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Overview
A snake and ichneumon ask Daṇḍin to learn why seeing one another always provokes fighting. King Ādarśamukha identifies them as brothers in an earlier human life: a dispute over dividing their property and their different forms of covetous attachment led to their present animal births. He advises giving the treasure to religious recipients and leaving the place. Both ultimately hand it to Daṇḍin. The tale includes a separate snake asking about difficulty entering its hole after a large meal; that petitioner is not automatically identified with the snake in the brothers’ joint appeal.
Origins & earliest records
Indian Buddhist narrative preserved in Tibetan translation
Records & interpretation
Whole chapter and its footnotes directly read in the digitized1906 edition.
In the literature
“ye were born as two brothers”
III Ādarśamukha, hosted printed-page marker35, king’s speech to the former human brothers · W.R.S.Ralston, English from Schiefner’s German Tibetan translation
Ādarśamukha describes the snake and ichneumon’s former human relation; this does not establish an animal birth family.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources
III, Ādarśamukha, pp. 29–36, joint animal petition pp. 33, 35–36; note cites Kah-gyur book ii. pp. 198–201
- 02
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — III Ādarśamukha
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1906, title-page transcription independently checked. Tibetan Kah-gyur to German by F. Anton von Schiefner, then German to English by W.R.S.Ralston. CompleteIII29–36 and source/comparative note independently read, including royal succession tests, Daṇḍin suits and all animal petitions; source-language originals not collated.
Family, evolution & connections
Previous-life brothers in Adarshamukha’s explanation
The king’s explanation of the quarrelling pair, pp. 35-36.
Scroll sideways to see all branches. With a keyboard, focus the tree and use the arrow keys.
- Two human brothers (previous-life sibling grouping)
- One brother, subsequently reborn as the snake
- The other brother, subsequently reborn as the ichneumon
Two parallel branches show the stated sibling relationship in their earlier human lives. The heading is a sibling grouping, not an ancestor. No parents are named; the branches associate each human brother with his subsequent animal rebirth, not biological descent. The 1906 English translation is the inspected witness.
Two human brothers in the king’s account of their previous lives
Adarshamukha explains the snake and ichneumon’s hostility as a continuation of two human brothers’ property dispute. Their present animal forms are rebirths in his account; no snake or ichneumon birth parents are supplied.
Primary records and illustrations
Schiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources (London, 1906)
III, Ādarśamukha. III, Ādarśamukha, pp. 29–36, joint animal petition pp. 33, 35–36; note cites Kah-gyur book ii. pp. 198–201
Complete chapter and all notes read. Translation’s canonical locator retained; original Tibetan not independently inspected. Actual endings, explicit identities and comparative material kept separate, with no death/kinship/anatomy inferred beyond the telling.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1906, title-page transcription independently checked. Tibetan Kah-gyur to German by F. Anton von Schiefner, then German to English by W.R.S.Ralston. CompleteIII29–36 and source/comparative note independently read, including royal succession tests, Daṇḍin suits and all animal petitions; source-language originals not collated.
- A snake and an ichneumon ask why every meeting brings anger and fighting. Ādarśamukha explains that they were formerly human brothers who disputed dividing property; their opposed covetousness led to the two animal births. He advises surrendering their stored treasures and leaving. The narrative explicitly says both transfer treasures to Daṇḍin. A different snake’s difficulty returning to its hole is a separate food-quantity petition.
German-mediated English translation; Tibetan originals and listed comparative recensions not independently collated. Rebirth explanations are narrative speech, not external historical evidence. Page labels from transcription. Historical coercive legal threats not endorsed; no verse, ritual or devotional formula copied.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical translation of Buddhist narrativeSchiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales (1906), III, Ādarśamukha, pp. 29–36, joint animal petition pp. 33, 35–36; note cites Kah-gyur book ii. pp. 198–201Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.