The Jātaka, vol. V (nos. 511-537)

what he said, through her want of stability she conceived a passion for him and said, ‘‘ I too, sir, feel spiritual discontent: if you do not reject me, I too will keep house with you.” So he said to her, “I will not reject you: you shall be my wife.” Then he brought her into the city and cohabited with her. And going to the drinking booth with her he himself took strong drink and handed her over to his friends the worse for liquor. So that other fellow lost his wager of a thousand crowns, and she was blest with numerous sons and daughters by the goldsmith. At that time Kunala was the goldsmith ' and in telling the story he began with the words “T saw.” In the second tale is a story of the past which is told at length in the Fourth Book in the Kakati’® Birth Story. Now at this time Kunala was the Garuda, and this is the reason why in illustrating what he had seen with his own eyes he began with the words “I saw.” In the third story once upon a time Brahmadatta slew the king of Kosala and seized on his kingdom. Carrying off his chief queen, who was big with child, he returned to Benares, and, though he knew her condition, he made her his queen consort. When her time was fully come she gave birth to a son like an image of gold. And the queen thought, “ When he is grown up, the king

1 Reading tulaputto. 2 Vol. 11. No. 327, H. V. p. 60. 230 The Jataka. Book XXII. of Benares will say [429], ‘He is a son of my enemy: what is he to me?’ and will put him to death. Nay, let not my boy perish by an enemy’s hand.” So she said to his nurse, “ Cover this child, my dear, with a coarse cloth and go and lay him in the charnel ground.” The nurse did so and . after bathing returned home. The king of Kosala too after death was born in the form of a guardian angel of the boy, and by his divine power a she-goat belonging to a goat-herd, who was keeping his flock in this spot, on seethg the child conceived an affection for him and after giving him milk to suck wandered off for a bit, and then came back twice, thrice or even four times, and gave him suck. The goat-herd, on seeing what the goat was about, came to the spot, and when he saw the child conceived an affection for it and brought it to his wife. Now she was childless and therefore had no milk to give him. So the she-goat continued to give it suck. From that day two or three goats died every day. The goat-herd thought, “If this boy goes on being tended by us, all our goats will perish. What is he to us?” ‘Then he laid him in an earthenware vessel, covering him up with another, and smeared his face all over, without leaving any chink, with the flour of beans, and dropped him into the river.

The child was carried down by the stream and was found on the lower bank near the king’s palace by a low-caste mender of old rubbish, who was there with his wife, washing his face. He ran up in haste pulled the vessel out of the water and laid it on the bank. ‘“ What have we here?” he thought, and uncovering the vessel found the child. His wife too was childless and she also conceived an affection for him. So she took him home and watched over him, When he was seven or eight years old, his father and mother would take him with them when they went to the palace. When he was sixteen years old, the lad often went to the palace to mend old things. And the king and queen consort had a daughter named Kurangavi, a girl of extraordinary beauty. From the moment she set eyes upon him she fell in love with the youth, and not caring for any one else she constantly repaired to the place where he worked. From their repeatedly seeing one another they were mutually enamoured, and secretly within the royal — precincts guilty relations: were established. In course of time the servants told the king. In his rage he called his councillors together and said, “Such and such acts have been committed by this low-caste fellow; consider what must be done with him.” His councillors made answer : ‘Great is his offence ;

after exacting all manner of punishment we must put him to death,” At this moment the lad’s father (the king of Kosala), who had become his guardian angel, took possession of the body of the youth’s mother, and under the influence of the divine being she drew nigh to the king and said, ‘Sire, this youth is no low-caste fellow. He is the son born to me by the king of Kosala. In saying that my boy was dead, I lied to you. Knowing him to be the child of your enemy I gave him to

a nurse and had him exposed in a charnel ground. Then a goat-herd watched over him, but when his goats all began to die, he had him cast into the river, and being transported hither by the stream, he was found by the low-caste man who repairs old rubbish in our palace and fostered by him, and if you do not believe me, call for all these people and inquire of them.” The king summoned all of them, beginning with the nurse, and learning on inquiry that the facts were as she stated, he was delighted to find that the youth was nobly born, and giving directions that he should take a bath and put on splendid apparel, he gave him his daughter in marriage. Now from his having brought about the death of the goats [430] they named him Elakamara (Goat’s Bane). Then the king assigned him a transport and an army and sent him off, saying, “Go and take possession of the kingdom that was your father’s.” So he set off with Kurangaviand was established on the throne. Then the king of Benares thought, “ He is quite uneducated,” and to instruct him in arts he sent Chalangakumara to be his teacher. Accepting him as his teacher he conferred on him the post of commander-in-chief. By and bye Kurangavi misconducted herself with him. And the commander-in-chief had an attendant named Dhanantevasi, and he sent by his hand robes and other adornments to Kurangavi, and she went wrong with him too.

So vicious and immoral are wicked women, and therefore I praise them not. This the Great Being taught in telling astory of the past, for at that time he was Chalangakumara, and therefore the incident he related was one he saw with his own eyes. In the fifth story once upon a time a king of Kosala seized the kingdom of Benares and made the king’s chief queen, who at that time was pregnant, his queen consort, and then returned to his own city. By and bye she gave birth toason. The king, because he had no children of his own, fondly cherished the boy and had him instructed in all learning, and when he was of age he sent him away, bidding him take possession of the kingdom which had belonged to his father. He went and reigned there. Then his mother saying she longed to see her boy took leave of the king of Kosala, and setting out for Benares with a large escort took up her abode in a town lying between the two kingdoms. In this place dwelt a certain handsome brahmin youth named Paficalacanda. He brought her a present. On seeing him she fell in love and misconducted herself with him, After spending a few days there, she went to Benares and saw her son. On returning she took up her abode in the same town and, after spending several days in guilty intercourse with her lover, she departed to Kosala city.

Very soon after this, giving this or that reason for visiting her son, she took leave of the king and in going and returning stayed a fortnight in the same town, misconducting herself with her lover, So wicked and false, Sampunnamukha, are women. And in telling this story of the past he began with the words, “To the same effect also is this tale.” [432] Here-

232 The Jataka. Book XXJ. after, in a variety of ways exhibiting the charm with which he preached the Law, he said, ““Friend Punnamukha, there are four things which, if certain circumstances arise, prove injurious—these, I say, are not to be lodged in a neighbour’s household—an ox, a cow, a chariot, a wife. From these four things a wise man would keep his house clear : [433] Ox, cow, nor car to neighbours lend, Nor trust a wife to house of friend: The car they break through want of skill, The ox by over-driving kill. The cow is over-milked ere long, The wife in kinsman’s house goes wrong. There are six things, friend Punnamukha, which under certain circumstances prove injurious—a bow lacking its string, a wife living in a kinsman’s family, a ship’, a car with broken axle, an absent friend, a wicked comrade, under certain circumstances, prove injurious. Verily on eight grounds, friend Punnamukha, a woman despises her husband: for poverty, for sickness, for old age, for drunkenness, for stupidity, for carelessness, for attending to every kind of business, for neglecting every duty towards her—verily, on these eight grounds a woman despises her lord. Here moreover occurs this verse:

If poor or sick or old, a sot, or reckless thought, If dull or by his cares of business overwrought, Or disobliging found—such lord a wife esteems as nought. Verily on nine grounds does a woman incur blame: if she is fond of frequenting parks, gardens, and river banks, fond of visiting the houses of kinsfolk or of strangers, given to wearing the adornment of cloth worn by gentlemen, if she is a drinker of strong drink, given to staring about her, or of standing before her door—on these nine grounds, I say, a woman incurs blame. Here moreover occurs the following verse : A woman drest in smart cloth vest, dram-drinking, apt to roam In pleasance, park, by river side, to friend’s or stranger’s home, Standing before her door, to stare about with idle gaze, In nine such ways corrupted soon from path of virtue strays. Verily, friend Punnamukha, in forty different ways a woman makes up toaman”’. She draws herself up, she bends down, she frisks about, she looks coy, she presses together her finger tips, she plants one foot on the other, she scratches the ground with a stick, she dances her boy up and down, [434] she plays and makes the boy play, she kisses and makes him kiss her, she eats and gives him to eat, she either gives or begs something, whatever is done she mimics, she speaks in a high or low tone, she speaks

* This seems to require like the other nouns some qualifying epithet. * accdvadati. Morris in P. T. S. Journal for ’86, p. 100, quotes a passage from Suttavibhanga 1. p. 263. now indistinctly, now distinctly, she appeals to him with dance, song and music, with tears or coquetry, or with her finery, she laughs or stares, she shakes her dress or shifts her loin-cloth, exposes or covers up her leg, exposes her bosom, her armpit, her navel, she closes her eye, she elevates her eyebrow, she pinches her lip, makes her tongue loll out, looses or tightens her cloth dress, looses or tightens her head-gear. Verily in these forty ways she makes up toa man. Verily, friend Punnamukha, a wicked woman is to be known in twenty-five different ways: she praises her lord’s absence from home, she rejoices not in his return, she speaks in his dispraise, she is silent in his praise, she acts to his injury, and not to his advantage, she does whatever is harmful to him and refrains from what is serviceable, she goes to bed with her clothes on and lies with her face averted from him, she tosses about from side to side, she makes a great ado, she heaves a long-drawn sigh, she feels a pain, she frequently has to solicit nature, she acts perversely, on hearing a stranger’s voice she opens her ear and listens attentively, she is a waster of her lord’s goods, she is intimate with her neighbours, she gads abroad, she walks the streets, she is guilty of adultery, disregarding her husband she has wicked thoughts in her heart. Verily in these twenty-five ways, friend Punnamukha, is a wicked woman to be known. Here moreover occurs this utterance : Her husband’s absence she approves nor grieves should he depart, Nor at the sight of his return rejoices in her heart,

She ne’er at any time will say aught in her husband’s praise, Such are the signs that surely mark the wicked woman’s ways. Undisciplined, against her lord some mischief she will plot, His interest neglects and does the thing that she ought not, With face averted lies she down beside him, fully dressed, By such like signs her wickedness is surely thus confessed. [435] Restless she turns from side to side nor lies one moment still}, Or heaves a long drawn sigh and groans, pretending she is ill, As if at nature’s call from bed she oftentimes will rise, By such like signs her wickedness a man may recognise. Perverse in all her acts she does the thing she should eschew, And hearkens to the stranger’s voice, her favours should he sue, Her husband’s wealth is freely spent some other love to gain, By signs like these her wickedness to all is rendered plain. The wealth that by her lord with toil was carefully amassed, The gear so painfully heaped up, behold, she squanders fast, With neighbours far too intimate the lady soon will grow, And by such signs the wickedness of women one may know. Stepping abroad behold her how she walks about the streets, And with the grossest disrespect her lord and master treats: Nor of adultery stops short, corrupt in heart and mind— By such like signs how wicked are all womenfolk we find.

Often she will at her own door all decency defy, And shamelessly expose herself to any passing by, 1 kumkumi, kwinkumiyajata is not found. The scholiast says kolahalam karoti. 234 _ The Jataka. Book POE The while with troubled heart she looks around on every side— By such like signs the wickedness of women is descried. As groves are made of wood, as streams in curves and windings flow, So, give them opportunity, all women wrong will go. Yea give them opportunity and secrecy withal, And every single woman will from paths of virtue fall : Thus will all women wantons prove, should time and place avail, And een with humpback dwarf will sin, should other lovers fail. Women that serve for man’s delight let every one distrust, Fickle in heart they ever are and unrestrained in lust. Ladies of pleasure fitly called, the basest of the base, To all men such as common are as any bathing place. [437] Moreover he said: Once upon a time at Benares was a king named Kandari who was a very handsome man, and to him daily his counsellors would bring a thousand boxes of perfume, and with this perfume they would make the house trim and neat, and then splitting up the boxes they would make scented firewood and cook the food therewith. Now his wife was a lovely woman named Kinnara, and his chaplain Pancalacanda was the same age as himself and full of wisdom.

And in the wall near the king’s palace grew a rose-apple tree and its branches hung down upon the wall, and in the shade of it dwelt a loathsome, misshapen cripple. Now one day queen Kinnara looking out of her window saw him and conceived a passion for him. [438] And at night after winning the king’s favour by her charms, as soon as he had fallen asleep, she would get — up softly and putting all manner of dainty food in a golden vessel and taking it on her hips, she would let herself down through the window by means of a rope of cloth, and climbing up the rose-apple tree drop down by a branch of it and give her dainty food to the cripple and take her pleasure with him, and then ascend to the palace the same way that she had come down, and after shampooing herself all over with perfumes lie down by the king’s side. In this way she would constantly misconduct herself with this cripple and the king knew nothing of it. One day the king after a solemn procession round the city was entering his palace when he saw this cripple, a pitiable object, lying in the shade of the rose-apple, and he said to his chaplain, “Just look at this ghost of aman.” ‘Yes, sire?” ‘Is it possible, my friend, that any woman moved by lust would come nigh such a loathsome creature?” Hearing what he said the cripple, swelling with pride, thought, “ What is it this king said?

