Vānarinda Jātaka: The Monkey King and the Crocodile — Four Qualities That Overcome an Enemy

The Vānarinda Jātaka in the Ekanipāta of the Jātaka, Khuddaka Nikāya, has a single verse: whoever has these four qualities — truthfulness, dhamma (discernment), dhiti (persistence) and cāga — like the monkey king, overcomes an enemy. The Kumbhīla Jātaka in the Dukanipāta contains the same verse and adds another: one who lacks these four qualities does not overcome an enemy.

In the Tipiṭaka the Jātaka consists only of verses; the story comes from the commentary. The monkey king used to leap from the riverbank to an island in mid-stream to eat fruit, resting on a flat rock in the middle of the river. A female crocodile craved the monkey's heart, so her mate lay in wait on that rock. In the evening the monkey saw that the rock looked higher than usual though the water level had not changed, so he called out to the rock. The crocodile foolishly answered. The monkey then told the crocodile to open its mouth and wait; when a crocodile opens its mouth its eyes close, so the monkey leapt onto its head and across to the bank. Seeing this, the crocodile spoke the verse in praise.

The Suṃsumāra Jātaka in the Dukanipāta tells another monkey-and-crocodile story. Its verses say that this fig tree of mine is better than the fruit on the far shore, and that your body is large, but your wisdom does not match it. The commentary tells how the crocodile tricked the monkey into riding on its back across the river, then began to dive to take his heart. The monkey said he had left his heart hanging on the fig tree; the crocodile carried him back to the bank, and the monkey leapt up the tree to safety.