While Buddha was on sojourn in Nijoda Monastery in Kapilawut, there were quarrels between relatives. Buddha summoned the relatives and said they should not quarrel; even animals in unity could overcome the enemy and achieve happiness: if they quarreled there was great misery. The relatives appealed for deliberation and Buddha gave the Thambawdamana Jataka.

Long ago, when King Byamadat was reigning in Bayanathi, embryo-Buddha was the king of quails. There was a hunter catching quails with a net and selling them away for his trade. This led to perishing of many quails and the embryo-Buddha thought of repelling the hunter with unity of the quails. It was so arranged for the quails were to fly at the same time to move the net on a place of thorns while the escaped the net.

On the second day thereafter, the hunter cast the net. The quails did as guided by the embryo-Buddha and escaped, leaving the hunter to disentangle the net on the thorns and getting nothing of the quails. When it happened on three consecutive days, the hunter's wife got angry. The hunter pacified his wife saying that the quails were united but they could not be united for long; they would quarrel over something some day; then he would capture them. Three or four days later, a quail stepped on the head of another while going out to search for food. He apologized but it did not quite pacify the other quail.

The embryo-Buddha knew that the quarrel between the two quails would cause disunity among quails and it would lead to perishing of many. So he took all those who would follow him to another place. At the time, the hunter came and cast his net. The quails instead of going what they did before, quarreled among themselves and they were caught easily by the hunter.
Thus Buddha showed the relatives that disunity would only result in perishing of many.