow the example of the bear and the tree spirit.

Sāmaggimeva sikkhetha
Buddhe hetaṃ pasamsitaṃ
samaggirato Dhammaṭṭho
yogakkhemā na dhansati

Your Royal Highnesses, strive only for unity. Every Buddha has praised the virtues of unity. He who delights in harmonious living, established in the ten modes of good conduct (sucarita)^[2] is bound to achieve nothing less than the happiness of Nibbāna, the end of all attachments (yogas), which yoke one to rebirth.

The two rival factions of Sakyans and Koliyans were amicably reunited after hearing the discourse of the Buddha. In winding up the discourse, the Buddha revealed that He was the Chief Guardian deity of the whole forest who had personal knowledge of the conflict between the bear and the tree spirit.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The conversation between the bear and the carpenter was made in seven verses. The verses in Pāli, which are not so important, are not reproduced; only their translation is provided here.

[2]:

Sucarita: 1. Avoidance of killing, of stealing, sexual misconduct, telling lies, slandering, harsh, abusive language, frivolous speech, avarice, ill-wll, wrong view.