Methinks he knows nothing of his queen’s coming to visit me.” And stretching out his folded hands towards the rose-apple tree he cried, ‘“‘O my lord, thou guardian spirit of this tree, excepting thee no one knows about this.” The chaplain noticing his action thought, “Of a truth the king’s chief consort by the help of this tree comes and misconducts herself with him.” So he said to the king, “Sire, at night what is it like when you come into contact with the queen’s person?”

J Z i A es “f a cee Oa a Die * VERE: sf at TS TN, PAN i + beh batt RY = EI Be AbY a iad er | ie HU. Sa i a een “I notice nothing else,” he said, “but that at the middle watch her body is cold.” ‘Well, sire, whatever may be the case with other women, your queen Kinnara misconducts herself with him.” ‘What is this you say, my friend? Would such a charming lady take her pleasure with this disgusting creature?” ‘‘ Well then, sire, put it to the proof.” “ Agreed,” said the king, and after supper he lay down with her, to put it to the test. At the usual time for falling asleep, he pretended to drop off, and she acted as before. The king following in her steps took his stand in the shade of the rose-apple tree. The cripple was in a rage with the queen and said, “You are very late in coming,” and struck with his hand the chain in her ear. So she said, ‘‘ Be not angry, my lord; I was watching for the king to fall asleep,” and so saying she acted as it were a wife’s part in his house. But when he struck her, the ear-ornament, which was like a lion’s head, falling from her eax dropped at the king’s feet. The king thought, “Just this will be the best thing for me,” and he took it away with him.

And after misconducting herself with her lover she returned just as before and proceeded to lie down by the side of the king. The king rejected her advances and next day he gave an order, saying, “ Let queen Kinnara come, wearing every ornament I have givenher.” She said, ‘“‘ My lion’s head jewel is with the goldsmith,” and refused to come. When a second. message was sent, she came with only a single ear-ornament. [439] The king asked, ‘‘ Where is your ear-ring?” “With the goldsmith.” He sent for the goldsmith and said, “ Why do you not let the lady have her earring?” “I have it not, sire.” The king was enraged and said, ‘You wicked, vile woman, your goldsmith must be a man just like me,” and so saying he threw the ear-ring down before her and said to the chaplain, “Friend, you spoke the truth ; go and have her head chopped off.” So he secured her in a certain quarter of the palace and came and said to the king, “Sire, be not angry with the queen Kinnara: all women are just the same. If you are anxious to see how immoral women are, I will show you their wickedness and deceitfulness. Come, let us disguise ourselves and go into the country.” The king readily agreed and, handing over his kingdom to his mother, he set out on his travels with his chaplain. When they had gone a league’s journey and were seated by the high road, a certain gentleman of property, who was holding a marriage festival for his son, had seated the bride in a close carriage and was accompanying her with a large escort.

On seeing this the chaplain said, ‘“‘If you like, you can make this girl misconduct herself with you.” “ What say you, my friend 1 with this great escort the thing is impossible.” “ Well then see this, my lord?” And going forward he set up a tent-shaped screen not far from the high road and, placing the king inside the screen, himself sat down by the side of the road, weeping. Then the gentleman on seeing it asked, “ Why, friend, are you weeping?” “My wife,” he said, “was heavy

236 The Jitaka. Book XXI. with child and I set out on a journey to take her to her own home, and while still on the way her pangs overtook her and she is in trouble within the screen, and she has no woman with her and I cannot go to her there. T do not know what will happen.” “She ought to have a woman with her: do not weep, there are numbers of women here; one of them shall go to her.” ‘Well then let this maiden come; it will be a happy omen for the _ girl.” He thought, “ What he says is true: it will be an auspicious thing for my daughter-in-law. She will be blest with numerous sons and daughters,” and he brought her there. Passing inside the screen she fell in love at first sight with the king and misconducted herself with him, and the king gave her his signet ring. So when the deed was done and she came out of the tent they asked her, ‘“‘ What has she given birth to?” “ A boy the colour of gold?” So the gentleman took her and went off. The chaplain came to the king and said, ‘‘ You have seen, sire, even a young girl is thus wicked. How much more will other women be so? Pray, sir, did you give her anything?”’ “ Yes, I gave her my signet ring.” “I will not allow her to keep it.” And he followed in haste and caught up the carriage, and when they said, ‘‘ What is the meaning of this?” he said, “This girl has gone off with a ring my brahmin wife had laid on her pillow:

give up the ring, lady.” [440] In giving it she scratched the brahmin’s hand, saying, “Take it, you rogue.” Thus did the brahmin in .a variety of ways show the king that many other women are guilty of misconduct, and said, ‘‘ Let this suffice here; we will now go elsewhere, Sire.” The king traversed all India, and they said, ‘‘ All women will be just the same. What are they to us? let us turn back.” So they went straight home to Benares. The chaplain said, “It is thus, Sire, with all women; so wicked is their nature. Forgive queen Kinnara.” At the prayer of his chaplain he pardoned her, but had her thrust out from the palace. And when he had ejected her from the place, he chose another. queen-consort, and he had the cripple driven forth and ordered the roseapple branch to be lopped off. At that time Kunala was Paiicalacanda. So in telling the story of what he had seen with his own eyes, in illustration he spoke this stanza :

This much from tale of Kandari and Kinnara is shown; All women fail to find delight in homes that are their own. Thus does a wife forsake her lord, though lusty he and strong, And will with any other man, e’en cripple vile, go wrong. Another story is this: Once upon a time a king of Benares, Baka by name, ruled his kingdom righteously, At that time a certain poor man, who dwelt by the eastern gate of Benares, had a daughter named Paficapapa’. It is said that in a former birth as a poor man’s daughter she was kneading clay and plastering a wall. Then a paccekabuddha 1 Compare Buddhaghosha’s Parables, Ch. x1x. The Story of the Sense of Touch. ae a ee ee No. 586. 3 DATA thought, “ Where am I to get clay to make this mountain cave neat and trim? I can get it in Benares.” So putting on his cloak, and bowl in hand, he went into the city and took his stand not far from this woman. She was angry, and, looking at him, thought, “In his wicked heart he is begging for clay as well as alms.” The paccekabuddha stood without moving. So, when she saw that he remained motionless, she was converted, and, looking at him once more, she said, “ Priest, you have got no clay,” and she took a big lump and put it in his bowl, and with this clay he made things neat in his cave.

[441] And as a reward for this lump of clay, her person became soft to the touch, but in consequence of her angry look her hands, feet, mouth, eyes and nose became hideously ugly, and so men knew her by the name of Paiicapapa (The Five Defects). Now the king of Benares was once wandering about the city by night and came to this spot, and she was playing with the village girls, and not recognising the king she seized him by the hand. As the result of her touch he lost all control over himself, and was as it were thrilled by a heavenly touch, and inflamed by passion he caught her by the hand, though she was so hideous to look upon, and asked whose daughter she was. When she answered, “Daughter of a dweller by the gate,”* and he heard she was unmarried, he said, “I will be your husband: go and ask your parents’ consent.”’ She went to her father and mother and said, ‘‘ A certain man wishes to marry me.” On their assenting, and saying, ‘‘He too must be a poor, sorry creature, if he desires one like you,” she came and told him that her parents consented. So he cohabited with her in that very house, and quite early in the morning sought his palace. From that day the king constantly came there in disguise, and did not care to look at any other woman. Now one day her father was attacked with a bloody flux. The remedy

‘for his sickness was a constant supply of rice gruel prepared with milk, ghee, honey, and sugar, and this, owing to their poverty, they could not procure. Then the mother said to the daughter, ‘‘ My dear, would your husband be able to procure us some rice gruel?” “Dear mother,” she said, “my husband must be even poorer than we are; but even if this is so, I will ask him: do not be worried.” So saying, about the time’when he should return, she sat down as if in a disconsolate state. When the king came he asked why she was so sad, and on hearing what was the matter, he said, “‘ My dear, whence shall I get this very powerful remedy ¢” And he thought, “I cannot continually keep coming here in this way ; one must consider the risk one runs in the journey to and fro; but if I were to take her to the court, being ignorant of her possession of a soft touch, they will make a mock of me and say, ‘Our king has returned with a female goblin.’ But if I make all the city acquainted with her 1 dvaravasi, meaning perhaps an inhabitant of a poor quarter. Cf. dvadragama, a village outside the city gate, a suburb.

238 The Jataka. Book XXI. touch, I shall do away with all reproach against myself.” So he said to her, ‘‘My dear, do not vex yourself: I will bring your father some rice gruel,” and so saying, after taking his pleasure with her he returned to his palace. The next day he had some rice gruel such as she described boiled for her, and, taking some leaves, made two baskets with them, and in one he put the rice gruel, and in the other he placed a jewelled diadem and fastened them up. And at night he came and said, “My dear, we are poor: I got this with great difficulty. You are to say to your father, ‘To-day eat the rice gruel from this basket, and to-morrow from that.’” She did accordingly. So her father, after eating a very little of it, from its invigorating qualities was Soon satisfied, and the rest she gave to her mother, and herself [442] partook of it, and all three of them felt very happy, and the basket containing the jewelled diadem they reserved for the needs of the next day. The king on reaching his palace washed his face and said, ‘“‘ Bring me my diadem.” On their saying, “‘ We cannot find it,’ he said, ‘‘Search through the whole city.” They searched, but still did not find it. ‘‘ Well then,” he said, “search in the houses of the poor outside the city, beginning with the baskets of leaves for food.” They searched and found the jewel diadem in this house, and crying out, “This woman’s father and mother are thieves,” they bound them and brought them to the king.

Then her father said, ‘‘ My lord, we are no thieves; a certain man brought us this jewel.” ‘Who was it?” he said. “ My son-in-law,” he answered. When asked where he was, he said, ‘“My daughter knows.” Then he had a word with her. ‘“ My dear,” he said, “ you know who your husband is.” ‘‘I do not know.” “If this is so, we are undone.” ‘ Dear father, he comes when it is dark, and departs before it is light, so I do not know his appearance, but I can recognise him by the touch of his hand.” Her father told this to the king’s officers, and they told the king. The king, pretending ignorance of the whole matter, said, ‘‘ Well, place the woman in a tent screen in the palace yard and cut a hole in the curtain as big as a man’s hand and call the citizens together, and detect the thief by the touch of his hand.” The officers did as he bade them. On going to her and seeing what she was like they were filled with loathing, and said, “She is a goblin,” and in their disgust they did not dare to touch her. But they brought and placed her within a screen in the palace yard and gathered together all the citizens. Seizing hold of the hand of every one that came, as it was stretched out through the hole, she said, ‘This is not the man.” The people were so captivated by the heavenly touch of her they could not tear themselves away. They thought, “Tf she be worthy of punishment, though we should have to inflict blows upon her with a stick, yet we should be ready to undergo any servile tasks for her, and to take her home as our wedded wife.” Then the king’s men beat them and drove them away, and all of them, beginning with the

No. 536. : 239 viceroy, behaved like madmen. Then the king said, ‘Could I possibly be the man?” and stretched forth his hand. The woman, seizing his hand, cried aloud, “I have got the thief.”. The king inquired of his men, “When your hand was seized by her what did you think of it?” They told him exactly how it was with them. So the king said, “ This is why I made them bring her to my house. Had they known nothing of her touch, they would have despised me. And now that all of you have learned the facts from me, say in whose house ought she to dwell as wife.” They said, “In your house, Sire.” So, with the ceremonious sprinkling, he recognised her as his chief consort, [443] and bestowed great power on her father and mother. Thenceforth in his infatuation he neither set on foot any inquiries about her, nor so much as looked at any other woman. The other queens sought to discover the mystery respecting her. One day she saw in a dream some indication of her being the chief queen of two kings, and she told her dream to the king. The king summoned the interpreters of dreams and asked, ‘“ What is the meaning of such and such a dream being seen by her?” Now they had received a bribe from the other women, and said, ‘‘ The fact of the queen’s sitting on the back of a perfectly white elephant is a token of your death, and that she touches the moon as she rides upon the elephant’s back is a sign of her bringing some hostile king against you.” “ What then is to be done?” said he.

