Jataka Tales – Dinner Plans – {Ep.191} – Stories From India – Podcast

A couple of Jataka tales about a donkey that wants to sing, and a goat who just wants to get home!

Introduction

Welcome to “Stories From India”. This is a podcast that will take you on a journey through the rich mythology, folklore and history of the Indian subcontinent. I am Narada Muni, the celestial storyteller and the original “time lord”. With my ability to travel through space and time, I can bring you exciting and fascinating stories from the past, the present, and the future. From the epic tales of the Mahabharata and Ramayana to the folktales of the Panchatantra to stories of Akbar-Birbal and Tenali Raman, I have a story for every occasion.

The purpose of the stories is neither to pass judgment nor to indoctrinate. My goal is only to share these stories with people who may not have heard them before and to make them more entertaining for those who have.

Today’s Story

We’re back to the Jataka tales. We’ll cover two stories – the main one tells us what happens to a donkey with a misplaced sense of optimism in its singing abilities. And in the second story, which is going to be a very short one – we’ll see why you have to always be on the lookout from evil predators who’ll find any kind of moral justification to prey on you. 

The Donkey

The Donkey was tired. It was the same thing day in, and day out. She was a Dhobi’s donkey. A Dhobi in case you don’t know is a person who washes clothes. Remember that the story is set thousands of years ago, when washing machines didn’t exist. People could take their clothes down to the riverbank and wash them there, but it was a lot simpler to outsource the task to a Dhobi. It was also more cost-efficient for the Dhobi to buy detergent in bulk than for each person to do it individually.

Over the years, the Dhobi that this Donkey belonged to had expanded his business. If you’d walked along any street in this Dhobi’s village, you’d see posters offering “Dhiraj Dhobi’s Dheerth Dhulai” and his offer advertising one kurta cleaned free for every regular priced dhoti washing. New customers only.

Expanded business was great for the Dhobi’s bank account, but maybe not so great for the Dhobi’s donkey. Everyday, she was the one who had to carry all the clothes from the Dhobi’s office to the river bank, and then back again. The wet clothes were heavier than the dirty ones. That made it a harder trip. And the Donkey? She wasn’t getting any younger.

Sure she was a beast of burden, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have aspirations of her own. There was one profession that interested her more than anything else in this world. It was to be a singer. She had the sweetest voice of all, she thought. When she was a child, her mother would often ask her to sing. And the Donkey would oblige. Often, people would throw tomatoes at her as a reward. She loved tomatoes!

And right now, here she was – a promising artist – but she was stuck in this dull routine of walking to the river bank, and walking back. It was no fun if she couldn’t even sing. The Dhobi didn’t like her singing. Well no, that wasn’t accurate the Donkey thought. Technically, the Dhobi loved her singing. But she supposed that the Dhobi didn’t encourage it when they were at the river bank because the Donkey’s melodious voice would distract the Dhobi from doing her work. And then who would earn their living? As it is, there was barely enough food for the Dhobi to get by. The Donkey was practically starving everyday.

The Dhobi also discouraged her from singing at home. He said there might be a tomato shortage, and the neighbors would feel bad listening to the Donkey’s song for free without being able to afford a few tomatoes to throw at the Donkey.

Come to think of it, the Dhobi also stopped the Donkey from singing on the way to the riverbank and back. The path went through the forest, and the Dhobi was worried that her melodious voice might attract some wild animals – you know tigers, lions. The sort that eat Donkeys and people alike. 

On this particular journey back, the Donkey had decided that she was going to sing. Otherwise how could her vocal chords get the exercise they deserved? She was going to take a chance and sing right here. But before she could clear her throat and blurt out her first note, the Dhobi jerked her reins and brought her to a halt.

They both stared at the path in front of them. There was a tiger, lying down. It’s funny that the Tiger was just lying there, on the path. It wasn’t moving or anything. It didn’t even seem to be breathing. Carefully, the Dhobi walked up and looked. Yes, the Tiger had indeed passed away.

The Dhobi said a few words to eulogize the tiger, and all the people and cattle it had eaten over the years. And then he immediately began wondering what tiger meat tasted like. 

