Cariyāpiṭaka 29

The Conduct Leading to Buddhahood

The Chapter With Yudhañjaya

The Perfection of Truth (3rd)

The Baby Quail’s Conduct

1 “Then again when I was

a baby quail in Magadha,

I was young, with wings unsprouted,

just a scrap of meat in the nest.

2 With food she brought in her beak

my mother nurtured me.

I survived through her touch,

for I had no physical strength.

3 One year, in the hot season,

the forest caught fire.

It came toward us,

a conflagration with a blackened trail.

4 The fire roared and rumbled

with great crests of flame,

gradually burning

closer to me.

5 Alarmed and terrified at the fierce fire,

my mother and father

abandoned me in the nest,

saving themselves.

6 I beat my feet and wings,

but I had no physical strength.

When unable to leave,

I thought this there:

7 ‘Those to whom I ought to run,

scared and trembling with fear,

have escaped, leaving me behind.

How should I act today?

8 There is the quality of virtue in the world,

truth, purity, and mercy.

By this truth I will make

a supreme declaration of truth.’

9 Inspired by the power of Dhamma,

recollecting the former Victors,

relying on the power of truth,

I made a declaration of truth.

10 ‘I have wings that do not fly!

I have feet that do not walk!

Mother and father have fled!

Jātaveda the fire: go back!’

11 As I declared this truth

the great crested flames

withdrew sixteen leagues,

as if they had come to water.

There is no one to equal my truthfulness:

this is my perfection of truth.”