THE JĀTAKA OR STORIES OF THE BUDDHA'S FORMER BIRTHS (Book -2) -8

THE JĀTAKA

OR

STORIES OF THE BUDDHA'S FORMER BIRTHS

No. 241 

SABBADĀṬHA-JĀTAKA.

"Even as the Jackal," etc. This story the Master told while staying in the Bamboo-grove, about Devadatta.
Devadatta, having won favour in the eyes of Ajātasattu, yet could not make the repute and support which he received last any time. Ever since they saw the miracle 2 done when Nāḷāgiri was sent against him, the reputation and receipts of Devadatta began to fall off. [243]
So one day, the Brethren were all talking about it in the Hall of Truth: "Friend, Devadatta managed to get reputation and support, yet could not keep it up. This happened in olden days in just the same way." And then he told them an old-world tale.

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Once upon a time, Brahmadatta was king of Benares, and the Bodhisatta was his chaplain; and he had mastered the three Vedas and the eighteen branches of knowledge. He knew the spell entitled 'Of subduing the World.' (Now this spell is one which involves religious meditation.)
One day, the Bodhisatta thought that he would recite this spell; so he sat down in a place apart upon a flat stone, and there went through his reciting of it. It is said that this spell could be taught to no one without use of a special rite; for which reason he recited it in the place just described. It so happened that a Jackal lying in a hole heard the spell at the time that he was reciting it, and got it by heart. We are told that this jackal in a previous existence had been some brahmin who had learnt the charm 'Of subduing the World.'
The Bodhisatta ended his recitation, and rose up, saying--"Surely I have that spell by heart now." Then the Jackal arose out of his hole, and cried--"Ho, brahmin! I have learnt the spell better than you know it yourself!" and off he ran. The Bodhisatta set off in chase, and followed some way, crying--"Yon jackal will do a great mischief--catch him, catch him!" But the jackal got clear off into the forest.
The Jackal found a she-jackal, and gave her a little nip upon the body. "What is it, master?" she asked. "Do you know me," he asked, "or do you not?"  I do not know you." He repeated the spell, and thus had

under his orders several hundreds of jackals, and gathered round him all the elephants and horses, lions and tigers, swine and deer, and all other fourfooted creatures; [244] and their king he became, under the title of Sabbadāṭha, or Alltusk, and a she jackal he made his consort. On the back of two elephants stood a lion, and on the lion's back sat Sabbadāṭha, the jackal king, along with his consort the she jackal; and great honour was paid to them.
Now the Jackal was tempted by his great honour, and became puffed up with pride, and he resolved to capture the kingdom of Benares. So with all the fourfooted creatures in his train, he came to a place near to Benares. His host covered twelve leagues of ground. From his position there he sent a message to the king, "Give up your kingdom, or fight for it." The citizens of Benares, smitten with terror, shut close their gates and stayed within.
Then the Bodhisatta drew near the king, and said to him, "Fear not, mighty king! leave me the task of fighting with the jackal king, Sabbadāṭha. Except only me, no one is able to fight with him at all." Thus he gave heart to the king and the citizens. "I will ask him at once," he went on, "what he will do in order to take the city." So he mounted the tower over one of the gates, and cried out--"Sabbadāṭha, what will you do to get possession of this realm?"
"I will cause the lions to roar, and with the roaring I will frighten the multitude: thus will I take it!"
"Oh, that's it," thought the Bodhisatta, and down he came from the tower. He made proclamation by beat of drum that all the dwellers in the great city of Benares, over all its twelve leagues, must stop up their ears with flour. The multitude heard the command; they stopped up their own ears with flour, so that they could not hear each other speak:--nay, they even did the same to their cats and other animals.
Then the Bodhisatta went up a second time into the tower, and cried out "Sabbadāṭha!"
"What is it, Brahmin?" quoth he.
"How will you take this realm?" he asked.
"I will cause the lions to roar, and I will frighten the people, and destroy them; thus will I take it!" he said.
"You will not be able to make the lions roar; these noble lions, with their tawny paws and shaggy manes, will never do the bidding of an old jackal like you! The jackal, stubborn with pride, [245] answered, "Not only will the other lions obey me, but I'll even make this one, upon whose back I sit, roar alone!"
"Very well," said the Bodhisatta, "do it if you can."
So he tapped with his foot on the lion which he sat upon, to roar.
  And the lion resting his mouth upon the Elephant's temple, roared thrice, without any manner of doubt. The elephants were terrified and dropped the Jackal down at their feet; they trampled upon his head and crushed it to atoms. Then and there Sabbadāṭha perished. And the elephants, hearing the roar of the lion, were frightened to death, and wounding one another, they all perished there. The rest of the creatures, deer and swine, down to the hares and cats, perished then and there, all except the lions; and these ran off and took to the woods. There was a heap of carcases covering the ground for twelve leagues.
The Bodhisatta came down from the tower, and had the gates of the city thrown open. By beat of drum he caused proclamation to be made throughout the city: "Let all the people take the flour from out of their ears, and they that desire meat, meat let them take!" The people all ate what meat they could fresh, and the rest they dried and preserved.
It was at this time, according to tradition, that people first began to dry meat.

