The Monkey King (Mahakapi Jataka)

The Bodhisattva was once born as a great monkey king, leading a tribe of eighty thousand monkeys. They lived deep in the Himalayas, thriving on the sweet fruits of a magnificent mango tree that overhung the Ganges river.

One day, a ripe mango fell into the river and floated downstream to the capital city, where the human King found and tasted it. Intoxicated by the divine flavor, the King ordered his army to trace the river to the tree's source.

When the army found the tree, they saw the monkeys eating the fruit. Furious, the King ordered his archers to surround the tree and shoot all the monkeys at dawn.

Trapped on the branches overlooking a deep, raging gorge, the monkey tribe panicked. The monkey king calmed them. He climbed to the highest branch, made a massive leap across the gorge, and grabbed a sturdy bamboo stalk on the opposite cliff. He tied the bamboo to his waist and jumped back toward his home tree.

But he had miscalculated slightly. The bamboo was just a bit too short to tie to the mango tree. Holding the mango branch with his hands and the bamboo tied to his waist, he stretched his body taut across the abyss, becoming a living bridge.

'Walk over my back!' he ordered his tribe. One by one, all eighty thousand monkeys crossed safely. The very last monkey to cross was Devadatta in a past life, who hated the king. As he crossed, he deliberately stomped hard on the king's spine, breaking it.

The human King had watched this entire incredible display of sacrifice. Deeply moved, he ordered his men to gently lower the dying monkey king to the ground.

'Why did you sacrifice yourself for them? You are their king; they should serve you,' the human King asked.

The monkey king, smiling despite his agony, replied, 'A true king does not exact service from his people; he serves them, even at the cost of his life.' With that teaching, he passed away, leaving the human King transformed.