Vedabbajātaka
“Misguided effort.”—This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a self-willed Brother. Said the Master to that Brother, “This is not the first time, Brother, that you have been self-willed; you were of just the same disposition in bygone times also ; and therefore it was that, as you would not follow the advice of the wise and good, you came to be cut in two by a sharp sword and were flung on the highway; and you were the sole cause why a thousand men met their end.” And so saying, he told this story of the past.
Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral
1.1PTS 1.256“Anupāyena yo atthaṁ,Who wishes to profit by inappropriate means11.2Icchati so vihaññati;is tormented.1.3Cetā haniṁsu vedabbaṁ,The Cetans who killed Vedabbha21.4Sabbe te byasanamajjhagūti.all fell into ruin.
2.1Vedabbajātakaṁ aṭṭhamaṁ.
The commentary says that a brahmin named Vedabbha, being captured by bandits from Cetī, paid his ransom through a wealth-granting spell also named Vedabbha. But that only inflames the bandits’ desires, and they end up killing him and each other. Despite the commentary, however, the verse does not mention bandits, spells, or brahmins.
Vedabbha (Sanskrit vaidarbha) is a name for the king of Vidarbha, a country to the south of Cetī. It seems the original story concerned a raid by the Cetans that resulted in the death of the king of Vidarbha, a framework that could well convey the same moral.
