The Jātaka, vol. V (nos. 511-537)

Rising from her couch, she approached and saluted the god and stood respectfully on one side, Then Sakka said, “I give thee «a boon: choose what it shall be.” “Then grant me, sire, a son.” “Not merely one, lady. I will grant you two. One of them shall be wise but ugly, the other shall be handsome but a fool. Which of them will you have first?” “The wise one,” she answered. “Good,” said he, and he presented her with a piece of kusa grass, a heavenly robe and sandal-wood, the flower of the coral-tree and a Kokanada”’ lute. Then he transported her into the king’s bedchamber and laid her down

1 hardyati, cf. Mahdvagga, 1. 63 and 64, Jataka, 11. 143, 1v. 171. Vedic hrinayati, hrinite. 2 Perhaps so called from the colour of the red lotus (kokanada), or from the country of that name. In Ja@taka, ut. 157 it occurs as the name of a palace. 144 The Jataka. Book XX. on the same couch with the king, and just touched her person with his thumb, and at that moment the Bodhisatta was conceived in her womb. And Sakka straightway returned to his own abode. The wise queen knew that she had conceived. Then the king, on waking and seeing her, asked by whom she had been brought there. “By Sakka, sire.” “Why ! with my own eyes I saw an aged brahmin carry you off. Why do you try to deceive me?” “Believe me, sire, Sakka took me with him to the angel-world.” “Lady, I do not believe you.” Then she showed him the kusa grass which Sakka had given her, saying, ‘ Now believe me.” The king thought, “ Kusa grass is to be got anywhere,” and still disbelieved her. Then she showed him her heavenly robes. On seeing these the king believed her and said, “Dear lady, granted that Sakka carried you off, but are you with child?” “Yes, sire, I have conceived.” The king was delighted and performed the ceremony due to a pregnant woman. In ten months’ time she gave birth to a son.

Giving him no other name, [282] they called him merely after the grass, Kusa. About the time that prince Kusa could run alone, a second heavenly being was conceived. To him they gave the name of Jayampati. The boys were brought up with great state. The Bodhisatta was so wise that, without learning aught from his teacher, he by his own ability attained to proficiency in all liberal arts. So when he was sixteen years old, the king being anxious to make over the kingdom to him, addressing the queen, said, “Lady, in making over the kingdom to your son, we would institute dramatic festivities, and in our lifetime we would see him established on the throne. If there is any king’s daughter in all India you would like, on his bringing her here we will make her his queen consort. Sound him as to what king’s daughter he affects.” She readily agreed and sent a handmaid to report the matter to the prince and to ascertain his views. She went and told the prince the state of affairs. On hearing her the Great Being thought, “I am not well-favoured. A lovely princess, even if she is brought here as my bride, on seeing me, will say, ‘What have I to do with this ugly fellow?’ and will run away, and we shall be put to shame. What have I to do with household life? I will foster my parents as long as they live, and at their death I will renounce the world and become an ascetic.” So he said, ‘‘ What need have I of a kingdom or festivities?

When my parents die, I will adopt the ascetic life.” The maid returned and told the queen what he had said. The king was greatly distressed and after a few days again sent a message, but he still refused to listen to it. After thrice rejecting the proposal, on the fourth occasion he thought, “It is not fitting to be in complete opposition to one’s parents: I will devise something.” So he summoned the chief smith, and, giving him a quantity of gold, bade him go and make a female image. When he was gone, he took more gold

and himself fashioned it into the figure of a woman. Verily the purposes of Buddhas succeed. This figure was beautiful beyond the power of _ tongue to tell. Then the Great Being had it robed in linen and placed in the royal chamber. On seeing the image brought by the chief goldsmith, he found fault with it and said, “Go and fetch the figure placed in our royal chamber.” [283] The man went into the room, and on seeing it thought, “This surely must be some heavenly nymph, come to take her pleasure with the prince,” and he left the room without having the courage to stretch forth his hand towards it, and he said, “Sire, standing in your royal chamber is a noble daughter of the gods: I dare not approach her.” ‘‘ Friend,” he said, “go and fetch the golden image,” and being charged a second time he brought it. The prince ordered the image that the smith had wrought to be thrown into the golden chamber, and that which he himself had made he had adorned and placed in a car and sent it to his mother, saying, ‘“‘When I find a woman like this, I will take her to wife.” His mother summoned her councillors and addressed them, saying, “Friends, our son is possessed of great merit and is the gift of Sakka; he must find a princess worthy of him. Do you then have this figure placed in a covered carriage and traverse the length and breadth of India, and whatsoever king’s daughter you see like this image, present it to that king and say, ‘King Okkaka will contract a marriage’ with your daughter.’ Then arrange a day for your return and come home.” They said, “It is well,” and took the image and set out with a vast retinue.

And in their journeyings, to whatever royal city they come, there at eventide wheresoever the people gather together, after decking out this image with robes, flowers and other adornments, they mount it upon a golden car and leave it on the road leading to the ghat, and themselves step back and stand on one side to listen to what all such as pass by had to say. The people on seeing it, not dreaming that it was a golden image, said, This, though really only a woman, is very beautiful, like some divine nymph. Why in the world is she stationed here, and whence does she come? We have no one to compare with her in our city,” and after thus praising her beauty, they went their ways. The councillors said, “If there were any girl like it here, they would say, ‘This is like so and so, the king’s daughter, or like so and so, the minister's daughter’; verily there is no such maiden here.” And they go off with it to some other city. So in their wanderings they reach the city of Sagala in the kingdom of Madda. Now the king of Madda had seven daughters, of extraordinary beauty, like to nymphs of heaven. The eldest of them was called Pabhavati. [284] From her person stream

1 Gvaha is a son’s marriage as opposed to a daughter’s (vivdha) in the 9th rock edict of Piyadasi. So Jdtaka, 1. 452, 2; 1v. 316, 8, and vi. 71, 32. 146 The Jdataka. Book XX. forth rays of light, as it were of the newly-risen sun. When it is dark in her closet, measuring four cubits, there is no need of any lamp. The whole chamber is one blaze of light. Now she had a humpbacked nurse, who, when she had supplied Pabhavati with food, intending to wash her head, at eventide going forth to fetch water with eight slavegirls carrying each a waterpot, on the way to the ghat caught sight of this image and, thinking it to be Pabhavati, exclaimed, “The ill-behaved girl, pretending she would have her head washed, sent us to fetch water, and, stealing a march upon us, is standing there in the road,” and being in a rage she cried, “Fie, you are a disgrace to the family: there you stand, getting here before us, Should the king hear of it, he will be the death of us,” and with these words she struck the image on the cheek, and a space as big as the palm of her hand was broken. Then discovering it was a golden image she burst out laughing, and going to the slave-girls said, “See what I have done. Thinking it was my foster daughter, I struck it.

What is this image worth in comparison with my child? I have only hurt my hand for my pains.” Then the king’s emissaries took hold of her and said, “ What is this story you tell us, saying that your daughter is fairer than this image?” ‘‘I mean Pabhavati, the Madda king’s daughter. This image is not worth a six- * Glad at heart, they sought the entrance to the palace, and had themselves announced’ to the king, sending in word that king Okkaka’s emissaries were standing at his door. The king arose from his seat and, standing up, ordered them to be admitted. On entering they saluted the king and said, ‘‘Sire, our king inquires after your health,” and meeting with a hospitable reception, when asked why they had come, they replied, “ Our king has a son, the bold prince Kusa: the king is anxious to make over his kingdom to him, and has sent us to ask you to give him your daughter Pabhavati in marriage and to accept as a present this golden figure,” and with these words they offered him the image. He gladly agreed, thinking an alliance with so noble a king would be an auspicious one. [285] Then the envoys said, “Sire, we cannot tarry here: we will go and tell our king that we have secured the hand of the princess, and then he will come and fetch her.’ The king agreed to this, and having hospitably entertained them let them go.

On their return they made their report to the king and queen. The king with a great retinue set out from Kusavati and in course of time reached the city of Sagala. The Madda king came out to meet him, brought him into the city and paid him great honour. Queen Silavati, being a wise woman, thought, “ What will be the issue of all this?” At the end of one or two days she said to the king, “We

teenth fraction of her.’ 1 Skt pratiharayati, to have one’s-self announced. Cf. Jat. vi. 266, 13 and 295, 1, 2, and Jdtaka-Mala, xx. 12, Sreshthijataka. are anxious to see our daughter-in-law.” He readily assented and sent for his daughter. Pabhavati, magnificently dressed and surrounded by a band of her attendants, came and saluted her mother-in-law. On seeing her the queen at once thought, ‘his maiden is very lovely and my son is ill-favoured. Should she see him, she will not stay a single day but will run away. I must devise some scheme.” Addressing the Madda king she said, “ My daughter-in-law is quite worthy of my son: howbeit we have an hereditary observance in our family. If she will abide by this custom, we will take her to be his bride.” ‘‘ What is this observance of yours?” “In our family a wife is not allowed to see her husband by daylight until she has conceived. If she will act up to this, we will take her.” The king asked his daughter, “ My dear, will you be able to act thus?” ‘Yes, dear father,” she replied. Then king Okkaka bestowed much gear on the Madda king and departed with her. And the Madda king despatched his daughter with a vast retinue. Okkaka, on reaching Kusavati, gave orders for the city to be decorated, all prisoners to be released, and after sprinkling his son as king and creating Pabhavati his chief consort, he proclaimed by beat of drum the rule of king Kusa.

And all the kings throughout India who had daughters sent them to the court of king Kusa, [286] and all who had sons, desiring’ friendship with him, sent their sons to be his pages. The Bodhisatta had a large company of dancers and ruled with great state. But he is not allowed to see Pabhavati by day, nor may she see him, but at night they have free access one to another. At that time there is an extraordinary” effulgence from the person of Pabhavati, but the Bodhisatta leaves the royal chamber while it is still dark. After a few days he told his mother he longed to see Pabhavati by day. She refused his request, saying, “ Let not this be thy good pleasure, but wait until she has conceived.” Again and again he besought her. So she said, “ Well, go to the elephant-stall and stand there disguised as an elephant-keeper. I will bring her there, so that you may have your fill of gazing at her, but see that you do not make yourself known to her.” He agreed to this and went to the elephant-stall. The queenmother proclaimed an elephant-festival and said to Pabhavati, “Come, we will go and see your lord’s elephants.” Taking her there, she pointed out this and that elephant by name, Then, as Pabhavati was walking behind his mother, the king struck her in the back with a lump of elephant-dung. She was enraged and said, “I will get the king to eut your hand off,” avd by her words she vexed the queen-mother, who appeased her by rubbing her back. A second time the king was anxious to see her, and, disguised as a groom in the horse-stable, 1 Reading dkamkhanta. 2 abboharika, Skt avydvaharika, Cf. Jat, 111. 309.

148 The Jataka. Book XX. just as before, he struck her with a piece of horse-dirt, and then too when she was angry her mother-in-law appeased her. Again, one day Pabhavati told her mother-in-law she longed to see the Great Being, and when her request was refused by her mother, who said, “Nay, let not this be your pleasure,” she besought her again and again, so at last she said, “Well, to-morrow my son will be making a solemn procession through the city. You can open your window and see him.” And after so saying, on the next day she had the city decked out, and ordered prince Jayampati, clad in a royal robe and mounted on an elephant, to make a triumphal procession through the city. Standing at the window with Pabhavati; she said, “ Behold the glory of your lord.” She said, [287] “I have got a husband not unworthy of me,” and she was highly elated. But that very day the Great Being, disguised as an elephant-keeper, was seated behind Jayampati, and gazing at Pabhavati as much as he would, in the joy of his heart he disported himself by gesticulating’ with his hands. When the elephant had passed them, the queen-mother asked her if she had seen her husband. “ Yes, lady, but seated behind him was an elephant-keeper, a very ill-conducted fellow, who gesticulated at me with his hands. Why do they let such an ugly, ill-omened creature sit behind the king?” ‘It is desirable, my dear, to have a guard sit behind the king.” ‘This elephant-keeper,” she thought, “is a bold fellow, and has no proper respect for the king.