The Dhobi also thanked his lucky stars that he had done a taxidermy correspondence course last summer. Now, it was going to be very useful. Not only was his hunger problem going to be solved, but his Donkey’s as well. He’d be eating Tiger vada pav for a while, but not his Donkey. “You, my dear girl, are going to eat whatever you want! You’ll get a lot stronger and then I can double my business!”

The Donkey was puzzled. “How, exactly?” she asked. Only, she said it in Donkey language – the only language she could speak.

The Dhobi guessed what she was trying to ask, so he supplied the answer. “This tiger is your meal ticket. Just wait and see. For now though, you’ll have to carry this tiger’s body along with all the clothes”

The Donkey struggled to carry both the clothes and the dead tiger. But somehow she managed it. She was about to collapse more than once on the way back. Fortunately, the Dhobi’s house was the first one coming out of the forest.

When they reached it, she did collapse, exhausted. But the Dhobi seemed energized by the task ahead. He quickly got out his taxidermy kit and began work on the tiger.

The next day when the Donkey finally woke up, she was surprised to see that she had new clothes to wear! Or rather, one cloth. It was an overall. With orange and white stripes. And it had a head. Wait a minute! What had the Dhobi done? Was he ruining her Halloween surprise, like 8 months early?

The Dhobi told her to be patient and wait for nightfall. She would be getting plenty to eat.

That night they did venture out of the hut. It was chilly, so the Dhobi put the Tiger costume on the Donkey. They set out for a walk. The farms in and around the village grew all kinds of grains and vegetables, and the sweet aroma of those wafted towards the very hungry Donkey.

She looked quizzically at the Dhobi who assured her, yes she was going to go eat anything she wanted from any of the farms. And no – she need not worry that there might be a repeat of what happened last time.

You see, this isn’t the first time that the Donkey would be tasting those delicious farm vegetables. When they had initially moved into the village years ago, the Dhobi had let her loose on a neighbor’s cucumber farm. The Donkey had barely eaten one when the owner came rushing with a big stick and started beating the Donkey.

The Dhobi made an excuse to the farmer about the Donkey having gotten loose, and lost its way. It was a new village after all. The farmer grudgingly decided not to press charges, but warned the Dhobi and the Donkey both that next time it would be a lot worse – he wouldn’t spare the Dhobi, and he would take the Donkey to the panchayat, or the village court. Actually the other way around. Doesn’t matter – just don’t forget the two key elements – one of them was going to the panchayat, and the other was going to be beaten to death.

That experience had left deep scars in the Donkey’s mind. At the boundary of the farm, the Donkey hesitated to step into it. The farmer had even installed the latest intruder detection system, with alarm bells on strings going off if someone so much as stepped foot on an inch of his property.

The Dhobi gently reassured her that all will be well. The farmer won’t do a thing. 

The Donkey took a leap of faith and stepped into the farm. Immediately she began eating all the cucumbers, in case she was going to be beaten again, she might as well make it worthwhile.

No sooner had she stepped in, the farmer burst out of his main door. The farmer had been monitoring his switchboard which showed little bells that were connected to strings from the alarm system in his farm. He saw that the intrusion was happening in sector 17, right near the Dhobi’s house. This time, the farmer was not going to spare the donkey. He grabbed the strongest rod he had – a size 17 that he had custom ordered for just such occasions.

The Dhobi had gone and hid behind a tree, but before doing so he had urged the Donkey not to move. That worked out really well for them. Because the moment the farmer saw the Donkey he dropped his size 17 stick and ran for dear life back into his farm. And when he got inside he thanked the gods for sparing his life, even though not a moment ago he had not considered sparing the intruder’s life. Well, how was he to know the intruder was a full-grown tiger?

Lucky for him, the Tiger didn’t chase him. It seemed busy with the cucumbers. A vegetable eating Tiger seemed unusual, but hey – what did he know about Tiger eating habits? Maybe the Tiger’s doctor had prescribed a lot of Vitamin K, the deficiency probably coming from eating too many unhealthy humans.

The Donkey meanwhile rejoiced and ate every single unripe cucumber in the farm tonight.

