THE JĀTAKA
OR
STORIES OF THE BUDDHA'S FORMER BIRTHS
No. 468.
JANASANDHA-JĀTAKA.
[176] "Thus spake," etc. This story the Master told while dwelling at Jetavana, for the instruction of the King of Kosala.At one time, they say the king, intoxicated with power, and devoted to the pleasures of sin, held no court of justice, and grew remiss in attending upon the Buddha. One day he remembered the Dasabala; thought he, "I must visit him." So after breaking his fast, he ascended his magnificent chariot, and proceeding to the monastery, greeted him and took a seat. "How is it, great King," asked the Bodhisatta, "that you have not showed yourself for so long?" "O, sir," replied the king, "I have been so busy, that there has been no opportunity of waiting upon you." "Great King," quoth he, "not meet is it to neglect such as I am, who can give admonition, Supreme Buddhas, dwelling too in a monastery in front. A king ought to rule vigilant in all kingly duties, to his subjects like mother or father, forsaking all evil courses, never omitting the ten virtues of a king. When a king is righteous, those who surround him are righteous also. No marvel were it, in truth, if under my instruction you were to rule in righteousness; but wise men of old, even when there was no teacher to instruct them, by their own understanding established in the threefold practice of well-doing, declared the Law to a great multitude of people, and with all their attendants went to swell the hosts of heaven." With these words, at his request, the Master told a story of the past.
midst of it, and at the palace gate. There day by day he used to distribute six hundred thousand pieces of money, and stirred up all India with his almsgiving: the prison doors he opened for good and all, the places of execution he destroyed, all the world he protected with the four sorts of beneficence 1, [177] he kept the five virtues, observed the holy fast-day, and ruled in righteousness. From time to time he would gather together his subjects, and declare the Law to them: "Give alms, practise virtue, righteously follow your business and calling, educate yourselves in the days of your youth, gain wealth, do not behave like a village cheat or a dog, be not harsh nor cruel, do your duty in caring for mother and for father, in family life honour your elders." Thus he confirmed multitudes of people in good living.
Once on the holy day, fifteenth of the fortnight, having undertaken to keep the holy day, he thought to himself, "I will declare the Law to the multitudes, for the continual increase of good and blessing to them, and to make them vigilant in their life." Then he caused the drum to beat, and beginning with the women of his own household, gathered together all the people of the city. In the courtyard of his palace he sat, on a splendid couch set apart, beneath a pavilion adorned with jewels, and declared the Law in these words: "O people of the city! to you I will declare the practices that will cause you suffering, and these which will not. Be vigilant, and hear with care and attention."
"Thus spake King Janasandha: Ten
things in truth there be,
Which if a man omit to do, he suffers presently.
Which if a man omit to do, he suffers presently.
"Not to have got nor gathered
store in time, the heart torments;
To think he sought no wealth before he afterwards repents.
"How hard is life for men untaught! he thinks, repenting soreTo think he sought no wealth before he afterwards repents.
That learning, which he now might use, he would not learn before.
"A slanderer once, dishonest once, a backbiter unkind,
Cruel, and harsh was I: good cause for sorrow now I find.
[178]"A slayer was I, merciless, and to no creature gave,
Contemptible: for this (quoth he) much sorrow now I have.
"When I had many wives (thinks he) to whom I owed their due,
I left them for another's wife; which now I dearly rue.
"When plenteous store of food and drink there was, he sorrows sore,
To think he never gave a gift in the old time before.
"He grieves to think that when he could, he would not care and tend
Mother and father, now grown old, their youth now at an end.
"To have slighted teacher,
monitor, or father, who would try
To gratify his every wish, causes deep misery.
"To have treated brahmins with neglect, ascetics many a oneTo gratify his every wish, causes deep misery.
Holy, and learned, in the past, makes him repent anon.
"Sweet is austerity performed, a good man honoured well:
That he did no such thing before ’tis sad to have to tell.
"Who these ten things in wisdom brings to full accomplishment,
And to all men his duty does, will never need repent."
Footnotes
110:1 Liberality, Affability, Impartiality, Good Rule.110:2 Compare Sutta-Nipāta, 95, 124.
No. 469.
MAHĀ-KAṆHA-JĀTAKA.
"A black, black hound," etc. This story the Master told while dwelling at Jetavana, about living for the benefit of the world.One day, they say, the Brethren as they sat in the Hall of Truth, were talking together. "Sirs," one would say, "the Master, ever practising friendship towards the multitudes of the people, has forsaken an agreeable abode, and lives just for the good of the world. He has attained supreme wisdom, yet of his own accord takes bowl and robe, and goes on a journey of eighteen leagues or more. For the Five Elders 1 he set a-rolling the Wheel of the Law; on the fifth day of the half-month he recited the Anattalakkhaṇa Scriptures, and bestowed sainthood upon them all; he went to Uruveḷa 2, and to the ascetics with matted hair he showed miracles three thousand and half a thousand, and persuaded them to join the Order; at Gayāsīsa 3 he recited the Discourse upon Fire, and bestowed sainthood upon a thousand of these ascetics;
to Mahākassapa 1, when he had gone forward three miles to meet him, after three discourses he gave the higher Orders; all alone, after the noon-day meal, he went a journey of forty-five leagues, and then established in the Fruit of the Third Path Pukkusa (a youth of very good birth); to meet Mahākappina 1 he went forward a space of two thousand leagues, and bestowed sainthood upon him; alone, in the afternoon he went a journey of thirty leagues, and established in sainthood that cruel and harsh man Aṅgulimāla 2; thirty leagues also he traversed, and established Ālavaka 3 in the Fruit of the First Path, and saved the prince; in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three he dwelt three months, and taught full comprehension of the Law to eight hundred millions of deities 4; to Brahma's world he went, and destroyed the false doctrine of Baka Brahma 5, and bestowed sainthood on ten thousand Brahmas; every year he goes on pilgrimage in three districts, and to such men as are capable of receiving, he gives the Refuges, the Virtues, and the fruits of the different stages; [181] he even acts for the good of snakes and garuḷa birds and the like, in many ways." In such words they praised the goodness and worth of the Dasabala's life for the good of the world. The Master came in, and asked what they talked of as they sat there? They told him. "And no wonder, Brethren," said he. "I who now in my perfect wisdom would live for the world's good, even I in the past, in the days of passion, lived for the good of the world." So saying, he told a story of the past.
Then Sakka, observing that no new deities came into being, looked abroad upon the world; and then he perceived how men were born into states of suffering, and that the religion of the Buddha had decayed. "What shall I do, now?" he wondered.—"Ah, I have it!" thought he: "I will scare and terrify mankind; and when I see they are terrified,
I will console them, I will declare the Law, I will restore religion which has decayed, I will make it last for another thousand years!" With this resolve, he made the god Mātali 1 into the shape of a huge black hound, of pure breed, having four tusks as big as a plantain, horrible, with a hideous shape and a fat belly, as of a woman ready to be delivered of a child; him fastening with five-fold chain, [182] and putting on him a red wreath, he led by a cord. Himself he put on a pair of yellow garments, and bound his hair behind his head, and donned a red wreath; taking a huge bow, fitted with bowstring of the colour of coral, and twirling in his fingers a javelin tipt with adamant, he assumed the aspect of a forester, and descended at a spot one league away from the city. "The world is doomed to destruction, is doomed to destruction!" he called out thrice with a loud sound, so that he terrified the people; and when he reached the entering in of the city, he repeated the cry. The people on seeing the hound were frightened, and hasted into the city, and told the king what had happened. The king speedily caused the city gates to be closed. But Sakka overleapt the wall, eighteen cubits in height, and with his hound stood within the city. The people in terror ran away into the houses, and made the doors fast. Big Blackie gave chase to every man he saw, and scared them, and finally entered into the king's palace. The people who in their fright had taken refuge in the courtyard, ran into the palace, and shut to the door. And as for the king, he with the ladies of his household went up on the terrace. Big Blackie raised his forefeet, and putting them in at the window roared a great roar The sound of his roaring reached from hell to the highest heaven: the whole universe was one great roar. The three great roars that were the loudest ever heard in India are these: the cry of king Puṇṇaka in the Puṇṇaka 2 Birth, the cry of the snake-king Sudassana in the Bhūridatta Birth 3, and this roar in the Mahā-Kaṇha Birth, or the story of Big Blackie 4. The people were terrified and horrified, and not a man of them could say a word to Sakka.