“You cannot put her to death, Sire, but you must place her on board a ship and let her drift down the stream.’ The king in the night put her on board, with food, garments, and adornments and sent her adrift on the river. As she was carried down in the vessel by the stream she came face to face with king Pavariya, as he was disporting himself in the river. His commander-in-chief on seeing it said, “This ship belongs to me.” The

king said, “Its cargo is mine,” and when the ship reached them and they saw the woman he said, ‘‘ Who are you, so like a goblin as you are?” She, smiling, said she was the chief consort of king Baka, and told him all her story, and that she was renowned throughout India as Paticapapa. Then the king, taking her by the hand, lifted her out of the vessel, and no sooner had he taken her hand than he was inflamed with passion at her touch, and in the case of his other wives ceased to regard them as worthy the name of women, and he raised her to the position of chief queen, and she was as dear as his own life to him. Baka, on hearing what had happened, said, “I will not allow him to make her his queen consort,” and getting together an army, he took up his quarters in a port on the opposite side of the river, and sent a message to this effect, that Pavariya was either to surrender his wife or give battle. His rival was ready for battle, but the councillors of the two kings said,.“ For the sake of a woman there is no need to die. From his being her first husband she belongs to Baka, but from his having rescued her from the ship she

240 The Jataka. Book XX1I. belongs to Pavariya. Therefore let her be for the space of seven days at a time in the house of each of them.” After due deliberation they gained over the two kings to this view, and they both were highly pleased, and built cities on opposite banks of the river and took up their abode there, and the woman accepted the position of chief consort to the pair of kings, and they were both infatuated with her. Now she dwelt seven days in the house of one of them, and then crossed over in a ship to the abode of the other, and when in mid-stream she misconducted herself with the pilot who steered the vessel, a lame and bald old man. At that time Kunala [444], the king of birds, was Baka, and so he spoke of this as something he had seen with his own ‘eyes, and to illustrate it he repeated this stanza : Wife of Pavarika and Baka too, (Two kings whose lust no pause or limit knew) Yet sins with her devoted husband’s slave; With what vile wretch would she not misbehave ? Yet another story: Once upon a time the wife of Brahmadatta, Pingiyani by name, opening her window looked out and saw a royal groom, and, when the king had fallen asleep, she got down through the window and misconducted herself with him, and then again climbed back to the palace and shampooed her person with perfumes and lay down with the king.

Now one day the king thought, “‘I wonder why at midnight the person of the queen is always cool: I will examine into the matter.” So one day he pretended to be asleep and got up and followed her and saw her committing folly with a groom. He returned and climbed up to his chamber, and she too after she had been guilty of adultery came and lay down on a truckle bed. Next day the king, in the presence of his ministers, summoned her and made known her misconduct, saying, ‘All women alike are sinners.” And he forgave her offence, though it deserved death, imprisonment, mutilation, or cleaving asunder, but he deposed her from her high rank and made some one else his queen consort. At that time king Kunala was Brahmadatta, and so it was that he told this story as of something he had seen with his own eyes, and by way of illustration - he repeated this stanza :

Fair Pingiyani was as wife adored By Brahmadatta, earth’s all conquering lord, Yet sinned with her devoted husband’s slave, And lost by lechery both king and knave. [445] After telling of the sins of women in old-world stories, in yet another way, still speaking of their misdeeds, he said: Poor fickle creatures women are, ungrateful, treacherous they, No man if not possessed would deign to credit aught they say. Little reck they of duty’s call or plea of gratitude, Insensible to parents’ love and ties of brotherhood, Transgressing every law of right, they play a shameless part, In all their acts obedient to the wish of their own heart. However long they dwell with him, though kind and loving he, Tender of heart and dear to them as life itself may be, In times of trouble and distress, leave him they will and must, I for my part in womenfolk can never put my trust. How often is a woman’s mind like shifty monkey’s found, Or like the shade cast by a tree on height! or depth around, How changeful too the purpose lodged within a woman’s breast, Like tire of wheel revolving swift without a pause or rest. Whene’er with due reflection they look round and see their way To captivate some man of wealth and make of him their prey, Such simpletons with words so soft and smooth they captive lead, H’en as Cambodian groom with herbs will catch the fiercest steed.

But if when looking round with care they fail to see their way To get possession of his wealth and make of him a prey, They drive him off, as one that now has reached the furthest shore And cuts adrift the ferry boat he needeth nevermore. Like fierce devouring flame they hold him fast in their embrace, Or sweep him off like stream in flood that hurries on apace; They court the man they hate as much as one that they adore, Fen as a ship that hugs alike the near and farther shore. They not to one or two belong, like open stall are they, One might as soon catch wind with net as women hold in sway. [446] Like river, road, or drinking shed*, assembly hall or inn, So free to all are womenfolk, no limits check their sin. * Fell as black serpent’s head are they, as ravenous as a fire, As kine the choicest herbage pick, they lovers rich desire. From elephant, black serpent, and from flame that’s fed on ghee, From man besprinkled to be king, and women we should flee. All these whoso is on his guard will treat as deadly foe, Indeed their very nature it is very hard to know,

Women who very clever are or very fair to view, And such as many men admire—all these one should eschew: A neighbour’s wife and one that seeks a man of wealth for mate, Such kind of women, five in all, no man should cultivate. [447] When he had thus spoken the people applauded the Great Being, crying, ‘‘ Bravo, well said!” and after telling of the faults of women in these instances he held his peace. On hearing him Ananda, the vulture king, said, ‘‘ My friend, Kunala, I too by my own powers of knowledge will tell of women’s faults,” and he began to speak of them. The Blessed One by way of illustration said; ‘‘Then, verily, Ananda, the vulture king, marking the beginning, middle and end of what the bird Kunala had to say, at this time uttered these stanzas : [448] Although a man with all this world contains of golden gear Should her endow of womenkind his heart may count most dear, Yet, if occasion serves, she will dishonour him withal— Beware lest thou into the hands of such vile wretches fall. 1 kanna, apparently Skt skanna, but one would have expected the compound to be pakkanna, Cf. Pischel, Gramm. der Prakrit-Sprachen, § 206. 2 napa, a roadside shed where travellers are supplied with water. Cf. Jat. 1. 302. 3.

242 The Jataka. Book XX. A manly vigour! he may show, from worldly taint be free, Her maiden wooer may perhaps winsome and loving be, In times of trouble and distress leave him she will and must, I for my part in womankind can never put my trust. Let him not trust because he thinks ‘she fancies me, I trow,’ Nor let him trust because her tears oft in his presence flow; They court the man they hate as much as one that they adore, Just as a ship that hugs alike the near and farther shore. Trust not a litter strewn with leaves and branches long ago’, Trust not thy whilom friend, perchance now grown into a foe, Trust not a king because thou thinkst, ‘My comrade once was he, Trust not a woman though she has borne children ten to thee. Women are pleasure-seekers all and unrestrained in lust, Transegressors of the moral law: in such put not your trust. A wife may feign unbounded love before her husband’s face ; Distrust her: women common are as any landing place. Ready to mutilate or slay, from nothing do they shrink, And after having cut his throat they e’en his blood would drink: Let no man fix his love on them, creatures of passions base,

_ Licentious and as common as some Ganges landing place. In speech they no distinction make betwixt the false and true, As kine the choicest herbage pick, rich lovers they pursue. One man they tempt with looks and smiles, another by their walk, Some they attract by strange disguise*, others by honeyed talk. Dishonest, fierce and hard of heart, as sugar sweet their words, Nothing there is they do not know to cheat their wedded lords. Surely all womenfolk are vile, no limit bounds their shame, Impassioned and audacious they, devouring as a flame. Women are not so formed, this man to love and that abhor, They court the man they hate as much as one that they adore, Fen as a ship that hugs alike the near and farther shore. [449] ’Tis not a case of love or hate with womenfolk we see, It is for gold they hug a man, as parasites a tree. A man may corpses burn or e’en dead flowers from temples rake‘, Be groom of horse or elephant, or care of oxen take, Yet women after such low castes will run for money’s sake. One nobly born they leave if poor, as ‘twere a low outcast, To such an one, like carrion vile, if rich, they hie them fast.”

[450] Thus did Ananda, the vulture king, keeping to facts within his own knowledge, tell of the bad qualities of women, and then held his peace. Narada, too, after hearing what he had to say, keeping to what l utthahaka. See Dhammapada 280, anutthahdno, and its archaic form in the Journal Asiatique, 1x™¢ Sér., tome x11, p. 215, where from the verbal base utthah we find an analogous form anuthahatu. 2 For fear it may harbour a snake. % The commentator refers to the story of Nalinikd, No. 526, as an instance of 4 pupphachaddaka, a low-caste man who removes dead flowers from temples, Thera- Gatha, v. 620, Questions of Milinda, v. 4, vol. 11. p. 211 (S. B. E. xxxvr.). .., 2 A ‘ oe. ¥ a =. x a = 3 . rs 4 = =s ‘. A ; =. = a 7 + a he himself knew, spoke of their bad qualities. In illustrating this the Master said : “Then verily Narada, hearing the beginning, middle and end of what Ananda, the vulture king, had to say, at this point repeated these stanzas : Four things can never sated be—list well to these my words— Ocean, kings, brahmins, womenkind, these four, O king of birds.

All streams in earth that find their home will not the ocean fill, Though all may with its waters mix, something is lacking still. A brahmin cons! his Vedas and his legendary lore, Yet still he sacred knowledge lacks and craves for more and more. A king by conquest holds the world, its mountains, seas and all, The endless treasures it contains his very own may call, Yet sighs for worlds beyond the sea, for this he counts too small. One woman may have husbands eight, compliant to her will, All heroes bold, well competent love’s duties to fulfil, Yet on a ninth her love she sets, for something lacks she still. Women like flames devour their prey, Women like floods sweep all away, Women are pests, like thorns are they, Women for gold oft go astray. That man with net might catch the breeze, Or single-handed bale out seas, Clap with one hand, who once should dare His thoughts let range on woman fair. With women, clever jades, Truth aye is found a rarity, Their ways as much perplex as those of fishes in the sea”. [451] Soft-speaking, ill to satisfy, as rivers hard to fill, Down— down they sink: who women know should flee far from them still?.

Seducing traitresses, they tempt the holiest to his fall, Down—down they sink: who women know should flee afar from all. And whomsoever they may serve for gold or for desire, They burn him up as fuel burns cast in a blazing fire.” When Narada had thus set forth the vices of women, the Great Being once more by special instances illustrated their bad qualities. [452] To show this the Master said, ‘So verily the bird Kunala, after learning the beginning, middle and conclusion of what Narada had to say, repeated at this time these stanzas: E’en a wise man may dare to exchange a word With goblin foe armed with sharp whetted sword, Fierce snake he may assail, but ne’er too bold Alone with woman should he converse hold. 1 For the form adhiydnam compare v. 24. 4, khadiyanam, v. 143. 9, anumodiyanan, vy. 505. 28, paribhuijiyana. Compare Pischel, Grammatik der Prakrit-Sprachen, § 592. 2 These lines occur on p. 52, supra. 3 Vol. u. p. 226, vol. 1v. p. 292, English version. 244 The Jataka. Book XXII. Man’s reason is o’ercome by woman’s charms, Speech, smiles, with dance and song, their only arms: Unstable souls they harass, as erewhile

Fell demons merchants slew in goblin isle. Given to strong drink and meat, one tries in vain To curb their appetite or lust restrain, Like to some fabled monster of the deep, Into their maw a man’s whole wealth they sweep. Lust’s five-fold realm they own as their domain, Their swelling pride uncurbed none may restrain: As rivers all ‘to ocean find their way, So careless souls to women fall a prey. The man in whom these women take delight, Moved by their greed or carnal appetite, Yea such an one inflamed by strong desire, They clean consume as fuel in the fire. If one they know is rich, on him they fall And off they carry him, his wealth and all, Round him thus fired with lust their arms they fling, As creepers to some forest sal tree cling. Like vimba! fruit red-lipped2, so bright and gay, ’Gainst man they many a stratagem essay, With laughter now assailing, now with smiles, Like Sathvara’, that lord of many wiles. Women with gold and jewels rich bedecked, By husband’s kin received with due respect, [453] Though strictly guarded ’gainst their lords will sin, Like her the demon’s maw conveyed within‘. A man may very famous be and wise,