Can it be that he is king Kusa? No doubt he is hideous, and that is why they do not let me see him.” So she whispered to her humpbacked nurse, “Go, my dear, at once and make out whether it was the king who sat in front or behind.” ‘How am I to find this out?” “If he be the king, he will be the first to alight from the elephant: you are to know by this token.” She went and stood at a distance and saw the Great Being alight first, and afterwards prince Jayampati. The Great Being looking about him, first on one side and then on the other, seeing the humpbacked old woman, knew at once why she must have come, and, sending for her, straitly charged her not to reveal his secret, and let her go. She came and told her mistress, “The one that sat in front was the first to alight,” and Pabhavati believed her. Once more the king longed to see her and begged his mother to arrange it. She could not refuse him and said, “Well then, disguise yourself and go to the garden.” He went and hid himself up to his neck in the lotus-pool, standing in the water with his head shaded by a lotus-leaf and his face covered by its flower. And his mother brought Pabhavati in the evening to the garden, and saying, “‘ Look at these trees, or look at these birds or deer,’”’ thus tempted her on till she came to the bank

' hattha-vikara occurs in Mahdvagga tv. 1. 4, but the exact meaning there is not clear. Py Ne eee Te ae Meee A ee ee ee: Pe he ek eG eR TNT ma ei eee y See WV On Dot 149 of the lotus-pond. When she saw the pond covered with five kinds of lotus, [288] she longed to bathe and went down to the water’s edge with her maidens. While disporting herself she saw that lotus and stretched forth her hand, eager to pluck it. Then the king, putting aside the lotus leaf, took her by the hand, saying, “I am king Kusa.” On seeing his face she cried, “A goblin is catching hold of me,” and then and there swooned away. So the king let go her hand. On recovering consciousness she thought, “King Kusa, they say, caught me by the hand, and he it was that hit me in the elephant-stall with a piece of elephant-dirt, and in the horse-stable with a piece of horse-dirt, and he it was that sat behind on the elephant and made game of me. What have I to do with such an ugly, hideous husband? If I live, I wiil have another husband.” So she summoned the councillors who had escorted her hither and said, “Make ready my chariot. This very day I will be off.” They told this to the king and he thought, “If she cannot get away, her heart will break:

let her go. By my own power I will bring her back again.” So he allowed her to depart, and she returned straight to her father’s city. And the Great Being passed from the park into the city and climbed up to his splendid palace. Verily it was in consequence of an aspiration in a previous existence that she disapproved of the Bodhisatta, and it was owing to a former act of his that he was so ugly. Of old, they say, in a suburb of Benares, in the upper and

_ lower street, one family had two sons and another had one daughter. Of the two sons the Bodhisatta was the younger, and the maiden was wedded to the elder son, but the younger, being unmarried’, continued to live with his brother. Now one day in this house they baked some very dainty cakes, and the Bodhisatta was away in the forest; so putting aside a cake for him they distributed and ate the rest. At that moment a paccekabuddha came to the door for alms. The Bodhisatta’s sister-inlaw thought she would bake another. cake for young master and took and gave his cake to the paccekabuddha, and at that very instant he returned from the forest. So she said, “My lord, do not be angry, but I have given your portion to the paccekabuddha.” [289] He said, “After eating your own portion you give mine away, and you will make me another cake forsooth!” And he was angry and went and took the cake from the beggar’s bowl. She went to her mother’s house and took some fresh-melted ghee, in colour like the champac flower, aud filled the bowl with it, and it sent forth a blaze of light. On seeing this she put up a prayer: “Holy sir, wherever I am born, may my body give forth a light and may I be very lovely, and nevermore may I have to dwell in the same place with this lewd fellow.” Thus as the result of this prayer of old she would have none of him. And the 1 Reading adarabharane. Another reading gives ‘‘ being quite a boy.”

150 The Jataka. Book XX. Bodhisatta, in dropping the cake again into the bowl, put up a prayer: “Holy sir, though she should live a hundred leagues away, may I have the power to carry her off as my bride.” In that he was angry and took the cake, as the result of this act of old he was born so ugly. Kusa was so overwhelmed with sorrow when Pabhavati left him that the other women, though ministering to him with all kinds of service, had not the heart to look him in the face, and all his palace, bereft of Pabhavati, seemed as it were desolate. Then he thought, ‘By this time she will have reached the city Sagala,’’ and at break of day he sought his mother and said, “ Dear mother, I will go and fetch Pabhavati. You are to rule my kingdom,” and he uttered the first stanza : This realm with joy and bliss untold, Trappings of state and wealth of gold, This realm, I say, rule thou for me: I go to seek Pabhavati. His mother, on hearing what he had to say, replied, ‘‘ Well, my son, you must exercise great vigilance: women, verily, are impure-minded creatures,” and she filled a golden _bowl with all manner of dainty food, and saying, [290] “This is for you to eat on the journey,” she took leave of him. Taking the bowl and having thrice reverentially saluted his mother, he cried, “If I live, I will see you again,” and so withdrew to the royal chamber.

Then he girded himself with the five sorts of weapons and putting a thousand pieces of money in a bag he took his bowl of food and a Kokanada lute and leaving the city set out on his journey. Being very ; strong and vigorous by noon-time he had travelled fifty leagues and, after eating his food, in the remaining half-day he made up another fifty leagues, and so in the course of a single day he accomplished a journey of a hundred leagues. In the evening he bathed and then entered the city of Sagala. No sooner did he set foot in the place than Pabhavati by the power of his virtue could no longer rest quietly on her couch but got out of bed and lay upon the ground. The Bodhisatta was thoroughly exhausted with his journey and being seen by a certain woman, as he was wandering about the street, was invited by her to rest in her house, and after first bathing his feet she offered him a bed. While he was asleep, she prepared him some food and then waking him up gave it him to eat. He was so pleased with her that he presented her with the thousand pieces of money and the golden bowl. Leaving there his five sorts of weapons, he said, “'There is some place I must go to,” and taking his lute he repaired to an elephant-stall and cried to the elephant-keepers, “Let me stay here and I will make music for you.” They allowed him to do so and he went apart and lay down. When his fatigue had passed off, he rose up and unstrapping his lute he played and sang, thinking that all who dwelt in the city should hear the sound of it. Pabhavati, as

she lay on the ground, heard it and thought, “This sound can come from no lute but his,” and felt sure that king Kusa had come on her account. The king of Madda too on hearing it thought, “He plays very sweetly. To-morrow I will send for him and make him my minstrel.” The Bodhisatta thinking, “It is impossible for me to get sight of Pabhavati, if I stay here: this is the wrong place for me,” sallied forth quite early and after taking his morning meal in an eating-house he left his lute and went to the king’s potter and became his apprentice. One day after he had filled the house with potter’s clay [291] he asked if he should make some vessels and when the potter answered, “Yes, do so,” he placed a lump of clay on the wheel and turned’ it. When once it was turned, it went on swiftly till mid-day. After moulding all manner of vessels, great and small, he began making one specially for Pabhavati with various figures on it. Verily the purposes of Buddhas succeed. He resolved that only Pabhavati was to see these figures. When he had dried and baked his vessels, the house was full of them. The potter went to the palace with various specimens. The king on seeing them asked who had made them. ‘TI did, sire.” ‘Iam sure you did not make them. Who did?” “My apprentice, sire.” ‘Not your apprentice, your master rather.

Learn your trade from him. Henceforth let him make vessels for my daughters.” And he gave him a thousand pieces of money, saying, “ Give him this, and present all these small vessels to my daughters.” He took the vessels to them and said, “These are made for your amusement.” They all were present to receive them. Then the potter gave Pabhavati the vessel which the Great Being had made specially for her. Taking it she at once recognised her own likeness and that of the humpbacked nurse and knew it could be the handiwork of no one but king Kusa, and being angry she said, “I do not want it: give it to those that wish for it.” Then her sisters perceiving that she was in a rage laughed and said, “You suppose it is the work of king Kusa. It was the potter, not he, that made it. Take it.” She did not tell them that he had come there and had made it. The potter gave the thousand pieces of money to the Bodhisatta and said, “ My son, the king is pleased with you. Henceforth you are to make vessels for his daughters and [ am to take them to them.” He thought, “ Although I go on living here, it is impossible for me to see Pabhavati,” and he gave back the money to him and went to a basket maker who served the king, and becoming his apprentice he made a palmleaf fan for Pabhavati, and on it he depicted a white umbrella (as an emblem of royalty) [292] and taking as his subject” a banquet-hall, amongst a variety of other forms he represented a standing figure of Pabhavati. The basket maker took this and other ware, the workmanship 1 Gvijjhi. Compare Jat. 1. 313, 8, Gvijjhitvd, whirling. ? Reading vatthum.

152 The Jataka. Book XX. of Kusa, to the palace. The king on seeing them asked who had made them and just as before presented a thousand pieces of money to the man, saying, “Give these specimens of wicker work to my daughters.” And he gave the fan that was specially made for her to Pabhavati, and in this case also no one recognised the figures, but Pabhavati on seeing them knew it was the king’s handiwork and said, ‘‘ Let those that wish for it take it,” and being in a rage she threw it on the ground. So the others all laughed at her. The basket maker brought the money and gave it to the Bodhisatta. Thinking this was no place for him to stay in, he returned the money to the basket maker and went to the king’s gardener and became his apprentice, and while making all sorts of garlands he made a special wreath for Pabhavati, picked out with various figures. The gardener took them to the palace. When the king saw them, he asked who had fashioned these garlands. ‘‘I did, sire.” ‘‘I am sure you did not make them. Who did?” “My apprentice, sire.” ‘‘He is not your apprentice, rather is he your master. Learn your trade from him. Henceforth he is to weave garlands of flowers for my daughters, and give him this thousand pieces of money”; and giving him the money he said, “Take these flowers to my daughters.” And the gardener offered to Pabhavati the wreath that the Bodhisatta had made specially for her.

Here too on seeing amongst the various figures a likeness of herself and the king she recognized Kusa’s handiwork and in her rage threw the wreath on the ground, All her sisters, just as before, laughed at her. The gardener too took the thousand pieces of money and gave them to the Bodhisatta, telling him what had happened. He thought, ‘‘ Neither is this the place for me,” and returning the money to the gardener he went and engaged himself as an apprentice to the king’s cook. Now one day the cook in taking various kinds of victuals to the king gave the Bodhisatta ‘a bone of meat to cook for himself. He prepared it in such a way that the smell of it pervaded the whole city [293]. The king smelt it and asked if he were cooking some more meat in the kitchen. ‘No, sire, but I did give my apprentice a bone of meat to cook. It must be this that you smell.” The king had it brought to him and placed a morsel on the tip of his tongue and it woke up and thrilled the seven thousand nerves of taste. The king was so enslaved by his appetite for dainties that he gave him a thousand pieces of money and said, “ Henceforth you are to have food for me and my daughters cooked by your apprentice, and to bring mine to me yourself, but your apprentice is to bring theirs to my daughters.” The cook went and told him.

On hearing it he thought, “Now is my desire fulfilled ; now shall I be able to see Pabhavati.” Being pleased he returned the thousand pieces of money to the cook and next day he prepared and sent dishes of food to the king and himself climbed up to the palace where dwelt Pabhiavati, taking the food for the king’s

Nos 53 1s 153 daughters on a carrying-pole. Pabhavati saw him climbing up with his _load and thought, “He is doing the work of slaves and hirelings, work quite unsuitable for him. But if I hold my peace, he will think I approve of him and going nowhere else he will remain here, gazing at me. I will straightway abuse and revile him and drive him away, not allowing him to remain a moment here.” So she left the door half open and, holding one hand on the panel, with the other pressed up the bolt, and she repeated the second stanza : Kusa, for thee by day and night To bear this burden is not right. Haste back, pray, to Kusavati; Thy ugly form I’m loth to see. [294] He thought, “T have got speech of Pabhavati,” and pleased at heart he repeated three stanzas : Bound by thy beauty’s spell, Pabhavati, My native land has little charm for me ; Madda’s fair realm is ever my delight, My crown resigned, to live in thy dear sight. O soft-eyed maiden, fair Pabhavati, What is this madness that o’ermasters me? Knowing full well the land that gave me birth, I wander half distraught o’er all the earth.