After that this became a regular event. Every night, the Donkey grazed to her heart’s content on one farm after another. One night, she decided as she was eating some delicious watermelons – that she had no need to go into the singing competition after all. She had applied for Indian Idol and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa,  but was going to withdraw her applications. She would still sing privately for herself, but she need not aim to do it for a living. After all, animals like her didn’t care for Roti, Kapda and Makaan. They just cared for the roti. Or in this case, watermelons. She carried on chomping on them.

The Panchayat meanwhile was viewing this matter very seriously. They set up committees and special counsels that examined the topic for several weeks. They later set up a special committee to study the work of all these committees. Many weeks later, this special committee came back with its conclusions on the two main problems. First – the villagers were losing their vegetables and grains. And second, they had an excess of cattle. Every farmer had bought an extra pair of goats, or sheep or cows – all under the assumption that the Tiger would be eating them. The root cause of both problems was that the Tiger had turned vegetarian.

The only solution recommended by this special committee was to tempt the tiger back into its carnivorous diet. So they decided that they would let loose a plump goat in the areas that the tiger liked. That would solve the excess cattle problem and turn the tiger back into a carnivore. It was a clever solution. But it didn’t work. The next day, people complained that the tiger and the goat were seen cooperatively eating vegetables.

While people despaired, a vigilante group of villagers decided to take matters into their own hands. They went to the village witch doctor for a cure. The witch doctor said that this particular tiger had a strong dislike for specific songs. The one he recommended is called “Pardesi, Pardesi jaana nahin”. But when the villagers objected that the lyrics of the song were the opposite of what they wanted, the witch doctor told them that this was fine. It was just a bit of reverse psychology.

So that night, this vigilante group banded together into a band. Complete with drums and veenas and such. The moment one of them saw the tiger they all started playing their drums and making music, and singing. 

The Donkey heard all this. And she loved it! This had to be her favorite song. She stopped gobbling apples, and raised her head and cleared her throat. At the next verse, she joined in. And that’s putting it mildly because her vocal chords were very well strengthened after all the nutritious food she had been eating all these weeks. When she burst into song with “Pardesi jaana nahin” it was loud enough that the drumming halted! No doubt those villagers were mesmerized and wanted to continue hearing her. She didn’t stop. Her audience deserved to get what they had come for. She finished the song. Twice more. And would have gone on a third time except that’s when she was attacked from all sides.

You see, the moment the Donkey started singing, the villagers heard her. And were surprised that their “Tiger” was singing in a Donkey’s voice. Unless it was a Donkey. Which neatly explained why it was eating vegetables. That’s what it must be then. 

What followed next, wasn’t just because of the villagers’ anger that the Donkey in a Tiger costume had been eating their vegetables. The bigger crime was that the villagers had been made to look silly.

Without going into any of the gory details, let’s just say that the Donkey did not survive that night. As for the Dhobi, he would have gotten away scot free if he hadn’t been vain enough to put a “Property of” label on the Tiger skin. He was disgraced and all his life savings were seized by the Panchayat. They used them to compensate for the losses the farmers had suffered. Not just all the vegetables they had lost, but even the sticks they had broken because of the zeal  with which they had punished the Donkey.

The experience for him had been a total washout.

The Panther and the Goat

Once upon a time there was a Goat. She was part of a herd. Their goatherd was a lazy boy who just slept all day without caring what had happened to any of the goats. He took them to different areas of the hills they lived in, and let them do whatever as long as they were all done and back at his sleeping spot by sunset. He was definitely not a micromanager.

This usually worked well for all of them. But not today. And not for this Goat.

Yes, there had been talk of wild animals. And warnings from worried parents and uncles and aunts. Don’t stray too far. Always wear the collar with the bell. Stay away from the dark woods. But never in her 3 entire months of existence had she seen a single wild animal.

And the grass was sweeter nearer the dark woods. So today, that’s where she was. She was out of sight from the rest of the herd. But that was okay too. She liked her privacy.

She thought the afternoon was getting on, and that she’d better head back. But before she could walk more than a few steps, a giant Panther leapt in front of her.

“How dare you block my path?” the panther declared, though clearly he was the one blocking her.

She knew there was no way to outrun this Panther, who was positively drooling at this point. “How are you dear Sir? I hope your family is all well.”