The king plucked up heart, and approaching the window, cried out to Sakka—"Ho, huntsman! [183] why did your hound roar?" Quoth he, "The hound is hungry." "Well," said the king, "I will order some food to be given him." So he told them to give him his own food, and the food of all his household. The hound seemed to make but one mouthful of the whole, then roared again. Again the king put his question. "My hound is still hungry," was the reply. Then he had all the food of
p. 114
his elephants and horses and so forth brought and given to him. This also he finished off all at once; and then the king had all the food in the city given him. He swallowed this in like manner, and roared again. Said the king, "This is no hound. Beyond all doubt he is a goblin. I will ask him wherefore he is come." So terrified with fear, he asked his question by repeating the first stanza:
"A black, black hound, with five
cords bound, with fangs all white of hue,
Majestic, awful—mighty one! what makes he here with you?"
On hearing this, Sakka repeated the second stanza:Majestic, awful—mighty one! what makes he here with you?"
"Not to hunt game the Black Hound
came, but he shall be of use
To punish men, Usīnara, when I shall let him loose."
Then said the king, "What, huntsman! will the hound devour
the flesh of all men, [184] or of your enemies only?" "Only my
enemies, great king." "And who are your enemies?" "Those, O
king, who love unrighteousness, and walk wickedly." "Describe them to
us," he asked. And the king of the gods described them in the stanzas:To punish men, Usīnara, when I shall let him loose."
"When the false Brethren, bowl in
hand, in one robe clad, shall choose
Tonsured the plough to follow, then the Black Hound I will loose.
"When Sisters of the Order shall in single robe be found,Tonsured the plough to follow, then the Black Hound I will loose.
Tonsured, yet walking in the world, I will let loose the Hound.
"What time ascetics, usurers, protruding the upper lip,
Foul-toothed and filthy-haired shall be—the Black Hound I'll let slip.
"When brahmins, skilled in sacred books and holy rites, shall use
Their skill to sacrifice for pelf, the Black Hound shall go loose.
"Whoso his parents now grown old, their youth now come to an end,
Would not maintain, although he might 1, gainst him the Hound I'll send.
"Who to his parents now grown old, their youth now come to an end,
Cries, Fools are ye! gainst such as he the Black Hound I will send.
"When men go after others' wives, of teacher, or of friend,
Sister of father, uncle's wife, the Black Hound I will send.
"When shield on shoulder, sword in hand, full-armed as highway men
They take the road to kill and rob, I'll loose the Black Hound then.
"When widows' sons, with skin groomed white, in skill all useless found,
Strong-armed, shall quarrel and shall fight, then I will loose the Hound.
"When men with hearts of evil full, false and deceitful men,
Walk in and out the world about, I'll loose the Black Hound then."
[186] When he had thus spoken, "These," said he, "are my enemies, O king!" and he made as though he would let the hound leap forth and devour all those who did the deeds of enemies. But as all the multitude was terror-struck, he held in the hound by the leash, and seemed as
it were to fix him to the spot;. then putting off the disguise of a hunter, by his power he rose and poised himself in the air, all blazing as it appeared, and said: "O great king, I am Sakka king of the gods! Seeing that the world was about to be destroyed, I came hither. Now indeed men as they die are filling the states of suffering, because their deeds are evil, and heaven is become empty. From henceforth I will know how to deal with the wicked, but do you be vigilant." Then having in four stanzas well worth remembering declared the Law, and established the people in the virtues of liberality, he strengthened the waning power of religion so that it lasted for yet another thousand years, and then with Mātali returned to his own place.
Footnotes
111:1 The five who accompanied Buddha when he began his life as an ascetic: Aññakoṇḍañña, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Assaji, Mahānāma. See Hardy, Manual, p. 165.111:2 Hardy, p. 188. He there preached to the fire-worshippers.
111:3 Now Brahmāyoni, a mountain near Gayā. See Hardy, p. 191.
112:1 See J. P. T. S. 1888, p. 67.
112:2 Hardy, p. 249.
112:3 This was a tree-demon, who claimed sacrifice of one victim every day. The King's own son was to be eaten, when Buddha saved him. Hardy, p. 261.
112:4 Hardy, p. 298.
112:5 The beings who dwelt in the three worlds of Brahma were called "brahma." The story alluded to here is given in No. 405 (iii. 219 of this translation); Hardy, Manual, p. 336.
112:6 Cp. ii. p. 57 of this translation.
113:1 His charioteer.
113:2 No such title occurs in this collection.
113:3 No. 543 (vi. 157).
113:4 Four sounds are given as proverbial by Hardy, Manual, p. 263; two of which are the first and third of these.
114:1 Thus far the two verses occur in Sutta-Nipāta, 98 and 124.
No. 470.
KOSIYA-JĀTAKA.
The Kosiya Birth will be given under the Sudhābhojana Birth 1.No. 471.
MEṆḌAKA-JĀTAKA.
The Problem of Meṇḍaka will be given under the Ummagga Birth 2.Footnotes
115:1 No. 535, vol. v, p. 382 (Pali).115:2 No. 546, vol. vi, p. 329 (Pali).
No. 472.
MAHĀ-PADUMA-JĀTAKA. 1
[187] "No king should," etc. This story the Master told while dwelling in Jetavana, about Ciñcamāṇavikā 2.When the Dasabala first attained supreme wisdom, after disciples had multiplied, and innumerable gods and men had been born into heavenly states, and the seeds of goodness had been cast abroad, great honour was shown him, and great gifts given. The heretics were like fireflies after sunrise; no honours and no gifts had they; in the street they stood, and cried out to the people, "What, is the ascetic Gotama the Buddha? We are Buddhas also! Does that gift only bring great fruit, which is given to him? That which is given to us also has great fruit for you! Give to us also, work for us!" But cry as they would, no honour nor gifts they got. Then they came together in secret, and consulted: "How can we cast a stain upon Gotama the ascetic in the face of men, and put an end to his honour and his gifts?"
Now there was at that time in Sāvatthi a certain Sister, named Ciñcamānavikā; passing fair she was, full of all grace, a very sylph; rays of brilliancy shone forth from her body. Some one uttered a counsel of cruelty thus: "By the help of Ciñcamāṇavikā we will cast a stain upon the ascetic Gotama, and put an end to his honour and the gifts he receives." "Yes," they all agreed, "that is the way to do it."
She came to the monastery of the heretics, and greeted them, and stood still. The heretics said nothing to her. She said, "What blemish is there in me? Three times I have greeted you!" She said again, "Sirs, what blemish is in me? why do you not speak to me?" They replied, "Know you not, Sister, that Gotama the ascetic is going about and doing us harm, cutting off all the honour and liberality that was shown us?"—"I did not know it, Sirs; but what can I do?"—"If you wish us well, Sister by your own doing bring a stain upon the ascetic Gotama, and put an end to his honour and the gifts he receives." She replied, "Very good, Sirs, leave that to me; do not trouble about it." With these words she departed.
After that, she used all a woman's skill in deceit. When the people of Sāvatthi had heard the Law, and were coming away from Jetavana, she used to go towards Jetavana, clad in a robe dyed with cochineal, and with fragrant garlands in her hands. [188] When any one asked her, "Whither away at this hour?" she would reply "What have you to do with my goings and comings?" She spent the night in the heretics' monastery, which was close by Jetavana: and when early in the morning, the lay associates of the order came forth from the city to pay their morning salutation, she would meet them as though she had spent the night in Jetavana, going towards the city. If any one asked where she had stayed, she would answer, "What are my stayings and lodgings to you?" But after some six weeks, she replied, "I spent the night in Jetavana, with Gotama the ascetic, in one fragrant cell." Then the unconverted began to wonder, could this be true, or not. After three or four months, she bound bandages about her belly, and made it appear as though she were with child, and wrapt a red robe around her. Then she declared that she was with child by the ascetic Gotama, and made blind fools believe. After eight or nine months, she fastened about her pieces of wood in a bundle, and over all her
red robe; hands, feet, and back she caused to be beaten with the jawbone of an ox, so as to produce swellings; and made as though all her senses were wearied. One evening, when the Tathāgata was sitting on the splendid seat of preaching, and was preaching the Law, she went among the congregation, and standing in front of the Tathāgata, said—"O great ascetic! You preach indeed to great multitudes; sweet is your voice, and soft is the lip that covers your teeth; but you have got me with child, and my time is near; yet you assign me no chamber for the childbirth, you give me no ghee nor oil; what you will not do yourself, you do not ask another of the lay associates to do, the king of Kosala, or Anāthapiṇḍika, or Visākhā the great lay Sister. Why do you not tell one of them to do what is to be done for me? You know how to take your pleasure, but you do not know how to care for that which shall be born!" So she reviled the Tathāgata in the midst of the congregation, as one might try to besmirch the moon's face with a handful of filth. The Tathāgata stopt his discourse, and crying like a lion in clarion tones, he said, "Sister, whether that which you have said be true or false, you know and I know only." "Yes, truly," said she, "this happened through something that you and I only know of."