Clad in bright-coloured bark and girt with golden zone, Thy love, fair maid, I crave, and not an earthly throne. When he had thus spoken, she thought, ‘‘I revile him, hoping to rouse a feeling of resentment in him, but he as it were tries to conciliate me by his words. Supposing he were to say, ‘I am king Kusa,’ and take me by the hand, who is there to prevent it? And somebody might hear what we had to say.” So she closed the door and bolted it inside’. And he took up his carrying-pole and brought the other princesses their food. Pabhavati sent her humpbacked slave to bring her the food that king Kusa had cooked. She brought it and said, “ Now eat.” Pabhavati said, “I will not eat what he has cooked. Do you eat it and go and get your own supply of food and cook it and bring it here, but do not tell any one that king Kusa has come.” The humpback henceforth brought and ate the portion of the princess and gave her own portion to Pabhavati. [295] King Kusa from that time being unable to see her thought, “I wonder whether Pabhavati has any affection for me or not. I will put her to the test.” So after he had supplied the princesses with their food, he took his load of victuals and going out struck the floor with his feet by the door of Pabhavati’s closet and clashing the dishes together and groaning aloud he fell all of a heap”

1 Literally, ‘‘fixing the pin (saci) in the bolt, she remained inside.” Cf. Cullavagga, vi. 2, 1. 2 qvakujja. Of. Jat. 1. 13, 28. 154 The Jdataka. Book XX. and swooned away. At the sound of his groans she opened her door and seeing him crushed beneath the load he was carrying she thought, ‘‘Here is a king, the chief ruler in all India, and for my sake he suffers pain night and day, and now, being so delicately nurtured, he has fallen under the burden of the victuals he carries. I wonder if he is still alive”: and stepping from her chamber she stretched forth her neck and looked at his mouth, to watch his breathing. He filled his mouth with spittle and let it drop on her person. She retired into her closet, reviling him, and standing with the door half open she repeated this stanza : Ill luck! is his that ever craves, to find his wishes spurned, As thou, O king, dost fondly woo with love still unreturned. But because he was madly in love with her, however much he was abused and reviled by her, he showed no resentment but repeated this stanza : Whoso shall gain what he holds dear, may loved or unloved be, Success alone is what we praise, to lose is misery. While he was still speaking, without at all relenting, she spoke in a firm voice, as if minded to drive him away, and repeated this stanza: As well to dig through bed of rock with brittle wood? as spade, Or catch the wind within a net, as woo unwilling maid. On hearing this the king repeated three stanzas :

Hard hearted as a stone art thou, so soft to outward view, No word of welcome though I’ve come from far thy love to sue. [296] When thou dost frown regarding me, proud dame, with sullen look, Then I in royal Madda’s halls am nothing but a cook. But if, O queen, in pity thou shouldst deign to smile on me, No longer cook, once more am I lord of Kusavati. On hearing his words she thought, ‘‘ He is very pertinacious in all that he says. I must devise some lie to drive him hence,” and she spoke this stanza : If fortune tellers’ spoke true words, ’twas this in sooth they said, ‘Mayst thou in pieces seven be hewn, ere thou king Kusa wed.’ On hearing this the king contradicting her said, “Lady, I too consulted fortune tellers in my own kingdom and they predicted that there was no other husband for you save the lion-voiced lord, king Kusa, and through omens furnished by my own knowledge I say the same,” and he repeated another stanza : If I and other prophets here have uttered .a true word, Save me king Kusa, thou shalt hail none other as thy lord.

1 Reading abbuddhi for Sanskrit avriddhi. Compare abbuta for avrita, ‘un- disciplined.’ The commentary gives abhiti which in Vedic and Epic Sanskrit means ‘calamity.’ * kanikara, pterospermum acerifolium, On hearing his words she said, “One cannot shame him. What is it to me whether he runs away or not?” and shutting the door she refused to show herself. And he took up his load and went down. From that day he could not set eyes on her and he got heartily sick of his cook’s work. [297] After breakfast he cut firewood, washed dishes and fetched water on his carrying-pole, and then lying down he rested on a heap’ of grain. Rising early he cooked rice gruel and the like, then took and served the food and suffered all this mortification by reason of his passionate love for Pabhavati. One day he saw the humpback passing by the kitchen door and hailed her. For fear of Pabhavati she did not venture to come near him, but passed on pretending to be in a great hurry. So he hastily ran up to her crying, “ Crook-back.” She turned and stopped, saying, “Who is here? I cannot listen to what you have to say.” Then he said, ‘‘ Both you and your mistress are very obstinate. Though living near you ever so long, we cannot so much as get a report of her health.” She said, ‘‘ Will you give me a present?” He replied, ‘“‘Supposing I do so, will you be able to soften Pabhavati and bring me into her presence ?” On her agreeing to do so, he said, “If you can do this, I will put right your humpback, and give you an ornament for your neck,” and tempting her, he spoke five stanzas :

Necklace of gold I’ll give to thee, On coming to Kusavati, If slender-limbed? Pabhavati Should only deign to look on me. Necklace of gold V’ll give to thee, On coming to Kusavati, If slender-limbed Pabhavati Should only deign to speak to me. Necklace of gold [’ll give to thee, On coming to Kusavati, If slender-limbed Pabhavati Should only deign to smile on me. Necklace of gold I’ll give to thee, On coming to Kusavati, Should laugh with joy at sight of me. Necklace of gold Ill give to thee, On coming to Kusiavati, If slender-limbed Pabhiavati Should lay a loving hand on me. [298] On hearing his words she said, “Get you gone, my lord: in a very few days I will put her in your power. You shall see how energetic I can be.” So saying she decided on her course of action, and going to Pabhavati she made as if she would clean her room and not leaving a bit 1 ammana, a measure of about four bushels, Mil, tv. 1, 19. 2 Literally ‘ With thighs like an elephant’s trunk.’ 156 The Jataka. Book XX. of dirt big enough to hit one with, and removing even her shoes, she swept out the whole-chamber. Then she arranged a high seat for herself in the doorway (keeping well outside the threshold) and, spreading a coverlet on a low stool for Pabhavati, she said, “Come, my dear, and I will search in your head for vermin,” and making her sit there and place her head upon her lap, after scratching her a little and saying, ‘Ho! what a lot of lice we have here,” she took some from her own head and put them on the head of the princess, and speaking in terms of endearment of the Great Being she sang his praises in this stanza :

This royal dame no pleasure feels Kusa once more to see, Though, wanting nought, he serves as cook for simple hireling’s fee. Pabhavati was enraged with the humpback. So the old woman took her by the neck and pushed her inside the room, and being herself outside she closed the door and stood clinging to the cord which pulled the door tol. Pabhavati, being unable to get at her, stood by the door, abusing her, and spoke another stanza : [299] This humpbacked slave without a doubt, For speaking such_a word, Deserves to have her tongue cut out With keenest sharpened sword. So the humpback stood holding on to the rope that hung down and said, “ You worthless, ill-behaved creature, what good will your fair looks do anyone? Can we live by feeding on your beauty?” and so saying she proclaimed the virtues of the Bodhisatta, shouting them aloud with the harsh voice of a humpback, in thirteen stanzas : Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, Great glory his, so do whate’er is pleasing in his sight. Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, Great wealth is his, so do whate’er is pleasing in his sight. Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, Great power is his, so do whate’er is pleasing in his sight. Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, Wide rule is his, so do whate’er is pleasing in his sight.

Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, Great king is he, so do whate’er is pleasing in his sight. Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, Lion-voiced is he, so do whate’er is pleasing in his sight. Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, Clear-voiced is he, so do whate’er is pleasing in his sight. Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, Deep voiced is he, so do whate’er is pleasing in his sight. Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, Sweet-voiced is he, so do whate’er is pleasing in his sight.

1 For the mechanism of the Indian door cf. Cullavagga, vi. 2. 1; Gvinchanarajjw is read there instead of dviitjanarajju as here. e No. 5381. 17 Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, Honey-voiced is he, so do whate’er is pleasing in his sight. Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, A hundred arts are his, so do what's pleasing in his sight. Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, A warrior king is he, so do what’s pleasing in his sight. Esteem him not, Pabhavati, by outward form or height, King Kusa ’tis, so do whate’er is pleasing in his sight. [800] Hearing what she said, Pabhavati threatened the humpback, saying, “ Crook-back, you roar too loud. If I catch hold of you, I will let you know you have a mistress.” She replied, “In my consideration for you, I did not let your father know of king Kusa’s arrival. Well, to-day I will tell the king,” and speaking in a loud voice she cowed her. And fearing anyone should hear this, Pabhavati pacified the hunchback. And the Bodhisatta not being able to get a sight of her, after seven months being sick of his hard bed and sorry food, thought, ‘‘ What need have I of her? After living here seven months I cannot so much as get a sight of her. She is very harsh and cruel. I will go and see my father and mother.” At this moment Sakka considering the matter found out how discontented Kusa was, and he thought, ‘After seven months he is unable even to see Pabhavati.

I will find some way of letting him see her.” So he sent messengers to seven kings as if they came from king Madda, to say, “ Pabhavati has thrown over king Kusa and has returned home. You are to come and take her to wife.” And he sent the same message to each of the seven separately. They all arrived in the city with a great following, not knowing one another’s reasons for coming. They asked one the other, “ Why have you come here?” And on discovering how matters stood, they were angry and said, “ Will he give his daughter in marriage to seven of us? See how ill he behaves. He mocks us, saying, ‘Take her to wife.’ Let him either give Pabhavati in marriage to all seven or let him fight us.” And they sent a message to him to this effect and invested the city. On heaxing the message, king Madda was alarmed and took counsel with his ministers, saying, ‘‘ What are we to do?” Then his ministers made answer, [301] ‘Sire, these seven kings have come for Pabhavati. If you refuse to give her, they will break down the wall and enter the city, and after destroying us they will seize your kingdom. While the wall still stands unbroken, let us send Pabhavati to them”; and they repeated this stanza :

Like to proud elephants they stand in coats of mail arrayed, Ere yet they trample down our walls, send off in haste the maid. The king on hearing this said, “If I should send Pabhavati to any one of them, the rest will join battle with me. It is out of the question to give her to any one of them. After casting off the chief king in all India, 158 The Jataka. Book XX. let her receive the reward due to her return home. I will slay her and cutting her body into seven pieces send one to each of the seven kings,” and so saying he repeated another stanza : , In pieces seven Pabhavati to hack, it is my will, : ; One piece for each of these seven kings, who came her sire to kill. This saying of his was noised abroad throughout the palace. Hic attendants came and told Pabhavati, “The king, they say, will cut you in seven pieces and send them to the seven kings.” She was terrified to death and rising from ‘her seat she went, accompanied by her sisters, to her mother’s state chamber, The Master, to make the matter clear, said :

Comely though swart of hue uprose the queen and moved before Her train of handmaids, clad in silk attire and weeping sore. She came into her mother’s presence and saluting her broke into these lamentations : [302] This face with powder beautified, here mirrored in a glass To ivory handle deftly fixed, so winsome now alas! With innocence and purity in every line expressed, By warrior princes spurned in some lone forest soon will rest. These locks of hair so black of hue, bound up in stately coil, Soft to the touch and fragrant with the finest sandal oil, In charnel ground though covered up the vultures soon will find And with their talons rend and tear and scatter to the wind. These arms whose finger tips are dyed, like copper, crimson red, In richest sandal oil oft bathed and with soft down o’erspread, Cut off and by proud kings in some lone forest flung aside, A wolf will seize and carry off whereer he’s fain to hide. My teats are like the dates that on the palms with ripeness swell, Fragrant with scent of sandalwood that men of Kasi fell: Hanging thereon a jackal soon at them, methinks, will tug,

Just as a little baby boy his mother’s breast may hug. These hips of mine, well-knit and broad, cast in an ample mould, Encircled with a cincture gay, wrought of the purest gold, Cut off and by proud kings in some lone forest flung aside, A wolf will seize and carry off where’er he’s fain to hide. Dogs, wolves, jackals and whatsoe’er are known as beasts of prey, If once they eat Pabhavati, can suffer no decay. Should warrior kings that come from far thy daughter’s body flay, Begging my bones, burn them with fire in some sequestered way. Then make a garden near and plant a kanikara tree, And when at winter's close it blooms, mother, recalling me, Point to the flower and say, ‘Just such was dear Pabhavati. No. 531. | 159 [303] Thus did she, alarmed with fear of death, idly lament before her mother. And the Madda king issued an order that the executioner should come with his axe and block’, His coming was noised abroad throughout the palace. The queen-mother, on hearing of his arrival, arose from her throne and overwhelmed with sorrow came into the presence of the king. The Master, to make the matter clear, said :

Seeing the sword and block set out within the fatal ring, All goddess-like the royal dame rose up and sought the king. - [304] Then the queen spoke this stanza : With this sword will the Madda king his graceful daughter slay, And piecemeal send her mangled limbs to rival chiefs a prey. The king tried to pacify her and said, “Lady, what is this you say? Your daughter rejected the chief king of all India on the plea of his ugliness, and, accepting death as her fate, returned home before the prints of her feet were well wiped out on the road by which she had gone there. Now therefore let her reap the consequences of the jealousy excited by her beauty.” The queen, after hearing what he had to say, went to her daughter and lamenting spoke thus: Thou didst not hearken to my voice, when counselling thy good, To-day thou sink’st to Yama’s realm, thy body stained with blood. Such fate doth every man incur, or even a worse end, Who deaf to good advice neglects the warnings of a friend. If thou to-day a gallant prince for thy good lord shouldst wed, Bedight with zone of gold and gems, in land of Kusa bred, Thou wouldst not, served with hosts of friends, to Yama’s realms have sped.