Revered and honoured in all people’s eyes, Yet fall’n ‘neath woman’s sway no more will shine Than moon eclipsed by Rahu’s® power malign. The vengeance wreaked by angry foe on foe, Or such as tyrants to their victims show, Yea a worse fate than this o’ershadows all That through their lust ‘neath woman’s sway shall fall. Threatened with person scratched or hair pulled out, Scourged, cudgelled, buffeted or kicked about, Yet woman to some low-born lover hies Delighting in him as in carrion flies. Shun women in highways and lordly hall, In royal city or in township small, A man of insight, would he happy be, Avoids the snare thus laid by Namuci®, He who relaxes good ascetic rule, To practise what is mean and base, poor fool, Will barter heaven for hell, like unto them Who change a flawless for a blemished? gem, 1 Momordica monadelpha. 2 vimboshtha, 3 Sarvara, the name of a demon. 4 Vol. in, No. 436, Samuyga-Jataka, ° Rahu, a Titan supposed to swallow the moon and cause an eclipse. 6 A name of Mara. See Windisch, Mara und Buddha, p. 185. Pe Na Nee VOUT en eee eee db ME a Oui * St tag th | ay . gh i NPV ARN TIN Te GN here pore

\ ena wey 4 nat nie “ Despised is he in this world and the next And, willingly by evil women vext, Goes stumbling recklessly, fall upon fall, As vicious ass runs wild with car and all. ‘Now in silk-cotton grove of iron spears}, Now in Patapana he disappears, Now lodged in some brute form is seen to flit In ghostly realms that he may never quit. In Nandana? love’s heavenly sport and play, On earth the monarch’s universal sway, Is lost through woman, and through her alas! All careless souls to state of suffering pass. [454] Not hard to attain are heavenly sport and play, Nor upon earth the world-wide monarch’s sway, Nymphs too in golden homes by these are won Who with concupiscence long since have done. To pass from Realm of Sense with life renewed To World of Form, with higher powers endued, Is by rebirth in sphere of Arhats won By these who with concupiscence have done. The bliss that doth all sense of pain transcend, Unwavering, unconditioned, without end, Is by pure souls, now in Nirvana, won Who with concupiscence long since have done.” [456] Thus did the Great Being, after bringing about their attainment of the Eternal Great Nirvana, end his Jesson. And the elves and mighty serpents and the like in the Himalayas, and the angels standing in the air, all applauded, saying, “ Bravo! spoken with all the charm of a Buddha.” Ananda, the vulture king, Narada, the brahmin angel, Punnamukha, the royal cuckoo, each with his own following, retired to their respective places, and the Great Being too departed to his own abode. But the others from time to time returned and received instruction at the hands of the Great Being, and abiding by his admonition became destined to Heaven.

The Master here ended his lesson and identifying the Birth repeated the final stanza : Udayi royal cuckoo was, Ananda vulture king, Good Sariputta Narada, Kunala I that sing. Thus are ye to understand this Birth. Now these Brethren, when they came, came by the supernatural power of the Master, and on returning returned by their own power. And the Master revealed to them in the Great Forest the means by which ecstasy may be induced, and that very day they attained to Arhatship. There was a mighty gathering of angelic beings, so the Blessed One declared to them the Mahasamayasutta (the discourse preached to a great company). 1 Compare Sarkicca-Jataka, p. 139, supra, 2 Nandana, a garden in Indra’s heaven. 246 The Jataka. Book XXII. “Master of dainty flavours,” ete. This story the Master while dwelling at Jetavana told concerning the Elder, Angulimala% The manner of his birth and admission to the priesthood is to be understood as fully described in the Angulimala-sutta. Now-from the time when by an Act of Truth he saved the life of a woman having a difficult delivery he easily obtained offerings of food and by cultivating retirement he afterwards attained to Arhatship and became recognised as one of the eighty Great Elders. At that time they started this subject in the Hall of Truth, saying, “Oh! what a miracle, sirs, was wrought by the Blessed One in that he thus peacefully and without using any violence converted and humbled such a cruel and blood-stained robber as Angulimala:

Oh! Buddhas verily do mighty works!” The Master seated in the Perfumed Chamber by his divine sense of hearing caught what was said and, knowing that to-day his coming would be very helpful and that there would be an exposition of a great doctrine, with the incomparable grace of a Buddha he went to the Hall of Truth and there sitting on the seat reserved for him he asked what theme they were discussing in conclave; and when they told him what it was he said, “There is no marvel, Brethren, in my converting him now [457], when I have attained to the highest enlightenment. T-also tamed him when I was living in a previous stage of existence and in a condition of only limited? knowledge,” and with these words he told a story of the past.

Once upon a time a king named Koravya exercised a righteous rule in the city of Indapatta, in the kingdom of Kuru. The Bodhisatta came to life as the child of his chief queen, and from his fondness for pressed soma juice they called him Sutasoma. When he was come of age his father sent him to Takkasila to be educated by a teacher of world-wide fame. So taking his teacher’s fee he started on his way there. At Benares, too, prince Brahmadatta, son of the king of Kasi, was sent by his father for a like purpose and set out upon the same road. In the course of his journey Sutasoma to rest himself sat down on a bench in a hall by the city gate. Prince Brahmadatta, too, came and sat down with him on the same bench. After a friendly greeting Sutasoma asked him, saying, ‘‘ Friend, you are tired with your journey. Whence have youcome?” On his saying “ From Benares,” he asked whose son he was. ‘‘The sonof Brahmadatta.” “ And what is your name?” “ Prince Brahmadatta.” ‘‘ With what object are you come?” “To be. instructed in arts,” he replied. Then prince ' Compare Jétaka-MGld, xxx1. The Story of Sutasoma, Jat. vol. v. No. 513, Jayaddisa-Jataka, and Cariyd-Pitaka, ut. 12. p. 100 (ed. by R. Morris). * For the story of Angulimala see Angulimalasuttam (Majjhima Nikaya, No. 86, vol. 1. pt. 1. p. 97) and Hardy’s Manual, pp. 257—261. 3 padesandnam. See Sikshdsamuccaya, Index, p. 385, s.v. prddesika, 1. local, provincial, 2. limited, as in pradesikayanam, Mahdvyutpatti, § 59.

Brahmadatta said, « You too are tired with your journey,” and questioned him in like manner. And Sutasoma told him all about himself. And they both thought, “ We are two princes going to receive instruction in arts at the hands of the same teacher,” and struck up a friendship one with another. Then entering the city ae repaired to the teacher’s house and saluted him, and after declaring their origin they said they had come to be instructed in arts. He readily agreed with their proposals. Offering him the fee for instruction they entered upon their studies, and not merely they, but other princes who were at that time in India, to the number of one hundred and one, received instruction from the teacher. Sutasoma being the senior pupil soon attained to proficiency in teaching, and without visiting the others [458] he thought, “This is my friend,” and went to prince Brahmadatta only, and becoming his private teacher’ he soon educated him, while the others only gradually acquired their learning. They, too, after zealous application to their studies bade farewell to their teacher, and forming an escort to Sutasoma set out on their return journey. Then Sutasoma standing in front of them dismissed them, saying, “ After you have given a proof of your learning to your respective fathers you will be established each in your own kingdom. When so established see that you obey my instructions.” ‘‘ What are they, Master?” ‘On the days of the new and full moon’ to keep Uposatha vows and to abstain from taking the life of anything.” They readily agreed to this.

The Bodhisatta, from his power of prognosticating from personal appearance, knew that great danger would arise with regard to the prince of Benares in the future, and thus after due admonition he dismissed them. And they all returned to their own countries, and after an exhibition of their learning to their fathers succeeded to their respective kingdoms. And to make known this fact and that they were continuing in his admonition, together with a present,

’ they sent letters to Sutasoma. The Great Being on learning the state of affairs answered their letters, bidding them be earnest in the faith. One of them, the king of Benares, never ate his rice meal without meat, and to observe a holy day they would take his meat and put it on one side. Now one day when the meat was thus reserved, by the carelessness of the cook the well-bred dogs in the king’s palace ate it. The cook not finding it took a handful of coins and going a round failed to procure any meat and said, “If I should serve a meal without meat, 1 am a dead man. What am I to do?” But thinking, “There is still a way,” late in the evening he went to a cemetery where dead bodies are exposed and taking some flesh from the thigh of a man who had just died, he roasted it 1 pitthiacariya. This word occurs in Jat, vol. u, 100, 13, and in both passages seems to mean an assistant teacher, supplementing the master’s teaching. 2 For pakkhadivasd, the two chief fortnightly fast-days, see Jat. 111. 292.19, 342. 5 and vi. 97. 3.

248 The Jataka. Book X XI. thoroughly and served it up as a meal. No sooner was a bit of the meat placed on the tip of the king’s tongue than it sent a thrill through the seven thousand nerves of taste and. continued to create a disturbance throughout his whole body. Why was this? From his having previously resorted to this food. For it is said that as a Yakkha, in the birth immediately preceding this, he had eaten quantities of human flesh, and so — it was agreeable to his taste’. [459] The king thought, “ If I shall eat this in silence, he will not tell me what this meat is,” so in spitting he let a piece fall to the ground. When the cook said, “‘ You may eat it, sire ; there is nothing wrong with it,” he ordered all his attendants to retire and said, ‘I know it is all right, but what meat is it?” “ What your Majesty has enjoyed on previous days.” ‘Surely the meat had not this flavour at any other time?” ‘‘It was well cooked to-day, sire.” ‘‘Surely you cooked it exactly like this before?” Then seeing him reduced to silence he said,

“Hither tell me the truth or you are a dead man.” So he prayed for an assurance of indemnity and told the exact truth. The king said, “ Do not say a word about it. You are to eat the usual roast meat and cook human flesh only for me.” “Surely this isa difficult matter, sire.” ‘‘ Do not be afraid: there is no difficulty.” ‘Whence shall I be able to get it continually?” ‘ Are there not numbers of men in prison?” Thenceforth he acted on this suggestion. By and bye, when prisoners failed him, he said, “What am I to do now?” The king said, “ Throw down in the high road a parcel of a thousand pieces of money and seize as a thief any one that picks it up and put him to death.” Hedidso. By and bye, not finding a creature so much as looking at the packet of money, he said, “ Now what am I to do?” ‘At the time when a drum sounds the night watches, the city is crowded with people. Then, taking your stand in the cleft? of a house wall or at a cross-ways, strike down a man and carry off some of his flesh.” From that day he used to come with some fat flesh, and in various places dead bodies were found. A sound of lamentation was heard, ‘TI have lost my father, I have lost my mother, or brother or sister.” The men of the city were panic-stricken and said, “Surely some lion or tiger or demon has devoured these people.” On examining the bodies they saw what looked like a gaping wound and said, “Why it must be a man that eats their flesh!” The people gathered together in the palace-yard and made a complaint. The king asked, “ What is it, my friends?” “Sire,” they said, “in this city is some man-eating robber: have him

‘ Throughout the Jatakas demons called yakkhas are frequently mentioned as eating human flesh. The only cases of cannibalism are those of men who have either been reared by a yakkha or such as have been yakkhas in a previous birth, as in this story. Compare an interesting paper, ‘“ Pisdca=’Quopdyos,” contributed by Dr Grier- son to the R. A. S.J.1905, on legends connected with cannibalism in the modern Pigaca country. * With gharasandhi, a hole in the wall of a house, compare Manu, 1x. 276. | aki ar) as seized.” “How am I to know who it is? Am I to walk round and guard the city?” The people said [460], “The king has not a care for the city : we will report it to the commander-in-chief, Kalahatthi.” They told him and said, “‘ You must search for this robber.” He answered, ‘“‘ Wait for seven days and I will seek out the robber and hand him over to you.” And dismissing the people he gave orders to his officers, saying, “‘ My friends, they say there is a man-eating robber in this city. You are to lay an ambuscade in various places and capture him.” They said, “ All right,” and from that day they surround the whole city. Now the cook was concealed in a hole in the wall of a house and he killed a woman and began to fill his basket with pieces of solid flesh.

So the officers seized and buffeted him, and tying his arms behind him they raised a loud cry, “ We have caught the man-eating robber.” A crowd of people gathered around them. Then beating him soundly and fastening the basket of flesh upon his neck they brought him before the commander-in-chief. On seeing him he thought, “Can it be that this fellow eats this flesh or does he mix it with other meat and sell it, or does he kill people at the bidding of somebody else?” And inquiring into the matter he spoke the first stanza : Master of dainty flavours, what dire need Has urged thee on to do this dreadful deed ?

