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Kukku Jātaka (No.396)

Contains several parables that the Bodhisatta, as counsellor to Brahmadatta, king of Bārāṇasī, employed for the king’s instruction. Like the peak of a roof that falls unless tightly held by the rafters, is a king who must be supported by his subjects who have been won over by his righteousness. As a citron must be eaten without its peel, so must taxes be gathered without violence. Like the lotus, unstained by the water in which it grows, is the virtuous man untainted by the world.

The king is identified with Ānanda (J.iii.317 ff). The occasion for the story is given in the Tesakuṇa Jātaka.