Best of Jataka Tales

Everyone in Banaras was getting ready for the New Year᾿s celebrations. These would go on for three days. The King had a pleasure garden that was tended by a gardener. The gardener wanted to go to his house so that he too might celebrate the New Year. But the garden could not be neglected for

A carpenter lived in a town. He was bald and his head shone always. It attracted a lot of insects too! He was fed up of all the insects that hovered all round his head, particularly a mosquito who continued to trouble him always.One day, the carpenter was busy at his work, smoothing a piece

A teacher lived in the forest and he was so famous for his wisdom that a lot of students were drawn to him. He had five hundred students. One of the students loved to keep all kinds of pets. One day, he found a poisonous little snake and brought it along as a pet too.

A rich man in Banaras had a bird-house put up. He loved to see the birds come there to peck the seeds. The bird-house was near his kitchen which was run by a very cruel cook. He would cook any animal or bird that he could catch.A fat gentle pigeon lived near by, but it

A quail, a monkey and an elephant were good friends in a forest. They all lived near a large banyan tree. A lot of their time was spent under the tree, talking, sharing and, sometimes, arguing about things.All three of them were very intelligent. Each of them felt that his opinion was as important and

Deep in the forest was a huge tree. It was home to many birds and little animals like squirrels. The birds had chosen the wisest of the bird to be their leader. He always looked after them.One day, a strong wind was blowing. The dry leaves from the tree shook and fell to the ground.

One of the ministers of King Brahmadatta was very wise. He could also understand the language of animals and birds. One day while he was walking around the city, he happened to come to a river.Some fishermen were casting nets and catching fish. The minister stopped to watch. He saw that there was one very

There was a hunter who was very good at hunting quails because he could imitate their cry perfectly. Any quail that heard it would believe that another quail was in trouble and fall into the hunter’s trap.King Quail saw this and decided to tell all the other quails to beware of the hunter. He also

All the birds selected a beautiful Golden Swan as their King, since the animals and the fish had already selected their own Kings. The Golden Swan had a beautiful daughter whom he loved a lot. He decided to give her one special wish. So, the Golden Swan᾿s daughter said she would like to choose her

Long, long ago, there was a farm on which a farmer lived happily with his family. He had a young daughter too. He was well-to-do and also had several animals on his farm. Among them were two beautiful red bullocks. They were called Big Red and Little Red respectively. He gave them hay and let

In Banaras, the Bodhisatta was once born as a beautiful black calf. He was bought by an old widow who looked after him lovingly, feeding him rice and porridge. She named him Shyamu because of his colour. He grew up playing with all the village children, so they called him Granny’s Chamu. He wanted to

In Takshila in the kingdom of Gandhar, an Enlightened Being, Bodhisatta, was born as a young calf. He was bought by a rich man who treated him with great care and love. He called him Prasanna. The calf grew into a gentle but very powerful bull.He wanted to express his gratitude to his master for

Long ago, a king’s favourite elephant made a strange friend. A small stray dog used to live on the road near the shed where the elephant lived. The dog was starved and skinny.One day, he saw that the elephant was being given rice for his meal. Despite his fear, he crept closer and had a

A King’s favourite bull elephant was a large, gentle giant with a very sweet face. Everyone called him Sumukhi. The bull elephant was known for his good nature.One night, a group of robbers sat outside the elephant’s shed. They were preparing for various evil actions and spoke in a crude language about theft and murder.

Long ago, a king had several horses. They were all kept well groomed and taken to a river near the city for a bath. But the King sent his finest horse to a pool near the river. The pool had sparkling clean water. The horse attendants gave special treatment to the King᾿s favourite horse.One day,