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The Master having finished this discourse, identified the Birth by the following verses, full of divine wisdom:

    "Even as the Jackal, stiff with pride,
Craved for a mighty host on every side,
    And all toothed creatures came
Flocking around, until he won great fame:

    "Even so the man who is supplied
With a great host of men on every side,
    As great renown has he
As had the Jackal in his sovranty."
[246] "In those days Devadatta was the Jackal, Ānanda was the king, and I was the chaplain."

Footnotes

168:1 Folk-Lore Journal, iv. 60.
168:2 A great elephant was let loose for the purpose of destroying the Buddha, but only did him reverence: Cullavagga, vii. 3. 11 (S. B. E., Vinaya Texts, iii. 247); Hardy, Manual of Buddhism, p. 320; Milinda-pañha iv. 4. 30 (trans. in S. B. E., i. 288).
168:3 Perhaps ājānāmi "I do know you."

No. 242.

SUNAKHA-JĀTAKA.

"Foolish Dog," etc. This story the Master told whilst living in Jetavana, about a dog that used to be fed in the resting hall by the Ambala tower.

It is said that from a puppy this dog had been kept there and fed by some water-carriers. In course of time it grew up there to be a big dog. Once a

villager happened to see him; and he bought him from the water-carriers for an upper garment and a rupee; then, fastening him to a chain, led the dog away. The dog was led away, unresisting, making no sound, and followed and followed the new master, eating whatever was offered. "He's fond of me, no doubt," thought the man; and let him free from the chain. No sooner did the dog find himself free, than off he went, and never stopped until he came back to the place he started from.

Seeing him, the Brethren guessed what had happened; and in the evening, when they were gathered in the Hall of Truth, they began talking about it. "Friend--here's the dog back again in our resting hall! how clever he must have been, to get rid of his chain! No sooner free, than back he ran!" The Master, entering, asked what they were all talking about as they sat together. They told him. He rejoined, "Brethren, this is not the first time our dog was clever at getting rid of his chain; he was just the same before." And he told them an old-world tale.

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Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was king of Benares, the Bodhisatta was born in a rich family of the kingdom of Kāsi; and when he grew up, he set up a house of his own. There was a man in Benares who had a dog which had been fed on rice till it grew fat. [247] And a certain villager who had come to Benares saw the dog; and to the owner he gave a fine garment and a piece of money for the dog, which he led off bound by a strap. Arrived at the outskirts of a forest, he entered a hut, tied up the dog, and lay down to sleep. At that moment the Bodhisatta entered the forest on some errand, and beheld the dog made fast by a thong; whereat he uttered the first stanza:--

"Foolish Dog! why don't you bite
Through that strap that holds you tight?
In a trice you would be free,
Scampering off merrily!"

On hearing this stanza, the Dog uttered the second:--

"Resolute--determined, I
Wait my opportunity:
Careful watch and ward I keep
Till the people are asleep."

So spake he; and when the company were asleep, he gnawed through the strap, and returned to his master's house in great glee.

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[248] When this discourse was ended, the Master identified the Birth:--"The dogs are the same, and I was the wise man."

No. 243.

GUTTILA-JĀTAKA.

"I had a pupil once," etc.--This story the Master told in the Bamboo-grove, about Devadatta.
On this occasion the Brethren said to Devadatta: "Friend Devadatta, the Supreme Buddha is your teacher; of him you learnt the Three Piṭakas and how to produce the Four kinds of Ecstasy; you really should not act the enemy to your own teacher!" Devadatta replied: "Why, friends,--Gotama the Ascetic my teacher? Not a bit: was it not by my own power that I learnt the Three Piṭakas, and produced the Four Ecstasies?" He refused to acknowledge his teacher.
The Brethren fell a-talking of this in the Hall of Truth. "Friend! Devadatta repudiates his teacher! he has become an enemy of the Supreme Buddha! and what a miserable fate has befallen him!" In came the Master, and enquired what they were all talking of together. They told him. "Ah, Brethren," said he, "this is not the first time that Devadatta has repudiated his teacher, and shown himself my enemy, and come to a miserable end. It was just the same before." And then he told the following story.

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Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born in a musician's family. His name was Master Guttila. When he grew up, he mastered all the branches of music, and under the name of Guttila the Musician he became the chief of his kind in all India. He married no wife, but maintained his blind parents 1.
At that time certain traders of Benares made a journey to Ujjeni for trade. A holiday was proclaimed; they all clubbed together; they procured scents and perfumes and ointments, and all manner of foods and meats. "Pay the hire," they cried, "and fetch a musician!"
It happened that at the time a certain Mūsila [249] was the chief musician in Ujjeni. Him they sent for, and made him their musician. Mūsila was a player on the lute; and he tuned his lute up to the highest key, to play upon. But they knew the playing of Guttila the Musician, and his music seemed to them like scratching on a mat. So not one of them showed pleasure. When Mūsila saw that they expressed no pleasure, he said to himself--"Too sharp, I suppose," and tuning his lute down to the middle tone, he played it so. Still they sat indifferent. Then thought he, "I suppose they know nothing about it;" and making as though he

