20. The Hawk.

Walk not in forbidden ground.

Saṁyutta v. 146-148.

Thus have I heard: Once upon a time the Exalted One was in residence at Jetavana. At that time the Exalted One addressed the monks: “Monks!” “Reverend Sir!” replied those monks to the Exalted One. The Exalted One said this:

Inolden times, monks, a hawk attacked a quail with violence and caught it. Now, monks, as the hawk was carrying off the quail, the quail thus lamented: “I am indeed unfortunate, I possess little merit,—I who walked in forbidden ground, in a foreign region. If to-day I had walked in my own ground, in the region of my fathers, this hawk would not have been equal to a combat with me.”

“But, quail, what is your feeding-ground? What is the region of your fathers?”

“A field of clods, turned up by the plow.”

Then, monks, the hawk, not exerting his strength, not asserting his strength, released the quail. “Go, quail! Even there you will not escape from me.” Then, monks, the quail went to the field of clods, turned up by the plow, and mounting a big clod,stood and called the hawk: “Come now, hawk, I dare you! Come now, hawk, I dare you!”

Then, monks, the hawk, exerting his strength, asserting his strength, flapped both his wings and attacked the quail with violence. When, monks, the quail knew: “This hawk is coming for me with a vengeance!” he entered a crack in that very clod. And, monks, the hawk struck his breast against that very clod.

“For, monks, so it goes with whoever walks in forbidden ground, in a foreign region. Therefore, monks, walk not in forbidden ground, in a foreign region. If, monks, you walk in forbidden ground, in a foreign region, the Evil One will obtain entrance, the Evil One will obtain lodgment. And what, monks, is forbidden ground, a foreign region? The Five Pleasures of Sense. What are the Five? Pleasurable Sights, Sounds, Odors, Tastes, Contacts. And what, monks, is lawful ground, the region of the fathers? The Four Earnest Meditations. What are the Four? Meditation on the Body, on the Sensations, on the Thoughts, on the Conditions of Existence. Walk, monks, in lawful ground, in the region of the fathers. If, monks, you walk in lawful ground, in the region of the fathers, the Evil One will not obtain entrance, the Evil One will not obtain lodgment.”

Jātaka 168: ii. 58-60.

A hawk flying strong.This stanza was recited by the Teacher while in residence at Jetavana to explain his ownmeaning in the Parable of the Bird. For one day the Teacher addressed the monks: “Walk, monks, in lawful ground, in the region of the fathers.” Then he said: “You just stay where you belong. In former times even animals, because they left their own ancestral region and walked in forbidden ground, fell into the hands of their enemies, but through their own intelligence and resourcefulness escaped from the hands of their enemies.” So saying, he related the following Story of the Past:

In times past, when Brahmadatta ruled at Benāres, the Future Buddha was reborn as a quail, and made his home in a field of clods, turned up by the plow. One day he said to himself: “I will seek food in a foreign region.” So he left off seeking food in his own region and went to the edge of a wood. Now while he was picking up food there, a hawk saw him and attacked him with violence and caught him. As the hawk was carrying off the quail, the quail thus lamented: “I am indeed mighty unfortunate, I possess very little merit,—I who walked in forbidden ground, in a foreign region. If to-day I had walked in my own ground, in the region of my fathers, this hawk would certainly not have been equal to coming to a combat with me.”

“But, quail, what is your feeding-ground? What is the region of your fathers?”

“A field of clods, turned up by the plow.”

Then the hawk, not exerting his strength, released him. “Go, quail! Even there you will not escape.”The quail went there, and mounting a big clod, stood and cried to the hawk: “Come now, hawk!”

The hawk, exerting his strength, flapped both his wings and attacked the quail with violence. But when the quail knew: “This hawk is coming for me with a vengeance!” he turned and entered a crack in that very clod. The hawk, unable to check his speed, struck his breast against that very clod. Thus the hawk, with heart broken and eyes bulging out, met destruction.

When the Teacher had related this Story of the Past, he said: “Thus, monks, even animals, when they walk in forbidden ground, fall into the hands of their adversaries; but when they walk in their own ground, in the region of their fathers, they humble their adversaries. Therefore you also must not walk in forbidden ground, in a foreign region. If, monks, you walk in forbidden ground, in a foreign region, the Evil One will obtain entrance, the Evil One will obtain lodgment. If, monks, you walk in lawful ground, in the region of the fathers, the Evil One will not obtain entrance, the Evil One will not obtain lodgment.” Then, revealing his omniscience, he uttered the first stanza:A hawk flying strong, attacked with violenceA quail standing in his feeding-ground, and thus met death.

A hawk flying strong, attacked with violenceA quail standing in his feeding-ground, and thus met death.

A hawk flying strong, attacked with violence

A quail standing in his feeding-ground, and thus met death.

Now when the hawk had thus met his death, the quail came out and exclaimed: “I have seen the back of my enemy!” And standing on his heart andbreathing forth a solemn utterance, the quail uttered the second stanza:

Endowed with sense, delighting in my own feeding-ground,My enemy gone, I rejoice, intent on my own good.

Endowed with sense, delighting in my own feeding-ground,

My enemy gone, I rejoice, intent on my own good.

The Teacher, having proclaimed the Truths by the narration of this fable, identified the personages in the Birth-story as follows: “At that time the hawk was Devadatta, but the quail was I myself.”

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