The Jataka Tales are stories about the life of the Buddha and are part of the Pali Canon, which is the name given to sacred Buddhist literature. The Pali Canon, established in c.486 bc at the first Buddhist council, contains the earliest Buddhist literature. For Theravada Buddhists, it represents the most authoritative of the sacred texts. Like the Panchatantra Tales, the Jataka Tales relate stories of animals, which represent the Buddha’s former births in various forms. The Buddha is the central character in each story with a moral at the end. The stories were transmitted orally for centuries until they were finally penned in a combination of prose and verse. The ‘Tale of the Two Parrots’ is one of the popular Jataka Tales. In this story, the Buddha is the wise parrot, Radha.
There were once two parrots, Radha and Potthapada, who loved to travel in search of food and new places to visit. One day, they entered the palace garden and were caught in a bird trap. The king was so fascinated by the birds that he ordered that they be kept in a special cage made of gold and fed special food every day.
Life was very comfortable for the two until a huge ape, Kalabahu, arrived at the palace. Guests and palace officials transferred their attention from the birds to the ape and he became the centre of attraction. Potthapada, the younger of the two parrots, was upset at being neglected and told his brother that they should leave the palace. But his brother, the wiser of the two, predicted that everyone would soon tire of the ape and their life would get back to normal. And that is exactly what happened. The birds were soon back in favour and people started disliking the ape for misbehaving.
Moral: True worth and ability ultimately get their due.