Reading guide
Shipwrecked refugees, and two gods who disagree
Per Sujato's comment, castaways reflect on the abundance of their remote, lonely isle: full of food and drink, with no one else laying claim to it — better, they say, than the mainland (Jambudīpā) they came from. A righteous god then appears in the north, warning that a great flood will drown the island when the fifteenth-day full moon rises, and urging them to leave for another haven. A second god then appears in the south, flatly contradicting the first: no flood is coming, he has seen as much through many signs, and the refugees should stay and celebrate. A foolish refugee, per the comment, endorses the reassuring southern god, certain his message is the true one.
A wise refugee's hedge, and a lesson about which voice to trust
A second, wiser refugee counsels differently: since the two gods directly contradict each other, and there is no way yet to know which one is right, the group should build a strong boat regardless. If the reassuring southern god turns out to be right, the boat goes unused and nothing is lost; if the warning northern god is right, the boat alone saves them. The poem then draws its own explicit general lesson: best not to simply accept the last word one happens to hear, when what was spoken first may in fact have been the true account — whoever examines a claim for its truth, rather than simply trusting whoever spoke most recently, reaches the better outcome.
Verses attributed to the Buddha, and the close of this site's Jātaka selection
Sujato's comment identifies the poem's final three stanzas as ‘editorializing verses’ attributed directly to the Buddha, drawing the story's particular case out into a general teaching: prepare now for what the future will demand of you, so that the duty does not catch you unprepared when its time comes; those who fail to do so, distracted by present comforts, sink just as the foolish refugees nearly did. Despite belonging to the Cūḷakuṇālavagga, a chapter named for the far more famous Kuṇāla story, this poem is an entirely separate, unrelated tale. With this poem, this site's Jātaka selection reaches its own full extent of 82 poems — the maximum available given Sujato's own translation coverage of the traditional 547.
Key terms
The text
§1“Those folk sow and reap, men living on the fruit of their work. They have no share of this island. This is better far than India!”
§2“When the fifteenth day full moon has risen, there will be a great flood from the sea, drowning this splendid isle. Let it not destroy you all! Go to some other haven!”
§3“Never shall a mighty flood of water from the sea drown this splendid isle—I have seen that through many a sign. Don’t fear! Why worry? Celebrate! You’ve come to this splendid abode, full of food and drink. I see no danger for you at all—Celebrate, even unto the sons of sons!”
§4“This god in the southern quarter crying, ‘It is safe!’: his is the truth! The northern doesn’t know if there’s a danger or not. Don’t fear! Why worry? Celebrate!”
§5“As these spirits argue, one reporting danger, one safety, please heed my advice, lest we perish swift and fleet. Let all join together to build a boat, a strong vessel fully equipped. If this southern one speaks true, and is falsely rejected by the northern, it shall serve us in time of need, and we would not give up the island. But if the northern speaks true, and is falsely rejected by the southern, then having all boarded the boat, we shall cross safely to the far shore. Truly, best not accept the last word that came your way, when what was spoken by the first was best. Who here accepts the truth after examination, that man goes to the best place.”
§6Just as, in the middle of the watery sea, the merchants fled to safety by their own efforts, so, realizing his future welfare, he of vast wisdom transgresses not at all. Fools deluded by desire for tastes, not realizing their future welfare, sink down in face of present need, like those people in mid-ocean. Prepare what must be done for the future, thinking, ‘Let what must be done not harm me on the day the duty ripens.’ The kind who acts to prepare what must be done, is not harmed by what must be done on the day the duty ripens.”
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