When drums are beat and elephants’ loud trumpetings resound, In royal halls, where in this world can greater bliss be found? When horses neigh? and minstrels play to kings some plaintive air, With bliss like this in royal halls, what is there to compare? When too courts with the peacock’s and the heron’s cries resound, And cuckoo’s call, where else, I pray, can bliss like this be found? [305] After thus talking with her in all these stanzas she thought, “If only king Kusa were here to-day, he would put to flight these seven kings and after freeing my daughter from her misery he would carry her away with him,” and she repeated this stanza : Where’s he that crushes hostile realms and vanquishes his foes? Kusa, the noble and the wise, would free us from our woes. 1 Dhammaganthika or dhammagandika occurs in Jataka, vol. 1. 150, 11. 124, 11. 41, 1v. 176. Cf. Cullavagga, English translation by R. Davids and H. Oldenberg, Vinaya Texts, pt. iii, pp. 144 and 213. In Bengali gandi is a ‘circle round a criminal,’ and this meaning suits the context in some of the passages quoted above. 2 Reading himsati, apparently equivalent to hesati.

160 The Jataka. Book XX. Then Pabhavati thought, “My mother’s tongue is not equal to proclaiming the praises of Kusa. I will let her know that he has been living here, occupied with the work of a cook,” and she repeated this stanza: The conqueror who crushes all his foes, lo! here is he; Kusa, so noble and so wise, all foes will slay for me. Then her mother thinking, “ She is terrified with the fear of death and rambles in her talk,” spoke this stanza : Art thou gone mad, or like a fool dost speak at random thus? If Kusa has returned, why, pray, didst thou not tell it us? [306] Hearing this Pabhayati thought, “ My mother does not believe me. She does not know he has returned and been living here seven months. I will prove it to her”; and taking her mother by the hand she opened the window and stretching forth her hand and pointing to him she repeated this stanza: Good mother, look at yonder cook, with loins girt up right well, He stoops to wash his pots and pans, where royal maidens dwell. Then Kusa, they say, thought, ‘‘To-day my heart’s desire will be fulfilled. Of a truth Pabhavati is terrified with the fear of death and will tell of my coming here. I will wash my dishes and put them away”; and he fetched water and began to wash his dishes. Then her mother upbraiding her spoke this stanza:

Art thou base-born or wouldst thou deign, a maid of royal race, To take a slave for thy true love, to Madda’s deep disgrace? Then Pabhavati thought, ‘‘ My mother, methinks, does not know that it is for my sake he has been living here after this manner,” and she spoke another stanza: No low caste I, nor would I shame my royal name, I swear, Good luck to thee, no slave is he but king Okkaka’s heir. And now in praise of his fame she said : He twenty thousand brahmins ever feeds, no slave, I swear, It is Okkaka’s royal son whom thou seest standing there. [307] He twenty thousand elephants aye yokes, no slave, I swear, It is Okkaka’s royal son whom thou seest standing there. He twenty thousand horses ever yokes, no slave, I swear, It is Okkaka’s royal son whom thou seest standing there. He twenty thousand chariots ever yokes, no slave, I swear, It is Okkaka’s royal son whom thou seest standing there. He twenty thousand royal bulls aye yokes, no slave, I swear, It is Okkaka’s royal'son whom thou seest standing there. He twenty thousand royal kine aye milks, no slave, I swear, It is Okkaka’s royal son whom thou seest standing there.

Thus was the glory of the Great Being praised by her in six stanzas. Then her mother thought, “She speaks very confidently. It must be so,” and believing her she went and told the king the whole story. He came in great haste to Pabhavati and asked, “Is it true, what they say, that king Kusa has come?” ‘Yes, dear father. It is seven months to-day that he has been acting as cook to your daughters.” Not believing her he questioned the hunchback and on hearing the facts of the case from her he reproached his daughter and spoke this stanza: Like elephant as frog disguised, When this almighty prince came here, *Twas wrong of thee and ill-advised To hide it from thy parents dear. Thus did he reproach his daughter and then went in haste to Kusa and after the usual greetings and formal salutation, acknowledging his offence, he repeated this stanza : In that we failed to recognise Your majesty in this disguise, If, Sire, to thee offence we gave, We would forgiveness humbly crave. On hearing this the Great Being thought, “If I should speak harshly to him, his heart would straightway break. I will speak words of comfort to him”; and standing amongst his dishes he spoke this stanza :

For me to play the scullion’s part was very wrong I own, Be comforted, it was no fault of thine I was unknown. The king, after being thus addressed in kindly words, climbed up to the palace and summoned Pabhavati, to send her to ask the king’s pardon, [308] and he spoke this stanza : Za Go, silly girl, thy pardon from the great king Kusa crave, .. His wrath appeased he may be pleased perhaps thy life to save. a On hearing the words of her father, she went to him, accompanied by her sisters and her handmaids. Standing just as he was in his workman’s dress, he saw her coming towards him and thought, ‘To-day I-will break down Pabhavati’s pride and lay her low at my feet in the mud,” and, pouring on the ground all the water he had brovght there, he trampled on a space as big as a threshing-floor, making it one mass of mud. She drew nigh and fell at his feet and grovelling in the mud asked his forgiveness. The Master, to make the matter clear, spoke this stanza : The goddess-like Pabhavati obeyed her father’s word: With lowly head she clasped the feet of Kusa, mighty lord.

Then she spoke these stanzas : My days and nights! apart from thee, O king, have passed away : Behold I stoop to kiss thy feet. From anger cease, I pray. 1 For ratyd perhaps we should read ratyo as equivalent to rattiyo in the commentary. Cf. Miiller’s Pali Gram. p. 72. 162 The Jataka. Book XX. I promise thee, if thou to me a gracious ear shouldst lend, Never again in aught I do will I my lord offend. But if thou shouldst my prayer refuse, my father then will slay And send his daughter, limb by limb, to warrior kings a prey. On hearing this the king thought, “If I were to tell her, ‘This is for you to see to,’ her heart would be broken. I will speak words of comfort to her,” and he said: Tll do thy bidding, lady fair, as far as lies in me; No anger feel I in my heart. Fear not, Pabhavati. [309] Hearken, O royal maid, to me, I too make promise true ; Never again will I offend in aught that I may do. Full many a sorrow I would bear, fair maid, for love of thee, And slay a host of Madda chiefs to wed Pabhavati.

Kusa, swelling with princely pride at seeing as it were a handmaid of Sakka, king of heaven, in attendance upon him, thought, ‘While I am still alive, shall others come and carry off my bride?” and rousing himself, lion-like, in the palace yard, he said, “‘ Let all who dwell in this city hear of my coming,” and dancing about, shouting and clapping his hands, he cried, “Now will I take them alive, go bid them put horses to my chariots,” and he repeated the following stanza : Go, quickly yoke my well-trained steeds to many a painted car, And watch me boldly sally forth, to scatter foes afar. He now bade good-bye to Pabhavati, saying, “The capture of thy enemies is my charge. Go thou and bathe and adorn thyself and climb up to thy palace.” And the king of Madda sent his councillors to act as a guard of honour to him. And they drew a screen round about him at the door of the kitchen and provided barbers for him. And when his beard had been trimmed and his head shampooed and he was arrayed in all his splendour and surrounded by his escort, he said, ‘I will ascend to the palace,” and looking about him thence in every direction he clapped his hands, and wheresoever he looked the earth trembled, and he cried out, ‘““Now mark how great is my power.”

The Master, to make the matter clear, uttered the following stanza : The ladies of king Madda’s court beheld him standing there, Like rampant lion, as he smites with both his arms the air. [310] Then the Madda king sent him an elephant that had been trained to stand impassive under attack’, richly caparisoned. Kusa mounted on the back of the elephant with a white umbrella held over him and ordered Pabhavati to be conducted there, and seating her behind him he left the city by the east gate, escorted by a complete host of the four arms’, and as 1 For Gnatjakadranam ef. Jat. 1. 415. 15, 1. 325. 10, rv. 308. 3. ? Elephants, cavalry, chariots and infantry. soon as he saw the forces of the enemy, he cried, “I am king Kusa: let all who value their lives lie down on their bellies,” and he roared thrice _ with the roar of a lion and utterly crushed his foes. The Master, explaining the matter, said: Mounted on back of elephant, the queen behind her lord, Kusa descending to the fray with voice of lion roared. All beasts, when Kusa’s lion-voice thus roaring loud they hear, And warrior kings flee from the field, smitten with panic fear.

Life-guardsmen, soldiers, horse and foot, with many a charioteer, At Kusa’s voice break up! and flee, all paralysed with fear. Sakka right glad at heart looked on in forefront of the fight, And to king Kusa gave a gem, Verocana ’twas hight. The battle won, king Kusa took the magic gem and then Mounted on back of elephant sought Madda’s town again. .« The kings he takes alive and bound in chains with them he goes, And to his royal father cries, ‘Behold, my lord, thy foes. Lo at thy mercy now they lie, in battle smitten sore, At thy good pleasure slay them all or set them free once more.’ [311] The king said: These foes are rather thine than mine. They all: belong to thee, Thou only art our sovereign lord, to slay or to set free. Being thus spoken to, the Great Being thought, “What can I do with these men when once dead? Let not their coming here be without good result. Pabhavati has seven younger sisters, daughters of king Madda. I will bestow them in marriage on these seven princes,” and he repeated this stanza: = These daughters seven, like heavenly nymphs, are very fair to see, a Give them, one each, to these seven kings, thy sons-in-law to be.

Then the king said : O’er us and them thou art supreme, thy purpose to fulfil, Give them—thou art our sovereign lord—according to thy will. So he had them all beautifully attired and gave them in marriage, one to each king. The Master, to make the matter clear, spoke five stanzas: So Kusa of the lion-voice king Madda’s daughters gave, One maid to each of princes seven, fair maids to warriors brave. Delighted with the boon received from lordly Kusa’s hand, These princes seven returned again each one to his own land. : Taking his magic jewel bright, back to Kusavati, 5 King Kusa, mighty hero, brought the fair Pabhavati. 1 khundanti, an unique occurrence of the Pali equivalent of the Skt root kshud, allowed by the Skt grammarians to be optionally of the nasalized (7th) conjugation. Miiller’s Pali Gram. p. 103. ‘This note is due to Professor Bendall. 164 The Jataka. Book XX. Riding together in one car, home came the royal pair, _ Neither outshone the other, for they both alike were fair. Mother came forth to meet her son. Husband henceforth and wife In realms of peace and plenty dwelt and led a happy life. [312] The Master, ending his lesson, revealed the Truths and identified the Birth :—At the end of the Truths the backsliding Brother was established in the fruition of the First Path: —“At that time the father and mother were members of the royal household, the younger brother was Ananda, the humpback was Khujjuttara, Pabhavati was the mother of Rahula, the retinue were Buddha’s followers, king Kusa was I myself.”

“Angel or minstrel-god,” etc. This was a story told by the Master, while living at Jetavana, about a Brother who supported his mother. The circumstance which led up to it was the same as that related in the Sima? Birth. But on this occasion the Master said, ‘‘ Brethren, do not take offence at this Brother. Sages of old, though they were offered rule over all India, refused to accept it and supported their parents”: and so saying he told a story of the past. Once upon a time the city of Benares was known as Brahmavaddhana. At that time a king named Manoja’ reigned there, and a certain Brahmin magnate, possessed of eighty crores, had no heir, and his Brahmin wife at the bidding of her lord prayed for a son. Then the Bodhisatta passing from the Brahma world was conceived in her womb, and at his birth they called him young Sona. By the time that he could run alone, another Being left the Brahma world and he too was conceived by her, and when he was born they called him young Nanda. As soon as they had been taught the Vedas and had attained proficiency in the liberal arts, the Brahmin, observing how handsome the boys were, addressing his wife said, “ Lady, we will unite our son, the youthful Sona, in the bonds of wedlock.” She readily assented and reported the matter to her son. [313] He said, “T have quite enough of the household life as it is.

So long as you live, IT will watch over you, and on your death I will withdraw to the Himalayas and become an ascetic.” She repeated this to the Brahmin, and when they had spoken to him again and again but had failed to persuade him, they addressed themselves to the young Nanda, saying, “ Dear son, do you set up an establishment.” He answered, “TI will not pick up what my brother has rejected, as if it were a lump-of phlegm*. I too on your death will together with my brother join the ascetics.” The parents thought, “If they, though they are quite young, thus give up the lusts of the flesh, how much more should all of us adopt the ascetic life,” and they said, ‘‘ Dear son,

1 Vol. v1. No. 540. 2 Manoja Ja&taka, vol. m1. No. 397. 3 Reading khelam. why talk of becoming ascetics when we are dead? We will all take the vows.” And telling their purpose to the king they disposed of all their wealth in the way of charity, making freedmen of their slaves and distributing what was right and proper amongst their kinsfolk, and then all four of them setting forth from the city of Brahmavaddhana, they built them a hermitage in the Himalaya region in a pleasant grove, near a lake covered by the five kinds of lotus, and there they dwelt as ascetics. The two brothers watched over their parents. And early in the morning they bring them pieces of stick to brush their teeth and water to rinse their mouth, They sweep out the hut, cell and all, supply them with water to drink, bring them sweet berries from the wood to eat, provide them with hot or cold water for the bath, dress their matted locks, shampooing their feet and rendering them all similar services. As time thus passed on, the sage Nanda thought, “I shall have to provide all kinds of fruit as food for my father and mother,” so whatever ordinary fruit he had gathered on the spot either yesterday or even the day before that’, he would bring in the early morning and give to his parents to eat. They ate it and after rinsing their mouth they observed a fast.

