KS1 Religious Studies: The Buddhist Story of Siddhartha and the Swan and The Monkey King

Welcome to Religions of the World. Buddhism: The Religion of Buddhists.

Buddhism is about 2,500 years old and people who follow Buddhism are called Buddhists. Buddhists follow the teachings of a man called Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the Buddha. Siddhartha was born as a very wealthy prince but decided to leave his wealth and palace behind so that he could travel and learn about how the world really was.

Siddhartha was very kind to people and animals and there are many stories about what he did that show the way of life that Buddhists follow. One of those stories is The Buddhist Story of Siddhartha and the Swan.

When Siddhartha was a boy, he lived with his family in a great palace. One morning, he was playing by a river that flowed through the palace gardens. He watched as swans flew high above in the sky. Suddenly, an arrow came whizzing through the air and hit one of the swans. The swan crashed to the ground. Siddhartha was shocked. He ran quickly over to the wounded swan. He gently picked up the bird so he could carry it back to the palace to help it.

On his way, he bumped into his mean cousin, Devadatta, who was carrying his bow and arrows. “That swan belongs to me,” said his cousin. “I shot it.” “No,” said Siddhartha, “It is mine because I have saved it.” They took the swan to their teacher to settle the argument.

The teacher listened to both of them in turn and then said, “The swan belongs to Siddhartha because Siddhartha saved the swan’s life and loved it.” Devadatta was furious and he stormed off. Siddhartha smiled because he had saved the swan. He looked after the bird until it was better and then released it back onto the river.

Like Siddhartha, Buddhists think that all living things are important, including all the animals. There are lots of Buddhist stories that show we should be kind and loving to all living things. One of these stories is The Buddhist Story of the Monkey King.

Once, there was a tribe of monkeys who lived in a forest. The King of the monkeys was very strong and kind, and looked after all of the other monkeys. One day, he was walking along a river beneath a huge mango fruit tree. In the distance, he saw a big human castle. The Monkey King was worried the humans would find the delicious mangos and eat them all, leaving none for the monkeys. So he asked the monkeys to pick all the mangos to keep them safe.

The monkeys did as they were asked, but unfortunately, they missed one mango: the juiciest and ripest mango of all. That night, the juicy mango fell into the river and floated all the way down to the human castle. The greedy King saw the mango floating in the water. When he tasted it, it was so delicious, he called his army together and they set out to find all the other mangoes in the forest.

The human King found the monkeys sleeping in the huge mango tree. He ordered his soldiers to fire their arrows at the monkeys so he could take all the mangoes the monkeys had hidden for himself. The Monkey King realised that he needed to help the other monkeys get away from the soldiers. The Monkey King stretched out his arms and legs to make a bridge away from the mango tree.

All of the other monkeys climbed over him to safety. It was very hard work. The Monkey King was in lots of pain and it felt like his arms and legs might break. There were so many monkeys to help across to safety. After the last monkey had crossed, the Monkey King collapsed in front of the human King. The human King was very confused and asked the Monkey King, “You are their King. Why did you do that for them?”

The Monkey King explained, “It is because I am their King. I would do anything for them. It is my duty to care for them.” The human King was so moved, he decided to be a good King to his people as well and he ordered that the monkeys in the bamboo forest were protected forever.