Ja 381 min read

The Crane

Bakajātaka

“Guile profits not.”—This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a tailoring Brother.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

0.1JātakaStories of Past Lives 38
0.2EkakanipātaThe Book of the Ones
0.3KulāvakavaggaNests

0.48. BakajātakaThe Crane: a past life story

1.1PTS 1.223“Nāccantaṁ nikatippañño,The clever cheat cannot achieve¹1.2nikatyā sukhamedhati;ultimate happiness by cheating.1.3Ārādheti nikatippañño,The clever cheat succeeds only1.4bako kakkaṭakāmivā”ti.in getting what the crane did from the crab.

2.1Bakajātakaṁ aṭṭhamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

The crane, appearing to contemplate deeply as it waits beside the pond, catches the fish by means of fraud, but is outplayed by the canny crab.
↩ ja38:1.1