{{short description|Story in Buddhist traditions, especially South Asian}} {{good article}} {{Infobox religious text|religion=Buddhism|sutras=In Vinaya texts and Jātaka collections of many Buddhist canons|language=Pāli, Sanskrit, Tibetic languages}} The tale of the '''four harmonious animals''', '''four harmonious friends''' or '''four harmonious brothers''' ({{langx|bo|མཐུན་པ་སྤུན་བཞི།}}) ({{bo|w=mthun pa spun bzhi}}<ref>{{cite book|first=Gege|last=Lama|title=Principles of Tibetan Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oAMWYCCNG8sC|volume=II|location=Darjeeling|year=1983|page=241}}</ref> or {{bo|w=mthun pa rnam bzhi}}<ref name="sagaster">{{cite journal|last=Sagaster|first=Klaus|title=Der weiße Lotus des Friedens. Eine moderne Interpretation Buddhistischer Symbolik|journal=Zentralasiatische Studien des Seminars für Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft Zentralasiens der Universität Bonn |url=https://katalog.hamburg/vufind/Record/595323987|language=de|trans-title=The White Lotus of Peace: A Modern Interpretation of Buddhist Symbolism| publisher=Zentralasiatische Studien, Sonderdruck|date=December 1978|volume=12 |page=464 |location=Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden}}</ref>) is one of the Jātaka tales, part of Buddhist mythology, and is often the subject in works of Bhutanese and Tibetan art. It is perhaps the most common theme in Bhutanese folk art, featuring on many temple murals, ''stupas'', and as a decorative pattern on many daily utensils.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Carpenter|first1=Russel B.|last2=Carpenter|first2=Blyth C.|title=The blessings of Bhutan|date=2002|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press|location=Honolulu|isbn=978-0-8248-2679-6|page=89|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Liipc-cZpkkC|series=Latitude 20}}</ref><ref name="Dagyab 2016">{{cite book|last1=Dagyab|first1=Loden Sherap|translator-first=Maurice|translator-last=Walshe|title=Buddhist Symbols in Tibetan Culture: An Investigation of the Nine Best-Known Groups of Symbols|date=2016|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-86171-810-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qKO8CwAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|108}}<ref name="Beer 2003" />{{rp|53}} It is the best-known national folktale of Bhutan and is popular in Tibet and Mongolia:<ref name="Dagyab 2016" />{{rp|107}}<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Evans|first1=Steve|title=The impact of cultural folklore on national values: A preliminary study with a focus on Bhutan|journal=Storytelling, Self, Society|date=2009|volume=6|issue=1|page=12|url=http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/jbs/pdf/JBS_20_03.pdf|issn=1550-5340}}</ref> it is widely referred to in these cultures.<ref name="Whitecross 2010" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bischoff|first1=Jeannine|last2=Mullard|first2=Saul|title=Social Regulation: Case Studies from Tibetan History|date=2016|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004331259|page=114|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=puPDDQAAQBAJ|series=Brill's Tibetan Studies Library}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=McGranahan|first1=Carole|title=In Rapga's Library: the Texts and Times of a Rebel Tibetan Intellectual|journal=Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie|date=2005|volume=15|page=265|doi=10.3406/asie.2005.1228|url=http://www.persee.fr/docAsPDF/asie_0766-1177_2005_num_15_1_1228.pdf}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
== Outline of story == [[File:25 tam back.jpg|thumb| Backside of Tibetan 25 tam banknote, dated 1659 of the Tibetan Era (= 1913 CE). On the right, the four harmonious animals are represented.]] A popular scene often found as wall paintings in Tibetan religious buildings represents an elephant standing under a fruit tree carrying a monkey, a hare and a bird (usually a partridge, but sometimes a grouse, and in Bhutan a hornbill) on top of each other.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gruschke|first1=Andreas|title=The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: The Qinghai part of Amdo|date=2001|publisher=White Lotus Press|location=Bangkok|isbn=978-9747534597|page=243|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GuKfAAAAMAAJ|series=The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer Provinces: Amdo|volume=1}}</ref> The scene refers to a legend which tells that four animals were trying to find out who was the oldest. The elephant said that the tree was already fully grown when he was young, the monkey that the tree was small when he was young, the hare that he saw the tree as a sapling when he was young and the bird claimed that he had excreted the seed from which the tree grew. So the bird was recognized by the other animals as the oldest, and the four animals lived together in co-dependence and cooperation, helping each other to enjoy the fruits of the tree. After the story is finished, it is revealed the partridge was the Buddha in a previous life.