Ja 148 The Story about the Greedy Jackal
(Sigālajātaka)
In the present five hundred monks who have recently left the lay life are seized by lust. When the Buddha understands this, he preaches about the dangers of evil thoughts, and tells a story of a jackal who was so greedy he lost all his hair and almost lost his life (full story).
1. Nāhaṁ punaṁ na ca punaṁ, na cāpi apunappunaṁ,
Hatthibondiṁ pavekkhāmi, tathā hi bhayatajjito ti.
Not again, and never again, also not again and again, will I enter the tusker’s body, from that there is fear and fright.
This is the meaning of the whole verse: surely I, again from here, again from there, from the time it was said, also again from there, and again and again, what is reckoned as an elephant’s body, I will not enter the tusker’s body. The tense of pavekkhāmi is present, but the meaning must have future connotation.
What is the reason? From that there is fear and fright, for from this entering I have fear and fright, because of the fear of death there is the experience of dread and anxiety.