Buddha Dhammapada Stories

Dhammapada Stories - The Unfortunate Hunter

Early one morning, Koka was on his way out to hunt with his dogs when he saw a monk on his almsround. Not particularly fond of monks, he thought that meeting one on the way would only bring him bad luck, meaning that he would probably not catch anything at all. And, indeed, as he feared, his game bag remained empty all day.

On his way home, Koka happened to come across the same monk he had seen earlier in the day. Still sore at the monk for having spoiled his hunt, he sought revenge by setting his dogs on him. The poor innocent monk just barely made it into the branches of a nearby tree when the dogs arrived snarling and snapping wildly at him.

He sat there safely in the tree out of their reach until Koka came along and started poking the soles of his feet with the sharp end of one of his arrows. This made the poor monk jump about to avoid injury, and while he was doing so, his robe became undone and started slipping off him.

Unable to hang on to it and keep his balance in the tree at the same time, the robe finally fell on Koka below, covering him up completely. When the dogs saw the yellow robe, they mistook their master for the monk and attacked him mercilessly, mauling him to death.

Subsequently, the monk became fraught with guilt, feeling that it was his fault that Koka got killed. He went to seek the Buddha’s advice. The Buddha assured him that it was the hunter, not he, who was at fault, for Koka had tried to bring harm to someone who had done him no wrong. For that reason, Koka came to face an unfortunate death.

Like fine dust thrown against the wind, evil falls back upon the fool who offends a harmless man, one pure and innocent,