<ref name="Chalmers 1895">{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/j1/j1040.htm|title=The Jataka|volume=I|first=Robert|last=Chalmers|author-link=Robert Chalmers, 1st Baron Chalmers|year=1895|chapter=Tittira Jātaka}}</ref><ref name="Beer 2003" />{{rp|51}} The story was meant as an illustration of cooperation and respect for seniority, and was told by the Buddha after some of his students had failed to pay due respect to the senior disciple Śāriputra.<ref name="Whitecross 2010">{{cite journal|first1=Richard|last1=Whitecross|title="Virtuous Beings": The Concept of ''tha damtshig'' and Being a Moral Person in Contemporary Bhutanese Society|journal=Himalaya, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies|date=1 January 2010|volume=28|issue=1|url=http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol28/iss1/6/|language=en|issn=2471-3716|page=77}}</ref><ref name="Malalasekera 1938">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Tittira Jātaka (No.37)|encyclopedia=Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names|author-link=G P Malalasekera|first=G.P.|last=Malalasekera|volume=2|url=http://palikanon.com/english/pali_names/t/tittira_j_37_117_319_438.htm|year=1938|publisher=Pali Text Society}}</ref> Sometimes the tale also describes the animals upholding the five precepts and teaching them to others.<ref name="Penjore 2005" /> One of the oldest extant forms of the story is the Pāli version, called the ''Tittira Jataka''.<ref name="Beer 2003" />{{rp|51}}
== Themes == [[File:FourHarmoniousAnimalsROI.jpg|thumb|Wall painting, Sikkim|left|upright=0.5]] [[File:Gandantegchinlen Monastery 09.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Sculpture at Gandantegchinlen Monastery in Mongolia]] Communal harmony and respect for seniority are the main moral of the story. Such respect stands in contrast with a pecking-order according to strength, size and power: it is {{em|the partridge}} which is most respected, not the elephant.<ref name="Penjore 2005">{{cite news|last1=Penjore|first1=Ugyen|title=Understanding the symbolism of Thuenpa Puen Zhi|url=http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=40,1531,0,0,1,0#.WI0s0FUrK70|via=The Buddhist Channel|access-date=28 January 2017|work=Kuensel Online|date=2 August 2005}}</ref> Although the Buddha did sometimes downplay the value of respecting older people merely for their age, in this story he illustrates that a senior person should nonetheless be respected for their experience, because, as Tachibana points out, "the maturity of age is generally the sign of much experience".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tachibana|first1=S.|title=The ethics of Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRWyqi2K4WUC|date=1992|publisher=Curzon Press|location=Richmond, Surrey|isbn=978-0-7007-0230-5|page=224|edition=Facsim.}}</ref> However, the story led to the establishment of several rules of conduct with regard to respect for seniority in the context of the monastic life, in which the {{em|number of years ordained}} as a monk (''{{langx|sa|bhikṣu}}''; ''{{langx|pi|bhikkhu}}'') is measured, rather than {{em|age}}.<ref name="Chalmers 1895" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Shaw|first1=Sarah|title=The Jatakas: Birth Stories of the Bodhisatta|date=2006|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=9788184750348|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ay4WFGQtSy0C}}</ref> Buddhist monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu explains the relation between respect for seniority and harmony, drawing from the story: "A hierarchy based on seniority, however, is both objective and, in the long run, less oppressive: one's place in the hierarchy is not a measure of one's worth. Such a hierarchy also discourages the pride and competition that would come if bhikkhus could fight their way up the hierarchy by outdoing the measurable merit of others."<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/bmc2.pdf|title=The Buddhist Monastic Code|date=2013|publisher=Metta Forest Monastery|edition=3rd|volume=II|location=California|page=92|author-link=Thanissaro Bhikkhu|last1=Bhikkhu|first1=Thanissaro}}</ref>