Hast thou for food to eat or wealth to gain, Misguided wretch, these men and women slain ? The verses that follow are of obvious connexion and are to be understood as uttered by alternate speakers in accordance with the scripture context : Neither for wife or child, friends, kin or pelf, Nor did I slay this woman for myself ; My gracious lord, the sovereign of this land, Eats human flesh: J sinned at his command. If thus suborned to sate thy master’s greed Thou hast been guilty of this awful deed, [461] Let us at early dawn seek out the king And in his face the accusation fling. O Kalahatthi, worshipful good lord, So will I do according to thy word, At early dawn will I seek out the king And in his face this accusation fling. So the commander had him laid down, firmly bound, and at dawn he took counsel with his officers, and as they were unanimous he stationed guards in every direction, and having got the city well in hand he bound the basket of flesh on the cook’s neck and went off with him to the palace, and the whole city was in an uproar. The king had breakfasted the day before, but had gone without his supper and had spent the whole night in a sitting posture, expecting the cook to come every moment. ‘ To-day, too,” he thought, “no cook comes, and I hear a great uproar in the city. What

250 The Jataka. Book XXII. can it all be about?” and looking out of the window he saw the man being dragged thither as described, and thinking everything was discovered he plucked up his courage and took his seat on his throne. And Kalahatthi drew nigh and questioned him, and the king answered him. The Master, to make the matter clear, said: "Twas now sunrise and day had scarce begun to break, As Kala to the court with cook his way did take, And drawing nigh the king words such as these he spake. ‘Sire, is it true this cook was sent into the street, And men and women slew to furnish thee with meat ?’ [462] ‘Kala, ’tis even so; “twas done at my request : Why blame him then for what he did at my behest ?’ On hearing this the commander-in-chief thought, ‘ With his own mouth he confesses it ; Oh, the ruffian! all this long time he has been eating men: I will stop him from this,” and he said, “Sire, do not this thing; eat not: the flesh of men.” ‘“ Kalahatthi, what is it you say? I cannot cease from it.” ‘Sire, if you do not cease from it, you will destroy both yourself and your realm.” ‘Even though my realm be destroyed, I cannot possibly cease from it.” Then the commander, to bring him to a better mind, told him a story by way of illustration.

Once upon a time there were six monster fishes in the ocean. Amongst them were Ananda, Timanda, Ajjhohara—these three were five hundred leagues in extent—Titimiti, Mingala, Timirapingala—these were a thousand leagues long—and all of them fed upon the rock-sevala' weed. Of them Ananda dwelt on one side of the ocean and many fish came to see him, One day they thought, “ Amongst all bipeds and quadrupeds kings are to be found, but we have no king: we will make this fish our king.” And being all of one mind they made Ananda their king, and from that day the fish evening and morning came to pay their respects to him. Now one day Ananda on a certain mountain was feeding on rock-sevala and unwittingly ate a fish, thinking it to be sevala. [463] Its flesh was pleasing to his taste, and wondering what it could be that was so very sweet, he took it out of his mouth and looking at it found it was a piece of fish. He thought, “ All this long time in my ignorance I never ate this: evening and morning when the fish come to pay their respects to me, I will — devour one or two of them, for if when they are being eaten I make the fact too clear to them, not a single one will come near me, but they will all scurry off.” So lying in concealment he struck at any that were — retreating from behind and devoured them. ‘The fish as their numbers gradually diminished thought, ‘‘From what quarter will this peril to our

1 The aquatic plant vallisneria. kind be threatening us! ” Then a sage amongst them thought, “ 1 am not satisfied with what Ananda is doing: I will investigate what he is about,’ and when the fish came to pay homage to Ananda, the sage hid himself in the lobe of Ananda’s ear. Ananda on dismissing the fish devoured those that were straggling behind. The wise fish seeing it reported it to the others and they all were panic-stricken and fled. From that day Ananda in his greedy longing for the flavour of fish refused every other kind of food. Growing sick from hunger he thought, “ Where in the world can they be gone?” and in searching for them he espied a certain mountain and thought, “From fear of me the fish, methinks, are dwelling near this mountain. I will encircle it and keep a watch over it.” So encircling it with his head and tail he compassed it on both sides, thinking, “If they live here, they will be for escaping,” and catching sight of his own tail as it coiled round the mountain he thought, ‘‘ This fish lives near the mountain and is trying to elude me,” and in his rage he seized his own tail, which was fifty leagues long, and believing he had got hold of a fish, he devoured it with a crunching sound, suffering thereby excruciating pain. At the smell of the blood the fish gathered together, and pulling bit after bit out of Ananda’s tail ate it up till they reached his head.

[464] Having such a big carcase he could not turn round but then and there came to his end. And there was a heap of bones as big as a mountain. Holy ascetics, male and female, travelling through space, saw it and told men of it. And the inhabitants of all India knew of it. Kalahatthi, by way of illustration, told this story and said : Ananda ate of every fish and when his suite had fled, He his own tail right greedily devoured till he was dead.

The slave to appetite no other pleasure knows, Poor careless fool, so blind is he to coming woes : He children, kith and kin in ruin low will lay, Then turns and rends himself, to monstrous greed a prey. To these my words, O king, I pray thee, hearken well, Eat not the flesh of men; forego thy purpose fell : Lest thou perchance shouldst share that fish’s awful fate And leave, O lord of men, thy kingdom desolate. [465] On hearing this the king said, “ Kalahatthi, I too know an example as well as you,” and as an instance he told an old story in illustration of his greed for human flesh and said: Sujata’s son and heir for some rose-apples loudly cried, , | For loss of them the lad so grieved, he laid him down and died. So, Kala, I who now long time have fed on daintiest fare, Failing this human flesh, methinks, for life would cease to care. Once upon a time, they say, a landed gentleman named Sujata at Benares lodged in his park and ministered to five hundred ascetics who had come down from the Himalayas to procure salt and vinegar. Food

252 The Jdtaka. Book XX1I. was constantly set out in his house for them, but these ascetics sometimes went on a pilgrimage for alms in the country and brought back pieces of big rose-apples to eat. When'they were feeding on the rose-apples they had brought, Sujata thought, “To-day it is the third or fourth day that these holy men have not come to me here. Where in the world can they have gone?” So making his little boy take hold of his hand he went there while they were taking their repast. At that moment a novice was giving the elders water to rinse their mouths and was eating a bit of rose-apple. Sujata saluted the ascetics and when he was seated he asked, saying, “‘ Holy sirs, what are you eating?” ‘Pieces of large rose-apples, sir.” The boy on hearing this felt thirsty, so the leader of the company of ascetics had a small piece given to him. The boy ate it and was so charmed with the delicate flavour that he kept on continually begging them to give him another piece. The gentleman, who was listening to the preaching of the Law, said, “Do not cry ; when you get home, you shall have a piece to eat,” thus deceiving the boy for fear lest the holy Brethren might be worn out by his cries. So comforting the boy he took his leave of the band of ascetics and returned home.

From the moment they arrived there the boy kept up a cry of “Give me a piece.” The ascetics too said, “ We have stayed here a long time,” and departed for the Himalayas. Not finding the boy in the park the ascetics sent him a present of pieces of mangoes, rose-apples, bread-fruit, bananas and other fruits, all mixed with powdered sugar. This mixture was no sooner placed on the tip of his tongue than it acted like a deadly poison. For seven days he took no food and then died. [466] This story the king told by way of illustration. Then Kalahatthi thought, ‘‘This king is a great glutton: I will tell him further instances,” and he said, ‘‘Great king, desist from this.” ‘It is impossible,” he said. “Should you not desist, you will gradually be dropped by your family circle and deprived of your kingly glory.” Once upon a time too in this very Benares there was a brahmin family which kept the five Moral Precepts. An only son was born to this family, the darling and delight of his parents, a wise lad and well seen in the Three Vedas. -He used to go about in the company of a band of youths of the same age as himself. The other members of the company ate fish, meat and similar food and took strong drink. The young boy neither ate meat nor drank strong drink. The thought struck them, “This boy because he takes no strong drink does not pay his reckoning :

let us devise a plan to make him drink.” So when they were gathered together, they said, “ My friend, let us hold a festival.” He said, “You drink strong drink but I do not. You go without me.” ‘Friend, we will take some milk for you to drink.” He consented, saying, “ All right.” The rogues went to the garden and tied up some fiery spirit in a leaf cup and put it amongst some lotus leaves. So when they began to drink they

offered the lad some milk. One of the rogues cried, “Bring us some lotus nectar,” and having had it brought to him, he cut a hole in the bottom of the leaf cup placed in the lotus, and putting it to his mouth sucked it. The others too had some brought to them and drank it. The lad asked what it was and took some strong drink, believing it to be lotus nectar. Then they offered him some broiled meat and this too he ate. And when from repeated draughts of liquor he was intoxicated, they told him, “This is no lotus nectar: it is spirit.” ‘All this long while,” he said, “I never knew what a sweet taste was. Bring me more strong drink, I say!” They brought it and once more gave it him, for he was very thirsty. [467] Then when he asked for more, they told him it was all finished. He said, “Come, I say! fetch me some more,” and gave them his signet ring. After drinking with them all the day, being now quite drunk and his eyes bloodshot, trembling and babbling, he went home and lay down. Then his father finding out he had been drinking, when the effects of it had passed off, said to him, ‘‘ My son, you have done very wrong, being a member of a brahmin family, to drink strong drink: never do so again.” “Dear father, what is my offence?” “ Drinking strong drink.” ‘How say you, father? in all my life I never before tasted anything so sweet.” The brahmin repeatedly besought him to give it up. “T cannot do it,” he said. Then the brahmin thought, “If this is so, our family tradition will be destroyed and our wealth will perish,” and he repeated this stanza:

A scion of a brahmin house, withal a comely boy, Thou must not drink the accurséd thing no brahmin may enjoy. And after these words he said, “‘ My dear son, abstain from it, otherwise I shall put you out of my house and have you banished from my kingdom.” The lad said, ‘“‘ Even so, I cannot give up strong drink,” and he repeated two stanzas : Since, father, from this best of tastes thou fain wouldst me debar, To get it, where it may be found I’ll go however far. Depart will I in haste and ne’er dwell with thee any more, For now the very sight of me, methinks, thou dost abhor. Moreover he said, “I will not abstain from dram drinking: do what you please.” Then the brahmin, saying, “ Well, as you give us up, we too will give you up,” repeated this stanza: [468] Surely some other sons we'll find as heirs our wealth to claim, Go, rascal, where we neyer more may hear thy curstd name. Then taking his son into court he disinherited him and had him driven out of his house. This youth later on, being a poor destitute wretch, put on a coarse garment, and taking a beggar’s bowl in his hand he went round begging for alms, and resting against a wallso died, Kalahatthi relating

254 The Jataka. Book XX1I. this incident by way of a lesson to the king, said, “If, sire, you refuse to hearken to our words, they will have you banished from the kingdom,” and so saying he spoke this stanza: So hearken well, O king of men, obeying my command, Or like that drunken youth wilt thou be banished from the land. Even after the instance thus adduced by Kalahatthi, the king could not desist from his habit, and to illustrate yet another story he said : + Disciple of the Perfect Saints!, Sujata, it is said, Abstained from food‘and drink through love felt for a heavenly maid. As dewdrop on a blade of grass to waters of the sea, Is human love compared with love for some divinity. So, Kala, I who now long time have fed on daintiest fare, Failing this human flesh, methinks, for life would cease to care. The story is just like the one already related. This Sujata, they say, on seeing that the ascetics, at the time when they ate pieces of big rose-apple did not return, thought, “I wonder why they do not come back. If they.are gone anywhere, I will find it out: otherwise I will listen to their preaching.” So he went to the park and heard the Law preached by the leader of the company, and when the sun set, though he was dismissed he said, ‘I will remain here to-day,” and saluting the company of saints he went into his hut of leaves and lay down, At night Sakka, king of heaven, accompanied by a troop of angelic beings, together with his handmaids, came to pay his respects to the band of ascetics, and the whole hermitage was one blaze of light.

