Visavantajātaka
“May shame.”—This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana about Sariputta, the Captain of the Faith. Tradition says that in the days when the Elder used to eat meal-cakes, folks came to the monastery with a quantity of such cakes for the Brotherhood. After the Brethren had all eaten their fill, much remained over; and the givers said, “Sirs, take some for those too who are away in the village.”
Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral
1.1PTS 1.311“Dhiratthu taṁ visaṁ vantaṁ,Curse that vomited poison,11.2yamahaṁ jīvitakāraṇā;which I vomited for the sake of life21.3Vantaṁ paccāvamissāmi,and now shall consume again.31.4mataṁ me jīvitā varan”ti.Death is better for me than life!
2.1Visavantajātakaṁ navamaṁ.
A snake refuses to take back its poison even on pain of death.
For jīvitakāraṇā in the sense “for the sake of life”, see Ps 1.1:215.2.
The verse can be read in two ways. The story assumes that the snake refuses to take back the poison. But there is no negative particle qualifying the verb, so it must be read as a rhetorical question: “I shall take back what I have vomited?” In this reading, they refuse to take it back even “for the sake of life” because they are threatened with death if they refuse. Alternatively, however, the speaker is saying that they have vomited the poison for the sake of life—i.e. that they took a purgative—but nonetheless they shall eat their poisoned vomit even though it means their death. In this reading, the speaker is likely a person rather than a snake, and the “vomit” actual vomit, not emitted poison. The reason why they resort to such drastic measures is not clear, and I fear we have lost the original story that would have made the context meaningful. Nonetheless, I think this interpretation reflects the Pali more directly.