too were ignorant, he played with the strings all loose. As before, they made no sign. Then Mūsila asked them, "Good merchants, why do you not like my playing?"
"What! are you playing?" cried they. "We imagined that you must be tuning up."
"Why, do you know any better musician," he asked, "or are you too ignorant to like my playing?"
Said the merchants, "We have heard the music of Guttila the Musician, at Benares; and yours sounds like women crooning to soothe their babies."
"Here, take your money back," said he, "I don't want it. Only when you go to Benares, please take me with you."
They agreed, and took him back to Benares with them; they pointed out the dwelling of Guttila, and departed every man to his own house.
Mūsila entered the Bodhisatta's dwelling; he saw his beautiful lute where it stood, tied up: he took it down, and played upon it. At this the old parents, who could not see him because they were blind, [250] cried out
"The mice are gnawing at the lute! Shoo! shoo! the rats are biting the lute to pieces!"
At once Mūsila put down the lute, and greeted the old folks. "Where do you come from?" asked they.
He replied, "I come from Ujjeni to learn at the feet of the teacher."
"Oh, all right," said they. He asked where the teacher was.
"He is out, father; but he will be back to-day," came the answer. Mūsila sat down and waited until he came; then after some friendly words, he told his errand. Now the Bodhisatta was skilled in divining from the lineaments of the body. He perceived that this was not a good man; so he refused. "Go, my son, this art is not for you." Mūsila clasped the feet of the Bodhisatta's parents, to help his suit, and prayed them--"Make him teach me!" Again and again his parents besought the Bodhisatta to do so; until he could not stand it any longer, and did as he was asked. And Mūsila went along with the Bodhisatta into the king's palace.
"Who is this, master?" asked the king, on seeing him.
"A pupil of mine, great king!" was the reply.
By and bye he got the ear of the king.
Now the Bodhisatta did not stint his knowledge, but taught his pupil everything which he knew himself. This done, he said, "Your knowledge is now perfect."
Thought Mūsila, "I have now mastered my art. This city of Benares is the chief city in all India. My teacher is old; here therefore must I

stay." So he said to his teacher, "Sir, I would serve the king." "Good, my son," replied he, "I will tell the king of it."
He came before the king, and said, "My pupil is wishful to serve your Highness. Fix what his fee shall be."
The king answered, "His fee shall be the half of yours." And he came and told it to Mūsila. Mūsila said, "If I receive the same as you, I will serve; but if not, then I will not serve him." [251]
"Why?" "Say: do I not know all that you know?" "Yes, you do." "Then why does he offer me the half?"
The Bodhisatta informed the king what had passed. The king said,
"If he is as perfect in his art as you, he shall receive the same as you do." This saying of the king the Bodhisatta told to his pupil. The pupil consented to the bargain; and the king, being informed of this, replied--"Very good. What day will you compete together?" "Be it the seventh day from this, O king."
The king sent for Mūsila. "I understand that you are ready to try issue with your master?"
"Yes, your Majesty," was the reply.
The king would have dissuaded him. "Don't do it," said he, "there should be never rivalry between master and pupil."
"Hold, O king!" cried he--"yes, let there be a meeting between me and my teacher on the seventh day; we shall know which of us is master of his art."
So the king agreed; and he sent the drum beating round the city with this notice:--"Oyez! on the seventh day Guttila the Teacher, and Mūsila the Pupil, will meet at the door of the royal palace, to show their skill. Let the people assemble from the city, and see their skill!"
The Bodhisatta thought within himself, "This Mūsila is young and fresh, I am old and my strength is gone. What an old man does will not prosper. If my pupil is beaten 1, there is no great credit in that. If he beats me, death in the woods is better than the shame which will be my portion." So to the woods he went, but he kept returning through fear of death and going back to the wood through fear of shame. And in this way six days passed by. The grass died as he walked, and his feet wore away a path.
At that time, Sakka's throne became hot. Sakka meditated, and perceived what had happened. "Guttila the Musician is suffering much sorrow in the forest by reason of his pupil. [252] I must help him!" So he went in haste and stood before the Bodhisatta. "Master," said he, "why have you taken to the woods?"
"Who are you?" asked the other.

"I am Sakka."
Then said the Bodhisatta, "I was in fear of being worsted by my pupil, O king of the gods; and therefore did I flee to the woods." And he repeated the first stanza 1:--

"I had a pupil once, who learnt of me
The seven-stringed lute's melodious minstrelsy;
    He now would fain his teacher's skill outdo.
O Kosiya 2! do thou my helper be!"

"Fear not," said Sakka, "I am your defence and refuge: "and he repeated the second stanza:--

"Fear not, for I will help thee at thy need;
For honour is the teacher's rightful meed.
Fear not! thy pupil shall not rival thee,
But thou shalt prove the better man indeed."

