Litta Jātaka

The Litta Jataka, numbered 91 in the Pali collection and recorded in the Jataka Atthakatha (the traditional Pali commentary that preserves the full jataka stories), was told by the Buddha at Jetavana. Its theme was the careless use of things. The tradition says that many monks of that time used their robes and other gifts without thinking about their purpose.

Seeing this, the Buddha taught the virtues of care and warned of the danger in careless use. He laid down a rule for the four requisites, which are robes, almsfood, lodging and medicine. A thoughtful monk wears a robe with a clear purpose, namely to keep off the cold. The same reflection applies to the other three.

The Buddha then said that careless use is like swallowing deadly poison. He added that in the past some people had taken poison unwittingly and suffered for it in due time. With these words he began the story of the past.

Once, when Brahmadatta reigned in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born into a well-to-do family. When he grew up, he became a dice-player. A sharper, a cheat who rigged games to win, used to play against him, and this man had a dishonest habit.

While he was winning, the sharper played on happily. When luck turned against him, he put one of the dice into his mouth and pretended it was lost. That ended the game, and he went away without paying. The Bodhisatta watched this happen more than once.

The Bodhisatta understood what was being done and decided to look into the matter. He took some dice home and anointed them with poison. He dried them carefully so that they looked quite ordinary. Then he carried them to the sharper and challenged him to a game.

The sharper agreed, the board was set out, and play began. No sooner did he start to lose than he popped one of the dice into his mouth. The Bodhisatta saw him do it and spoke calmly. He told him to swallow away, for he would soon learn what the die really was.

Then the Bodhisatta spoke a verse. In it he said that the cheat bolted the die boldly, not knowing the burning poison hidden on it. He told him to go on swallowing, for soon he would burn within. These words were not a threat made in anger. They were the plain statement of what the sharper had brought upon himself.

While the Bodhisatta was still speaking, the poison began to work. The sharper grew faint, rolled his eyes, and fell to the ground bent double with pain. At once the Bodhisatta thought that he must save the man's life. He mixed some herbs and gave an emetic until the sharper vomited. Then he gave him a draught of ghee with honey, sugar and other ingredients, and the man recovered.

When the man was well again, the Bodhisatta urged him never to do such a thing again. He did not punish him further. He lived on, giving alms and doing good, and when his life ended he passed on to fare according to his deeds.

His lesson ended, the Buddha said that the thoughtless use of things is like the thoughtless taking of deadly poison. He then identified the birth by saying that he himself had been the wise and good gambler of those days. The Pali note adds that the sharper is not identified, because persons who are not spoken of at the present date are not named.

The story works on two levels. On the surface it shows a cheat undone by his own habit, and a wise man who corrects him without cruelty. Beneath that, it makes a point about daily discipline. A robe, a meal, a roof and a medicine are ordinary things, yet used without reflection they feed craving. The Bodhisatta cures the sharper and the Buddha cures the monks by the same method: he shows the harm plainly, and then he offers the remedy.