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Overview
An ox valued and fed by a community becomes stuck in a swamp. Its owner cannot free it before night, so at the ox’s request he leaves a noose. A jackal arrives hoping to attack the trapped animal. After warning it away, the ox lures it onto his back with a promise of food, throws the noose over its neck with a horn and leaves it hanging. Their exchanged verses compare the jackal with a dancer and mock its claim to be ascending a ladder to Brahmā’s world. No divine ladder or actual heavenly ascent occurs, and the passage does not continue to the owner’s return or the ox’s extraction.
Origins & earliest records
Indian Buddhist narrative preserved in Tibetan translation
Records & interpretation
Whole chapter and its footnotes directly read in the digitized1906 edition.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources
XXXVII, The Jackal Hanged by the Ox, pp. 339–340; note cites Kah-gyur iv. f. 293
- 02
Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XXXVII The Jackal Hanged by the Ox
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. Complete selectedXXIX–XXXIX314–343, including bothXXXIII variants and all notes, independently read. ChapterXXXVIII read as adjacent corpus context without inventing a new profile; source-language originals not collated.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
Schiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources (London, 1906)
XXXVII, The Jackal Hanged by the Ox. XXXVII, The Jackal Hanged by the Ox, pp. 339–340; note cites Kah-gyur iv. f. 293
Whole chapter with footnotes read. Edition’s own Kah-gyur locator retained without claiming original Tibetan inspection. Actual animal acts, explicit Bodisat identification, false divine appointment and mocking afterlife claim kept distinct.
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. Complete selectedXXIX–XXXIX314–343, including bothXXXIII variants and all notes, independently read. ChapterXXXVIII read as adjacent corpus context without inventing a new profile; source-language originals not collated.
- A favoured free-roaming ox gets stuck in a swamp. Its owner leaves a requested noose, and the ox warns a predatory jackal away. When the jackal persists, the ox invites him onto its back, catches him around the neck with its horn-wielded noose and leaves him hanging. The closing exchange rejects the jackal’s claim of divine ascent as a consequence of the trap.
XXXVII The Jackal Hanged by the Ox, complete339–340; note Kah-gyuriv.f293
Historical German-mediated English rendering, not independently collated Tibetan manuscript. Page labels from hosted transcription. Religious/moral assertions remain narrative framing. No verse, ritual, prayer, medical preparation or modern adaptation copied.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical translation of Buddhist narrativeSchiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales (1906), XXXVII, The Jackal Hanged by the Ox, pp. 339–340; note cites Kah-gyur iv. f. 293Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.