The Dhamma Jātaka

The Buddha told this story at Jetavana, and the Jātaka Aṭṭhakathā, the classical Pali commentary on the birth stories, numbers it as Jātaka No. 457. The monks were gathered in the hall, speaking of Devadatta. They said that he had set himself against the Tathāgata, an honorific title for the Buddha, and had been swallowed up by the earth. The Buddha came in and asked what they were discussing. When they told him, he said that this was not the first time Devadatta had set himself against Right, and that he had met the same end before. Then he told a story from the past.

In the days when Brahmadatta was king of Benares, the Bodhisatta was born as a god named Dhamma, which means Right. Devadatta was born as a god named Adhamma, which means Wrong. On a full-moon observance day, the two came down to the world of men, each in a splendid chariot with a company of heavenly attendants. They went in different directions, and each taught people according to his own nature.

Dhamma circled India keeping the country on his right hand, which was the honoured way. He taught the people the path of good conduct. He told them not to take the life of living beings and to follow the other wholesome paths of action. He urged them to honour their parents, the sages, and the brahmins, and to practise generosity. He promised that those who did so would be reborn in heaven.

Adhamma circled India keeping the country on his left hand. He taught the reverse of everything Dhamma taught. He urged people to take life and to follow the unwholesome paths of action. The two gods thus left behind them two groups of listeners, and the result of what each had taught was already waiting for those who followed.

At last the two chariots met in the sky, and neither could pass the other. The attendants of each god asked whose side they should take, and the gods recognised one another. Dhamma claimed the right of way. He said that people's fame came through his grace and that sages and brahmins always praised him. He was the elder by birth, and Wrong had been born later in time.

Adhamma answered with boasts. He said that no one could frighten him as he rode his mighty car, and he challenged Dhamma to fight. He declared that neither worthiness nor fairness would make him turn aside. Dhamma replied that he held every virtue and asked how Wrong could possibly prevail. Gold is beaten by iron, he said, and never the other way round; if Wrong were ever to win against Right, then iron would become as beautiful as gold. With calm confidence he then vowed to swallow all of Wrong's evil words and make him give way.

The moment Dhamma finished speaking, Adhamma toppled from his chariot. He fell headlong, and the earth opened to receive him, and he was reborn in the lowest hell. Dhamma went on across the sky in his chariot, and no one barred his way. The Buddha then added further verses. He said that a person who neglects duty to parents, sages, and brahmins goes the way Adhamma went, while one who honours them rises toward heaven as Dhamma rose in his chariot.

At the end, the Buddha named the birth. Devadatta had been Adhamma, and the followers of Devadatta had been the attendants of Adhamma. The Buddha himself had been Dhamma, and the Buddha's attendants had been the attendants of Dhamma. The tale showed the monks that Devadatta's fate was a repetition of an older pattern, and not a new misfortune.

The Jātaka Aṭṭhakathā keeps this story as a plain lesson about the pull between right and wrong. Adhamma was loud and boastful, and Dhamma was calm and sure. The tale does not say that wrong is weak in appearance. It says that those who stand against Right cannot stand for long. For a devotee today the story is a reminder to honour parents and teachers and to hold to wholesome conduct even when the opposing voice is louder. Right does not need to shout, because its strength comes from truth.