Tag Archives: The Bodhisatta – As a Bird

255. The Bodhisatta As A Bird

Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a bird. Growing up, He became king of the birds and came to the Himalayas with thousands of birds in his train. During their stay in that place, a fierce bird used to go in quest of food along a highway where she found rice, beans, and other grain dropped by passing wagons. In order to keep the others from coming there, she told them as follows:- “The highway is full of peril. In it elephants and horses, wagons drawn by fierce oxen, and such like dangerous things go regularly. By the wink of the eye, one should fly away. As you could not, don’t go there at all.” And because of her warning the other birds didn’t go that way.

33. The Bodhisatta – As a Bird

Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a bird and lived round a giant tree with branching boughs, at the head of a company of birds. Now one day, as the boughs of this tree were grinding one against the other, dust began to fall soon followed by smoke. When the Bodhisatta became aware of this, he thought to himself:- “If these two boughs go on grinding against one another like this, they will produce fire; and the fire will fall and catch hold of the old leaves, and so come to set fire to this tree as well. We cannot live on here; the proper thing to do is to hasten off elsewhere.”