But the wise Sona went a long distance and gathered sweet and ripe fruit and offered it to them. Then they said, “Dear son, we ate early this morning what your younger brother brought us and we are now fasting. We have no need of this fruit now.” So his fruit was not eaten but was all wasted, and the next day and so on it was just the same. [314] And thus through his possession of the five Supernatural Faculties he travelled a great distance to fetch fruit, but they refused to eat it. Then the Great Being thought, “ My father and mother are very delicate, and Nanda brings all sorts of unripe or half-ripe fruit for them to eat, and this being so, they will not live long. I will stop him from doing this.” So addressing him he said, ‘‘ Nanda, henceforth when you bring them fruit, you are to wait” till I come, and we will both of us at the same time supply them with foed.” Though he was thus spoken to, desiring merit for himself only, Nanda paid no heed to his brother’s words. The Great Being thought, “ Nanda acts improperly in disobeying me: I will send him away*.” Then thinking he would watch over his parents by himself, he said, ‘‘ Nanda, you are past teaching and pay no heed to the words of the wise. Iam the elder. My father and mother are my charge: I alone will watch over them. You cannot stay on here: get you

1 The text is probably corrupt; perhaps pardha is concealed in para(m)aho, Cf. pare, Jat. 11. 279. 2, 11. 423. 18, ‘the day before yesterday,’ but in Jat. 1v. 481. 25 it seems to mean ‘the day after to-morrow,’ peren-die. Cognate words bearing this double meaning are found both in Hindi and Bengali. 2 natimaneti, to wait for. Cf. Morris, P. 7’. S. J. 1884, Jat. 1. 258. 17, 1. 288. 14, ry. 203, 27, Mil. 1. 14 (S. B. E.). 3 pandmeti to dismiss, Cf. Morris, P. T. S. J. for 1884, Mil, 1, 258, Cullavagga, xu. 2. 3, Jat. 1. 28. 15. . 166 | The Jataka. Book XX. gone elsewhere,’ and he snapped his fingers at him. After being thus dismissed, Nanda could no longer remain in his brother’s presence, and bidding him farewell he drew*nigh to his parents and told them what had happened. Then retiring into his hut of leaves, he fixed his gaze on the mystic circle and that very day he developed the five Supernatural Faculties and the eight Attainments, and he thought, “I can fetch precious sand from the foot of Mount Sineru and sprinkling it in the cell of my brother’s hut I can ask his forgiveness, and should he not even so be mollified, I will fetch water from lake Anotatta and ask him to forgive me, and should he not even thus be mollified, supposing my brother should not pardon me for the sake of angelic beings, I would bring the four Great Kings and Sakka and ask his forgiveness, and should he still not be mollified, I would bring the chief king in all India, Manoja, and the rest of the kings and beg him to pardon me.

And this being so, the fame of my brother’s virtue would be spread throughout India and would be blazed abroad as the sun and moon.” Meanwhile by his magic power he alighted in the city of Brahmavaddhana at the door of the king’s palace, [315] and sent a message to the king, saying, “<A certain ascetic wishes to see you.” The king said, ‘‘What has an ascetic to do with seeing me? He must have come for some food.” He sent him rice, but he would have none of it. Then he sent husked rice and garments and roots, but he would have none of them. At last he sent a messenger to ask why he had come, and in answer to the messenger he said, “I am come to serve the king.” The king, on hearing this, sent back word, “I have plenty of servitors, bid him do his duty as an ascetic.” On hearing this he said, “By my own power I will get the sovereignty over all India, and bestow it on your king.” The king when he heard this thought, “ Ascetics, verily, are wise: they certainly know some clever tricks.” Then he summoned him to his presence, assigned him a seat and saluting him asked, “ Holy sir, will you, as they tell us, gain the rule over all India and grant it to me?” ‘Yes, sire.” ‘“ How will you manage it?” ‘‘Sire, without shedding the blood of any one, no, not even so much as a tiny fly would drink, and without wasting:

your treasure, by my own magic power will I gain the sovereignty and make it over to you. Only, without a moment’s delay, you must sally forth this very day.” The king believed his words and set out, escorted by an army corps. If it was hot for the army, the sage Nanda by his magic created a shade and made it cool. Jf it rained, he did not allow the rain to fall upon the army. He kept off a hot wind. He did away with stumps and thorns in the road and every kind of danger. He made the road as level as the circle used in the Kasina rite, and spreading a skin he sat cross-legged upon it in the air, and so moved in front of the army. Thus first of all he came with his army to the Kosala kingdom, and, pitching his camp near the city, he sent a message to the king

of Kosala, bidding him either give battle or yield himself to his power. The king was enraged and said, “ What then, am I not a king? I will fight you”; and he sallied forth at the head of his forces, [316] and the two armies engaged in battle. The sage Nanda, spreading out wide the antelope skin on which he sat between the two armies, caught up with it all the arrows shot by the combatants on both sides, and in neither army was there a single soldier wounded by a shaft, and, when all the arrows in their possession were spent, both armies stood helpless. And sage Nanda went to the Kosala king and reassured him, saying, “ Great king, be not dismayed. There is no danger threatening you: the kingdom shall still be yours. Only submit to king Manoja.” He believed what Nanda said and agreed to do so. Then conducting him into the presence of Manoja, Nanda said, ‘‘ The king of Kosala submits to you, sire: let the kingdom still remain his.” Manoja readily assented and receiving his submission, he marched with the two armies to the kingdom of Anga and took Anga, and then he took Magadha in the kingdom of that name, and by these means he made himself master of the kings of all India, and accompanied by them he marched straight back to the city of Brahmavaddhana. Now he was seven years, seven months, and seven days in taking the kingdoms of all these kings, and from each royal city he caused to be brought all manner of food, both hard and soft, and taking the kings, one hundred and one in number, for seven days he held a great carouse with them.

The sage Nanda thought, “I will not show myself to the king until he has enjoyed the pleasures of sovereignty for seven days.” And going his rounds for alms in the country of the Northern Kurus, he abode for the space of seven days in the Himalayas, at the entrance of the Golden Cave. And Manoja on the seventh day, after contemplating his great majesty and might, bethought him, “This glory was not given me by my father and mother nor by any one else. It originated through the ascetic Nanda and surely it is now seven days since I set eyes on him. Where in the world can be the friend that bestowed on me this glory?” and he called to mind sage Nanda. And he, knowing that he was remembered, came and stood before him in the air. The king thought, ‘‘I do not know whether this ascetic is a man or a deity. [317] If he be a man, I will give him the sovereignty over all India, but if he be a divinity, I will pay him the honour due to a god,” and to prove him he spoke the first stanza :

Angel or minstrel-god art thou, or do we haply see Sakka, to cities bountiful, or mortal-born may be, With magic powers endued? Thy name we fain would learn from thee. On hearing his words Nanda in declaring his nature repeated a second stanza : No angel I, no minstrel-god, nor Sakka dost thou see : A mortal I with magic powers. The truth I tell to thee. 168 The Jataka. Book XX. The king, on hearing this, thought, “‘He says he is a human being ; even so he has been useful to me. I will satisfy him with the great honour I pay him,” and he said : . Great service thou hast wrought for us, beyond all words to tell, Midst floods of rain no single drop upon us ever fell. Cool shade thou didst create for us, when parching winds arose, From deadly shaft! thou didst us shield, amidst our countless foes. Next many a happy realm thou mad’st own me as sovereign lord, Over a hundred kings became obedient to our word. What from our treasures thou shalt choose, we cheerfully resign, Cars yoked to steeds or elephants, or nymphs attired so fine, Or if a lovely palace be thy .choice, it shall be thine.

In Anga realms or Magadha if thou art fain to live, Wouldst rule Avanti, Assaka—this too we gladly give. Yea e’en the half of all our realm we cheerfully resign, Say but the word, what thou wouldst have, at once it shall be thine. [318] Hearing this, sage Nanda, explaining his wishes, said : No kingdom do I crave, nor any town or land, Nor do I seek to win great riches at thy hand. “But if thou hast any affection for me,” he said, ‘“‘do my bidding in this one thing.” Beneath thy sovereign sway my aged parents dwell, Enjoying holy calm in some lone woodland cell. With these old sages ’m allowed no merit to acquire, If thou and thine would plead my cause, Sona would cease his ire. Then the king said to him: Gladly in this will I perform, O brahmin, thy behest, But who are they that I should take to further thy request ? [319] The sage Nanda said : More than a hundred householders, rich brahmins too I name, And all these mighty warrior chiefs of noble birth and fame, With king Manoja, are enough to satisfy my claim. Then the king said:

Go, harness steeds and elephants and yoke them to the car, Go, fling my banners to the wind, from carriage-pole and bar, I go to seek where Kosiya?, the hermit, dwells afar. Equipped then with his fourfold host the king marched out to seek Where he did dwell in charming cell, a hermit mild and meek. These verses were inspired by Perfect Wisdom. Now on the day on which the king reached the hermitage, the sage Sona reflected: “It is now more than seven years, seven months [320] ' Reading saratténam. * The family name of Sona and his father. and seven days since my young brother went forth from us. Where can he possibly be now?” and looking with the divine eye he saw him and said to himself, “He is coming with a hundred and one kings and an escort of twenty-four legions to beg my pardon. These kings and their retinues have witnessed many marvellous things done by my young brother, and being ignorant of my supernatural power they say of me, ‘This false ascetic overestimates his power and measures himself with our lord.’ By such boasting! they will become destined to hell. I will give them a specimen of my magic-working powers,” and placing a carrying-pole in the air, not touching his shoulder by an interval of four inches, he thus travelled in Space, passing close by the king, to fetch water from lake Anotatta. But the sage Nanda, when he saw him coming, had not the courage to show himself, but, disappearing on the spot where he was sitting, he escaped and hid himself in the Himalayas. Howbeit king Manoja, when he saw Sona approaching in the comely guise of an ascetic, spoke this stanza :

Who goes to fetch him water through the air at such a pace, With wooden pole not touching him by quite four inches space ? The Great Being, being thus addressed, spoke a couple of stanzas : I’m Sona ; from ascetic rule I never go astray : My parents I unweariedly support by night and day. Berries and roots as food for them I gather in the wood, Ever recalling to my mind how they once wrought me good. Hearing this, the king wishing to make friends with him, spoke another stanza : [321] We fain would reach the hermitage where Kosiya doth dwell, Show us the road, gcod Sona, which will lead us to his cell. Then the Great Being by his supernatural power created a footpath leading to the hermitage and spoke this stanza: This is the path: mark well, O king, yon clump of sombre green ; There midst a grove of ebon trees the hermitage is seen. Thus did the mighty sage instruct these warrior kings, and then Once more he trayelled through the air and hurried home again. Next having swept the hermitage he sought his sire’s retreat, And waking up the aged saint he offered him a seat.

“Come forth, he cried, ‘O holy sage, be seated here, I pray, For high-born kings of mighty fame will pass along this way.’ The old man having heard his son his presence thus implore, Came forth in haste from out his hut and sat him by the door. These verses were inspired by Perfect Wisdom. And the sage Nanda came to the king at the very moment when the Bodhisatta reached the hermitage, bringing with him water from Anotatta, 1 yambheti, see Morris, P. T. S. J. for 1884, p. 95. 170 The Jataka. Book XX. and Nanda pitched their camp not far from the hermitage. Then the king bathed and arrayed himself in all his splendour, and, escorted by one hundred and one kings, he came with the sage Nanda in great state and glory and entered the hermitage, to beg the Bodhisatta to forgive his brother, Then the father of the Bodhisatta, on seeing the king approach them, inquired of the Bodhisatta and he explained the matter to him. [322] The Master, in making this clear, said : On seeing him all in a blaze of glory standing near, Surrounded by a band of kgs, thus spoke the aged seer:

Who marches here with tabour, conch, and beat of sounding drums, Music to cheer the heart of kings? Who here in triumph comes ? Who in this blaze of glory comes, with turban-cloth of gold, As lightning bright, and quiver-armed, a hero young and bold? Who comes all bright and glorious, with face of golden sheen, Like embers of acacia wood, aglow in furnace seen ? Who comes with his umbrella held aloft in such a way, q That it with ribs so clearly marked wards off the sun’s fierce ray-? : Who is it, with a yak-tail fan stretched forth to guard his side, Is seen, like some wise sage, on back of elephant to ride ? Who comes in pomp and majesty of parachutes all white, And mail-clad steeds of noble strain, encircling left and right ? Who hither comes, surrounded by a hundred kings or more, An escort of right noble kings, behind him and before ? With elephants, with chariots and with horse and foot brigade, Who comes with all the pomp of war, in fourfold! host arrayed ? Who comes with all the legions vast that follow in his train, Unbroken, limitless as are the billows of the main ?