Just at that moment, Sakka's throne became hot. Reflecting, he perceived the reason:"Ciñcamāṇavikā is accusing the Tathāgata of what is not true." Determined to clear up this matter, he came thither with four gods in his company. The gods took on them the shape of mice, [189] and all at once gnawed through the cords that bound the bundle of wood: a wind-puff blew up the robe she wore, and the bundle of wood was disclosed and fell at her feet: the toes of both her feet were cut off 1. The people cried out—"A witch is accusing the Supreme Buddha!" They spat on her head, and drove her forth from Jetavana with staves and clods in their hands. And as she passed beyond the range of the Tathāgata's vision, the great earth yawned and showed a huge cleft, flames came up from the lowest hell, and she, enveloped in it as it were with a garment 2 which her friends should wrap about her, fell to the lowest hell and there was born again. The honour and receipts of the other heretics ceased, those of the Dasabala grew more abundantly.
Next day they were conversing in the Hall of Truth: "Brother, Ciñcamāṇavikā falsely accused the Supreme Buddha, great in virtue, worthy of all gifts! and she came to dire destruction." The Master entered, and asked what they talked of, sitting there together. They told him. Said he, "Not now only, Brethren, has this woman falsely accused me, and come to dire destruction, but it was the same before." So saying, he told a story of the past.
up he was educated in all arts and accomplishments. Then his mother departed this life; the king took another consort, and appointed his son viceroy.
After this the king, being about to set forth to quell a rising on the frontier, said to his consort, "Do you, lady, stay here, while I go forth to quell the frontier insurrection." But she replied, "No, my lord, here I will not remain, but I will go with you." Then he showed her the danger which lay on the field of battle, adding to it this: "Stay then here without vexation until my return, and I will give charge to Prince Paduma, that he be careful in all that should be done for you, and then I will go." So thus he did, and departed.
When he had scattered his enemies, and pacified the country, he returned, and pitched his camp without the city. The Bodhisatta learning of his father's return, [190] adorned the city, and setting a watch over the royal palace, went forth alone to meet his father. The Queen observing the beauty of his appearance, became enamoured of him. In taking leave of her, the Bodhisatta said, "Can I do anything for you, mother?" "Mother, do you call me?" quoth she. She rose up and seized his hands, saying, "Lie on my couch!" "Why?" he asked. "Just until the king comes," she said, "let us both enjoy the bliss of love!" "Mother, my mother you are, and you have a husband living. Such a thing was never before heard of, that a woman, a matron, should break the moral law in the way of fleshly lust. How can I do such a deed of pollution with you?" Twice and thrice she besought him, and when he would not, said she, "Then you refuse to do as I ask?"—"Indeed I do refuse."—"Then I will speak to the king, and cause you to be beheaded." "Do as you will," answered the Great Being; and he left her ashamed. Then in great terror she thought: "If he tell the king first, there is no life for me! I must get speech of him first myself." Accordingly leaving her food untouched she donned a soiled robe 1, and made nail-scratches upon her body; giving orders to her attendants, that what time the king should ask of the queen's whereabouts, he should be told she was ill, she lay down making a pretence of illness.
Now the king made solemn procession about the city right-wise, and went up into his dwelling. When he saw her not, he asked, "Where is the queen?" "She is ill," they said. He entered the state chamber, and asked her, "What is amiss with you, lady?" She made as though she heard nothing. Twice and yet thrice he asked, and then she answered, "O great king, why do you ask? Be silent: women that have a husband must be even as I am." "Who has annoyed you?" said he. [191] "Tell me quickly, and I will have him beheaded."—"Whom did you leave behind
you in this city, when you went away?"—"Prince Paduma." "And he," she went on, "came into my room, and I said, My son, do not so, I am your mother: but say what I would, he cried, None is king here but I, and I will take you to my dwelling, and enjoy your love; then he seized me by the hair of my head, and plucked it out again and again, and as I would not yield to his will, he wounded and beat me, and departed." The king made no investigation, but furious as a serpent, commanded his men, "Go and bind Prince Paduma, and bring him to me!" They went to his house, swarming as it were through the city, and bound him and beat him, bound his hands fast behind his back, put about his neck the garland of red flowers 1, making him a condemned criminal, and led him thither, beating him the while. It was clear to him that this was the queen's doing, and as he went along he cried out, "Ho fellows, I am not one that has offended against the king! I am innocent." All the city was a-bubble with the news: "They say the king is going to execute Prince Paduma at the bidding of a woman!" They flocked together, they fell at the prince's feet, lamenting with a great noise, "You have not deserved this, my lord!"
At last they brought him before the king. At sight of him, the king could not restrain what was in his heart, and cried out, "This fellow is no king, but he plays the king finely! My son he is, yet he has insulted the queen. Away with him, down with him over the thieves' cliff, make an end of him!" But the prince said to his father, "No such crime lies at my door, father. Do not kill me on a woman's word." The king would not listen to him. Then all those of the royal seraglio, in number sixteen thousand, raised a great lamentation, saying, "Dear Paduma, mighty Prince, this dealing you have never deserved!" [192] And all the warrior chiefs and great magnates of the land, and all the attendant courtiers cried, "My lord! the prince is a man of goodness and virtuous life, observes the traditions of his race, heir to the kingdom! Do not slay him at a woman's word, without a hearing! A king's duty it is to act with all circumspection." So saying, they repeated seven stanzas:
"No king should punish an offence,
and hear no pleas at all,
Not throughly sifting it himself in all points, great and small 2.
"The warrior chief who punishes a fault before he tries,Not throughly sifting it himself in all points, great and small 2.
Is like a man born blind, who eats his food all bones and flies.
"Who punishes the guiltless, and lets go the guilty, knows
No more than one who blind upon a rugged highway goes.
"He who all this examines well, in
things both great and small,
And so administers, deserves to be the head of all.
"He that would set himself on high must not all-gentle beAnd so administers, deserves to be the head of all.
Nor all-severe: but both these things practise in company.
"Contempt the all-gentle wins, and he that's all-severe, has wrath:
So of the pair be well aware, and keep a middle path.
"Much can the angry man, O king, and much the knave can say:
And therefore for a woman's sake thy son thou must not slay."
[193] But for all they could say in many ways the courtiers could not win him to do their bidding. The Bodhisatta also, for all his beseeching, could not persuade him to listen: nay, the king said, blind fool—"Away! down with him over the thieves' cliff!" repeating the eighth stanza:
"One side the whole world stands,
my queen on the other all alone;
Yet her I cleave to: cast him down the cliff, and get you gone!"
At these words, not one among the sixteen thousand women could
remain unmoved, while all the populace stretched out their hands, and tore
their hair, with lamentations. The king said, [194] "Let these but try to
prevent the throwing of this fellow over the cliff!" and amidst his
followers, though the crowd wailed around, he caused the prince to be seized,
and cast down the precipice over heels head-first.Yet her I cleave to: cast him down the cliff, and get you gone!"
Then the deity that dwelt in the hill, by power of his own kindliness, comforted the prince, saying, "Fear not, Paduma!" and in both hands he caught him, pressed him to his heart, sent a divine thrill through him, set him in the abode of the serpents of the eight ranges 1, within the hood of the king of the serpents. The serpent king received the Bodhisatta into the abode of the serpents, and gave him the half of his own glory and state. There for one year he dwelt. Then he said, "I would go back to the ways of men." "Whither?" they asked. "To Himalaya, where I will live a religious life." The serpent king gave his consent; taking him, he conveyed him to the place where men go to and fro, and gave him the requisites of the religious, and went back to his own place.
