The Superstitious Brahmin

The superstitious Brahmin

Bodhisattva now born as a Brahmin lived in the forest named Himavanta. He was invited by the king and he stayed in the royal park. In the park he saw a Brahmin who was sleeping under a tree. All of a sudden the Brahmin woke up and took of the shawl that he was wearing. He said since his shawl was gnawed by rats, it indicated bad evil omen. He decided to get rid of this shawl. He called his son and asked him to throw the shawl into the river to avoid disaster. Saying so he threw the shawl at his son, instead the shawl fell near the Bodhisattva. Bodhisattva tried to reason out with the Brahmin saying that the rats might be searching for some food and might have gnawed his shawl, and in no way did the shawl show any evil omen. Bodhisattva also went and said that wise men should not believe in these sorts of omens. But alas the Brahmin was so superstitious and would not heed to any reasoning and handed the shawl to his son and asked him to throw it into the river. The son was so obedient and he threw the shawl into the river.

Source: 365 Jataka Tales – Om Books International