It is Manoja, king of kings, with Nanda here has come, As though ’twere Indra, lord of heaven, to this our hermit eae His is the mighty host that comes, obedient in his train, Unbroken, limitless as are the billows of the main. [823] The Master said : In robe of finest silk arrayed, with sandal oil bedewed, These kings approach the saintly men in suppliant attitude. Then king Manoja with a salutation took his seat apart, and, exchanging friendly greetings, spoke a couple of stanzas : O holy men, we trust that you are prosperous and well, With grain to glean and roots and fruit abundant where you dwell. Have you been much by flies and gnats and creeping things annoyed, Or from wild beasts of prey have you immunity enjoyed ? 1 Hlephants, cavalry, chariots and infantry. Then these stanzas were spoken by them as question and answer: We thank thee, king, and answer thus: We prosper and are well, With grain to glean and roots and fruit abundant where we dwell. From flies and gnats and creeping things we suffer not annoy, And from wild beasts of prey we here immunity enjoy. Areca nuts for such as live as hermits here abound, No harmful sickness that J know has ever here been found.

Welcome}, O king, a happy chance directed thee this way, Mighty thou art and glorious: what errand brings thee, pray ? [324] The tindook and the piyal leaves, and kasumari sweet, And fruits like honey, take the best we have, O king, and eat. And this cool water from a cave high hidden on’ a hill, O mighty monarch, take of it, drink if it be thy will. Accepted is thy offering by me and all, but pray Give ear to what wise Nanda here, our friend, has got to say. For all of us in Nanda’s train as suppliants come to thee, To beg a gracious hearing for poor Nanda’s humble plea. The sage Nanda, thus addressed, rose from his seat and saluted his father and mother and brother, and, conversing with his followers, said : Let country folk, a hundred odd, and brahmins of great fame, And all these noble warrior chiefs, illustrious in name, - With king Manoja, our great lord, all sanction this my claim. Ye Yakkhas in this hermitage that are assembled here, And woodland spirits, old and young?, to what I say give ear. My homage paid to these, I next this holy sage address, In me a brother thou didst erst as thy right hand possess.

To serve my aged parents is the boon from thee I ask: Cease, mighty saint, to hinder me in this my holy task. [325] Kind service to our parents has long time been paid by thee ; The good approve such deeds—why not yield it in turn to me? And to the merit I thus win the way to heaven is free. Others there are that know in this the path of duty lies, It is the way to heaven, as thou,’O sage, dost recognise. And yet a holy man bars me from merit such as this, When I by service fain would bring my parents perfect bliss. [326] Thus addressed by Nanda, the Great Being said, “You heard what he had to say: now hear me,” and he spoke these stanzas : All ye that swell my brother’s train, my words now hear in turn; Whoso shall ancient precedent of his forefathers spurn, Sinning against his elders, he, reborn in hell, shall burn. But they who skilled in holy lore the Way of Truth may know, Keeping the moral law, shall ne’er to World of Suffering go. Brother and sister, parents, all by kindred tie allied, A charge upon the eldest son will evermore abide.

1 These lines occur in No. 503, Sattigumba Jataka, vol. tv. p. 270, English version. 2 bhitabhavyani, fully developed and embryo deities: for bhavya, a class of gods, cf. Vishnu Purana, 1. 12. 172 The Jataka. Book XX. As eldest son this heavy charge I gladly undertake, And as a pilot guards his ship, the Right Pll ne’er forsake. On hearing this all the kings were highly delighted and said, “ To-day we learn that all the rest of a family are a charge laid upon the eldest,” and they forsook the sage Nanda and became devoted to the Great Being and, singing his praises, recited two stanzas : We have found knowledge like a flame that shines at dead of night, E’en so has holy Kosiya revealed to us the Right. Just as the sun-god by his rays illumines all the sea, Showing the form of living things, as good or bad they be, So holy Kosiya reveals the Right to me and thee. [327] Thus was it that although these kings had so long a time believed in the sage Nanda, from witnessing his wonderful works, yet did the Great Being by the power of knowledge destroy their faith in him, and, causing them to accept his words, thus make them all his most obedient servants. Then the sage Nanda thinking, “My brother is a wise and clever fellow and mighty in the scriptures. He has got the better of these kings and won them over to his side. Except him I have no other refuge. To him only will I make my supplication; and he spoke this stanza :

Since thou my suppliant attitude heed’st not, nor outstretched hand, Thy humble bond-slave will I be, to wait at thy command. The Great Being naturally entertained no angry or hostile feeling towards Nanda, but he had acted as he did by way of rebuking him, in order to bring down his high stomach, when he spoke so exceeding proudly. But now on hearing what he had to say he was mightily pleased, and conceived a favour towards him, and saying, ‘“‘ Now I forgive you and will allow you to watch over your father and mother,” and making known his virtues he said: Nanda, thou know’st the true faith well, as saints have taught it thee, Tis only noble to be good’—thou greatly pleasest me. My worthy parents I salute: list ye to what I say, The charge of you as burden was ne’er felt in any way. My parents I have tended long, their happiness to earn, Now Nanda comes and humbly begs to serve you in his turn. [828] Whiche’er of you two saintly ones would Nanda’s service own, Speak but the word and he shall come to wait on thee alone. Then his mother, rising from her seat, said, “ Dear Sona, your young brother has been long absent from his home. Now that he has at length returned, I do not venture to ask him myself, for we are altogether dependent upon you, but with your sanction I might now be allowed to take this holy youth to my arms and kiss him on the forehead,” and, to make her meaning clear, she spoke this stanza :

Sona, dear son, on whom we lean, if thou allowest this, Embracing him once more I will the holy Nanda kiss. Then the Great Being said to her, ‘ Well, dear mother, I give you permission: go and embrace your son Nanda and smell and kiss his head, and soothe the sorrow in your heart. So she went to the sage Nanda and embracing him before all the assembly she smelled and kissed his head, putting an end to the sorrow in her heart, and conversing with the Great Being she spoke this verse : Just as the tender bo-tree shoot is shaken by the blast, So throbs my heart with joy at sight of Nanda come at last. Nanda, methinks, as in a dream returned I seem to see, Half mad and jubilant I cry, ‘Nanda comes back to me.’ But if on waking I should find my Nanda gone away, To greater sorrow than before my soul would be a prey. [829] Back to his parents dear to-day Nanda at last has come, , Dear to my lord and me alike, with us he makes his home. Though Nanda to his sire is dear, let him stay where he will,

—Thou to thy father’s wants attend—Nanda shall mine fulfil. The Great Being assented to his mother’s words, saying, “So be it,” and he admonished his brother, saying, ‘‘Nanda, you have received the portion of the eldest son; verily a mother is a great benefactress. Be careful in watching over her,” and celebrating a mother’s virtues he spoke two stanzas: Kind, pitiful, our refuge she that fed us at her breast, A mother is the way to heaven, and thee she loveth best. She nursed and fostered us with care; graced with good gifts is she, A mother is the way to heaven, and best she loveth thee. Thus did the Great Being in two stanzas tell of a mother’s virtues, and when his mother had once more taken her seat, he said, ‘“‘ You, Nanda, have got a mother who has suffered things hard to be borne. Both of us have been painfully reared by our mother. Now you are carefully to watch over her and not to give her sour berries to eat,” and to make it clear in the midst of the assembled people that deeds of great difficulty fell to a mother’s lot, he said : [330] Craving a child in prayer she kneels each holy shrine before, The changing seasons closely scans and studies astral lore.

Pregnant in course of time she feels her tender longings grow, And soon the unconscious babe begins a loving friend to know. Her treasure for a year or less she guards with utmost care, Then brings it forth and from that day a mother’s name will bear. With milky breast and lullaby she soothes the fretting child, _ Wrapped in his comforter’s warm arms his woes are soon beguiled. Watching o’er him, poor innocent, lest wind or heat annoy, His fostering nurse she may be called, to cherish thus her boy. What gear his sire and mother have she hoards for him, ‘May be, She thinks, ‘some day, my dearest child, it all may come to thee.’ Ly The Jataka. Book XX. ‘Do this or that, my darling boy,’ the.worried mother cries, And when he’s grown to man’s estate, she still laments and sighs. He goes in reckless mood to see a neighbour’s wife at night, She fumes and frets, ‘Why will he not return while it is light?’ If one thus reared with anxious pains his mother should neglect, Playing her false, what doom, I pray, but hell can he expect? If one thus reared with anxious pains his father should neglect, Playing him false, what doom, I pray, but hell can he expect ?

Those that love wealth o’ermuch, ’tis said, their wealth will soon have lost, One that neglects a mother soon will rue it to his cost. Those that love wealth o’ermuch, ’tis said, their wealth will soon have lost, One that neglects a father soon will rue it to his cost. Joy, careless ease, laughter and sport, are the sure heritage Of him that studiously shall tend a mother in old age. Joy, careless ease, laughter and sport, are the sure heritage Of him that studiously shall tend a father in old age. Gifts1, loving speech, kind offices, together with the grace Of calm indifference of mind shown in due time and place— These virtues to the world are as linch-pin to chariot wheel, These lacking, still a mother’s name to children would appeal. [331] A mother like the sire should~be with reverent honour crowned, Sages approve the man in whom these virtues may be found. Thus parents, worthy of all praise, a high position own, By ancient sages Brahma called. So great was their renown. Kind parents from their children should receive all reverence due, He that is wise will honour them with service good and true. He should provide them food and drink, bedding and raiment meet, Should bathe them and anoint with oil and duly wash their feet.

For filial services like these sages his praises sound Here in this world, and after death in heaven his joys abound. [332] Thus, as though he should set Mount Sineru rolling, did the Great Being bring his lesson to an end. On hearing him all these kings with their hosts became believers, So then establishing them in the five moral laws and exhorting them to be diligent in almsgiving and the like virtues, he dismissed them, and they all, after ruling their kingdoms righteously, at the end of their days went to swell the host of heaven, The sages, Sona and Nanda, as long as they lived, ministered to their parents and became destined to the Brahma world. The Master here ended his lesson and revealing the Truths identified the Birth :—-At the end of the Truths the Brother who cherished his mother was established in the fruition of the First Path :—“ At that time the parents were members of the Great King’s Court, the sage Nanda was Ananda, king Manoja was Sariputta, the hundred and one kings were eighty chief elders and certain others, the twenty-four complete armies were Buddha’s disciples, but the sage Sona was I myself.”

1 Childers gives the four Sangahavatthus, appertaining to kings, as largesse, affability, beneficent rule, and impartiality.

[333] “Ad other birds, etc.” This was a story told by the Master, while dwelling in the Bamboo Grove, as to how the venerable Ananda renounced his life. For when archers were suborned to slay the Tathagata, and the first one that was sent by Devadatta? on this errand returned and said, “ Holy sir, I cannot deprive the Blessed One of life: he is possessed of great supernatural powers,” Devadatta replied, ‘Well, sir, you need not slay the ascetic Gotama. I myself will deprive him of life.” And as the Tathagata was walking in the shadow cast westward? by the Vulture’s Peak, Devadatta climbed to the top of the mountain and hurled a mighty stone as if shot from a catapult, thinking, “ With this stone will I slay the ascetic Gotama,” but two mountain peaks meeting together intercepted the stone, and a splinter from it flew up and struck the Blessed One on the foot and drew blood, and severe pains set in. Jivaka, cutting open the Tathagata’s foot with a knife, let out the bad blood and removed the proud flesh, and anointing the wound with a medicament healed it. The Master moved about just as he was wont aforetime, surrounded by his attendants, with all the great charm of a Buddha. So on seeing him Devadatta thought, ‘Verily no mortal beholding the excellent beauty of Gotama’s person dare approach him, but the king’s elephant Nalagiri is a fierce and [334] savage animal and knows nothing of the virtues of the Buddha, the Law, and the Assembly.