So he proceeded to Himalaya, and embraced the religious life, and cultivated the faculty of ecstatic bliss; there he abode, feeding upon fruits and roots of the woodland.
Now a certain wood-ranger, who dwelt in Benares, came to that place, and recognised the Great Being. "Are you not," he asked, "the great Prince Paduma, my lord?" "Yes, Sir," he replied. The other saluted him, and there for some days he remained. Then he returned to Benares, and said to the king; "Your son, my lord, has embraced the religious life in the region of Himalaya, and lives, in a hut of leaves. I have been staying with him, and thence I come." "Have you seen him with your
own eyes?" asked the king. "Yes, my lord." The king with a great host went thither, and on the outskirts of the forest he pitched his camp; then with his courtiers around him, went to salute the Great Being, who sat at the door of his hut of leaves, in all the glory of his golden form, and sat on one side; the courtiers also greeted him, and spoke pleasantly to him, and sat on one side. The Bodhisatta on his part invited the king to share his wild fruits, and talked pleasantly with him. Then said the king, "My son, [195] by me you were cast down a deep precipice, and how is it you are yet alive?" Asking which, he repeated the ninth stanza:
"As into hell-mouth, you were cast
over a beetling hill,
No succour—many palm-trees deep: how are you living still?"
These are the remaining stanzas, and of the five, taken
alternately, three were spoken by the Bodhisatta, and two by the king.No succour—many palm-trees deep: how are you living still?"
"A Serpent mighty, full of force,
born on that mountain land,
Caught me within his coils; and so here safe from death I stand."
"Lo! I will take you back, O prince, to my own home again:Caught me within his coils; and so here safe from death I stand."
And there—what is the wood to you?—with blessing you shall reign."
"As who a hook has swallowèd, and draws it forth all blood,
Drawn forth, is happy: so I see in me this bliss and good."
"Why speak you thus about a hook, why speak you thus of gore,
Why speak about the drawing out? come tell me, I implore."
"Lust is the hook: fine elephants and horse by blood I show;
These by renouncing I have drawn; this, chieftain, you must know."
[196] "Thus, O great king, to be king is nothing to me; but do you see to it, that you break not the Ten Royal Virtues, but forsake evildoing, and rule in righteousness." In those words the Great Being admonished the king. He with weeping and wailing departed, and on the way to his city he asked his courtiers: "On whose account was it that I made a breach with a son so virtuous?" they replied, "The queen's." Her the king caused to be seized, and cast headlong over the thieves' cliff, and entering his city ruled in righteousness.
"Lady Ciñcā was my mother,
Devadatta was my father,
I was then the Prince their son:
Sāriputta was the spirit,
And the good snake, I declare it,
Was Ānanda. I have done."
Devadatta was my father,
I was then the Prince their son:
Sāriputta was the spirit,
And the good snake, I declare it,
Was Ānanda. I have done."
Footnotes
116:1 The introductory story, with a brief abstract of the other, is given in Dhammapada, p. 238 ff.116:2 Who falsely accused the Buddha of incontinence: Hardy, Manual, p. 275.
117:1 That this is the meaning is clear from the passive in the Dhammapada version, chijjiṁsu, p. 340.
117:2 The meaning of this phrase is doubtful: in vol. ii. pp. 28 and 120, it is rendered "royal woollen garment": it may mean "wedding-garment" given to the bride by the bridegroom's friends (Grierson's Bihar Peasant Life, § 1322).
117:3 This theme, which resembles the story of Joseph and the wife of Potiphar, or Phaedra and Hippolytus, is common in various forms in India. One example is the Legend of Puran Mal (MS. written by Rām Gharīb Sharmā, Chāturvaidya, and collected by Mr. W. Crooke). Another is the Legend of Rup and Basant, or Sit and Basant (MS.). In both of these the Queen falls in love with her step-son.
118:1 Reading, lāmakavattham.
119:1 This was the vajjhamālā, put on the head or neck of a criminal condemned to death. In the Toy Cart, Act x, one being led forth to execution wears a wreath of Karavīra flowers. The Pali has Kaṇavera, which is not known as a flower: this may be a corrupt form of the Sanskrit word.
119:2 These lines occur in Dhammapada, p. 341.
120:1 See Wilson's Vishṇu Purāna, ii. p. 123.
No. 473.
MITTĀMITTA-JĀTAKA.
"How should the wise," etc.—This story the Master told while dwelling in Jetavana, about an upright courtier of the king of Kosala.This man, they say, was most useful to the king, and then the king bestowed on him great honour. The other courtiers being unable to stomach him, accused him to the king of having done things to the king's hurt. The king made enquiry about him, and finding in him no fault, thought, "I see no fault in the man; how can I know whether he be my friend or foe?" Then he thought, "No one, save the Tathāgata, [197] will be able to decide this question; I will go and ask him." So after he had broken his fast he visited the Master, and said, "How can one tell, Sir, of any man, whether he be friend or foe?" Then the Master replied, "Wise men of old, O king, have pondered this problem, and have questioned the wise about it, and following their advice, have discovered the truth, and renouncing their enemies have paid attention to their friends." This said, at his request, he told a story of the past.
"How should the wise and prudent
strive, how may discernment know,
What deeds declare to eye or ear the man that is a foe?"
Then the Great Being repeated these five stanzas to explain the
marks of an enemy:What deeds declare to eye or ear the man that is a foe?"
"He smiles not when you see him,
no welcome will he show,
He will not turn his eyes that way, and answers you with No. 1
"Your enemies he honours, he cares not for your friends,He will not turn his eyes that way, and answers you with No. 1
Those who would praise your worth, he stays, your slanderers commends.
"No secret tells he to you, your secret he betrays,
Speaks never well of what you do, your wisdom will not praise.
"He joys not at your welfare, but at your evil fame:
Should he receive some dainty, he thinks not of your name,
Nor pities you, nor cries aloud-O, had my friend the same!
"These are the sixteen tokens by which a foe you see
These if a wise man sees or hears he knows his enemy 2."
[198] "How should the wise and prudent strive, what will discernment lend,
What deeds declare to eye and ear the man that is a friend?"
The other, thus questioned in these lines, recited the remaining stanzas:
"The absent he remembers;
returned, he will rejoice:
Then in the height of his delight he greets you with his voice.
"Your foes he never honours, he loves to serve your friends,Then in the height of his delight he greets you with his voice.
Those who would slander you, he stays; who praise you, he commends.
"He tells his secrets to you, your secret ne’er betrays,
Speaks ever well of all you do, your wisdom loves to praise.
"He joys to hear your welfare, not in your evil fame:
Should he receive some dainty, he straight thinks on your name,
And pities you, and cries aloud-O had my friend the same!
"These are the sixteen tokens in friends established well,
Which if a wise man sees or hears he can a true friend tell."
[199] The king, delighted at the speech of the Great Being, gave him the highest honour.
Footnotes
122:1 This couplet has occurred already in vol. ii. p. 92, of the translation.122:2 This also occurs above, vol. ii. p. 92, of this translation (two words differ).
BOOK XIII. TERASA-NIPĀTA.
No. 474.
AMBA-JĀTAKA.
[200] "Young student, when," etc. This story the Master told while dwelling in Jetavana, about Devadatta. Devadatta repudiated his teacher, saying, "I will be Buddha myself, and Gotama the ascetic is no teacher or monitor of mine!" So, aroused from his mystic meditation, he made a breach in the Order. Then step by step he proceeded to Sāvatthi, and outside Jetavana, the earth yawned, and he went down into the hell Avīci.Then they were all talking of it in the Hall of Truth:—"Brother, Devadatta deserted his Teacher, and came to dire destruction, being born to another life in the deep hell Avīci!" The Master, entering, asked what they spoke of, and they told him. Said he,—"Not now only, but in former days, as now, Devadatta deserted his teacher, and came to dire destruction." So saying, he told a story of the past.
leaves, sprout forth the new, flowers blow and flowers fall, the mango fruits swell out: but one moment—they are ripe, they are sweet and luscious, they grow like fruit divine, they drop from the tree! The Great Being chooses and eats such as he will, then fills the baskets hung from his pole, goes home and sells the fruit, and so finds a living for wife and child.
