Vānarindajātaka
“Whoso, O monkey-king.”—This story was told by the Master, while at the Bamboo-grove, about Devadatta’s going about to kill him. Being informed of Devadatta’s murderous intent, the Master said, “This is not the first time, Brethren, that Devadatta has gone about seeking to kill me; he did just the same in bygone days, but failed to work his wicked will.” And so saying, he told this story of the past.
Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral
1.1PTS 1.280“Yassete caturo dhammā,Whoever possesses these four qualities11.2vānarinda yathā tava;like you, lord of langurs—21.3Saccaṁ dhammo dhiti cāgo,truth, principle, steadfastness, and generosity—1.4diṭṭhaṁ so ativattatī”ti.escapes the visible foe.3
2.1Vānarindajātakaṁ sattamaṁ.
A crocodile’s wife, being pregnant, conceives an irresistible craving (dohaḷa) to eat the heart of the monkey king. Her husband tries to satisfy her by pretending to be a rock in the river, but the monkey sees through his ruse. This is one of a cycle of dohaḷa stories in the Jātakas, which deal with the ascension of consciousness. Here the ascension fails due to the crocodile’s greed and foolishness, so it cannot consume the monkey’s heart, i.e. intelligence.
In legend, the vānara is a race of aggressive human-like monkeys with long tails and hairy skin like blankets. Their leaders such as Sugrīva or Hanuman are titled “lord of langurs”. Such leaders are often found in artwork depicted as langurs, with their prominent sideburns lending them a decidedly human appearance.
This last line plays on a double meaning. The commentary explains diṭṭha as “foe” (Sanskrit dviṣṭa) and the phrase as “defeats the foe”. But the crocodile shuts his eyes and opens his mouth to catch the langur, pointing to the more common meaning of diṭṭha as “seen” (Sanskrit dṛṣṭa), and yielding the sense, “transcends the seen”. The clever monkey defeats his enemy because he sees beyond mere appearances, while the crocodile is blinded by his greed.