He will bring about the destruction of the ascetic.” So he went and told the matter to the king. The king readily fell in with the suggestion, and, summoning his elephant-keeper, thus addressed him ; “Sir, to-morrow you are to make Nalagiri mad with drink, and at break of day to let him loose in the street where the ascetic Gotama walks.” And Devadatta asked the keeper how much arrack the elephant was wont to drink on ordinary days, and when he answered, “ Eight pots,” he said, “To-morrow give him sixteen pots to drink, and send him in the direction of the street frequented by the ascetic Gotama.” “Very good,” said the keeper. The king had a drum beaten throughout the city and proclaimed, “ To-morrow Nalagiri will be maddened with strong drink and let loose in the city. The men of the city are to do all that they have to do in the early morning and after that no one is to venture out into the street.” And Devadatta came down

1 Compare with this Hamsa-Jataka, vol. 1v. No. 502, and Jataka-Mala, xxu. The Story of the Holy Swans. 2 For the story of Devadatta, cf. Cullavagga, vu. 3 In the corresponding passage in .Cullavagga, vu. 3. 8, pacchayayam (Skt pra-cchaya) is read instead of pacchachayaya. 176 The Jataka. Book XX. from the palace and went to the elephant-stall and, addressing the keepers, said, “We are able, I tell you, from a high position to degrade a man to a lowly one and to raise a man from a low position to a high one. If you are eager for honour, early to-morrow morning»give Nalagiri sixteen pots of fiery liquor, and at the time when the ascetic Gotama comes that way, wound the elephant with spiked goads, and when in his fury he has broken down his stall, drive him in the direction of the street where Gotama is wont to walk, and so bring about the destruction of the ascetic.” They readily agreed to do so. This rumour was noised abroad throughout the whole city. The lay disciples attached to the Buddha, the Law, and the Priesthood, on hearing it, drew nigh to the Master and said, “Holy sir, Devadatta has been closeted with the king and to-morrow he will have Nalagiri let loose in the street where you walk. Do not go into the city to-morrow for alms but remain here. We will provide food in the monastery for the priests, with Buddha at their head.” The Master without directly saying, “I will not enter the city to-morrow for alms,” answered and said, “Tomorrow I will work a miracle and tame Nalagiri and crush the heretics.

And without going my round for alms in Rajagaha I will leave the city, attended by a company of the Brethren, and go straight to the Bamboo Grove, and the people of Rajagaha shall repair thither with many a bowl of food and to-morrow there shall be a meal provided in the refectory of the monastery.” In this way did the Master grant their request. And on learning that the Tathagata had acceded to their wishes, they set out from the city, carrying bowls of food, and saying, “We will distribute our gifts in the monastery itself.” And the Master in the first watch taught the Law, in the middle watch he solved hard questions, in the first part of the last watch he lay down lion-like on his right side, and the second part [335] he spent in the Attainment of Fruition, in the third part, entering into a trance of deep pity for the sufferings of humanity, he contemplated all his kinsfolk that were ripe for conversion! and seeing that as the result of his conquest of Nalagiri eighty-four thousand beings would be brought to a clear understanding of the Law, at daybreak, after attending to his bodily

necessities, he addressed Ananda and said, ‘‘ Ananda, to-day bid all the Brethren that are in the eighteen monasteries that are round about Rajagaha to accompany me into that city.” The elder did so, and all the Brethren assembled at the Bamboo Grove. The Master attended by a great company of Brethren entered Rajagaha and the elephant-keepers proceeded according to their instructions and there was a great gathering of people. The believers thought, “To-day there will be a mighty battle between the lord elephant Buddha and this elephant of the brute world. We shall witness the defeat of Nalagiri by the incomparable skill of the Buddha,” and they climbed up and stood upon the upper storeys and roofs and house-tops. But the unbelieving heretics thought, “ Nalagiri is a fierce, savage creature, and knows nothing of the merits of Buddhas and the like. To-day he will crush the glorious form of the ascetic Gotama and bring about his death. To-day we shall look upon the back of our enemy.” And they took their stand on upper storeys and other high places. And the elephant, on seeing the Blessed One approach him, terrified the people by demolishing the houses and raising his trunk he crushed the waggons into powder, and, with his ears and tail erect with excitement, he ran like some towering mountain in the direction of the Blessed One. On seeing him the Brethren thus addressed the Blessed One, “This Nalagiri, holy sir, a fierce and savage creature, and a slayer of men, is coming along this road*.

Of a truth he knows nothing of the merit of Buddhas and the like. Let the Blessed One, the Auspicious One, withdraw.” “Fear not, Brethren,” he said, “I am able to overcome Nalagiri.” Then the venerable Sariputta prayed the Master, saying, “Holy sir, when any service has to be rendered to a father, it is a burden laid on his eldest son. I will vanquish this creature.” Then ‘the Master said, “Sariputta, the power of a Buddha is one thing, that of his disciples is another,” and he rejected his offer,

1 With bodhaneyya one may perhaps compare the of cwfduevor of the N.T. 2 racchd, Skt rathya@, a carriage road or street. Jat. 1. 346, 18, saying, “You are to remain here.” This too was the prayer of the eighty chief elders for the most part, but he refused them all. Then the venerable Ananda by reason of his strong affection for the Master was unable to acquiesce in this and cried, “Let this elephant kill me first,” and he stood before the Master, ready to sacrifice his life for the Tathagata. So the Master said to him, “Go away, Ananda, do not stand in front of me.” The elder said, “‘ Holy sir, this elephant [336] is fierce and savage, a slayer of men, like the flame at the beginning of a cycle. Let him first slay me and afterwards let him approach you.” And though he was spoken to for the third time, the elder remained in the same spot and did not retire. Then the Blessed One by the exercise of his supernatural power made him fall back and placed him in the midst of the Brethren. At this moment a certain woman, catching sight of Nalagiri, was terrified with the fear of death, and as she fled she dropped the child, which she was carrying on her hip, between the Tathagata and the elephant and made her escape. The elephant, pursuing the woman, came up with the child, who uttered a loud cry.

The Master thrilling with the charity that is expressly commanded!, and, uttering the honeyed accents of a voice like that of Brahma, called to Nalagiri, saying, “Ho! Nalagiri, those that maddened you with sixteen pots of arrack did not do this that you might attack someone else, but acted thus thinking you would attack me. Do not tire out your strength by rushing about aimlessly but come hither.” On hearing the voice of the Master he opened his eyes and beheld the glorious form of the Blessed One, and he became greatly agitated and by the power of Buddha the intoxicating effects of the strong drink passed off. Dropping his trunk and shaking his ears he came and fell down at the feet of the Tathagata. Then the Master addressing him said, Nalagiri, you are a brute elephant, I am the Buddha elephant. Henceforth be not fierce and savage, nor a slayer of men, but cultivate thoughts of charity.” So saying he stretched forth his right hand and coaxed the elephant’s forehead and taught the Law to him in these words :

2This elephant shouldst thou presume to assail, An awful doom thou wouldst erelong bewail. To strike this elephant would destine thee To state of suffering in worlds to be. From mad and foolish recklessness abstain, The reckless fool to heaven will ne’er attain. If in the next world thou wouldst win heaven’s bliss, See that thou doest what is right in this. The whole body of the elephant constantly thrilled with joy, and had he not been a mere quadruped, he would have entered on the fruition of the First Path. The people, on beholding this miracle, shouted and snapped their fingers. In their joy they cast upon him all manner of ornaments and covered therewith all the body of the elephant. [337] Thenceforth Nalagiri was known as Dhanapilaka (keeper of treasure).—Now on the occasion of this encounter with Dhanapalaka eighty-four thousand beings drank the nectar of immortality.— And the Master established Dhanapalaka in the five moral laws. With his trunk taking up dust from the feet of the Blessed One the elephant sprinkled it on his head, and retiring with bent body he stood bowing to the Dasabala as long as he was in sight, and then he turned and entered the elephant-stall. Thenceforth he was quite tame and harmed no man. The Master, now that his desire was fulfilled, decided that the treasure should remain the property of those by whom it had been thrown upon the elephant and thinking, “To-day I have wrought a great miracle. It is not seemly that I should go my rounds for alms in this city,” and after crushing the heretics, surrounded by a band of the Brethren, he sallied forth from the city like a victorious warrior chief and made

1 odissakametta. Cf. Jat, 1. 61. 9, 1. 146, 123. 2 These verses occur in Cullavagga, vu. 3. 12. 178 The Jataka. Book XX1I. straight for the Bamboo Grove. The citizens, taking with them a quantity of boiled rice, drink, and some solid food, went to the monastery and set on foot almsgiving on a grand scale. That day at eventide, as they sat filling the Hall of Truth, the Brethren started a fopic, saying, “The venerable Ananda achieved a marvellous thing in being ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of the Tathagata. On seeing Nalagiri, though he was thrice forbidden by the Master to remain, he refused to go away. O sirs, of a truth the elder was the doer of a marvellous deed.” The Master, thinking, “The conversation turns on the merits of Ananda, I must be present at it,” went forth from his Perfumed Chamber and came and asked them, saying, “On what subject are ye discoursing, Brethren, as ye sit here?” And when they answered, “On such and such a topic,” he said, “ Not now only, but formerly too, Ananda, even when he was born in an animal form, renounced his life for my sake,” and so saying he told a story of the past.

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Mahimsaka in the city of Sakula a king named Sakula ruled his kingdom righteously. At that time not far from the city a certain fowler in a village of fowlers got his living by snaring birds and selling them in the city. Near that city was a lotuslake called Manusiya, tweive leagues in circumference, covered with five varieties of lotus. Thither repaired_a flock of all manner of birds and the fowler set his snares there freely. At this time the king of the Dhatarattha geese, with a following of ninety-six thousand geese, dwelt in Golden Cave on mount Cittakita and his commander-in-chief was named Sumukha. Now one day a flock [338] composed of some golden geese came to the lake Manusiya, and, after browsing to their heart’s content in this abundant feeding ground, they flew up to the beautiful Cittakiita and thus addressed the Dhatarattha king: “ Sire, there is a lotus-lake called Manusiya, a rich feeding ground lying midst the haunts of men. Thither we will go to feed.” He answered, “The haunts of men are dangerous: let not this approve itself to you.” And though he declined to go, yet being importuned he said, “If it be your good pleasure, we will go,” and with his following he repaired to that lake. Alighting from the air he set his foot in a noose at the very moment he touched the ground.

So the noose seized his foot as it were with an iron vice and caught and held him fast. Then thinking to sever the snare he tugged at it, and first the skin was broken, next the flesh was torn, and lastly the tendon, till the snare touched the bone and the blood flowed and severe pains set in. He thought, “If I should utter a cry of capture, my kinsfolk would be alarmed and without feeding would fly away famished and through weakness they would fall into the water.” So he bore with the pain and when his kinsfolk had eaten their fill and were disporting themselves after the manner of geese, he uttered the loud cry of a captured bird. On hearing it these geese were frightened with the fear of death and flew off in the direction of Cittakita. As soon as they were gone, Sumukha, the captain of the geese, thought, ‘‘ Can it be that this means something terrible has happened to the Great King?

T will find out what it is,” and flying at full speed, and not seeing the Great Being amongst those in the van of the retreating army of geese, he sought him in the main body of the birds and there too failing to find him he said, “Without all doubt something terrible has occurred,” [339] and he turned back and found the Great Being caught in a snare, stained with blood and suffering great pain, lying on the muddy ground. And he alighted and sat on the ground and trying to comfort the Great Being he said, ‘“ Fear not, sire: I will release you from the snare at the sacrifice of my own life.” Then to test him the Great Being spoke the first stanza: All other birds, heedless of me, have fled in haste away ; What friendship can a captive know? Be off, make no delay. Here moreover followed these stanzas ' : Whether I go or stay with thee, I still some day must die: I’ve courted thee in weal, in woe from thee I may not fly. I either then must die with thee, or live a life forlorn, Far better ’twere to die at once than live thy loss to mourn.

It is not right to leave thee, sire, in such a sorry state; Nay, 1 am well content to share whate’er may be thy fate. What fate for one caught in a snare except the cruel spit? How in thy senses and still free couldst thou to this submit? What good for thee or me, O bird, herein dost thou descry, Or for the kin surviving us, if both of us should die? Wrapt, golden-wingéd one, in night will’ be thy deed of worth; What moral would such sacrifice, if brought to light, show forth? That blessings follow Right, O king of birds, dost thou not see? Right duly honoured shows to men what their true good may be. [340] Seeing the Right and all the Good that still from Right may spring, ~ For love of thee I cheerfully my life away would fling. If mindful of the Right one ne’er forsakes a suffering friend, Not e’en to save one’s life, such act as Right the wise commend. Thy duty nobly done, the while I recognise thy love, Depart at once, if thou wouldst do the thing I most approve. Perhaps in time the ties that bound my kin beneath my sway, With fuller knowledge and control may pass to thee some day.

