Siddhartha Gautam was doing painful penance in the Gaya village called Urubela when he fell unconscious. Nude children of Sujata, Nanda Bala, Bala Gupta etc. fed him rice pudding with milk. Gautam started to make use of his knowledge obtained through his penance on these children: in other words, he started to develop transmission of knowledge. At the tender age of seven/eight years, while doing Bhoomi pooja (soil worship) under a Jambu tree, he had got the knowledge that the fife of the weak becomes the foundation of the life of the strong. He had also known that corruption breeds under the shelter of power from the character of chief minister Bissamitta. The seed of dispute between two states was the water of the Rohini River.
Renunciation was the punishment of gautam’s choice. After his spiritual transformation, he contacted many hermits and saints and made them his Gurus. Specifically, he made alar Kalam and Udbhak Ramputra his teachers and stayed in their ashram (school), but he did not get the path for emancipation. Then he indulged in self-search and found out the mutually interdependent co-existence and soullessness. He then indulged in institutional development. This story is the first in the friendship series. There was friction between Bala Gupta and Jatilika.
Gaya’s village Urubela. There is a crowd of the nude children of Sujata, Nanda Bala, Bala Gupta and other cowherds. Siddhartha gautam’s face is shining with enlightenment. He says, “Look, dear children: the earth is our disciples and Gaya Kashyap with 100 disciples were settled in different locations along the north flowing river Nairanjana. They were fire worshipping Brahmans. They claimed that the essence of the universe is fire. They made widespread animal offerings. They raised hair, mustaches and beards. They did not go for alms. They raised several animals for offering. They lived in thatched cottages.
There was a good understanding among all the three brothers. They became the disciples of Buddha with all their disciples. They moved towards the Buddha Centre with all the 900 disciples. When they reached the Buddha Centre in 9/10 days, the number of the disciples had reached 1250. They pitched their camp in the tad grove of the Centre. The Kashyap brothers were exert in the management of the union. So, it did not create any problem for Buddha.
King Bimbisar organized a feast for 1250 people and invited Buddha. After the feast, Buddha taught Bimbisar the five principles and made him a Shravak (Audience). Thereafter, the Queen presented Prince Ajat Shatru in front of Buddha. With the Ajat Shatru, there were children of the noble families as well. Buddha laid his hand on the head of Ajat Shatru and started his story:
“I tell you the story of crane (bird), crab and fish. The crane was a cheat. What I learned from this story is that what you sow so will you reap. If you cheat others, you are yourself deceived.
“At that time I was a tree. The tree provided coolness. There was a clean pond and it was decorated with full bloom lotuses. But in that pond there was no water creature. Quite nearby that pond there was another pond with muddy water. There was shortage of food, but some mud water fish, prawn and a crab had made the pond their home. The bird saw the pond, sat on its edge and looked sad.
“When the fish asked the bird the cause of his sadness, he said, ‘I am sad at your pitiable condition. There is no other reason. Neither the water of this pond is clean nor is there sufficient food to eat.’
“This depends on your desire. If you want, I cannot take you all at once, but I can do it one by one.”
“After prolonged discussion among the fishes, one large fish became ready to go. The bird showed him the promised pond and returned him back in the same pond.
“This insured their trust on the bird and the fish did not suspect any ill motive. One after another the fish started to go out gladly in the beak of the bird. The cunning bird used to sit on my branch and eat the fish he was carrying in his beak. The sharp bones of the fish would fall on my leaves and fall down on the ground. Some big bones would get entangled in my branches, I could not speak. This process continued for a long time.
“Dear children, I was just a tree. I could not walk around. You know that the tree is immobile. The tree also breathes, grows and dies. I used to watch all the events with sadness. When the bird mercilessly pierced the fish, my heart used to hurt badly. My eyes shed endless tears. But what could I do?
“As a tree I had added to the beauty of the forest, but what I felt was that if I were a man or a deer, I could have rendered some helpful service. At that time what I vowed was that in my next birth I would be a man and shall protect ordinary men from the clutches of powerful men as far as possible.
“The prawn and other fishes were exhausted one after another. Only a crab was left in the pond. When the bird tried to take the crab as well, he said, ‘your small beak cannot hold me strongly and if I fall down from the sky, shall I not die in pain? Therefore, I softly clutch your neck with both my claws and when I get over the pond, I shall release my claws and fall on the water. Is it acceptable? The crane agreed to the proposal of the crab and came and sat on my branch as usual. The crab asked, ‘why am I brought here?’
“The bird replied thus, ‘Which foolish crane would transfer the fish from one pond to another? Look down at the bones of the fishes. Now it is your turn, do you realize?’ Soon after hearing this, the crab grabbed the neck of the bird very hard. When the crab did not loosen his grip, the crane carried the crab to the promised pond and said, ‘now, release my neck.’
“The crab had seen the crane’s cheating of the fishes and his treatment to himself. So, he continued to grab the crane’s neck very hard. This ended the crane’s life. The crab sneaked into the new pond with ease.
“Dear children, what I learned from this story is that what one sows so will he reap. If we mistreat others, we will also be mistreated. Therefore, I have pledged that I shall protect the life of all the living beings.”
King Bimbisar, the Shravak, said, ‘Strange lesson!’ Then he offered the bamboo grove called Venu Van, situated two miles away from the capital, to Buddha. Buddha gracefully accepted the offer. This became the second school for the teaching of Buddhism.
Addendum: Ajat Shatru grabbed the royal throne by murdering his father the king at the instigation of Devdatta. The impact of this murder continued for seven generations. This proves Buddha’s doctrine that not only the end but the means should also be pure.
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