"As you play, you shall break one of the strings of your lute, and play upon six; and the music shall be as good as before. Mūsila too shall break a string, and he shall not be able to make music with his lute; then shall he be defeated. And when you see that he is defeated, you shall break the second string of your lute, and the third, even unto the seventh, and you shall go on playing with nothing but the body; and from the ends of the broken strings the sound shall go forth, and fill all the land of Benares for a space of twelve leagues." [253] With these words he gave the Bodhisatta three playing-dice, and went on: "When the sound of the lute has filled all the city, you must throw one of these dice into the air; and three hundred nymphs shall descend and dance before you. While they dance throw up the second, and three hundred shall dance in front of your lute; then the third, and then three hundred more shall come down and dance within the arena. I too will come with them; go on, and fear not!"
In the morning the Bodhisatta returned home. At the palace door a pavilion was set up, and a throne was set apart for the king. He came down from the palace, and took his seat upon the divan in the gay pavilion. All around him were thousands of slaves, women beauteously apparelled, courtiers, brahmins, citizens. All the people of the town had come together. In the courtyard they were fixing the seats circle on circle, tier above tier. The Bodhisatta, washed and anointed, had eaten of all manner of finest meats; and lute in hand he sat waiting in his appointed place. Sakka was there, invisible, poised in the air, surrounded

by a great company. However, the Bodhisatta saw him. Mūsila too was there, and sat in his own seat. All around was a great concourse of people.
First the two played each the same piece. When they played, both the same, the multitude was delighted, and gave abundant applause. Sakka spoke to the Bodhisatta, from his place in the air: "Break one of the strings!" said he. Then the Bodhisatta brake the bee-string; and the string, though broken, gave out a sound from its broken end; it seemed like music divine. Mūsila too broke a string; but after that no sound came out of it. His teacher broke the second, and so on to the seventh string: he played upon the body alone, and the sound continued, and filled the town:--the multitude in thousands waved and waved their kerchiefs in the air, in thousands they shouted applause. [254] The Bodhisatta threw up one of the dice into the air, and three hundred nymphs descended and began to dance. And when he had thrown the second and third in the same manner, there were nine hundred nymphs a-dancing as Sakka had said. Then the king made a sign to the multitude; up rose the multitude, and cried--"You made a great mistake in matching yourself against your teacher! You know not your measure!' Thus they cried out against Mūsila; and with stories and staves, and anything that came to hand, they beat and bruised him to death, and seizing him by the feet, they cast him upon a dustheap.
The king in his delight showered gifts upon the Bodhisatta, and so did they of the city. Sakka likewise spake pleasantly to him, and said, "Wise Sir, I will send anon my charioteer Mātali with a car drawn by a thousand thoroughbreds; and you shall mount upon my divine car, drawn by a thousand steeds, and travel to heaven"; and he departed.
When Sakka was returned, and sat upon his throne, made all of a precious stone, the daughters of the gods asked him, "Where have you been, O king?" Sakka told them in full all that had happened, and praised the virtues and good parts of the Bodhisatta. Then said the daughters of the gods,
"O king, we long to look upon this teacher; fetch him hither!"
Sakka summoned Mātali. "The nymphs of heaven," said he, "desire to look upon Guttila the Musician. Go, seat him in my divine car, and bring him hither." The charioteer went and brought the Bodhisatta. Sakka gave him a friendly greeting. "The maidens of the gods," said he, "wish to hear your music, Master."
"We musicians, O great king," said he, "live by practice of our art. For a recompense I will play."
"Play on, and I will recompense you."
"I care for no other recompense but this. Let these daughters of the gods tell me what acts of virtue brought them here; then will I play." [255]

Then said the daughters of the gods, "Gladly will we tell you after of the virtues that we have practised; but first do you play to us, Master."
For the space of a week the Bodhisatta played to them, and his music surpassed the music of heaven. On the seventh day he asked the daughters of the gods of their virtuous lives, beginning from the first. One of them, in the time of the Buddha Kassapa, had given an upper garment to a certain Brother; and having renewed existence as an attendant of Sakka, had become chief among the daughters of the gods, with a retinue of a thousand nymphs: of her the Bodhisatta asked--"What did you do in a previous existence, that has brought you here?" The manner of his question and the gift she had given have been told in the Vimāna story: they spoke as follows:--

"O brilliant goddess, like the morning star,
Shedding thy light of beauty near and far 1,
Whence springs this beauty? whence this happiness?
Whence all the blessings that the heart can bless?
I ask thee, goddess excellent in might,
Whence comes this all-pervading wondrous light?
When thou wert mortal woman, what didst thou
To gain the glory that surrounds thee now?"

"Chief among men and chief of women she
Who gives an upper robe in charity.
She that gives pleasant things is sure to win
A home divine and fair to enter in.
Behold this habitation, how divine!
As fruit of my good deeds this home is mine
A thousand nymphs stand ready at my call;
Fair nymphs--and I the fairest of them all.
And therefore am I excellent in might;
Hence comes this all-pervading wondrous light!"
[256] Another had given flowers for worship to a Brother who craved an alms. Another had been asked for a scented wreath of five sprays for the shrine, and gave it. Another had given sweet fruits. Another had given fine essences. Another had given a scented five-spray to the shrine of the Buddha Kassapa. Another had heard the discourse of Brethren or Sisters in wayfaring, or such as had taken up their abode in the house of some family. Another had stood in the water, and given water to a Brother who had eaten his meal on a boat. Another living in the world had done her duty by mother-in-law and father-in-law, never losing her temper. Another had divided even the share that she received, and so did eat, and was virtuous. Another, who had been a slave in some household, without anger and without pride had given away a share of her own portion, and had been born again as an attendant upon the king of

the gods. So also all those who are written in the story of Guttila-vimāna, thirty and seven daughters of the gods, were asked by the Bodhisatta what each had done to come there, and they too told what they had done in the same way by verses.
On hearing all this, the Bodhisatta exclaimed: "’Tis good for me, in sooth, truly ’tis very good for me, that I came here, and heard by how very small a merit great glory has been attained. Henceforward, when I return to the world of men, I will give all manner of gifts, and perform good deeds." And he uttered this aspiration