Now the young brahmin saw the Great Being offer ripe mangoes for sale out of season. "Without doubt," thought he, "it must be by virtue of some charm that these are grown. This man can teach me a charm which has no price." He watched to see the manner in which the Great Being procured his fruit, and found it out exactly. Then he went to the Great Being's house at the time when he was not yet returned from the forest, and making as though he knew nothing, asked the wise man's wife, "Where is the Teacher?" Quoth she, "Gone to the woods." He stood waiting until he saw him come, then went to him, and taking the pole and baskets from him, carried them into the house and there set them. The Great Being looked at him, and said to his wife, "Lady, this youth has come to get the charm; but no charm will stay with him, for no good man is he." But the youth was thinking, "I will get the charm by being my teacher's servant;" and so from that time he did all that was to be done in the house: brought wood, pounded the rice, did the cooking, brought all that was needed for washing the face, washed the feet.
One day when the Great Being said to him, "My son, bring me a stool to support my feet," the youth, seeing no other way, kept the Great Teacher's feet on his own thigh all night. When at a later season the Great Being's wife brought forth a son, he did all the service that has to be done at a childbirth. The wife said one day to the Great Being: "Husband, this lad, well-born though he is, for the charm's sake performs menial service for us. Let him have the charm, whether it stays with him or no." To this he agreed. [202] He taught him the charm, and spoke after this fashion: "My son, ’tis a priceless charm; and you will get great gain and honour thereby. But when the king, or his great minister, shall ask you who was your teacher, do not conceal my name; for if you are ashamed that a low-caste man taught you the charm, and say your teacher was a great magnate of the brahmins, you will have no fruit of the charm." "Why should I hide your name?" quoth the lad. "Whenever I am asked, I shall say it is you." Then he saluted his teacher, and from the low-caste village he departed, pondering on the charm, and in due time came to Benares. There he sold mangoes, and gained much wealth.
Now on a day the keeper of the park presented to the king a mango which he had bought from him. The king, having eaten it, asked whence
he procured so fine a fruit. "My lord," was the answer, "there is a young man who brings mangoes out of season, and sells them: from him I procured it." "Tell him," says the king," from henceforth to bring the mangoes hither to me." This the man did; and from that time the young man took his mangoes to the king's household. The king, inviting him to enter his service, he became a servant of the king; and gaining great wealth, by degrees he grew into the king's confidence.
One day the king asked him, and said:—"Young man, where do you get these mangoes out of season, so sweet and fragrant and of fine colour? Does some serpent or garuḷa give them to you, or a god, or is this the power of magic?" "No one gives them to me, O mighty king!" replied the young man, "but I have a priceless charm, and this is the power of the charm." "Well, what do you say to showing me the power of the charm one of these days?" "By all means, my lord, and so I will," quoth he. Next day the king went with him into the park, and asked to be shown this charm. The young man was willing, and approaching a mango tree, stood at a distance of seven foot from it, and repeated the charm, throwing water against the tree. On the instant the mango tree had fruit in the manner above described: [203] a shower of mangoes fell, a very storm; the company showed great delight, waving their kerchiefs; the king ate of the fruit, and gave him a great reward, and said, "Young man, who taught you this charm so marvellous?" Now thought the young man, If I say a low-caste caṇḍāla taught me, I shall be put to shame, and they will flout at me; I know the charm by heart, and now I can never lose it; well, I will say it was a world-renowned teacher. So he lied, and said, "I learnt it at Takkasilā, from a teacher renowned the wide world over." As he said the words, denying his teacher, that very instant the charm was gone. But the king, greatly pleased, returned with him into the city.
On another day the king desired mangoes to eat; and going into the park, and taking his seat upon a stone bench, which was used on state occasions, he bade the youth get him mangoes. The youth, willing enough, went up to a mango tree, and standing at a distance of seven foot from the tree, set about repeating the charm; but the charm would not come. Then he knew that he had lost it, and stood there ashamed. But the king thought, "Formerly this fellow gave me mangoes even in the midst of a crowd, and like a heavy shower the fruit rained down. Now there he stands like a stock: what can the reason be?" Which he enquired by repeating the first stanza:
"Young student, when I asked it
you of late,
You brought me mango fruit both small and great:
Now no fruit, brahmin, on the tree appears,
Though the same charm you still reiterate!"
You brought me mango fruit both small and great:
Now no fruit, brahmin, on the tree appears,
Though the same charm you still reiterate!"
When he heard this, the young man thought to himself, if he should say this day no fruit was to be had, the king would be wroth; wherefore he thought to deceive him with a lie, and repeated the second stanza:
"The hour and moment suit not: so
wait I
Fit junction of the planets in the sky.
[204] The due conjunction and the moment come,
Then will I bring you mangoes plenteously."
"What is this?" the king wondered. "The fellow said
nothing of planetary conjunctions before!" To resolve which questions, he
repeated two stanzas:Fit junction of the planets in the sky.
[204] The due conjunction and the moment come,
Then will I bring you mangoes plenteously."
"You said no word of times and
seasons, nor
Of planetary junctions heretofore:
But mangoes, fragrant, delicate in taste,
Of colour fine, you brought in plenteous store.
"Aforetime, brahmin, you produced so wellOf planetary junctions heretofore:
But mangoes, fragrant, delicate in taste,
Of colour fine, you brought in plenteous store.
Fruit on the tree by muttering of your spell:
To-day you cannot, mutter as you may.
What means this conduct, I would have you tell?"
Hearing this, the youth thought, "There is no deceiving the king with lies. If, when the truth is told, he punishes me, let him punish me: but the truth I will tell." Then he recited two stanzas:
"A low-caste man my teacher was,
who taught
Duly and well the charm, and how it wrought:
Saying, "If you are asked my name and birth,
Hide nothing, or the charm will come to nought."
"Asked by the Lord of Men, though well I knew,Duly and well the charm, and how it wrought:
Saying, "If you are asked my name and birth,
Hide nothing, or the charm will come to nought."
Yet in deceit I said what was not true;
"A brahmin's spells," I lying said; and now,
Charm lost, my folly bitterly I rue."
[205] This heard, the king thought within himself, "The sinful man to take no care of such a treasure! When one has a treasure so priceless, what has birth to do with it?" And in anger he repeated the following stanzas:
"Nimb, castor oil, or plassey
tree 1, whatever be the
tree
Where he who seeks finds honeycombs, ’tis best of trees, thinks he.
"Be it Khattiya, Brahmin, Vessa, he from whom a man learns
right—Where he who seeks finds honeycombs, ’tis best of trees, thinks he.
Sudda, Caṇḍāla, Pukkusa—seems chiefest in his sight 2."
"Punish
the worthless churl, or even slay,
Hence hale him by the throat without delay,
Who having gained a treasure with great toil,
Throws it with overweening pride away!"
The king's men so did, saying, "Go
back to your teacher, and win his forgiveness; then, if you can learn the charm
once more, you may come hither again, but if not, never more may you set eyes
on this country." Thus they banished him.Hence hale him by the throat without delay,
Who having gained a treasure with great toil,
Throws it with overweening pride away!"
The man was all forlorn. "There is no refuge for me," he thought, "except my teacher. To him I will go, and win his pardon, and learn the charm again." So lamenting he went on his way to that village. [206] The Great Being perceived him coming, and pointed him out to his wife, saying, "See, lady, there comes that scoundrel again, with his charm lost and gone!" The man approached the Great Being, and greeted him, and sat on one side. "Why are you here?" asked the other. "O my teacher!" the man said, "I uttered a lie, and denied my teacher, and I am utterly ruined and undone!" Then he recited his transgression in a stanza, asking again for the charms:
"Oft
he who thinks the level ground is lying at his foot,
Falls in a pool, pit, precipice, trips on a rotten root;
Another treads what seems a cord, a jet-black snake to find;
Another steps into the fire because his eyes are blind:
So I have sinned, and lost my spell; but you, O teacher wise,
Forgive! and let me once again find favour in your eyes!"
Then his teacher replied, "What
say you, my son? Give but a sign to the blind, he goes me clear of pools and
what not; but I told it to you once, and what do you want here now?" Then
he repeated the following stanzas:Falls in a pool, pit, precipice, trips on a rotten root;
Another treads what seems a cord, a jet-black snake to find;
Another steps into the fire because his eyes are blind:
So I have sinned, and lost my spell; but you, O teacher wise,
Forgive! and let me once again find favour in your eyes!"
"To
you in right due manner I did tell,
You in due manner rightly learnt the spell,
Full willingly its nature I explained:
Ne’er had it left you, had you acted well.