Sujata, wondering what this might be, rose up and looking through a chink in his hut of leaves, saw Sakka come to salute the company [469], attended by a troop of heavenly Apsarasas, and no sooner did he see them than he was fired with passion. Sakka took a seat and after listening to a sermon on the Faith departed to his own abode. The landed proprietor next day saluted the ascetics and asked, saying, “ Who was it, reverend sirs, came in the night to pay his respects to you?” ‘Sakka, sir.” ‘And who were those that sat round about him?” “They are called heavenly Apsarasas.” Saluting the band of ascetics he went home and from the moment he got there he kept up a foolish cry of “Give me an Apsaras.” His kinsmen, standing about him, wondered if he were possessed of an evil spirit, and snapped their fingers. He said, “Tt is not this snapping of the fingers I speak of, but of the heavenly Apsaras’.” And when they dressed up and brought to him a wife or even a courtesan and said, “Here is an Apsaras,” he said, ‘This is no Apsaras, it is a female ghoul,” and went on with his

1 For bhavitattd compare Dhamma Sangani, English translation, p. 138. * The Pali here has a play upon the two meanings of the word acchard, a heavenly nymph, and a snapping of the fingers. VSG WLtres ee teu Ca ES Se bs ieee Bite al Ws foolish cry, “Give me an Apsaras,” and taking no food he died. On hearing this Kalahatthi said, “This king is a great glutton: I will bring him to a better mind.” And he said, “The golden geese too that travel through the air perished from eating the flesh of their kin,” and to illustrate this he repeated two stanzas: Just as these dhatarattha geese that travel through the air All died because they lived upon a most unnatural fare, So too do thou, O king of men, list well to what I say, For eating this unlawful food, thee too they’ll drive away. Once upon a time, they say, ninety thousand geese dwelt in Golden Cave on mount Cittakiita. For four months in the rainy season they do not stir out. If they should do so, their wings being full of water, they ‘ would be unable to take a long flight and would fall into the sea, and

therefore they do not stir out, but when the rainy season is drawing near, they gather wild paddy from a natural lake, and filling their cave with it live upon rice. But no sooner had they entered the cave than an unnanabhi spider as big as a chariot wheel at the entrance of the cave used to spin a web every month, and each thread of it was as thick as a cow’s halter. The geese give two portions of food to a young goose, thinking he will then be able to break through the web. [470] When the sky clears, this young goose being in front of them severs the web and the rest all escape by the same way. Now once the rainy season lasted five months, and the food of the geese grew short. They consulted as to what was to be done and said, “If we are to live, we must take the eggs.” First they ate the eggs, then the goslings and after that the old geese. At the end of five months the rain left off, the spider had spun five webs, and the geese from eating the flesh of their kin had grown feeble. The young goose that had received a double portion of food, striking at the webs broke four of them but could not break the fifth, and stuck there. So the spider cut off his head and drank his blood.

First one and then another came and struck the web, and the spider said, “ Here’s another of them stuck in the same place,” and sucked the blood of all of them, and at that time the family of the dhatarattha geese became extinct, they say. The king was anxious to give yet another illustration, but the citizens rising up said, “My lord commander, what do you propose to do? How will you proceed now you have caught the man-eating rogue? If he does not give it up, have him expelled from his kingdom,” and they would not suffer the king to say a word. Hearing the common talk of the people, the king was terrified and could say nothing more, and once again the commander said to him, “ Sire, will it be possible for you to give it up?” “Tmpossible,” he said. So the commander placed on one side all his harem, his sons and his daughters, arrayed in all their splendour, and said, “Sire, behold this circle of your kinsfolk, this band of councillors

256 The Jataka. Book X XI. and your royal pomp: be not undone, but cease from eating man’s flesh.” The king said, ‘‘ All this is not dearer to me than man’s flesh.” ‘Then depart, sire, from this city ahd kingdom.” “ Kalahatthi,” he said, “T do not want my kingdom; I am ready to depart, but grant me one favour; let me have my sword and my cook.” So they let him take a sword, a vessel for cooking man’s flesh and a basket, and giving him his cook they carried out his expulsion from the kingdom. [471] Taking his cook he set out from the city and entered a forest and made his dwelling at the foot of a banyan tree. Living there he would take his stand on the road which led through the forest, and killing men he would bring their bodies and give them to the cook, and he cooked the flesh and served it up and both of them lived after this manner. And when he sallied forth, crying, “Here am I, the man-eating robber!” no one could hold his own, and they all fell to the ground and any one of them that he fancied, he seized, heels upwards or not as it might happen, and gave him to his cook. One day, he did not find any man in the forest, and when on his return the cook said, “How is this, sire?” he told him to put the pot on the brasier.

“But where is the meat, sire?” ‘Oh! I will-find some meat,” he said. Thought the cook, ‘‘I am a dead man,” and all of a tremble he made a fire and put the pot on the brasier. Then the man-eater killed him with a stroke of his sword and cooked and ate his flesh. henceforth he was quite alone and had to cook his food himself. The rumour spread throughout all India, ‘‘The man-eater murders wayfaring men.” At that time a certain wealthy brahmin who traded with five hundred waggons was travelling from the east in a westerly direction and he thought, “This man-eating robber, they say, murders men on the road. By a payment of money T will make my way through the forest.” So he paid a thousand pieces of money to the people who lived at the entrance of the forest, bidding them convoy him safely through it and set out on the road with them. He placed all his caravan in front of him, and having bathed and anointed himself and put on sumptuous apparel he seated himself in an easy carriage drawn by white oxen, and escorted by his convoy he travelled last of all. The man-eater climbing up a tree was on the look out for men, but though he felt no appetite for any of the rest of the convoy, no sooner did he catch sight of the brahmin than his mouth watered through desire to eat him.

When the brahmin came up to him, [472] he proclaimed his name, crying, “ Here am I, the man-eating robber,” and brandishing his sword, like to one filling men’s eyes with sand, he leaped upon them and no man was able to stand up against him, but they all fell prone upon the ground. Seizing the brahmin as he sat in his easy carriage by the foot he slung him on his back, head downwards, and striking his head against his heels so carried him off. The men rising up cried one to another, “Ho! my man, bestir yourself. . We received a thousand pieces of money from the

brahmin’s hands. Who amongst us wears the semblance of a man? Let us, one and all, strong man or weakling, pursue him for a short space.” They pursued him and the man-eater stopped and looked back, and not seeing anyone went slowly on. At that moment a bold fellow running at full speed came up with him. On seeing him, the robber leaping over a fence trod upon an acacia splinter’ which, wounding him, came out at the top of his foot, and the robber went limping along with the blood trickling from the wound.” Then his pursuer on seeing it said, “ Surely I have wounded him: you just follow on behind and I will catch him.” They saw how feeble he was and joined in the pursuit. When the robber saw that he was pursued he dropped the brahmin and secured his own safety. The brahmin’s escort as soon as they had recovered him thought, * What have we got to do with this robber?” and turned back. But the man-eater, going to the foot of his banyan tree, lay down amongst the shoots and offered up a prayer to the spirit of the tree, saying, “ My lady, nymph of the tree, if within seven days thou canst heal my wound, I will bathe thy trunk with blood from the throats of one hundred and one princes from all India, and will hang the tree all round with their inwards and offer up a sacrifice of the five sweet kinds of flesh.” Now, in consequence of having nothing to eat or drink, his body wasted away, and within the seven days his wound healed.

He recognised that his cure was due to the tree-nymph, and in a few days he recovered his strength by eating man’s flesh and thought, “The spirit has been very helpful to me. I will discharge my vow.” Taking his sword he sallied forth from the foot of the tree [473] and set out, purposing to bring the kings. Now, a Yakkha which had gone about as his comrade, eating man’s flesh with him, when in a former existence he himself had been a Yakkha, caught sight of him and knowing that he had in a former existence been his friend he asked him, saying, ‘‘ Do you not recognise me, friend?” ‘TI do not,” he said. Then he told him about something they had done in a former state and the man-eater recognised him and gave him a kind greeting. When asked where he had been reborn, he told him of his place of birth and how he had been banished from his kingdom and where he was now living. He told him moreover how he was wounded by a splinter and that he was now going on an expedition to. redeem his promise to the treenymph. “I must get over this difficulty of mine by your help: we will go together, my friend,” he said. “T cannot go, but there is one service I can render you. I certainly know a spell characterised by words of priceless value. It ensures strength, speed of foot, and an increase of prestige. Learn this spell.” He readily agreed to

1 The construction of this passage is not very clear, even if one takes khanum to be a nominative as dhanum, Jat. 1, 88.14. Perhaps khdnum pitthipadena nikkhami means, he got rid of the splinter by rubbing the top of the other foot against it. fe Fo Vic 17 258 The Jataka. Book XXI. this, and the goblin gave it to him and went off. The man-eater got the spell by heart, and from that time became swift as the wind and very bold. Within seven days he found a hundred and one kings on their ways to parks and other places and leaped upon them with the swiftness of the wind, proclaiming his name, and by jumping about and shouting he greatly terrified them. Then he seized them by the feet and held them head downwards, and striking their heads with his heels carried them off with the swiftness of the wind. Next he drilled holes in the palms of their hands and hung them up by a cord on the banyan tree, and the wind striking them as they just touched the ground with. the tips of their toes, they hung on the tree, revolving like withered wreaths of flowers in baskets. But he thought, “Sutasoma was my private teacher: let not India be altogether desolate,” and did not bring him. Being minded to make an offering to the tree he lighted a fire and sat down, sharpening a stake.

The tree-nymph on seeing this thought, ‘‘ He is preparing to offer sacrifice to me, but it was not I that healed his wound: [474] he will now make a great slaughter. What is to be done? I shall not be able to stop him.” So she went and told the Four Great Kings of it and bade them stop him. When they said they could not do it, she approached Sakka and told him the whole story and asked him to stop him. He said, ‘‘I cannot do it, but I will tell you some one who can.” She said, “‘ Who is that?” ‘In the world of men and gods,” he answered, “there is no one else, but in the city of Indapatta in the Kuru kingdom is Sutasoma, prince of Kuru. He will tame and humble this man and will save the lives of these kings, and cure him of eating human flesh and will shower nectar over all India. If you are anxious to save the lives of the kings, bid him first bring Sutasoma and then offer his sacrifice to the tree.” “ All right,” said the tree-spirit and

went quickly, disguised as an ascetic, and approached close to the man-— eater. At the sound of footsteps he thought, ‘‘Can one of the kings have escaped?” Looking up and seeing him he thought, “ Ascetics surely are kshatriyas. If I capture him, I shall make up the full number of one hundred and one kings and offer my sacrifice’.” He rose up and sword in hand pursued the ascetic, but though he chased him for three leagues he could not overtake him, and streams of sweat poured from his limbs. He thought, ‘I once could pursue and catch an elephant, or horse, or chariot going at full speed, but to-day though IT am running with all my might I cannot catch this ascetic who is going just his natural pace. What can be the reason for this?” Then thinking, “ Ascetics are accustomed to obey: if I bid him stand and he does so, I shall catch him,” he cried, “Stand, holy sin” “T am standing,” he answered, “do you too try and 1 As Sutasoma was left behind, one more victim was still wanting to complete the number. by ss hb at ek a stand.” Then he said, ‘‘ Ho there! ascetics even to save their life do not tell a lie, but you speak falsely,” and he repeated this stanza : [475] Although I bid thee stind, thou still dost forward fly, And crying ‘Lo! I stand,’ methinks thou dost but lie:

Unseemly ’tis; this sword, O priest, thou must assume To be a harmless shaft equipped with heron’s plume}. Then the nymph spoke a couple of stanzas : Steadfast in righteousness am I, Nor change my name or family, Here robbers but brief moment dwell, Soon doomed to pass to woes of hell. Be bold and captive here great Sutasoma bring And by his sacrifice shalt thou win heaven, O king. With such words the nymph put off her disguise as an ascetic and stood revealed in her own form, blazing in the sky like the sun. The man-eater hearing what she had to say and beholding her form asked who she was, and on her replying that she had come to life as the spirit of this tree, he was delighted and thinking, ‘‘I have looked upon my tutelary divinity,” he said, “‘O heavenly sovereign, be not troubled by reason of Sutasoma, [476] but enter once more into thine own tree.” The spirit entered into the tree before his very eyes. At that moment the sun set and the moon arose. The man-eater being versed in the Vedas and their auxiliaries and acquainted with the movements of the astral bodies, looking at the sky, thought, “ To-morrow it will be the Phussa asterism; Sutasoma will come to the park to bathe and then will I lay hands upon him. But as he will have a strong guard and the dwellers throughout all India will come to guard him for three leagues around, at the first watch, before the guard is

