Ruru Jātaka

The Buddha told this story while staying at the Bamboo Grove, after the monks fell to discussing the treachery of Devadatta, who denied owing the Buddha anything despite having received ordination, instruction in the Three Baskets, and many gifts and honors through him. 'It is not the first time Devadatta has been ungrateful,' the Buddha said. 'Long ago, too, his life was saved by me, and still he did not know the greatness of that debt.' So saying, he told this story of the past, preserved today as Jātaka No. 482 in the Terasakanipāta (the book of tales told in thirteen verses) of the Khuddaka Nikāya's Jātaka collection.

In ancient times, when King Brahmadatta reigned in Baranasi, the Bodhisatta was born as a magnificent stag named Ruru. His body was radiant like burnished gold, his hooves shone like polished lapis lazuli, his eyes were clear as sparkling gems, and his branching antlers gleamed like silver filigree. He dwelt in absolute secrecy within a secluded, fragrant thicket of red lotuses and mango trees near the bends of the river Ganges, far from the paths of hunters and men.

In Baranasi lived a reckless youth named Mahādhanaka, the pampered son of a wealthy merchant. Falling into bad company, gambling, and prodigal extravagance, he squandered his ancestral estate of eighty crores and plunged heavily into debt. Pursued relentlessly by furious creditors who threatened to drag him into debtor's prison, the youth devised one last scheme: he led them to the banks of the Ganges, insisting his family's treasure lay buried on the far shore, then slipped away from them in the dead of night, wailing: 'Better to drown in the deep waters than rot in chains!' He threw himself into the swollen, roaring current.

Downstream, the Bodhisatta was resting in his riverbank bower when he heard agonizing human cries echoing through the darkness: 'Save me! I drown!' Overcome with boundless compassion, the golden stag paid no heed to his own safety. Plunging into the icy torrent, he swam out to the drowning youth, positioned himself beneath the struggling body, and bade the man cling firmly to his back. Battling the fierce eddies for hours, the noble stag brought the gasping debtor safely ashore, warmed him with his own breath, and fed him sweet forest berries.

Before the youth departed, the Bodhisatta addressed him gently: 'Friend, I ask only one recompense for saving your life: do not reveal my dwelling place to any mortal. Man is fickle and prone to greed; if the king or hunters learn of my golden pelt, they will shoot me for sport.' The youth wept, touched the dust of the stag's hooves, and swore a solemn oath: 'O lord of stags, you are my father and savior! May my tongue rot from my mouth if I ever betray your sanctuary!'

Meanwhile, Queen Khemā of Baranasi experienced a vivid celestial dream wherein a golden stag with silver antlers preached the sweet Dhamma from a royal throne. Waking with an overpowering craving, she informed the king that unless she sat beside that golden deer, she would die of heartbreak. King Brahmadatta loved his queen dearly; he announced by royal heralds that whoever led the king to the golden stag would receive a purse of a thousand pieces of money in a golden casket, with the richly adorned elephant that carried it or a better one, and, as the verse engraved on a golden tablet put it, fair women and a choice village.

Mahādhanaka, having returned to his squalor in the city, heard the herald's proclamation. The poison of greed erased all remembrance of gratitude. He ran to the royal palace and cried: 'Your Majesty, I know the exact thicket where the golden stag sleeps! Give me the village, and I will deliver him into your hands!'

The king mounted his chariot and marched with an army of archers into the deep forest, guided by the traitor. Surrounding the lotus thicket with heavy nets, the soldiers raised a deafening war clamor. Hearing the noise, the Bodhisatta saw the encirclement and thought: 'If I charge blindly, their arrows will kill many. I shall approach the king directly, for truth is an invincible shield.' Parting the golden reeds, the stag strode forth with sovereign majesty. The archers lowered their bows in stunned adoration. Approaching the royal chariot, the Bodhisatta spoke with a voice like a sweet bronze bell: 'O King of men, who informed you of my secret refuge in this trackless wild?'

The king pointed his golden bow at Mahādhanaka, who stood trembling beside the chariot: 'That man showed us the way!'

The Bodhisatta turned his clear, luminous eyes upon the traitor and delivered thirteen immortal verses on the tragedy of human ingratitude: 'Alas for the heart of mortal men! Better is it to rescue an ungrateful tree-trunk floating upon the waters than to rescue a treacherous man! From the depths of the Ganges, while cold death clutched his throat, I drew him upon my back. He swore eternal loyalty, yet for a handful of yellow dirt he sells the life of his savior!'

Hearing these words, King Brahmadatta was seized with burning indignation. Notching an arrow to his bowstring, he aimed straight at Mahādhanaka's heart: 'Traitor! You shall not enjoy the village you bought with the blood of your benefactor! You shall die this instant!'

Instantly, the Bodhisatta bounded forward and shielded the trembling wretch with his own golden body, pleading: 'No, Great King! Do not kill him! The noble do not repay evil with violence. Forgive him, and let him have the reward he coveted, for malice cannot be extinguished by slaughter.' King Brahmadatta, weeping with awe at such transcendent forbearance, dropped his bow, fell upon his knees before the stag, and escorted him in a royal litter to the capital. There, seated upon a jeweled throne in the royal palace, the golden stag preached the path of universal harmlessness (ahiṁsā) to the king, queen, and citizens. The king issued an imperial decree proclaiming absolute inviolable sanctuary (abhaya) for all quadrupeds, birds, and fish throughout the realm, establishing an era of peace that endured for generations.

At the story's end, the Buddha identified the birth for the monks at the Bamboo Grove: the ungrateful debtor Mahādhanaka was Devadatta in that former life, Queen Khemā was the nun Khemā, King Brahmadatta was the Elder Ānanda, and the golden stag who forgave his betrayer was the Buddha himself.