The Wise Judge and the Two Mothers

Also known as Mahosadha Jataka

3 minute read
Ages 7-11
Jataka Tales

A woman took her baby down to a pool to wash, and put him on the bank while she went into the water.

A spirit who lived near that pool took the shape of a woman, came out of the trees, and picked the child up.

"What a beautiful boy. May I hold him?"

The mother said yes, because there was nothing about her that seemed wrong.

And the spirit walked away with him.

The chase

The mother came out of the water and ran after her and caught hold of her, and there was a struggle, and then a shouting match, and then a crowd.

"He is mine."

Neither of them would let go and neither would give way, and there was no way for anybody watching to tell, because the spirit looked entirely like a woman and had an answer for everything.

So the crowd took them both to the young sage Mahosadha, who was known for settling things.

The line

He listened to both of them without interrupting and then he did not ask any of the questions people expected.

He drew a line on the ground and put the child on it.

"Take an arm each," he said. "One of you on each side. Pull. Whoever gets the child keeps him."

The two women took hold of the boy's arms.

"Pull."

The moment

They pulled, and the child screamed.

And one of them let go immediately and stood back with her hands over her face.

The other one kept pulling.

Mahosadha stood up.

"Give the child to the woman who let go," he said. "A mother cannot hurt her own son to win him. The one still pulling never could have been his mother, and there is only one kind of thing that cannot feel a child screaming."

The spirit did not argue. She was recognised for what she was and told to leave that district, and she did.

Afterwards

Somebody asked him afterwards how he had been so certain.

"I was not certain when I drew the line," he said. "I was certain about a quarter of a second after they started pulling."

Moral of the story

Mahosadha did not work out who was telling the truth. He arranged a situation in which one of them would show it, and then he watched carefully.

Questions and answers

How did the spirit take the child?
She took the shape of a woman, asked to hold the baby while the mother was in the water, and walked away with him.
Why could nobody settle the argument?
The spirit looked entirely human and had an answer for every question, so there was no way to tell them apart.
What did Mahosadha do?
He drew a line, put the child on it, and told each woman to take an arm and pull.
What happened when they pulled?
The child screamed, one woman let go at once, and the other kept pulling.
How did he know which was the mother?
A mother could not keep pulling while her child screamed. The one who let go was the real mother.

Word meanings

sage: A very wise person.
spirit: A supernatural being in a story.
district: An area or part of a country.
settling: Deciding or resolving an argument.

Questions about The Wise Judge and the Two Mothers

Is this the same as the judgement of Solomon?

It is very similar. The Jataka version and the biblical version of the story are close enough that scholars have argued about the connection for a long time.

What is the moral of this story?

That when you cannot tell who is lying, you can sometimes design a situation where the truth shows itself. The test did the work, not the questioning.

Is the child harmed?

No. The pulling lasts a moment and the story is careful that it stops immediately.

Who is Mahosadha?

A young sage who appears across several Jataka tales, always solving problems by observation and cleverness rather than by authority.