* posted, I will go to the Migacira park and descend into the royal tank ana there take my stand.” So he went down into the tank and stood there, covering his head with a lotus leaf. By reason of his great glory the fish, tortoises and the like fell back and swam about in large bodies at the water’s edge. Whence, it may be asked, came this glory of his ? From his devotion in a former existence. For at the time when Kassapa was Buddha, he started a distribution of milk by ticket. Owing to this he became very mighty, and having got the Assembly of the Brethren to erect a hall for a fire to dispel the cold, he provided fire, firewood and an axe to cleave the wood. As the result of this he became famous.—So now when he had gone into the garden, while it was still early dawn, they picked a guard for three leagues round about, and king Sutasoma quite early in the morning after breakfast, mounted on a richly caparisoned elephant, with a complete force of four arms, sallied from the city. At that very moment a brahmin named Nanda from Takkasila,

1 A heron’s feather was fixed on an arrow. 260 Thé <Jaia basso bringing with him four stanzas, each worth a hundred pieces of money, reached the city after a journey of one hundred and twenty leagues, and took up his abode in a suburb. At sunrise on entering the city he saw the king issuing forth by the eastern gate, and raising his hand he cried, “Victory to the king.” Now the king being far-sighted, as he was riding along, saw the outstretched hand of the brahmin as he stood on some rising ground, and drawing nigh to him on his elephant he spoke after this mannet : Born in what realm and why, I: pray, Dost hither come, O brahmin, say ; [477] ‘This said, to-day I grant to thee Thy prayer, whatever it may be. Then the brahmin answered him : Four verses, mighty king, to thee Of import deep as is the sea I hither bring; list to them well, Secrets of highest worth they tell. “Great king,” he said, “these four verses taught me by the Buddha Kassapa are worth a hundred pieces of money each, and having heard that you take pleasure in libations’ of soma juice, I am come to teach you.” The king was greatly pleased and said, ‘Master, in this you have done well, but it is impossible for me to turn back, To-day, because it is the Phussa conjunction, it is the day for bathing my head:

when I return I will listen to you. Be not dissatisfied with me.” And with these words he bade his councillors, saying, “ Go ye and in a certain house of a brahmin prepare a couch and arrange a dining place under cover,” and he retired into his park. This was girt about by a wall eighteen cubits high and guarded all round by elephants within touch of one another. Then came horses, then chariots, and finally archers and other foot-soldiers—like a mighty troubled ocean was the army that had been transported thither. The king, when he had put off his heavy adornments and had been shaved and shampooed, bathed in all his royal majesty in the lotus tank, and coming up out of the water he stood there clad in bathing garments, and they brought him scented garlands to adorn him. The man-eater thought, ‘‘ When he is fully dressed, the king must be a heavy weight. I will seize him just when he is light to carry.” [478] So shouting and jumping about and whirling a sword above his head as quick as lightning he proclaimed his name, crying, “Ho! here am I, the man-eating robber,” and he laid his finger on his forehead’ and stepped out of the water. As soon as they heard his cry, the elephant-riders with their elephants, the horsemen with their horses, and the charioteers with their chariots fell to the ground, and all the host of them dropping the weapons they held lay

: suta. A play upon the double meaning of the word, juice and sacred literature. » As a mark of reverence for the Bodhisatta. INOW OS ie 261 prone upon their bellies. The man-eater seized Sutasoma, holding him erect, The rest of the kings he had caught by the foot and held head downwards and had gone off with them, knocking their heads against his heels, but in coming up to. the Bodhisatta he stooped down and lifting him up placed him on his shoulders, Thinking it would be a roundabout way by the gate he leaped over the wall, eighteen cubits high, at the point where it faced him, and going forward he trampled on the temples of elephants exuding the juice of rut, overthrowing them as it were mountain peaks. Next he trod on the backs of the horses—swift as the wind were they and of priceless worth—-laying them also low. Then as he stepped on the fronts of the splendid chariots, he was like to one whirling a humming top! _ or as it were one crushing the dark green phalaka’ plant or banyan leaves, and at a single burst he ran a distance of three leagues. Then wondering if anyone were following to rescue Sutasoma, he looked and seeing no one he went on slowly. Noticing the drops that fell upon him from Sutasoma’s hair he thought, ‘There is no man living free from the fear of death : Sutasoma, too, methinks, is weeping from this fear,” and he said :

Men versed in lore, in whom high thoughts arise, Such never weep, the learned and the wise; All find herein a refuge and a stay, That sages thus can sorrow drive away. Is it thy kin, wife, child, perchance thyself, Thy stores of grain, thy gold and silver pelf— [479] What, Sutasoma, caused thy tears to flow? Great Kuru lord, thy answer we would know. Sutasoma said : Nay, I no tears am shedding for myself, Nor for my wife or child, my realm or pelf. The practice of the saints of old I keep, And for a promise unfulfilled I weep. Once to a brahmin I my word did plight, What time in mine own realm I ruled with might; That plighted word I fain would keep and then, My honour saved, return to thee again. Then the man-eater said : Tl not believe if any one should be By happy chance from jaws of death set free, He would return to yield him to his foe; No more wouldst thou, if I should let thee go. [480] Escaped from fierce man-eater shouldst thou come, Full of sweet longings, to thy royal home, Dear life with all its charms restored to thee, Why in the world shouldst thou come back to me?

1 Compare Balardmayana, Act 1x. Stanza 51, bhramarakabhramam bhramyate rathah. 2 mhalaka, the plant Mesua Roxburghii, or it might be the seed-pods of the lotus. In Jat. vol. 1. 304. 26, 28, and Jat. vol. 1. 68, 17, we find phalakattharasayana, a bed of phalaka leaves. 262 The Jataka. Book XXT. On hearing this the Great Being, like a lion still fearless, said : If innocent, a man would death prefer To life o’erclouded with some odious slur ; Should he, to save his life, a falsehood tell, It may not shield him from the woes of hell. 1The wind may sooner move some mountain high, Or sun and moon to earth fall from the sky, Yea, rivers all up stream may flow, my lord, Ere I be guilty of one lying word. Though he spoke thus, the man-eater still did not believe him. So the Bodhisatta, thinking, “He does not believe me; by means of an oath I will make him believe,” said, ‘‘ Good Mister Man-eater, let me down from your back and I will take an oath and make you believe me.” After these - words he was let down by the man-eater and placed upon the ground, and in taking an oath he said :

[481] Lo! as I touch this spear and sword To thee I pledge my solemn word, Release me and IJ will debt-free, My honour saved, return to thee. Then the man-eater thought, ‘This Sutasoma swears under penalty of violating kshatriya rules. What do I want with him? Well, I too am a kshatriya king. I will take blood from my own arm and make an offering to the spirit of the tree. This is a very faint-hearted fellow.” And he said : The word thou once didst to a brahmin plight, What time in thine own realm thou ruledst with might, That plighted word I bid thee keep and then, Thy honour saved, return to me again. Then the Great Being said, “ My friend, do not vex yourself. After I have heard the four verses, each worth a hundred pieces of money, and have made an offering to the preacher of the Law, I will return at daybreak.” And he spoke this stanza : The word I once did to a brahmin plight, What time in mine own realm I ruled with might, That plighted word I first will keep and then, My honour saved, return to thee again.

Then the man-eater said: “ You have taken an oath under penalty of violating the custom of kshatriyas. See that you act accordingly.” ‘My man-eating friend,” he said, “ you have known me from a boy: never even in jest have I aforetime told a lie, and now that I am established on the throne and know right and wrong, why should I lie? Trust me, [482] I will provide an offering for you.” Being induced to believe him he said, “ Well, sire, depart, and, if you do not return, there can be no offering and ' These verses have occurred in vol. 1v. p. 286, English version. the spirit does not agree to it without you: do not place any obstacle in the way of my offering,” and he let the Great Being go. Like the moon escaped from the jaws of Rahu and with the strength of a young elephant he speedily reached the city. And his soldiers thought, ‘‘ King Sutasoma is wise and a sweet preacher of the Law. If he can have a word or two with him he will convert the man-eater and will return, like a furious elephant escaping from the lion’s mouth.” And thinking, “The people will chide us and say, ‘ After giving up your king to the man-eater are ye come back to us?’” they remained encamped outside the city walls, and when they saw him coming from afar off they went out to meet him and saluting him with a friendly greeting they asked, ‘“‘ Were you not, sire, heartily sick of the man-eater?” “The man-eater,” he said, “did something far harder than anything my parents ever did.

For being such a fierce and violent creature, after listening to my preaching of the Law, he let me go.” Then they decked out the king and mounting him on an elephant escorted him into the city. On seeing him the inhabitants rejoiced, and owing to his zeal for the Law, he did not visit his parents but thinking, “TI will see them by and bye,” he entered his palace and took his seat upon his throne. Then he summoned the brahmin and gave orders for him to be shaved, and when his hair and beard had been trimmed and he was washed and anointed and decked out with brave apparel, they brought him to the king. And when the brahmin was presented, Sutasoma himself afterwards took a bath and ordered his own food to be given to the brahmin, and when he had eaten he himself partook of the food. Then he seated the brahmin on a costly throne and to mark his reverence for him he made offerings of scented garlands and the like to him, and seating himself on a low seat he prayed him, saying, “ Master, we would hear the verses which you have brought to us.”

To throw light upon this the Master said : Released from fierce man-eater’s hand he flies To brahmin friend and ‘Fain would we,’ he cries, [483] ‘Hear stanzas worth a hundred pieces each, ; Us for our good if thou wouldst deign to teach. The brahmin, when the Bodhisatta made his request, after shampooing his hands with perfumes, pulling a beautiful book out of a bag took it in both hands and said ; “ Well, sire, listen to my four stanzas, each worth a hundred pieces of money; they were taught me by Kassapa Buddha, and are destructive of passion, pride and similar vices, and procure for man the removal of desire, the cessation of the faculties, even the eternal mighty Nirvana, to the decay of lust, the cutting of the circle of transmigration 264 The Jataka. Book XXII. and the rooting out of attachment,” and with these words, looking at his book, he repeated these stanzas : In union with the saints just once, O Sutasoma, be, And neer consort with evil men and peace shall compass thee. With holy men consorting aye, as friends such only know, From holy men true doctrine learn and daily better grow.

As painted cars of royalty wax dim and fade away, So too our bodies frail wear out and suffer swift decay. But Faith of holy men abides and never waxes old, Good men proclaim it to the good through ages yet untold. The sky above us stretches far, far stretches earth below, And lands beyond the boundless sea far distant are we know, But greater still than all of these and wider in its reach Is doctrine whether good or bad that saints or sinners preach. [484] Thus did the brahmin teach him the four stanzas, each worth a hundred pieces, just as he had been taught them by Kassapa Buddha, and then remained silent. The Great Being was delighted at hearing them and said, “ My journey here is not without its reward,” and thinking, “ These verses are not merely the words of a disciple or a saint nor the work of a poet, but were spoken by the Omniscient One; I wonder what they are worth. Though one were to give a whole world that extends to the Brahma heaven, after filling it with the seven precious things, one could not make an adequate return for these stanzas. Surely I can give him sovereignty in the city of Indapatta covering seven leagues in the realm of Kuru, which extends over three hundred leagues. Doubtless it is his merited fate to be king.” But regarding him with the power he possessed of divining a man’s future from his personal appearance, he found no such signs.