"O happy dawn! O happy must I be! 1
O happy pilgrimage, whereby I see
These daughters of the gods, divinely fair, [257]
And hear their sweet discourse! Henceforth I swear
Full of sweet peace, and generosity,
Of temperance, and truth my life shall be,
Till I come there where no more sorrows are."

Then after seven days had passed, the king of heaven laid his commands upon Mātali the charioteer, and he seated Guttila in the chariot and sent him to Benares. And when he came to Benares, he told the people what he had seen with his own eyes in heaven. From that time the people resolved to do good deeds with all their might.

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When this discourse was ended, the Master identified the Birth: "In those days Devadatta was Mūsila, Anuruddha was Sakka, Amanda was the king, and I was Guttila the Musician."

Footnotes

172:1 Guttila is one of the four men who "even in their earthly bodies attained to glory in the city of the gods." Milinda, iv. 8. 25 (trans. in S. B. E., ii. 145).
174:1 Reading antevāsike.
175:1 These stanzas, together with those which follow on page 255, and others, occur in the Vimāna-vatthu, no. 33 (p. 28 in the P. T. S. ed.), Guttila-vimāna.
175:2 A title of Indra; the word means an Owl (Skr. Kauçika): it is one of the many Indian clan names that are also names of animals.
177:1 These two lines occur in the Comm. to the Dhammapada, p. 99. See also note on the First Stanza, above.
178:1 Vimāna-vatthu p. 31

No. 244.

VĪTICCHA-JĀTAKA.

"What he sees," etc.--This story the Master told at Jetavana, about a turntail vagrant who wandered about the country.

It is said that this man could not find any one to argue with him in all India; till he came to Sāvatthi, and asked whether any one could dispute with him. Yes--ho was told--the Supreme Buddha; hearing which, he and a multitude with him repaired to Jetavana, and put a question to the Master,

whilst he was discoursing in the midst of the four kinds of disciples. The Master answered his question, and then put one to him in return. This the man failed to answer, got up, and turned tail. The crowd sitting round exclaimed, "One word, Sir, vanquished the itinerant!" Said the Master, "Yes, Brethren, and just as I have vanquished him now with one word, so I did before." Then he told a story of olden days.

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Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was king of Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a brahmin in the kingdom of Kāsi. He grew up, and mastered his passions; and embracing the religious life, [258] he dwelt a long time in the Himalayas.

He came down from the highlands, and took up his abode near a considerable town, in a hut of leaves built beside a bend of the river Ganges. A certain pilgrim, who found no one that could answer him throughout all India, came to that town. "Is there anyone," asked he, "who can argue with me?"

Yes, they said, and told him the power of the Bodhisatta. So, followed by a great multitude, he made his way to the place where the Bodhisatta dwelt, and after greeting him, took a seat.

"Will you drink," he asked, "of the Ganges water, infused with wild wood odours?"

The pilgrim tried to catch him in his words. "What is Ganges? Ganges may be sand, Ganges may be water, Ganges may be the near bank, Ganges may be the far bank!"

Said the Bodhisatta to the pilgrim, "Besides the sand, the water, the hither and the further bank, what other Ganges can you have?" The pilgrim had no answer for this; he rose up, and went away. When he had gone the Bodhisatta spake these verses by way of discourse to the assembled multitude:--

"What he sees, he will not have;
What he sees not he will crave.
He may go a long way yet--
What he wants he will not get.

"He contemns what he has got;
Once ’tis gained, he wants it not.
He craves everything always:
Who craves nothing earns our praise."

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[259] When this discourse was ended, the Master identified the Birth: "The vagrant is the same in both cases, and I myself was then the ascetic."

No. 245.

MŪLA-PARIYĀYA-JĀTAKA.

