The Jackal 1

Thus have I heard:

The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthi at the Jeta Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park.
There he addressed the brethren: —

'Have ye heard the jackal, brethren,
howling in the night,
at dawn?'

'Even so, lord.'

'That will be an old jackal, brethren,
afflicted by mange.

Wherever he wishes to go,
to stand,
to sit,
to lie,
there he goes,
he stands,
he sits,
he lies,
and the cold wind blows on him.

'Twere well, brethren,
if a certain man among us,
pledged to the Son of the Sakyans,
were to experience even such a reborn life as that.'²

Wherefore, brethren,
thus must ye train yourselves:

'We will live earnestly'
-even thus.

¹ See above, p. 156 [SN 2.17.8

² 'This was said concerning Devadatta: - "He will not get in his future birth even so much ease of heart as that jackal."' Comy.