Chulla Setti Jataka (A Rebirth Story)
Chulla Setti Jataka (A Rebirth Story)
Long time ago, there was a very rich, noble man called Chulla. He was very wise and intelligent, and, he could foresee the future. One day, on his way to the palace, he saw a dead rat on the street. He did his mental calculations using his knowledge in astrology, and said, "This dead rat can make an intelligent man rich".
A poor man heard this comment, and took the dead rat. Another man, who was working in a nearby rich house, was going to get food for his master's cat. He saw the dead rat, and bought it from the poor man. The poor man used his meagre earnings to buy jaggery (a sweet made from sugar cane). He took the jaggery and a pot full of water to the street, and gave jaggery and water to people who were picking flowers for the florists. Each of them in return gave a handful of flowers to the poor man, and he sold the flowers to buy more jaggery. On the second day, when the poor man gave jaggery and water to the people who picked flowers, they left half of the flowers unpicked for the poor man. He picked the flowers and sold them. This exchange of flowers and jaggery continued for a few days, and the poor man could save 8 gold coins.
On a windy and rainy day that followed, the royal garden got littered with leaves, broken sticks and branches. The royal gardener was devastated.
The poor man offered to clean the royal garden if he got the things to be removed. The royal gardener agreed without hesitation. The poor man gave jaggery to a group of children, and got them to clean the royal garden and gather the sticks and the branches near the entrance to the royal garden. The man who supplied pots to the palace ran out of fire wood on that rainy day and bought the stickes and branches from the poor man who received 16 gold coins and 500 pots in return.
The poor man changed his line of business when he saved 24 gold coins. he started to supply drinking water to people who supplied grass to feed the cattle and horses in the city. When asked what he expected in return, he answered, "I will ask you for a favour when necessary". He also made friends with merchants who travel overland as well as overseas. One day, he got information from his merchant friends about 500 horse breeders who were coming to the city to sell their horses. So, he asked his grass supplier friends to give him a bundle of grass each. He also requested them not to sell any grass before he finished selling his bundles. He sold his 500 bundles of grass for 1000 gold coins to the horse breeders who were desperately searching for grass to feed the horses.
On a later day, he received information about a ship that was approaching the harbour. According to the information, it was full of worthy goods.
He went to the ship with his friends, and gave an advance to the ship owner, saying that he was going to buy the goods. Later, hundred rich merchants went to the ship to buy the goods. They were told by the ship owner about the advance he received before their visit. So, the rich merchants went to see the 'poor man'. He collected 200 gold coins from each of them before they were allowed to buy goods from the ship. He was not poor any more. He earned two hundred thousand gold coins from his last transaction.
As a rich man he went to see the wise, noble man. He took hundred thousand gold coins as a gift to the wise, noble man. The wise, noble man after hearing the story of the grateful man, who came to see him with hundred thousand gold coins as a gift was very happy. He gave his daughter in marriage to that intelligent, persevering and grateful man.
References
The Chulla Setti Jataka was proudly presented by the Shakyamuni Sambuddha Viharaya, Berwick, Victoria, Australia, for their VESAK PANDAL displayed on 1,2 and 8,9 May 2004.
We express our heartfelt gratitude to the Venerable Wimalananda for giving permission to publish the Chulla Setti Jataka on the Buddha Dhyana Dana Review Online.