Tipallatthamigajātaka
“In all three postures.”—This story was told by the Master while dwelling do the Badarika Monastery in Kosambī, about the Elder Rahula whose heart was set on observing the rules of the Brotherhood.
Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral
1.1PTS 1.163“Migaṁ tipallatthamanekamāyaṁ,“About that deer—triply collapsed with many illusions,11.2Aṭṭhakkhuraṁ aḍḍharattāpapāyiṁ;eight-hooved, a midnight drinker—21.3Ekena sotena chamāssasanto,he’s breathing on the ground through one nostril!1.4Chahi kalāhitibhoti bhāgineyyo”ti.Excelling with these six tricks, he deserves a chance.”3
2.1Tipallatthamigajātakaṁ chaṭṭhaṁ.
The deer attentively learns the ruses of deer.
I understand the first two lines as accusative of relation.
Here aṭṭha chimes with aḍḍha. Perhaps the sense is that the dainty tread of the cloven hooves make little sound.
Here kalā means “trick, deceit”.
Chahi kalāhi here chimes with sattahi kālāti in the previous verse. The “six tricks” are the three ways of playing dead, the eight hooves, sneaking a drink at midnight, and breathing through one nostril. How eight hooves is a ruse is unclear, but its central role suggests it was the kernel of the two verses.
Commentary takes bhāgineyyo in its usual sense of “nephew”, but I think it is from bhāgin by analogy with dakkhiṇeyyo, “one who deserves a share”.
