ajanta-cave-1-architecture-facade

#12. Vartakāpota

Cave No. 1

(No photo.) Identification: Schlingloff (1977a, p. 458 f.)—

There was a little vartakā (Hindi/Gujarati baṭér; Eng. quail). It had eaten only the vegetative leftovers of the food brought to the nest by its parents. Once there was a forest fire, which soon approached the nest. All the birds flown away except the little quail. The quail spoke a truth spell that he had never hurt any being, and implored the fire to recede. Miraculously, the fire spared the nest.—The quail was none other than the Buddha in a former existence.

—Source: Singh 2019, 31-33; Schlingloff 2013, I, 79

Related Images: