SARAMBHA JATAKA



"Speak kindly."--This story was told by the Master while at Savatthi, about the precept touching abusive language. The introductory story and the story of the past are the same as in the Nandi-Visala Jataka above.

But in this case there is the difference that the Bodhisattva was an ox named Sarambha, and belonged to a Brahmin of Takkasila in the kingdom of Gandhara. After telling the story of the past, the Master, as Buddha, uttered this stanza:--

"Speak kindly, revile not your fellow;
Love kindness; reviling breeds sorrow."

When the Master had ended his lesson he identified the Birth by saying, "Ananda was the Brahmin of those days, Uppalavanna his wife, and I Sarambha."