Contains several parables which the Bodhisatta, as counsellor to Brahmadatta, king of Benares, employed for the king's instruction. Like the peak of a roof which 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 Ananda (J.iii.317ff). The occasion for the story is given in the Tesakuna Játaka.