"Time all consumes," etc.--This is a story told by the Master while he stayed near Ukkaṭṭhā, in the Subhagavana Park, in connexion with the Chapter on the Succession of Causes.
At that time, it is said, five hundred brahmins who had mastered the three Vedas, having embraced salvation, studied the Three Piṭakas. These learnt, they became intoxicated with pride, thinking to themselves--"The Supreme Buddha knows just the Three Piṭakas, and we know them too. So what is the difference between us?" They discontinued their waiting upon the Buddha, and went about with an equal following of their own.
One day the Master, when these men were seated before him, repeated the Chapter on the Succession of Causes, and adorned it with the Eight Stages of Knowledge. They did not understand a word. The thought came into their mind--"Here we have been believing that there were none so wise as we, and of this we understand nothing. There is none so wise as the Buddhas: O the excellence of the Buddhas!" After this they were humbled, as quiet as serpents with their fangs extracted.
When the Master had stayed as long as he wished in Ukkaṭṭhā, he departed to Vesāli; and at Gotama's shrine he repeated the Chapter on Gotama. There was a quaking of a thousand worlds! Hearing this, these Brothers became saints.
But however, after the Master had finished repeating the Chapter on the Succession of Causes, during his visit to Ukkaṭṭhā [260] the Brethren discussed the whole affair in the Hall of Truth. "How great is the power of the Buddhas, friend! Why, these brahmin mendicants, who used to be so drunk with pride, have been humbled by the lesson on the Succession of Causes!" The Master entered and asked what their talk was about. They told him. He said, "Brethren, this is not the first time that I have humbled these men, who used to carry their heads so high with pride; I did the same before." And then he told them a tale of the olden time.

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Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta reigned in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a brahmin; who when he grew up, and mastered the Three Vedas, became a far-famed teacher, and instructed five hundred pupils in sacred verses. These five hundred, having given their best energy to their work, and perfected their learning, said within themselves,
"We know as much as our teacher: there is no difference."
Proud and stubborn, they would not come before their teacher's face, nor do their round of duty.
One day, they saw their master seated beneath a jujube tree; and desiring to mock him, they tapped upon the tree with their fingers. "A worthless tree!" said they.

The Bodhisatta observed that they were mocking him. "My pupils," he said, "I will ask you a question."
They were delighted. "Speak on," said they, "we will answer."
Their teacher asked the question by repeating the first stanza:--

"Time all consumes, even time itself as well.
Who is’t consumes the all-consumer?--tell 1!"

[261] The youths listened to the problem; but not one amongst them could answer it. Then said the Bodhisatta,
"Do not imagine that this question is in the Three Vedas. You imagine that you know all that I know, and so you act like the jujube tree 2. You don't know that I know a great deal which is unknown to you. Leave me now: I give you seven days--think over this question for so long."
So they made salutation, and departed each to his own house. There for a week they pondered, yet they could make neither head nor tail of the problem. On the seventh day, they came to their teacher, and greeted him, sitting down.
"Well, ye of auspicious speech, have you solved the question?"
"No, we have not," said they.
Again the Bodhisatta spoke in reproof, uttering the second stanza:--

"Heads grow on necks, and hair on heads will grow:
How many heads have ears, I wish to know?"

"Fools are ye," he went on, rebuking the youths: "ye have ears with holes in them, but not wisdom;" and he solved the problem. [262] They listened. "Ah," said they, "great are our Teachers!" and they craved his pardon, and quenching their pride they waited upon the Bodhisatta.

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When the Master had ended this discourse, he identified the Birth: "At that time these Brothers were the five hundred pupils; and I myself was their teacher."

Footnotes

181:1 Kālaghaso, the 'consumer of time,' is he who, by destroying the thirst for existence, so lives as not to be born again (Scholiast's explanation).
181:2 The jujube fruit is often contrasted with the cocoa nut, as being only externally pleasing, see Hitop. i. 95.

No. 246.

TELOVĀDA-JĀTAKA.

"The wicked kills," etc.--This is a story which the Master told while staying in his gabled chamber near Vesāli, about Sīhasenāpati.
It is said that this man, after he had fled to the Refuge, offered hospitality and then gave food with meat in it. The naked ascetics on hearing this were angry and displeased; they wanted to do the Buddha a mischief; "The priest Gotama," sneered they, "with his eyes open, eats meat prepared on purpose for him."
The Brethren discussed this matter in their Hall of Truth: "Friend, Nāthaputta the Ascetic 1 goes about sneering, because, he says, 'Priest Gotama eats meat prepared on purpose for him, with his eyes open'." Hearing this, the Master rejoined:--"This is not the first time, Brethren, that Nāthaputta has been sneering at me for eating meat which was got ready for me on purpose; he did just so in former times. And he told them an old-world tale.

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Once on a time, when Brahmadatta was king of Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a brahmin. When he came of age he embraced the religious life.
He came down from Himalaya to get salt and seasoning, and next day walked the city, begging alms. A certain wealthy man designed to annoy the ascetic. So he brought him to his dwelling, and pointed out a seat, and then served him with fish. After the meal, the man sat on one side, and said,
"This food was prepared on purpose for you, by killing living creatures. Not upon my head is this wrong, but upon yours!" And he repeated the first stanza:--

"The wicked kills, and cooks, and gives to eat:
He is defiled with sin that takes such meat."

[263] On hearing this, the Bodhisatta recited the second stanza:--

"The wicked may for gift slay wife or son,
Yet, if the holy eat, no sin is done 2."

And the Bodhisatta with these words of instruction rose from his seat and departed.

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This discourse ended, the Master identified the Birth: "Nāthaputta, the Naked Ascetic was this wealthy man, and I was the ascetic."

Footnotes

182:1 He is one of the six titthiyas (Heretics), and generally called Nātaputta (which is probably the right spelling here). The 'naked ascetics' were probably the Jains.
182:2 "..Ṭhose who take life are in fault, but not the persons who eat the flesh; my priests have permission to eat whatever food it is customary to eat in any place or country, so that it be done without the indulgence of the appetite, or evil desire." Hardy, Manual, p. 327.

