Once upon a time an elephant came upon a giant tree in the
forest by the river bank. He rested under its shade for a rest.
Soon a monkey came to rest there also. The elephant said,
"This is my tree. I found it first." The monkey replied, "Do you
see any fruit on this tree?" "No" said the elephant. The monkey
said triumphantly, "Ah! I was here before you. I ate up the fruits on this
tree before you got here." The elephant then bowed to the monkey,
"OK, you're my big brother, since you came here first." "Wait a
minute" said the rabbit that hopped by, "When I saw this tree,
it was just a sapling with only a few branches and certainly not any fruit. So
I was here before both of you." Then the elephant and monkey bowed to the
rabbit: "OK, you're our big brother, since you were here first." Just
then, they heard "Ha! Ha! Ha!" from a partridge on the
treetop: "This tree wouldn't have sprouted if I didn't spit out the seed
from a fruit I had eaten. So I was here before all of you." Then the
elephant, monkey, and rabbit, all bowed to the partridge, "OK, you're
truly our big brother, since you planted this very tree." Then they
decided to share the tree together in peaceful harmonyó enjoying the beauty of
the tree's fragrance, the nourishment of the tree's fruits, and the bounty of
the tree's shade. Other animals in the forest often see them together with the
partridge on top of the rabbit who is held up by the monkey who rides on top of
the elephant. Henceforth, they were called "the four harmonious
brothers", and by their example, peace reigned throughout the
jungle.
In one of the Buddha's previous lifetimes, in the forest of
Kashika, there lived four noble beings - a bird, a monkey, a rabbit, and an
elephant. The four, who drank at the same spring, soon became friends. One day
they decided that it would be proper to show the greatest respect for the
eldest among them. To determine their respective ages, each one recalled the
height of a nearby nyagrota tree when he had first seen it.
The elephant said, “I must be the oldest. I remember that when I was born the shadow of
the tree fell across my body.”
The monkey said, “I must be the older than the elephant. When I was born the tree had the same size as
me.”
The rabbit said, “I must be older than either of you. When I was born, the seed of the tree was
just sprouting. I took a young leaf and
ate it.”
The partridge said, “I am older than any of you. When I was born I ate the fruit of a tree
south of this spring. The seed of the nyagrota
tree passed through my body as waste. So
I planted it.”
The four then showed each other respect accordingly.
The elephant placed the bird on the crown of his head, the rabbit on his neck,
and the monkey on his back. Then the bird said, "Now we must keep the five
basic disciplines throughout our lives." This they did, and to insure that
all other beings did the same, the bird initiated all those with wings, the
elephant initiated all those with fangs, the rabbit initiated all those with
paws, and the monkey initiated all those with fur. Even today, these animals
are depicted in Buddhist art as a portrait of harmony, especially in Buddhist
monastery wall paintings.
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