The lion, the jackal and the cave…

Read the previous part here

When fate is against you, what can you do? The ministers and the king once again ignored this warning of Raktāksha, and Sthirajeevin continued to be well-fed and taken care of. Seeing this as a point of no return, Raktāksha called his followers and said…

“The king was safe for all these years, and hence so was the fort. But now, we have in front of us, an impending doom. For generations, my family has served our tribe, and I have served my whole life under AriMardana, giving him prudent advice. This time too, I tried my best to advise him well. Unfortunately, he and his council of ministers have not heeded my advice. And so it is time for us to go. We have to save our lives, and find some other fort in some other mountain. It is said…”

अनागतं यः कुरुते स शोभते स शोचते यो न करोत्य् अनागतम् ।
वने वसन्न् एव जराम् उपागतो बिलस्य वाचा न कदापि हि श्रुता ॥ २१७ ॥

anāgataṃ yaḥ kurute sa śobhate sa śocate yo na karoty anāgatam |
vane vasann eva jarām upāgato bilasya vācā na kadāpi hi śrutā || 217 ||

He who takes decisions keeping the future in mind, performs well. He who takes decisions without considering the future implications, always suffers. I have grown up in this very forest but have never heard a cave talking.

His followers asked him “How did that happen?”

Raktāksha replied…


सिंहजम्बुकगुहाकथा

The story of the lion and the jackal and the cave

In a forest, not so far away from here, lived a lion named KharaNakhara (the one with sharp nails). One day, as he wandered around the forest, thirsty and hungry, he came across a huge cave. ” I have been roaming the whole day, and haven’t found a single animal to kill”, thought KharaNakhara to himself. “It is evening now and this is a very big cave, surely some animal will enter the cave to rest at night. Let me hide, and wait.”

And so KharaNakhara entered the cave, and waited.

In a few minutes, a jackal named DadhiPuccha (the one with a white tail) walked towards the entrance of the cave. It had been a long day, and he was finally home to rest. As he neared his cave, he saw the footprints of the lion. There was a set of prints going in, but none coming out.

“Oh no”, he thought to himself. “The lion is still in the cave, and hiding. What should I do? How will I find out for sure?”

Having thought for a while, DadhiPuccha walked towards the entrance of the cave, and shouted “Hey cave, answer me. Answer me, oh cave!”

No noise at all. Not a sound. He shouted again “Hey cave! Don’t you remember our agreement? When I come back home after a long day outside, and call for you, you have to invite me in. The day you don’t invite me, I will go to some other cave and not come back again. So, why are you silent?”

Inside, KharaNakhara listened carefully. “Ah, so this cave has been inviting the jackal everyday. It is silent now, because it is afraid of me. After all, it is said…

भय-सन्त्रस्त-मनसां हस्त-पादादिकाः क्रियाः ।
प्रवर्तन्ते न वाणी च वेपथुश् चाधिको भवेत् ॥ २१८ ॥

bhaya-santrasta-manasāṃ hasta-pādādikāḥ kriyāḥ |
pravartante na vāṇī ca vepathuś cādhiko bhavet || 218 ||

Those who are frightened – they hands and legs freeze, words do not come out, their bodies tremble, in short, they remain gripped with fear.

“So let me invite him inside. Once he enters, I will eat him.”

“Come in, come in, I invite you” roared the lion. His voice resounded all over the cave, and all the animals in the forest heard him speak, it was so loud.

DadhiPuccha turned around, and ran like hell. As he was running, he thought to himself…

अनागतं यः कुरुते स शोभते स शोचते यो न करोत्य् अनागतम् ।
वने वसन्न् एव जराम् उपागतो बिलस्य वाचा न कदापि हि श्रुता ॥ २१७ ॥

anāgataṃ yaḥ kurute sa śobhate sa śocate yo na karoty anāgatam |
vane vasann eva jarām upāgato bilasya vācā na kadāpi hi śrutā || 217 ||

He who takes decisions keeping the future in mind, performs well. He who takes decisions without considering the future implications, always suffers. I have grown up in this very forest but have never heard a cave talking.


“And so, heed my words. It is time to leave”, said Raktāksha. They set out immediately, flying northwards, far from AriMardana and his impending doom.

Seeing Raktāksha fly away, Sthirajeevin thought to himself…

to be continued…