145. The Story of Rādha [Rādha-Jātaka]

At one time when Buddha was living in the Jeta grove, one monk who was infatuated with his former wife after his ordination was ready to disrobe. Buddha heard this. The reason for disclosing the following Jātaka story comes in the Indriya-Jātaka [No. 423] further on.

[At one time, a householder when he was advanced in years wanted to give up his lay life and be ordained. When he was ordained, he felt that it was difficult to lead a life without a woman as in monkhood. According to his foolish thought of becoming a layman again, the chief ascetic said, “If you disrobe, you will have to suffer a lot. …” Finally, the monk who wanted to disrobe realized, as his teacher had explained, “If I go and live a lay life again, I will have to kill animals for meat. Then I will be reborn in hell and I will have to suffer. In my lay life, my present physical strength will not last forever. I will suffer when I am physically weak.” Thinking such thoughts, he gave up his thought to be a layman and he began to meditate as before. He knelt down, begging pardon in the presence of his teacher, and he started to meditate. … Finally, he meditated and learned to control his lust, he gained mental absorption, and he was reborn in the Brahma world.]

To the monk who had become infatuated with his former wife and was trying to disrobe, the Buddha said, “Not only in this life are you trying to do this, but such was so also in a former life. Even in the past, you could not control your unwholesome lust. Therefore it is not surprising that you have such urges.” Saying so, the other monks requested the Buddha to disclose the past story, and Buddha related this story:

At one time, a king called Brahmadatta was ruling in Benares. At that time, the Enlightenment Being was born as a parrot.

A Brahmin captured the Enlightenment Being, who was a parrot, and his younger brother also. He brought them to his home. The Enlightenment Being was named Poææhapāda, and his brother was named Rādha. He brought both up as his own children.

Once, the Brahmin wanted to leave his home on business. He summoned his two parrot children and said to them, “If your Brahmin mother does something wrong when I am gone, you must admonish her not to do so. If you do not think you can stop her misconduct, say nothing.” Saying so, he left.

From that time, there were limitless people coming in and going out of the house. On seeing this, the Enlightenment Being’s brother said to the Enlightenment Being, “When the Brahmin left, he asked us to admonish his wife if there was any wrongdoing. Shall I admonish her?” The Enlightenment Being parrot said, “My brother, you are not yet matured. You say this because you do not understand, and have no experience with women. During the ten hours of the morning, the number of men who come here are not countable. In the ten hours of the afternoon, it is also difficult to say the number of those people who come. Therefore, in such a situation, what advice can we give?” He asked his younger brother, therefore, not to speak. After a few days, the Brahmin returned.

When the Brahmin returned, he asked the Enlightenment Being, “How was my wife’s behavior?” The Enlightenment Being said, “There was a myriad of bad behavior. She behaved in this way because she does not love you. Therefore, it is not good to keep her in your home.” He further said, “From this point on, it is not good for myself and my brother to stay here.” And he thought that he should leave. He summoned his younger brother, went to the Brahmin, knelt down in homage, and begged pardon for his faults. They then returned to the forest.

The Buddha finalized this story, saying, “The Brahmin woman at that time was the former wife of the monk today. The Brahmin was this monk. The parrot Rādha, the younger brother, was the Venerable Ānanda. And the parrot Poææhapāda was I who am today the Buddha.”

The moral: “Misplaced lust will not bring you to the correct path.”

145. The Story of Rādha [Rādha-Jātaka]

Link: https://hhdorjechangbuddhaiiiinfo.com/2025/11/13/145-the-story-of-radha-radha-jataka/

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