No. 247.

PĀDAÑJALI-JĀTAKA.

"Surely this lad," etc.--This story the Master told while dwelling in Jetavana, about the Elder Lāḷudāyi.

One day, it is said, the two chief disciples were discussing a question. The Brethren who heard the discussion praised the Elders. Elder Lāḷudāyi, who sat amongst the company, curled his lip with the thought--"What is their knowledge compared with mine?" When the Brethren noticed this, they left him. The company broke up.

The Brethren were talking about it in the Hall of Truth. "Friend, did you see how Lāḷudāyi curled his lip in scorn of the two chief disciples?" On hearing which the Master said, "Brethren, in olden days, as now, Lāḷudāyi had no other answer but a curl of the lip." Then he told them an old-world tale.

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[264] Once upon a time, when king Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was his adviser in things spiritual and temporal. Now the king had a sun, Pādañjali by name, an idle lazy loafer. By and bye the king died. His obsequies over, the courtiers talked of consecrating his son Pādañjali to be king. But the Bodhisatta said,

"’Tis a lazy fellow, an idle loafer,--shall we take and consecrate him king?"

The courtiers held a trial. They sat the youth down before them, and made a wrong decision. They adjudged something to the wrong owner, and asked him, "Young sir, do we decide rightly?"

The lad curled his lip.

"He is a wise lad, I think," thought the Bodhisatta; "he must know that we have decided wrongly:" and he recited the first verse:--

"Surely the lad is wise beyond all men.
He curls his lip--he must see through us, then!"

Next day, as before, they arranged a trial, but this time judged it aright. Again they asked him what he thought of it.

Again he curled his lip. Then the Bodhisatta perceived that he was blind fool, and repeated the second verse:--

"Not right from wrong, nor bad from good he knows:
He curls his lip--but no more sense he shows."

The courtiers became aware that the young man Pādañjali was a fool, and they made the Bodhisatta king.

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When the Master had ended this discourse, he identified the Birth: "Lāḷudāyi was Pādañjali, and I was the wise courtier."

No. 248.

KIṀSUKOPAMA-JĀTAKA.

[265] "All have seen," etc.--This story the Master told whilst staying at Jetavana, on the Chapter about the Judas tree 1.
Four Brothers, approaching the Tathāgata, asked him to explain the means by which ecstasy may be induced. This he explained. This done, they dispersed to the several places where they spent their nights and days. One of them, having learnt the Six Spheres of Touch, became a saint; another did so after learning the Five Elements of Being, the third after learning the Four Principal Elements, the fourth after learning the Eighteen Constituents of Being. Each of them recounted to the Master the particular excellence which he had attained. A thought came into the mind of one of them; and he asked the Master, "There is only one Nirvana for all these modes of meditation; how is it that all of them lead to sainthood?" Then the Master asked, "Is not this like the people who saw the Judas tree?" As they requested him to tell them about it, he repeated a tale of bygone days.

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Once on a time Brahmadatta the king of Benares had four sons. One day they sent for the charioteer, and said to him,
"We want to see a Judas tree; show us one!"

"Very well, I will," the charioteer replied. But he did not show it to them all together. He took the eldest at once to the forest in the chariot, and showed him the tree at the time when the buds were just sprouting from the stem. To the second he showed it when the leaves were green, to the third at the time of blossoming, and to the fourth when it was bearing fruit.
After this it happened that the four brothers were sitting together, and some one asked, "What sort of a tree is the Judas tree?" Then the first brother answered,
"Like a burnt stump!"
And the second cried, "Like a banyan tree!"
And the third--"Like a piece of meat 1!"
And the fourth said, "Like the acacia!"
They were vexed at each other's answers, and ran to find their father. "My lord," they asked, "what sort of a tree is the Judas tree?"
"What did you say to that?" he asked. They told him the manner of their answers. Said the king,
"All four of you have seen the tree. Only when the charioteer showed you the tree, you did not ask him 'What is the tree like at such a time?' [266] or 'at such another time?' You made no distinctions, and that is the reason of your mistake." And he repeated the first stanza

"All have seen the Judas tree--
What is your perplexity?
No one asked the charioteer
What its form the livelong year!"

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The Master, having explained the matter, then addressed the Brethren: "Now as the four brothers, because they did not make a distinction and ask, fell in doubt about the tree, so you have fallen in doubt about the right": and in his perfect wisdom he uttered the second verse:

"Who know the right with some deficiency
Feel doubt, like those four brothers with the tree."

When this discourse was ended, the Master identified the Birth: "At that time I was the king of Benares."

Footnotes

184:1 Kiṁsuka = Butea Frondosa.
185:1 It has pink flowers.

No. 249.

SĀLAKA-JĀTAKA.

