Best of Jataka Tales

King Brahmadatta of Banaras always liked to have the best of things for his kingdom. He had an excellent horse that had been brought from Sindh. His stable was kept clean and fresh and he had an exquisite saddle too. He was loved and trusted by the King. He was called Viveka, the knowing-one, and […]

The King of Banaras had a chariot, specially made for himself. It was very richly decorated with belts and straps of real leather, embroidered and crafted beautifully.One day when the King returned from his drive in the chariot, he drove it up to the palace. It was not put away in the shed where it

Deep in a forest lived an antelope. He wandered around looking for food. He had found a tree with very sweet fruit on it. He waited for the fruit to fall and ate it with great relish. Every day he would come there to eat the fruit.A hunter who came to the forest saw that

Long ago, a large tribe of eighty thousand monkeys lived in a forest, led by a very wise King. He was huge, and he was famous for his large heart and immense wisdom. It was known that he was the Enlightened Being.He instructed his subjects on all matters which he thought would be of help

A priest had decided to offer a sacrifice to the gods. For this ritual, he got a goat. It was to be bathed and decorated with flowers in preparation for the sacrifice.When the goat was being taken to the river for a bath, it realized that it was going to be killed. At that moment,

There was a strange pair of friends near a rock on a mountain. One was a lion and the other was a tiger. They had grown up together as cubs, so they did not know their differences. They just enjoyed each other’s friendship, playing, running and hunting together. Everyone thought this must be due to

In the forest, among the herd of deer, was the wise old teacher. He taught all his students the tricks and strategy to survive in the forest. If the students were attentive, they would learn a lot from the teacher.One day, his youngest sister brought her little fawn to him and asked him to teach

A herd of deer lived in a forest. Among them was a wise old teacher. He knew the ways of the deer and the dangers they faced in the forest and outside. He taught young deer how to avoid such dangers by using their senses and their minds in a clever way.One day, the master’s

The King of Banaras had a pleasure garden. He ordered the gardener who tended it to let him know if any strange creature came into the garden.One day, the gardener reported that a wind-deer had come to the forest to graze. The wind-deer is very shy of human beings and would run like the wind

A herd of deer lived near a village. They were very cautious because they knew the villagers would set traps and kill them if they were seen near the village or the fields. Among them was a beautiful doe with reddish fur, a white tail and big, velvet eyes.A new buck in the area began

King Banyan Deer was a fabulous golden deer who lived in a forest near Banaras. He was known for his great wisdom and leadership. There was another golden deer in that forest. He was known as Branch Deer. Each of them led a herd of five hundred deer. They lived in amity and peace.The King

Long, long ago, there lived a wise old deer who led a herd of a thousand deer. He had two tall beautiful sons: Beauty, with reddish fur, and Grey, with grey fur. As he was old, he divided his herd between his two sons and told them to look after their respective herds carefully.During the