Then he bethought him of the office of commander-in-chief and similar posts, but did not find that he was destined even to the headship of a single village. Next, considering the case of acquisition of wealth and starting from a crore of money he found he was destined to receive four thousand pieces, and thinking to honour him with just this sum he bestowed on him four purses containing a thousand pieces each and he asked him, saying, “ Master, when you teach other princes these verses, how much do you receive?” ‘‘ A hundred for each one, sire,” he said, “so they are worth just a hundred pieces.” The Great Being said, “ Master, you are ignorant of the priceless value of the goods you hawk about. Henceforth let them be considered worth a thousand pieces,” and so saying he repeated this stanza :

N ot hundreds merely are they worth, nay thousands rather say, So brahmin here four thousand take and, quick, with them away. Then he presented him with an easy carriage [485] and gave orders to his men, saying, “ Convey this brahmin safely to his home,” and so dismissed him, At this moment loud sounds of applause were heard and cries of “Bravo, bravo! king Sutasoma has highly honoured these verses, deeming worth a thousand pieces what was valued at a hundred.” The king’s parents hearing the noise asked what it meant, and on learning the true state of things, by reason of their covetousness were angry with the Great Being, but after dismissing the brahmin he went to them and stood saluting them. Then his father said, “ My son, you have escaped from the hands of one described as a fierce robber,” and instead of expressing pleasure at seeing him, through his greed of money he asked, “Is it true what they say, that you gave four thousand pieces of money for hearing four stanzas,” and on his confessing it was so, his father repeated this verse : Verses may be worth eighty pieces each, Or e’en a hundred may in value reach,

But, Sutasoma, thou thyself must own A stanza worth a thousand is unknown. Then the Great Being, to induce him to see things in a different light, said, ‘‘ Dear father, it is not increase in wealth I desire, but increase in learning,” and he uttered these stanzas : Increase in holy lore I most desire And to the friendship of the saints aspire ; No rivers can the void of ocean fill, So I good words imbibe, insatiate still. As flames for wood and grass insatiate roar, And seas aye fed with streams crave more and more, E’en so do sages, mighty lord of lords, Insatiate hearken to well-spoken words. If from the mouth of my own slave I eer Should_verses full of deepest import hear, [486] His words I would accept with honour due, Unsated still with doctrines good and true. After having thus spoken he said, “ Do not just for the sake of money blame me. I have come here, after swearing an oath that when I had heard the Truth I would return. Now then I will go back to this monster ; do you then accept this sovereignty,” and handing it over to him he spoke this stanza :

This realm is thine with all its wealth of gold, Trappings of state and joy and bliss untold. Why blame, should I from sensual pleasures fly And at man-eater’s hand go forth to die ? At this moment the heart of the king’s father grew hot within him and he said, “ What, my dear Sutasoma, is this you say? I will come with a complete host of all four arms! and will seize the robber,” and he repeated this stanza : For our defence lo! valiant soldiers come, Some riding elephants, on chariots some, Foot-soldiers these, these horsemen armed with bow— Marshal our host and let us slay our foe. 1 Blephants, cavalry, chariots, and infantry. 266 The Jataka. Book XX1J. Then his father and mother, their eyes swimming with tears, besought him, saying, ‘Go not, my son, nay, you cannot go,” and sixteen thousand dancing girls and the rest of his suite lamented and said, “ Leaving us helpless, whither wouldst thou go, sire?” and no one throughout the city could restrain his feelings and they said, “He has come, they tell us, after giving a promise to the man-eater, and now [487] that he has heard four stanzas worth a hundred pieces each and has paid due honour to the preacher of the Law and bidden farewell to his parents, he will return once more to the robber,” and the whole city was greatly stirred. And on hearing what his father and mother said, he repeated this stanza :

Wondrous this deed of our man-eating foe, To capture me alive and let me go. Calling to mind his friendly acts of yore How can I violate the oath I swore? Comforting his parents he said, “ Dear father and mother, be not anxious about me: I have wrought a virtuous action, and mastery over the desires of the six senses' is no hard matter,” and bidding farewell to his parents he admonished the rest of the people and so departed. The Master, to make the matter clear, said : Farewell to parents said, with counsel wise Townsmen and soldiers he did straight advise, Then true to plighted word refused to lie And to man-eater back again did hie. Then the man-eater thought, ‘If my friend Sutasoma wishes to return, let him return, otherwise not, and let my tree-spirit [488] do whatsoever she pleases, and I will put these princes to death and make an offering of their flesh with the five sweet things.” So he reared a funeral pile and kindled a fire, thinking he would wait till the coal was red hot, and while he sat and sharpened his spit Sutasoma returned. Then the man-eater at the sight of him was glad at heart and asked, saying, ‘‘ My friend, have you gone and done what you wanted to do?” The Great Being said, “ Yes, your majesty, I have heard the stanzas that were taught the brahmin by the Kassapa Buddha, and I paid due honour to the preacher of the Truth, and so I have come back, having done the thing I had to do.” To illustrate this, he repeated this stanza :

My word I once did to a brahmin plight, What time in mine own realm I ruled with might, And now that I have kept my plighted word And saved my honour, have returned, my lord. So slay and offer me to thy tree-sprite Or for man’s flesh sate thy fell appetite. 1 See Jataka, ut, 234. 18. Now baya | 267 __ On hearing this the man-eater thought, “This king has no fear; he speaks with all the terrors of death dispelled. I wonder from whence “comes this power. It can be nothing else. He says, ‘I have heard the verses that the Kassapa Buddha taught.’ This supernatural power must come from them. I will make him utter these verses in my hearing, and so will I too be free from all fear.” And being so resolved he repeated this stanza : The fire still smokes: though I somewhat delay, I forfeit not the right to eat my prey. Meat roast o’er embers clear is roasted well; These strains a hundred pieces worth, come, tell. [489] The Great Being on hearing this thought, “ This man-eater is a sinner; I will rebuke him somewhat and by my words I will put him to shame,” and he said :

Thou, O man-eater, art a wicked wight, Fall’n from thy throne through carnal appetite ; These verses do proclaim the Right to me, But how, I pray, can Right and Wrong agree? To wicked robber, one whose hands are steeped in gore, Whence cometh Truth or Right? What profits holy lore? Even when addressed in these words the man-eater was not angry. Why was this? It was owing to the mighty power of charity in the Great Being. So he said, ‘Am I only, friend Sutasoma, unrighteous?” and he repeated this stanza : The man that hunts a beast to make him savoury meat, And one that slays a man, his fellow’s flesh to eat, Both after death in guilt are counted much the same: Then why am I alone for wickedness to blame ? On hearing this the Great Being, in refuting his heresy, repeated this stanza : Of five-clawed things a warrior prince all witting five may eat, Wicked art thou, O king, in that thou eat’st forbidden meat. [490] On receiving this rebuke, as he saw no other means of escape, he tried to conceal his own wrong-doing and repeated this stanza : Escaped from fierce man-eater didst thou come Full of sweet longings to thy royal home,

And then to foe entrust thy life once more? Well versed art thou, forsooth, in astral lore ! Then the Great Being said, “ Friend, one like me must be well versed in the lore of kshatriyas. I know it well, but I do not regulate my actions accordingly,” and he spoke this stanza : 268 The Jataka. Book XX. All such as are in kshatriya doctrine! versed In hell are mostly doomed to life accursed. Therefore I have all kshatriya lore abhorred And here returned, true to my, plighted word : Make then thy sacrifice and eat me up, dread lord. The man-eater said : Palatial halls, broad acres, steeds and kine, Perfumes, rich robes and many a concubine, All these as mighty lord thou holdst in fee— In Truth what blessing, prithee, dost thou see? [491] The Bodhisatta said : Of all the sweets this world can yield to me None sweeter than the joys of Truth I see: Brahmins and priests that in the Truth abide, Birth, death, escaping, reach the further side. Thus did the Great Being discourse to him of the blessing of Truth. Then the man-eater, regarding his face, glorious as a lotus in bloom or as the full moon, thought, “This Sutasoma sees me preparing a pile of embers and sharpening a spit and yet does not show an atom of fear. Can this be the magic power in these verses that are worth a hundred pieces or “ does it arise from some other truth ? I will ask him.” And in the form of a question he repeated this stanza :

Escaped from fierce man-eater didst thou come Full of sweet longings to thy royal home, And then once more return to meet thy foe? Thou, surely, prince, no fear of death canst know, To keep thy plighted word and worldly lusts forego. The Great Being in answer to him said : As mine I countless acts of virtue claim, My bounteous offerings are known to fame, To the next world a path I have kept clear: Who that abides in Faith holds death in fear? As mine I countless acts of virtue claim, My bounteous offerings are known to fame, [492] With no regrets to heaven I'll take my way, So sacrifice and then devour thy prey. My parents have I cherished with fond care, My rule wins praise as eminently fair, To the next world a path I have kept clear: Who that abides in Faith holds death in fear ? My parents have I cherished with fond care, My rule wins praise as eminently fair, With no regrets to heaven [ll take my way, So sacrifice and then devour thy prey. 1 See supra, p. 123, where by kshatriya doctrine it is maintained that a man is justified in doing evil to serve his own interests,

To friends and kin due service I have done, My rule was just and praise from all has won, With no regrets to heaven I'll take my way, So sacrifice and then devour thy prey. Gifts manifold to many I supplied, Yea, priests and brahmins fully satisfied, To the next world a path I have kept clear: Who that abides in Faith holds death in fear ? Gifts manifold to many I supplied, Yea priests and brahmins fully satisfied, With no regrets to heaven T’ll take my way, So sacrifice and then devour thy prey. [493] On hearing this the man-eater thought, “This king Sutasoma is a good and wise man: supposing I were to eat him, my skull would split into seven pieces, or the earth would open her mouth and swallow me up,” and being terrified he said, “ My friend, you are not the sort of man that I ought to eat,” and he repeated this stanza: He knowingly would quaff a poison cup Or fiery snake, so fell and fierce, take up, Yea into fragments seven his head would fly That dares to eat a man that cannot lie. Thus did he address the Great Being, saying, “ You are, as it were, a deadly poison, methinks; who will eat you?” and being anxious to hear those verses he besought him to tell him them, and when in order to produce a due reverence for holy

things his prayer was rejected by the Great Being, on the ground that he was no proper recipient of verse of such unexceptionable morality, he said, “ In all India there is no sage like this, for when he was released from my hand he went and heard these verses, and after paying due honour to the preacher of the Law he came back again with death written on his forehead. These verses must be of transcendent excellence,” and being still more filled with a reverent desire to hear them, he besought the Great Being and repeated this stanza :

Hearing the Truth men soon discern betwixt the good and ill; Perchance if heard these strains my heart with joy in Truth may fill. Then the Great Being thought, “The man-eater is now eager to hear: I will reveal them to him,” and he said, “ Well then, my friend, listen carefully,” and having gained his attention he sang the praises of these verses exactly as he was taught them by the brahmin Nanda, while the gods in the six worlds of sense all broke into one loud cry [494], and the angels in heaven shouted applause, and the Great Being thus proclaimed the Truth to the man-eater : . In union with the saints just once, O Sutasoma, bel. 1 Here follow the four stanzas already given supra, p. 264, 270 The Jataka. Book XX. Owing to these verses being so well delivered by the Great Being and to the fact that he himself was wise, the man-eater thought, “ These stanzas are, as it were, the words of an Omniscient Buddha,” and his whole body thrilled with the five kinds of joy, and he felt a tender pity for the Bodhisatta and regarded him in the light of a father that was ready to confer on him the white umbrella of royalty. And he thought, ‘‘I see no offerings of yellow gold to give to Sutasoma, but for each stanza I will grant him a boon,” and he spoke this verse :

Pregnant with meaning and in accents clear Thy goodly words, O prince, fall on mine ear, So glad am I at-heart, that I rejoice Four boons, good friend, to offer thee for choice. Then the Great Being upbraided him and said, ‘‘ What boon, forsooth, will you offer me?” and he repeated this stanza : [495] One his own mortal state that fails to learn, Or good from evil, heaven from hell discern, The slave of carnal appetite, how can A wretch like thee know any boon for man ? Suppose I say ‘Grant me this boon’ and then Thou shouldst thy promised word take back again, Who that is wise would knowingly incur So clear a risk of quarrelling, good sir? Then the man-eater said, ‘‘ He does not believe me; I will make him believe,” and he repeated this stanza : No one should claim to grant a boon and then His promised word, false man, take back again : Amongst these boons, my friend, all fearless choose ; Pll grant it thee, though life itself I lose. Then the Great Being thought, ‘‘ He has spoken like a brave fellow and will do what I tell him ; I will accept his offer. But if I should choose as the very first boon that he should abstain from eating human flesh, he will be very sick at heart. I will first choose three other boons, and after that T will choose this,” and he said :

Who with a saint lives face to face! ever with saint agrees, So too a sage is ever sure a brother sage to please : Thus safe and sound a hundred years I pray to see thee live: This is the first of all the boons I fain would have thee give. [496] The man-eater, on hearing this, thought, “This man, even though T have driven him from his sovereignty, now wishes long life for me, the noted robber that lusteth after human flesh and would do him a mischief. Ah! he is my well-wisher.” And he was glad at heart, not knowing that this boon had been chosen to cheat him to his good, and in granting the boon he uttered this stanza ; 1 sakkhi. The scholiast renders it ‘friend,’ apparently from the y.l. sakhi. Then the Bodhisatta said : These warrior chiefs held captive in thy hand, By sprinkling hailed as kings in many a land, These mighty lords of earth thou must not eat: For this as second boon I next entreat. Thus did he in choosing a second boon gain the boon of life for over a hundred kshatriyas, and the man-eater in granting the boon to him said : These warrior chiefs held captive in my hand, By sprinkling hailed as kings in many a land, These mighty lords, [ll not eat them, I swear: This second boon too grant I to thy prayer.