[207] "Who with much toil, O fool!
hath learnt a spellYou in due manner rightly learnt the spell,
Full willingly its nature I explained:
Ne’er had it left you, had you acted well.
Full hard for those who now in this world dwell,
Then, foolish one! a living gained at last,
Throws all away, because he lies will tell,
"To such a fool, unwise, of lying fain,
Ungrateful, who can not himself restrain,—
Spells, quotha! mighty spells we give not him:
Go hence away, and ask me not again!"
Thus dismissed by his teacher, the man thought, "What is life to me?" and plunging into the woods, died forlorn.
Footnotes
124:1 See No. 178, and note on p. 55 of vol. ii. of this translation.124:2 See l.c. note 2.
127:1 Butea Frondosa. As Plassey was named from this tree, it is perhaps admissible as a name of the tree.
127:2 These are the names of six castes: Kshatriya, Brāhman, Vaiçya, Çūdra, the four castes familiar in Sanskrit books, together with two Caṇḍāla and Pukkaça, both mixed castes and much despised. More about these castes, and the Buddhist system as contrasted with the Brahminical, may be seen in R. Fick's Sociale Gliederung im N.-Ö.p. 128 Indien zu Buddha's Zeit, Kiel, 1897. Fick denies that the Suddas were ever a real caste (p. 202). For Caṇḍāla, see p. 203; for Pukkusa, p. 206; both, in his opinion, non-Aryan subject races, serfs almost. The order of the list in our verse should be noticed. The Jātaka gives the Khattiyas, or Warriors, precedence over the Brahmins.
No. 475.
PHANDANA-JĀTAKA.
"O man, who stand," etc.—This story the Master told on the bank of the river Rohiṇī, about a family quarrel. The circumstances will be described at large under the Kuṇāla 1 Birth. On this occasion the Master addressed himself to the kinsmen, O king, and said:At that time there was a great plassey 2 tree in the region of Himalaya. [208] A black Lion used to go and lie at its root when a-hunting for food. One day a wind smote the tree, and a dry branch fell, and came down upon his shoulder. The blow gave him pain, and speedily in fear he uprose, and sprang away; then turning, he looked on the path he came by, and seeing nothing, thought, "There is no other lion or tiger, nor any in pursuit. Well, methinks, the deity of yon tree cannot away with my lying there. I will find out if so it be." So thinking, he grew angry out of season, and struck the tree, and cried—"Not a leaf on your tree I eat, not a branch I break; you can put up with other creatures abiding here, and you cannot put up with me! What is wrong with me? Wait
a few days, and I will tear you out root and branch, I will get you chopt up chipmeal!" Thus he upbraided the deity of the tree, and then away he went in search of a man.
At that time the brahmin carpenter aforesaid with two or three other men, had come in a waggon to that neighbourhood to get wood for his trade of cartwright. He left his waggon in a certain spot, and then adze and hatchet in hand went searching for trees. He happened to come near this plassey tree. The Lion seeing him went and stood under the tree, for, thought he, "to-day I must see the back of my enemy!" But the wright looking this way and that fled from the neighbourhood of the tree. "I will speak to him before he gets quite away," thought the Lion, and repeated the first stanza:
"O man, who stand with axe in
hand, within this woodland haunt,
Come tell me true, I ask of you, what tree is it you want?"
"Lo, a miracle!" quoth the man, on hearing this address,
"I swear, I never yet saw beast that could talk like a man. [209] Of
course he will know what kinds of wood are good for the cartwright. I'll ask
him." Thus thinking, he repeated the second stanza:Come tell me true, I ask of you, what tree is it you want?"
"Up hill, down dale, along the
plain, a king you range the wood:
Come tell me true, I ask of you—what tree for wheels is good?"
The Lion listened, and said to himself, "Now I shall gain my
heart's desire!" then he repeated the third stanza:Come tell me true, I ask of you—what tree for wheels is good?"
"Not sál, acacia, not
mare's-ear 1, much less a
shrub 2 is good;
There is a tree they call plassey, and there's your best wheel-wood."
The man was pleased to hear this, and thought, "A happy day
it was brought me into the woodland. Here's a creature in the shape of a beast
to tell me what wood is good for the wheelwright! Hey, but that's fine!"
So he questioned the Lion in the fourth stanza:There is a tree they call plassey, and there's your best wheel-wood."
"What is the fashion of the
leaves, what sort the trunk to see,
Come tell me true, I ask of you, that I may know that tree?"
In reply the Lion repeated two stanzas:Come tell me true, I ask of you, that I may know that tree?"
"This is the tree whose branch you
see droop, bend, but never break;
This is the plassey, on whose roots my standing-place I take.
"For spoke or felloe, pole of car, or wheel, or any part,This is the plassey, on whose roots my standing-place I take.
This plassey tree will do for thee in making of a cart."
After this declaration, the Lion moved aside, joy in his heart. The wright began to fell the tree. Then the tree-deity thought, "I never dropt anything on that beast; he fell in a rage out of season, and now he
is for destroying my home, and I too shall be destroyed. [210] I must find some way of destroying his majesty." So assuming the shape of a woodman, he came up to the wright, and said to him, "Ho man! a fine tree you have there! what will you do with it when it is down?"—"Make a cart wheel."—"What! has any one told you that tree is good for a cart?" "Yes, a black Lion."—"Very good, well said black Lion. You can make a fine cart out of that tree, says he. But I tell you that if you flay off the skin from a black lion's neck, and put it around the outer edge of the wheel, like a sheath of iron, just a strip four fingers wide, the wheel will be very strong, and you will gain a great deal by it."—"But where can I get the skin of a black lion?"—"How stupid you are! The tree stands fast in the forest, and won't run away. You go and find the lion who told you about this tree, and ask him in what part of the tree you are to cut, and bring him here. Then while he suspects nothing, and points out this place or that, wait till he sticks his jaw out, and smite him as he speaks with your sharpest axe, kill him, take the skin, eat the best of the flesh, and fell the tree at your leisure." Thus he indulged his wrath.
"Thus did at once the plassey tree
his will and wish make clear:
"I too a message have to tell: O Bhāradvāja, hear!
"'From shoulder of the king of beasts cut off four inches
wide,"I too a message have to tell: O Bhāradvāja, hear!
And put it round the wheel, for so more strong it will abide."
"So in a trice the plassey tree, indulging in his ire,
On lions born and those unborn brought down destruction dire."
"Thus plassey tree contends with
beast 1, and beast with
tree contends,
So each with mutual dispute to death the other sends.
"So among men, where’er a feud or quarrel doth arise,So each with mutual dispute to death the other sends.
They, as the beast and tree did now, cut capers peacock-wise 2.
"This tell I you, that well is you what time ye are at one:
Be of one mind, and quarrel not, as beast and tree have done.
"Learn peace with all men; this
the wise all praise; and who is fain
Of peace and righteousness, he sure will final peace attain."
When they heard the discourse of the king, they were reconciled.Of peace and righteousness, he sure will final peace attain."
Footnotes
129:1 No. 536.129:2 The phandana (
) is a tree of the same kind as the palāṣa,
"butea frondosa."130:1 Vatica Robusta: so called from the shape of its leaves.
130:2 dhavo: Grislea Tomentosa.
131:1 The word is īso, "lord," i.e. lion, king of beasts. So above.
131:2 The scholiast explains that men expose themselves in a quarrel, as peacocks expose their privy parts. This is perhaps an allusion to No. 32.
No. 476.
JAVANA-HAṀSA-JĀTAKA.