"Like my own son," etc.--This story the Master told whilst living in Jetavana, about a distinguished Elder.
It is said that he had ordained a youth, whom he treated unkindly. The novice at last could stand it no longer, and returned to the world. Then the Elder tried to coax him. [267] "Look here, lad," said he, "your robe shall be your own, and your bowl too; I have another bowl and robe which I'll give you. Join us again!" At first he refused, but at last after much asking he did so. From the day he joined the brotherhood the Elder maltreated him as before. Again the lad found it too much, and left the order. As the Elder begged him again several times to join, the lad replied, "You can neither do with me nor without me; let me alone--I will not join!"
The Brethren got talking about this in the Hall of Truth. "Friend," said they, "a sensitive lad that! He knew the Elder too well to join us." The Master came in and asked what they were talking about. They told him. He rejoined, "Not only is the lad sensitive now, Brethren, but he was just the same of old; when once he saw the faults of that man, he would not accept him again." And he told a story of the olden time.

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Once upon a time, in the reign of Brahmadatta king of Benares, the Bodhisatta was born into a landowner's family, and gained a living by selling corn. Another man, a snake-charmer, had trained a monkey, made him swallow an antidote, and making a snake play with the monkey he gained his livelihood in this way.
A merrymaking had been proclaimed; this man wished to make merry at the feast, and he entrusted the monkey to this merchant, bidding him not neglect it. Seven days after he cane to the merchant, and asked for his monkey. The monkey heard his master's voice, and came out quickly from the grain shop. At once the man beat him over the back with a piece of bamboo; then he took him off to the woods, tied him up and fell asleep. So soon as the monkey saw that he was asleep, he loosed his bonds, scampered off and climbed a mango tree. He ate a mango, and dropped the stone upon the snake-charmer's head. The man awoke, and looked up: there was the monkey. "I'll wheedle him!" he thought, "and when he comes down from the tree, I'll catch him! "So to wheedle him, he repeated the first verse:--

"Like my own son you shall be,
Master in our family:
[268] Come down, Nuncle 1 from the tree--
Come and hurry home with me?"

The monkey listened, and repeated the second verse:--

"You are laughing in your sleeve!
Have you quite forgot that beating?
Here I am content to live
(So good-bye) ripe mangoes eating."

Up he arose, and was soon lost in the wood; while the snake-charmer returned to his house in high dudgeon.

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When this discourse was ended, the Master identified the Birth: "Our novice was the Monkey. The Elder was the snake-charmer, and I myself was the corn-merchant."

Footnotes

186:1 sālaka, lit. 'brother-in-law,' often used as a term of abuse.

No. 250.

KAPI-JĀTAKA.

"A holy sage," etc.--This story was told by the Master whilst living at Jetavana, about a hypocritical Brother.

The Brotherhood found out his hypocrisy. In the Hall of Truth they were talking it over: "Friend, Brother So-and-so, after embracing the Buddha's religion, which leads to salvation, still practises hypocrisy." The Master on coming in [269] asked what they were discussing together. They told him. Said he, "Brethren, it is not the only time this Brother has been a hypocrite; for a hypocrite he was before, when he shammed simply for the sake of warming himself at the fire." Then he told them an old-world tale.

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Once on a time, when Brahmadatta was king in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born one of a brahmin family. When he grew up, and his own son was of an age to run about, his wife died; he took the child on his hip, and departed into the Himalayas, where he became an ascetic, and brought up his son to the same life, dwelling in a hut of leaves.

It was the rainy season, and the heaven poured down its floods incessantly: a Monkey wandered about, tormented with the cold, chattering and rattling his teeth. The Bodhisatta fetched a great log, lit a fire, and lay down upon his pallet. His son sat by him, and chafed his feet.

Now the Monkey had found a dress belonging to some dead anchorite. He clad himself in the upper and lower garment, throwing the skin over one shoulder; he took the pole and waterpot, and in this sage's dress he came to the leaf-hut for the fire: and there he stood, in his borrowed plumes.

The lad caught sight of him, and cried out to his father, "See, father--there is an ascetic, trembling with cold! Call him hither; he shall warm himself." Thus addressing his father, he uttered the first stanza:

"A holy sage stands shivering at our gate,
A sage, to peace and goodness consecrate.
    O father! bid the holy man come in,
That all his cold and misery may abate."

The Bodhisatta listened to his son; he rose up, and looked; then he knew it was a monkey, and repeated the second stanza: [270]

"No holy sage is he: it is a vile
And loathsome Monkey, greedy all to spoil
    That he call touch, who dwells among the trees;
Once let him in, our home he will defile."

With these words, the Bodhisatta seized a firebrand, and scared away the monkey; and he leaped up, and whether he liked the wood or whether he didn't, he never returned to that place any more. The Bodhisatta cultivated the Faculties and the Attainments, and to the young ascetic he explained the process of the mystic trance; and he too let the Faculties and the Attainments spring up within him. And both of them, without a break in their ecstasy, became destined to Brahma's world.

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Thus did the Master discourse by way of shewing how this man was not then only, but always, a hypocrite. This ended, he declared the Truths, and identified the Birth:--at the conclusion of the Truths some reached the First Path, some the Second, and yet some the Third:--"The hypocritical Brother was the Monkey, Rāhula was the son, and I was the hermit myself."

 

Om Tat Sat
                                                        
(Continued...) 

(My humble salutations to Sreeman Professor E B Cowell ji and also Sreeman W H D Rouse for the collection)