The four animals represent the different habitats of the animal world—the sky, the trees, the ground, and underground.<ref name="Beer 2003" />{{rp|51}} The partridge assumes the role of the most senior animal: in pre-modern India, the partridge was highly regarded for its intelligence and understanding of language.<ref name="Gutierrez 2014">{{cite thesis|title=The Parrot's Voice and the Partridge's Feathers: The Languaging of Animals and Animal Language in Early Indian Texts|url=https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/28521|first=Andrea Lorene|last=Gutiérrez|publisher=The University of Texas|type=M.A. Thesis|date=December 2014}}</ref> The excreting of the seed of the tree is relevant, because some Indian trees are believed to only sprout when the seed is excreted by a bird, thus further amplifying the concept of cooperation and mutual dependence.<ref name="Beer 2003" />{{rp|53}} The image of the animals standing on each other's shoulders, on the back of a patient elephant, also portrays social and environmental harmony: the bird finds a seed and plants it, then the rabbit waters it, and the monkey fertilizes it. Once the seed sprouts and begins to grow, the elephant protects it. After some time, the small plant grows into a big, beautiful tree full of healthy fruit. By working together and using their individual talents, the four friends are able to reach and enjoy the fruit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.folklife.si.edu/resources/pdf/Signs/Bhutan/BH_PRG_03.pdf|title=The Four Harmonious Friends|date=12 June 2008|website=Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage}}</ref>
== Origins == [[File:Bremen.band.500pix.jpg|thumb|A bronze statue by Gerhard Marcks depicting the "Town Musicians of Bremen".|upright=0.6]] The primary source for the Buddhist legend of the four harmonious brothers is the ''Vinayavastu'' ({{bo|w='dul ba'i gzhi}}), which forms the first section of the Kangyur, the canon of Tibetan Buddhism.<ref name="Dagyab 2016" />{{rp|107}}<ref name="sagaster" /> In canons of other Buddhist traditions, such as in the Pāli Canon of Theravāda Buddhism, and in the texts of the Mahāsāṃghika, Mūla-Sarvāstivāda and Sarvāstivāda orders, almost the same ''Jātaka'' tale is found in the ''Vinaya'' and ''Jātaka'' collections. The Dharmaguptaka and Mahīśāsaka orders did not consider the story part of the ''Jātaka'', however, and only included it in their ''Vinayas''. Bhikkhu Analayo believes that the story originally was not considered a previous life of the Buddha, but a didactic parable taught by the Buddha.<ref name="Analayo 2012">{{cite journal|last1=Anālayo|first1=Bhikkhu|author-link=Bhikkhu Analayo|title=Canonical Jātaka Tales in Comparative Perspective: The Evolution of Tales of the Buddha's Past Lives|journal=Fuyan Buddhist Studies|date=2012|volume=7|issn=2070-0512}}</ref>
== Similar motifs worldwide == Old Irish scholar Eleanor Hull has pointed out that the story may reveal a custom of the ancient world to determine the date based on the life spans of different animals. Stories dealing with the question which animal lives the longest are found throughout the world. Most versions of the story usually feature three animals, as indeed, the Pali and Chinese versions of the ''Jātaka'' do.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hull|first1=Eleanor|author-link=Eleanor Hull|title=The Hawk of Achill or the Legend of the Oldest Animals|journal=Folklore|date=December 1932|volume=43|issue=4|pages=376–409|doi=10.1080/0015587X.1932.9718462}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Ralston|first1=W.R.S.|title=The Bible of Tibet: Tibetan Tales from Indian Sources|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-20297-1|page=302|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eoiZAeFA_8YC|language=en}}</ref> As for the fourth animal not present in the Pāli version, the hare—it was included in later versions.<ref name="Beer 2003" />{{rp|51}}<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kimball|first1=Mike|title=Our heritage is already broken: meditations on a regenerative conservation for cultural and natural heritage|journal=Human Ecology Review|date=2016|page=13|doi=10.4225/13/581fcdf8dc329|hdl=1885/100985}}</ref>
A similar story was made famous when the Brothers Grimm included it in their collection of folk tales, as the "Town Musicians of Bremen".<ref name="Dagyab 2016" />{{rp|107}}<ref name="Beer 2003">{{cite book|last1=Beer|first1=Robert|title=The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols|date=2003|publisher=Serindia|location=Chicago|isbn=978-1-932476-03-3|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-3804Ud9-4IC}}</ref>{{rp|53}}
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
== External links == *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVeG4sSDN3Q The ''Tittira Jataka'', Thai animation with English subtitles] *[http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2010/10/the-four-harmonious-friends-bird-hare-monkey-elephant/ Discussion of the story and the theme]
{{Buddhism topics}}
Category:Religious quartets Category:Jataka tales Category:Iconography Category:Animals in Buddhism Category:Tibetan Buddhist mythology Tibetan Buddhist art and culture Category:Culture of Bhutan Category:Arts in Bhutan Category:Arts in Tibet Category:Tibetan Buddhist art and culture Category:Culture of India Category:Arts in India Category:Indian folklore Category:Indian literature Category:Indian legends Category:Indian fairy tales Category:Town Musicians of Bremen