"Come, Goose," etc.—This story the Master told at Jetavana about the Daḷḥadhamma Suttanta or the Parable of the Strong Men. The Blessed One said: "Suppose, Brethren, four archers to stand at the four points of the compass, strong men, well trained and of great skill, perfect in archery and then let a man come and say, "If these four archers, strong, well trained, and of great skill, perfect in archery [212] shoot forth arrows from four points, I will catch those arrows as they are shot, and before they touch the ground": would you not agree, sure enough, that he must be a very swift man and the perfection of swiftness? Well, Brethren, great as the swiftness of such a man might be, great as the swiftness of sun and moon, there is something swifter: great, I say, Brethren, as the swiftness of such a man might be, great as the swiftness of the sun and moon, and though the gods outfly sun or moon in swiftness, there is something swifter than the gods: great, Brethren, as the swiftness of that man (and so forth), yet more swiftly than the gods can go, the elements which make up life do decay. Therefore, Brethren, this ye must learn, to be careful; verily I say unto you, this ye must learn." Two days after this teaching, they were talking about it in the Hall of Truth: "Brethren, the Master in his own peculiar province as Buddha, illustrating the nature of what makes up life, showed it to be transient and weak, and smote with extreme terror Brethren and unconverted alike. Oh, the might of a Buddha!" The Master entering asked what they talked of. They told him; and he said, "It is no marvel, Brethren, if I in my omniscience alarm the Brethren by my teaching, and show how transient are life's elements. Even I, when without natural cause 1 I was conceived by a Goose, showed forth the transient nature of the elements of life, and by my teaching alarmed the whole court of a king, together with the king of Benares himself." So saying, he told a story of the past.flock of ninety thousand other such Geese. One day, having along with his flock eaten the wild rice that grew in a certain pool in the plains of India, he flew through the air (and it was as though a golden mat were spread from end to end of the city of Benares), and he flew slowly as in sport to Cittakūṭa. Now the king of Benares saw him; and said to his courtiers, "Yon bird must be a king, as I am." He took a fancy to the bird, and taking with him garlands, perfumes and unguents, went looking for the Great Being; and with him he caused to go all manner of musick. When the Great Being saw him doing honour in this way, he asked the other Geese, [213] "When a king would do such honour to me, what does he want?" "He wants to make friends with you, my lord." "Well, let me be friends with the king," quoth he; and he made friends with the king, and then returned.
One day after this, when the king was in his park, and went to Lake Anotatta, the bird flew to the king, having water on one wing and powder of sandalwood on the other; with the water he sprinkled the king, and cast the powder upon him, then while the company looked on, away he flew with his flock to Cittakūṭa. From that time the king used to long for the Great Being; he would linger, watching the way by which he came, and thinking—"To-day my comrade will come."
Now the two youngest Geese belonging to the flock of the Great Being, made up their minds to fly a race with the sun; so they asked leave of the Great Being, to try a race with the sun. "My lads," quoth he, "the sun's speed is swift, and you will never be able to race with him. You will perish in the course, so do not go." A second time they asked, and a third time; but the Bodhisatta withstood them up to the third time of asking. But they stood to it, not knowing their own strength, and were resolved without telling the king to fly with the sun. So before sunrise they had taken their places on the peak of the Mount Yugandhara 1. The Great Being missed them, and asked whither they had gone. When he heard what had happened, he thought, "They will never be able to fly with the sun, but will perish in the course. I will save their lives." So he too went to the peak of Yugandhara, and sat beside them. When the sun's round showed over the horizon, the young Geese rose, and darted forward along with the sun; the Great Being flew forward with them. The youngest flew on into the forenoon, then grew faint; in the joints of his wings he felt as if a fire had been kindled. Then he made a signal to the Great Being: "Brother, I can't do it!" "Fear not," said the Great Being, "I will save you;" and taking him on his outspread wings, he soothed him, and conveyed him to Mount Cittakūṭa, and placed him in the midst of the Geese. Then he flew off, and catching up the sun, went
on side by side with the other. Until near midday [214] the other flew with the sun, and then he grew faint and felt as though a fire had been kindled in the joints of his wings. Making a sign to the Great Being, he cried, "Brother, I cannot do it!" Him too the Great Being comforted in the same way, and taking him on his outspread wings, bore him to Cittakūṭa. At that moment the sun was plumb overhead. The Great Being thought, "To-day I will test the sun's strength;" and darting back with one swoop, he perched on Yugandhara. Then rising with one swoop he overtook the sun, and flying now in front, now behind, thought to himself, "For me to fly with the sun is profitless, born of mere folly: what is he to me? Away I will to Benares, and there tell my comrade the king a message of righteousness and truth." Then turning, ere yet the sun had moved from the middle of the sky, he traversed the whole world from end to end; then slackening speed, traversed from end to end the whole of India, and came at last to Benares. The whole city, twelve leagues in compass, was as it were under the bird's shadow 1, there was not a crack or crevice; then as by degrees the speed slackened, holes and crevices appeared in the sky. The Great Being went slower, and came down from the air, and alighted in front of a window. "My comrade is come!" cried the king in great joy; and getting a golden seat for the bird to perch on, said, "Come in, friend, and sit here," and recited the first stanza:
"Come, noble Goose, come sit you
here; dear is your sight to me;
Now you are master of the place; choose anything you see."
The Great Being perched on the golden seat. The king anointed him
under the wings with unguents a hundred times refined, nay, a thousand times,
gave him sweet rice and sugared water in a golden dish, and talked with him in
a voice of honey—[215] "Good friend, you have come alone; whence come you
now?" The bird told him the whole matter at large. Then the king said to
him: "Friend, show me too your swiftness against the sun."—"O
mighty king, that swiftness cannot be shown."—"Then show me something
like it." "Very good, O king, I will show you something like it.
Summon your archers who can shoot swift as lightning." The king sent for
them. The Great Being chose four of these, and with them went down from the
palace into the courtyard. There he caused to be set up in the ground a stone
column, and about his own neck a bell to be bound. He then perched on the top
of the stone pillar, and placing the four archers looking away from the pillar
towards the four points, said, "O king, let these four men shoot four
arrows at the same moment in fourNow you are master of the place; choose anything you see."
different directions, and I will catch these arrows before they touch the ground, and lay them at the men's feet. You will know when I am gone for the arrows by the tinkling of this bell, but I shall not be seen." Then all at one moment the men shot the four arrows; he caught them and laid them at the men's feet, and was seen to be sitting upon the pillar. "Did you see my speed, O king?" he asked; then went on "that speed, O great king, is not my swiftest nor my middle speed, ’tis my slowest of the slow: and this will show you how swift I am." Then the king asked him, "Well, friend, is there any speed swifter than yours?" "There is, my friend. Swifter than my swiftest a hundredfold, a thousandfold, nay a hundred thousandfold, is the decay of the elements of life in living beings: so they crumble away, so they are destroyed." Thus he made clear, how the world of form crumbles away, being destroyed moment by moment. The king hearing this was in fear of death, could not keep his senses, but fell in a faint. The multitude were in despair, they sprinkled the king's face with water, and brought him round. Then the Great Being said to him, "O great king, fear not; [216] but remember death. Walk in righteousness, give alms and do good, be careful." Then the king answered and said, "My lord, without a wise teacher like you I cannot live, do not return 1 to mount Cittakūṭa, but stay here, instruct me, be my teacher to teach me!" and he put this request in two stanzas:
"By hearing of the loved one love
is fed,
By sight the craving for the lost falls dead:
Since sight and hearing makes men lief and dear,
With sight of you let me be favouréd.
By sight the craving for the lost falls dead:
Since sight and hearing makes men lief and dear,
With sight of you let me be favouréd.
"Dear is your voice, and dearer
far your presence when I see:
Then since I love the sight of you, O Goose, come dwell with me!"
The Bodhisatta said:Then since I love the sight of you, O Goose, come dwell with me!"
"Ever would I dwell with thee, in
the honour thus conferred;
But thou mightst say in wine one day—"Broil me that royal Bird!"
[217] "No," said the king, "then I will never touch
wine or strong drink," and he made this promise in the following stanza:But thou mightst say in wine one day—"Broil me that royal Bird!"
"Accursed be both food and drink I
should love more than thee;
And I will taste no drop nor sup while thou shalt stay with me!"
After this the Bodhisatta recited six stanzas:And I will taste no drop nor sup while thou shalt stay with me!"
"The cry of jackals or of birds is
understood with ease;
Yea, but the word of men, O king, is darker far than these!
"A man may think, "this is my friend, my comrade, of my
kin,"Yea, but the word of men, O king, is darker far than these!
But friendship goes, and often hate and enmity begin 2.
"Who has your heart, is near to
you, with you, where er he be;
But who dwells with you, and your heart estranged, afar is he.
"Who in your house of kindly heart shall beBut who dwells with you, and your heart estranged, afar is he.
Is kindly still though far across the sea:
Who in your house shall hostile be of heart,
Hostile he is though ocean-wide apart.
"Thy foes, O lord of chariots! though near thee, are afar:
But, fosterer of thy realm! the good in heart close linkèd are.