As thus these noble birds exchanged high thoughts, to them, behold, Like Death to some bedridden wretch appeared this fowler bold. The friends in him discerning well the enemy they fear, Long silent sat and motionless, as he to them drew near. Seeing the geese rise here and there and vanish into space, Their foe, where sat these noble birds, in haste approached the place. And as he ran with utmost speed and reached the fated spot, The fowler, trembling at the thought, cried, ‘Are they caught or not?’ The one he saw caught in the snare, the other bird he found Watching his captive friend, himself unfettered and unbound. 1 In the form of a dialogue between the captive goose-king and his faithful friend Sumukha. Afterwards the fowler intervenes. 180 The Jataka. Book XX1. Perplexed and doubting in his mind he viewed the noble pair, , —Full grown were they, two comely birds—and thus he spake them fair. Granted that one caught ina snare may never fly away’, Why, mighty bird, dost thou, still free, resolve with him to stay? What is this fowl to thee, that when the rest are fled and gone, Though free, beside the captive bird thou sittest here alone? |

20 foe of birds, my friend and king, dear as my life is he ; Forsake him—no, I never will, until Death calls for me. [341] How was it that this bird ne’er spied the fowler’s secret snare ? Of mighty chiefs the function is of danger to be ware. 3 When ruin comes upon a man and Death’s hour draweth nigh, Though you may close upon it come, nor trap nor snare you spy. Snares of all kinds, O holy ones, are ofttimes set in vain: In fatal hour at last one’s caught in hidden snare and slain. [342] Thus did he by discoursing with him soften the fowler’s heart, and begging for the life of the Great Being he spoke this stanza : [343] Is this the happy issue*, say, of friendly talk with thee, And wilt thou, prithee, spare our lives and let us both go free? The fowler, charmed by Sumukha’s sweet discourse, spoke this stanza : No prisoner of mine art thou; begone, quick, hence away ; I would not shed thy blood; unscathed, live on for many a day. Then Sumukha repeated four stanzas : I should not care to live myself, if this my friend were dead, Content with one, let him go free, and eat my flesh instead.

We two are much the same in age, in length and breadth of limb; No loss for thee, if thou shouldst take me in exchange for him. Regard it in this light and glut thy appetite on me; First bind me in the snare, then let this king of birds go free. Thus thou wouldst gain thy wish and I my heart’s desire secure, And peace would be ’twixt geese and thee, long as life should endure. Thus by the preaching of the Law was this fowler’s heart softened, even as cotton dipped in oil, and in yielding up the Great Being to him, as a slave to his owner, he said : Be witness all your sages, friends, servants, and kith and kitf, Through thee alone this king of birds his liberty did win. To few ’tis given to own a friend like thee prepared to share A common fate, as when thy king was caught in deadly snare. So I release thy friend the king, to follow thee afar, Quick, hence away, amidst thy kin to shine fair as a star. 1 kurute disam, to fly away. Text desam, scholiast disam, as required by the metre. . * This couplet occurs in rv. p. 265, English version. 3 This couplet occurs three times before. See note on vol. rv. p. 265, English version. 4 sukhudraya, Jat. tv. 451. 17, v. 389. 3, dukkhudraya tv. 398. 9, katukudraya v. 241, 14.

[344] And so saying, the fowler with kindness in his heart drew nigh to the Great Being, and cutting his bonds took him up in his arms and lifting him out of the water laid him on the bank of the lake upon the fresh grass, and with great tenderness gently loosing the snare that bound his foot threw it to a distance. Then conceiving a strong affection for the Great Being, with a heart full of love he took some water and washed away the blood from his wound, and once and again wiped it. Through the power of his charity the wound in the Bodhisatta’s foot grew together, tendon uniting with tendon, flesh with flesh, skin with skin. Fresh skin formed and fresh down grew over it. The Bodhisatta was just as if his foot had never been trapped and sat rejoicing in his ordinary form. Then Sumukha, beholding how happy the Great Being was all owing to his action, in his gladness sang the praises of the fowler. The Master, to make the matter clear, said: The goose glad at the king’s release, in honour of his lord, Thus charmed his benefactor’s ear with this most pleasant word:

‘Fowler, with all thy kith and kin, right happy mayst thou be, As I am happy to behold the king of birds set free.’ After thus singing the fowler’s praises, Sumukha said to the Bodhisatta, “ Sire, this man has wrought us a great service: had he not hearkened to our words, he might have won great wealth, either by making us tame birds to be kept for pleasure and offering us to some great lords, or by killing and selling us for food. But utterly regardless of his own livelihood he hearkened to our words. [345] Let us conduct him into the king’s presence and make him happy for life.” The Great Being agreed to this. Then Sumukha, after conversing with the Great Being in their own language, addressed the fowler in human speech and asked hin, saying, “Friend, why did you set snares?” and on his replying, “For gain,” ‘This being the case,” said Sumukha, “take us with you into the city and present us to your king, and I will persuade him to bestow on you great riches,” and he spoke these stanzas: Come, I will teach thee how thou mayst win for thyself great gain, Seeing the honour of this goose brooks not the slightest stain.

Quick, take us to the royal court, in body sound and whole, Standing, unbound, at either end of this thy carrying-pole. And say, ‘O sire, lo! here to thee two ruddy geese we bring, The one is captain of the host, the other is their king.’ This lord of men beholding then this royal goose will be So glad and overjoyed, he will great wealth bestow on thee. 182 The Jataka. Book XX1J. When he had so spoken, the fowler replied, ‘Let it not be your pleasure to see the king. Verily kings are fickle-minded: they would either keep you captive for their amusement or would put you to death.” Sumukha said, “Fear not, my friend. By my preaching of the Law I have softened the heart of a fierce creature like you and have brought you to my feet, a fowler whose hand is red with blood. Kings, verily, are full of goodness and wisdom, and are such as can discern between good and evil words. So make haste and bring us into the presence of your king.” The fowler said, “Well, be not angry with me. As it is your good pleasure, [346] I will take you to him.” So he mounted the pair of birds on his pole and wént to the court and introduced them to the king, and on being questioned by him the fowler declared all the facts of

The Master, to make the matter clear, said : On hearing this he wrought the thing they craved in heart and soul, And quickly took the geese to court, in body sound and whole, Standing, unbound, one at each end of his long carrying-pole. ‘Lo! here,’ he said, ‘two ruddy geese, O sire, to thee we bring, One is the captain of the host, the other is their king.’ » How did these wingéd mighty ones, fowler, become thy prey, How didst thou creep close up to them, nor frighten them away ? O lord of men, in every pool behold a gin or net, In every ‘haunt of birds, methinks, a deadly snare was set. *Twas in some hidden trap like this I caught the king of geese, His friend, still free, sat by his side and sought his lord’s release. This bird essayed a task beyond what vulgar souls achieve, Resolved his every nerve to strain, his master to relieve. There sat he, worthy to survive, content his life to give, If but his lord, whose praise he sang, might be allowed to live. Hearing his words I all at once attained to state of grace, Gladly set free the captive bird.and bade them leave the place.

The goose, rejoiced at his release, in honour of his lord, Thus charmed his benefactor’s ear with this most pleasant word: ‘Fowler, with all thy kith and kin, right happy mayst thou be, As I am happy to behold the king of birds set free. Come, I will teach thee how thou mayst win for thyself great gain, Seeing the honour of this goose brooks not the slightest stain. Quick, take us to the royal court, in body sound and whole, Standing, unbound, at either end of this thy carrying-pole. And say, “O sire, lo! here to thee two ruddy geese we bring, The one is captain of the host, the other is their king.” This lord of men, beholding then this royal goose will be So glad and overjoyed, he will great wealth bestow on thee.’ ' Reading yam yad dyatanam. . [847] Thus at his bidding hither led by me the pair have come, Although for me they both were free to seek their mountain home. _ Such was the fate of this poor bird, though very righteous he, So much that he with pity moved a fowler fierce like me. This goose, O lord of men, to thee an offering bring I here, Amidst the haunts of fowling men one scarce could find his peer.

[348] Thus did he standing there proclaim the virtues of Sumukha. Then the king Sakula offered to the goose-king a costly throne and to Sumukha a precious golden chair, and when they had taken their seats he served them with parched corn, honey, molasses, and the like, in golden vessels, and, when they had finished their meal, with outstretched hands he prayed the Great Being to preach the Law and took his seat upon a golden chair. And at his request the goose-king held pleasant converse with him. The Master, to make everything clear, said: Seeing the king now seated on a lovely golden chair, The goose in tones to charm the ear thus did bespeak him fair. Dost thou, my lord, enjoy good health and is all well with thee ? I trust thy realm is flourishing and ruled in equity. O king of geese, my health is good and all is well with me; - My realm is very flourishing and ruled in equity. Hast thou true men to counsel thee, free from all stain or blame, Ready to die, if need there be, for thy good cause and name? I have true men to counsel me, free from all stain or blame, Ready to die, if need there be, for my good cause and name.

Hast thou a wife of equal birth, obedient, kind in word, With children blest, good looks, fair name, compliant with her lord? I have a wife of equal birth, obedient, kind in word, With children blest, good looks, fair name, compliant with her lord. [349] When the Bodhisatta had ended his words of friendly greeting, the king again conversing with him said: When some mischance delivered thee to thy most deadly foe, Didst thou then at his hands, O bird, great suffering undergo ? Did he run up and with his stick belabour thee, I pray? Of such vile creatures, as I hear, this ever is the way. I never was in danger, as I gratefully recall, Nor did he deal with us as foes in any way at all. The fowler, trembling and amazed, to question us was fain, And Sumukha, wisest of birds, made answer back again. Hearing his words he all at once attained to state of grace, Gladly released me from the snare, and bade us leave the place. 184 The Jataka. Book XX1J. To come and visit thee, O king, was Sumukha’s desire, Thinking our friend the fowler thus great riches might acquire. You are right welcome, sirs, be sure, ’m glad to see you here,

And let your fowler friend receive his fill of earthly gear. [350] And so saying the king fixed his gaze upon a certain councillor and when he asked, “‘What is your pleasure, sire,” he said, “See that this fowler has his hair and beard trimmed and that after being washed and anointed he is sumptuously arrayed and then bring him here.” And — when this was done and the fowler was brought back, the king presented him with a village producing annually a hundred thousand pieces of money, and moreover a house standing in a position abutting on two streets, and a splendid chariot, and much store of yellow gold. The Master, to make the matter clear, said : The king with riches manifold the fowler amply blest, And then in tones that charmed the ear the ruddy goose addressed. Then the Great Being instructed the king in the Law, and hearing his exposition he was glad at heart, and, being minded to pay some mark of respect-to the preacher of the Law, he presented him with the white umbrella and made over his kingdom to him and he spoke these stanzas: Whate’er I lawfully possess, whate’er I duly claim, Shall pass beneath your sway, if ye your heart’s desire will name.

Whether for alms or to enjoy and use it for your own, To you I yield my gear and all, to you resign my throne. Then the Great Being returned the white umbrella which the king had given to him. And the king thought, ‘‘I have heard the Law preached by the goose-king, but this Sumukha has been highly praised by the fowler, as speaking words sweet as honey, [351] I shall have to hear him also preach the Law.” So holding converse with him he spake yet another stanza : If wise and learned Sumukha would speak of his free will A word or two, my happiness would then be greater still. Then Sumukha said : I could not in your presence, with propriety, my lord, As though I were some Naga prince, utter a single word. For this the chief of ruddy geese, and thou, O mighty king, On many grounds may rightly claim the homage that I bring. I a mere underling, my lord, may scarcely intervene, When high debate is being held your Majesties between. The king, hearing what he said, was glad at heart and said, ‘The fowler praised you, and surely there cannot be any other like you, so sweet a preacher of the Law,” and he repeated these stanzas :

The fowler rightly praised this bird as wise beyond its kind: Such prudence is not found in one undisciplined! in mind. Of noble creatures I have seen, with highest nature blest, Surely this matchless bird amongst them all is far the best? Your noble form and sweet discourse cast o’er me such a spell, My only wish is that you both long time with me may dwell. [352] Then the Great Being in praise of the king said: Thou hast dealt with us as a man deals with his dearest friend: Such was the kindness, Sir, thou didst to us poor birds extend. Yet a great void the circle of our kin has to deplore, And many a bird is sorely grieved to see our face no more. To drive away their sorrow thou, O king, hast set us free, So humbly taking leave we fly our friends once more to see. I’m very glad acquaintance with your Highness to have made, Henceforth, I trust, my friends may have less cause to be afraid. When he had thus spoken the king suffered them to depart. And the Great Being declared to the king the misery attending the five kinds of vice and the blessing that followed virtue, and exhorted him, saying, “Keep the moral law and rule your kingdom righteously, and win the hearts of your people with the four modes of conciliation’,”’ and forthwith he set out for Cittakita.