“They are not. They are hungry! You’ve deeply offended me by bringing up that topic. You’re rubbing salt on my wounds. Speaking of which, and in a complete change of topic, do you know how much salt you need if I’m serving you with carrots and beans and a side of mashed potatoes?”

“2 teaspoons,” the goat said. “Now back to the more serious matter.” She could see that her tactic of being polite wasn’t going to help. She tried to act tough.

“I hope you’re not thinking of eating me. I’ve got Salmonella. You and your family will only suffer”

“Nice try. But it’s not going to work. You see I found a pamphlet called ‘The Goat’s survival guide – 40 ways to trick wild beasts into not eating you’. One of you goats must have carelessly left it lying around, and then luckily the wind blew it my way. Salmonella is trick no. 1, and trust me my dear dinner, I know everything from numbers 2 through 40, and I know a lot more besides.”

I give you one guess as to what happened next. Tiny goat against massively powerful Panther. It was no contest. The best I can say is that the Panther family were no longer hungry after dinner that night.

That’s all for now

Some notes on the show

Both of the stories in today’s show have an equivalent in other cultures. They both occur in multiple cultures all over  the world, from Aesop’s fables, to Chinese mythology. 

The first story has two main variations in other cultures. In both of them, the donkey manages to put on a lion or tiger skin all by itself, without human help. Doesn’t seem plausible without helping hands. In the first variation, the Donkey manages to scare all the animals in the jungle, except a fox who tricks it into braying. In the second variation, the Donkey’s identity is discovered not by its voice, but by its ears, which are sticking out. So it looks like a lion with donkey ears.

In the case of the panther and the goat, Aesop’s fable equivalent is a wolf and a lamb. They both happen to be at a stream drinking water. The wolf makes one illogical excuse after another to attack the lamb.

The Jataka Tales are a collection of stories told by the Buddha. Some of these stories are about 2500 years old. Back then, most lessons were only available in a language that wasn’t really understandable by the common person. Only the rich and the famous got an education because of this. The Jataka tales worked to spread the Buddha’s teachings. We’ve covered a few before. Check out the links in the show notes and on the site sfipodcast.com if you’d like to listen to those episodes:

Episode 79 – Jataka Tales – Mission Impossible

18 – Monkey Business

Episode 14 – Of Mice and Men

Episode 107 – The King and Hisss Superpower

Episode 117 – Jataka Tales – Gratitude

But there are hundreds of these stories. And they usually all have a moral at the end.

That’s all for now. 

Next Time

Some of you requested a story about Shiva, the destroyer of the Universe, and next weekend after all, is Shivaratri. So in the next episode we’ll be doing a story about Shiva. We’ll see: that if Shiva is teaching you something, it’s a really bad idea to fall asleep in the middle of the lecture. We’ll also see how it’s possible to impress your father-in-law. All you need is for your bull friend to transform into a bulk shark. We’ll talk a little bit about the conflicting origins. 

Feedback

Thank you all for the comments on Social Media and on Spotify’s Q&A! I can’t directly reply to the questions there, but I’ll address them here on this show.

I hear the request around Mayasura. I’m going to cover it soon. Meanwhile we had covered Mayasura in Episode 146, when he constructed Tripura. We’re also pretty close to that point of the Mahabharata where Mayasura does his palace building thing, so he’ll feature there as well.

Yogeta, we covered Sita’s swayamvar as well as Ram’s rather conversation with Parshuram in Episode 16.

Rez – thank you for suggesting the Sakshigopal story. That is also coming up soon. 

I have so many more stories to tell – some about the chiranjeevis that a few of you asked for, Chandrakanta, the rivers including Brahmaputra, Dattatreya, Dakshinmurthy. Then of course I have to continue telling the Ramayana, the Mahbaharata, and some of you have requested more stories of Akbar Birbal and Tenali Raman, and several other folk tales. I appreciate your patience as I get through all the requests.

If you have any other comments or suggestions or if there are particular stories you’d like to hear, please do let me know by leaving a comment or a review on the site sfipodcast.com, or tweet @sfipodcast, or reply to the questions on Spotify Q&A. You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook.

Be sure to subscribe to the show to get notified automatically of new episodes.

A big thank you to each of you for your continued support and your feedback.

The music is from Purple Planet.

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time!