"Who stay too long, find oftentimes that friend is changed to foe;
Then ere I lose your friendship, I will take my leave, and go."
[218] Then the king said to him:
"Though I with folded hands
beseech, you will not give me ear;
You spare no word for us, to whom your service would be dear
I crave one favour: come again and pay a visit here."
Then the Bodhisatta said:You spare no word for us, to whom your service would be dear
I crave one favour: come again and pay a visit here."
"If nothing comes to snap our
life, O king! if you and I
Still live, O fosterer of thy folk! perhaps I'll hither fly,
And we may see each other yet, as days and nights go by."
With this address to the king, the Great Being departed to Cittakūṭa.Still live, O fosterer of thy folk! perhaps I'll hither fly,
And we may see each other yet, as days and nights go by."
Footnotes
132:1 A mode of coming into existence all of a sudden, without the natural processes.133:1 One of the seven great ranges that surround Mount Meru.
134:1 The meaning is, the bird circled so fast over it as to give the appearance of a canopy. So on p. 133 of the "golden mat."
135:1 Reading agantvā in line 4.
135:2 These two couplets occur again in No. 478 (p. 141).
No. 477.
CULLA-NĀRADA-JĀTAKA.
[219] "No wood is chopt," etc.—This story the Master told, while dwelling at Jetavana, about the allurements of a coarse girl.There was then, we learn, a girl of about sixteen, daughter of a citizen of Sāvatthi, such as might bring good luck to a man, yet no man chose her. So her mother thought to herself: "This my daughter is of full age, yet no one chooses her. I will use her as a bait for a fish, and make one of those Sākiya ascetics come back to the world, and live upon him." At the time there was a young man of good birth living in Sāvatthi, who had given his heart to religion and joined the Brotherhood. But from the time when he had received full Orders he had lost all desire for learning, and lived devoted to the adornment of his
person. The lay Sister used to prepare in her house rice gruel, and other food hard or soft, and standing at the door, as the Brethren walked along the streets, looked out for some one who could be tempted by the craving for delicacies. Streaming by went a crowd of men who kept the Tepiṭaka, Abhidhaṃma, and Vinaya; but among them she saw none ready to rise to her bait. Among the figures with bowl and robe, preachers of the Truth with honey-sweet voice, moving like fleecy scud before the wind, she saw not one. But at last she perceived a man approaching, the outer corners of his eyes anointed, hair hanging down, wearing an under-robe of fine cloth, and an outer robe shaken and cleansed, bearing a bowl coloured like some precious gem, and a sunshade after his own heart, a man who let his senses have their own way, his body much bronzed. "Here is a man I can catch!" thought she; and greeting him, she took his bowl, and invited him into the house. She found him a seat, and provided rice gruel and all the rest; then after the meal, begged him to make that house his resort in future. So he used to visit the house after that, and in course of time became intimate.
One day, the lay Sister said in his hearing, "In this household we are happy enough, only I have no son or son-in-law capable of keeping it up." The man heard it, and wondering what reason she could have for so saying, in a little while was as it were pierced to the heart. She said to her daughter, "Tempt this man, and get him into your power." So the girl after that time decked herself and adorned herself, and tempted him with all women's tricks and wiles. [220] (You must understand that a "coarse" girl does not mean one whose body is fat, but be she fat or be she thin, by power of the five sensual passions she is called "coarse.") Then the man, being young and under the power of passion, thought in his heart, "I cannot now hold to the Buddha's religion" ; and he went to the monastery, and laying down bowl and robe, said to his spiritual teachers, "I am discontented." Then they conducted him to the Master, and said, "Sir, this Brother is discontented." "Is this true which they say," asked he, "that you are discontented, Brother?" "Yes, Sir, true it is." "Then what made you so?" "A coarse girl, Sir." "Brother," said he, "long, long ago, when you were living in the forest, this same girl was a hindrance to your holiness, and did you great harm; then why are you again discontented on her account?" Then at the request of the Brethren he told a story of the past.
At that time the borderers raided the countryside; and having assailed a town, and taken prisoners, laden with spoil they returned to the border. Amongst them was a maiden, beautiful, but endowed with all a hypocrite's cunning. This girl thought to herself, "These men, when they have carried us off home, will use us as slaves; I must find some
way to escape." So she said, "My lord, I wish to retire; let me go and stay away for a moment." Thus she deceived the robbers, and fled.
Now the Bodhisatta had gone out to fetch fruits and the like 1, leaving his son in the hut. While he was away, this girl, as she wandered about in the forest, came to the hut, in the morning; [221] and tempting the son of the ascetic with desire of love, destroyed his virtue, and got him under her power. She said to him, "Why dwell here in the forest? Come, let us go to a village and make a home for ourselves. There it is easy to enjoy all the pleasures and passions of sense." He consented, and said, "My father is now out in the woods looking for wild fruits. When we have seen him, we will both go away together." Then the girl thought, "This young innocent knows nothing; but his father must have become an ascetic in his old age. When he comes in, he will want to know what I do here, and beat me, and drag me out by the feet, and throw me into the forest. I will get clear away before he comes." So she said to the lad, "I will go first, and you may follow" ; then pointing out the landmarks, she departed. After she had gone, the lad became sorrowful, and did none of his duties as he was used; but wrapt himself up head and all, and lay down within the hut, fretting.
When the Great Being came in with his wild fruits, he observed the girl's footmark. "That is a woman's footprint," thought he; "my son's virtue must have been lost." Then he entered the hut, and laid down the wild fruit, and put the question to his son by repeating the first stanza:
"No wood is chopt, and you have
brought no water from the pool,
No fire is kindled: why do you lie mooning like a fool?"
Hearing his father's voice, the lad rose, and greeted him; and
with all respect made known that he could not endure a forest life, repeating a
couple of stanzas:No fire is kindled: why do you lie mooning like a fool?"
"I cannot live in forests: this, O
Kassapa, I swear;
Hard is the woodland life, and back to men 2 I would repair.
"Teach me, O brahmin, when I leave, that wheresoe’er I go,Hard is the woodland life, and back to men 2 I would repair.
The customs of the countryside I may most fully know."
[222] "Very good, my son," said the Great Being, "I will tell you the customs of the country." And he repeated this couple of stanzas:
"If ’tis your mind to leave behind
the woodland fruits and roots
And dwell in cities, hear me teach the way which that life suits:
"Keep clear of every precipice, from poison keep afar,And dwell in cities, hear me teach the way which that life suits:
Sit never in the mud, and walk with care where serpents are."
The ascetic's son, not understanding this pithy counsel, asked:
"What has your precipice to do
with the religious way,
Your mud, your poison, and your snake? Come tell me this, I pray."
The other explained—Your mud, your poison, and your snake? Come tell me this, I pray."
"There is a liquor in the world,
my son, that men call wine,
Fragrant, delicious, honey-sweet, and cheap, of flavour fine:
This, Nārada, for holy men is poison, say the wise.
"And women in the world can set fools' wits a whirling round,Fragrant, delicious, honey-sweet, and cheap, of flavour fine:
This, Nārada, for holy men is poison, say the wise.
They catch young hearts, as hurricanes catch cotton from the ground:
The precipice I mean is this before the good man lies.
"High honours shown by other men, respect and fame and gain,
This is the mud, O Nārada, which holy men may stain.
"Great monarchs with their retinue have in that world dwelling,
And they are great, O Nārada, and each a mighty king:
[223] "Before the feet of sovereign lords and monarchs walk not thou,
For, Nārada, these are the snakes of whom I spake just now.
"The house thou comest to for food, when men sit down to meat,
If thou see good within that house, there take thy fill, and eat.
"When by another entertained with food or drink, this do:
Eat not too much, nor drink too much, and fleshly lusts eschew.
"From gossip, drink, lewd company, and shops of goldsmith's ware,
Keep thou afar as those who by the uneven pathway fare."
As his father went on talking and talking, the lad came to his senses, and said, "Enough of the world for me, dear father!" [224] Then his father instructed him how to develop kindliness and other good feelings. The son followed his father's instruction, and ere long caused the ecstasy of mystic meditation to spring up within him. And both of them, father and son, without a break in the trance, were born again in the world of Brahma.
Footnotes
137:1 I.e. it shall master me too one day.138:1 Cf. No. 435, Vol. iii.
138:2 Literally "the Kingdom."
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(Continued...)
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