The Jātaka, vol. I (Ekanipāta)

1 The third, and latest, of the Pitakas, — perhaps compiled from the Nikfiyas of the Sixtta-pitaka. 170 The Jataka. Book I. it with the strength of an elephant right into mid-stream, shutting his eyes tight as he did so. Then loud rang his shout of exultation, a shout like a lion's roar, — " I have conquered ! I have conquered ! " Now just at that moment the King of Benares, on his way home from quelling disorder on the border, had been bathing in that very river, and was riding along in all his splendour on the back of his elephant, when he heard the Bodhisatta's shout of triumph. " Here's a man," said the king, " who is proclaiming that he has conquered. I wonder whom he has conquered. Go, bring him before me." So the Bodhisatta was brought before the king, who said to him, " My good man, I am a conqueror myself ; I have j ust won a battle and am on my way home victorious. Tell me whom you have conquered." " Sire," said the Bodhisatta, " a thousand, yea, a hundred thousand, such victories as yours are vain, if you have not the victory over the Lusts within yourself. It is by conquering greed within myself that I have conquered my Lusts." And as he spoke, he gazed upon the great river, and by duly concentrating all his mind upon the idea of water, won Insight. Then by virtue of his newly-won transcendental powers, he rose in the air, and, seated there, instructed the King in the Truth in this stanza : —

The conquest that by further victories Must be upheld, or own defeat at last, Ls vain ! True conquest lasts for evermore ! [314] Even as he listened to the Truth, light shone in on the king's darkness, and the Lusts of his heai't were quenched ; his heart was bent on renouncing the world ; then and there the lust for royal dominion passed away from him. " And where will you go now?" said the king to the Bodhisatta. "To the Himalayas, sire; there to live the anchorite's life." " Then I, too, will become an anchorite," said the king ; and he departed with the Bodhisatta. And with the king there departed also the whole army, all the brahmins and householders and all the common folk, — in a word, all the host that was gathered there. Tidings came to Benares that their king, on hearing the Truth preached by the Spade Sage, was fain to live the anchorite's life and had gone forth with all his host. "And what shall we do here?" cried the folk of Benares. And thereupon, from out that city which was twelve leagues about, all the inhabitants went forth, a train twelve leagues long, with whom the Bodhisatta passed to the Himalayas.

Then the throne of Sakka, King of Devas, became hot beneath him '. Looking out, he saw that the Spade Sage was engaged upon a Great ^ Only the merits of a good man struggling with adversity could thus appeal to the mercy-seat of the Archangel. Renunciation'. Marking the numbers of his following, Indra took thought how to house them all. And he sent for Vissakamma, the architect of the Devas, and spoke thus: — "The Spade Sage is engaged upon a Great Renunciation, [315] and quarters must be found for him. Go you to the Himalayas, and thei-e on level ground fashion by divine power a hermit's demesne thirty leagues long and fifteen broad." " It shall be done, sire," said Vissakamma. And away lie went, and did what he was bidden, (What follows is only a summary ; the full details will b(; given in the Hatthipala-jataka", which forms one narrative with this.) Vissakamma caused a hermitage to arise in the hermit's demesne ; drove away all the noisy beasts and birds and fairies ; and made in each cardinal direction a path just broad enough for one person to pass along it at a time. This done, he betook himself to his own abode. The Spade Sage with his host of people came to the Himalayas and entered the demesne which Indra had given and took possession of the house and furniture which Vissakamma had created for the hermits.

First of all, he renounced the world himself, and afterwards made the people renounce it. Then he portioned out the demesne among them. They abandoned all their sovereignty, which rivalled that of Sakka himself; and the whole thirty leagues of the demesne were filled. By due performance of all the other^ rites that conduce to Insight, the Spade Sage developed perfect good-will within himself, and he taught the people how to meditate. Hereby they all won the Attainments, and assured their entry thereafter into the BrahmaRealm, whilst all who ministered to them qualified for entry thereafter into the Realm of Devas.

"Thus, Brethren," said the Master, "the heart, when passion holds it fast, is hard to release. When the attributes of greed spring up within it, they are hard to chase away, and even persons so wise and good as the above are thereby rendered witless." His lesson ended, he preached the Truths, at the close whereof some won the First, some the Second, and some the Third Path, whilst others again attained to Arahatship. Further, the blaster shewed the connexion and identified the Birth by saying, "Ananda was the king of those days, the Buddha's followers were the followers, and I myself the Spade Sage." 1 It is only when a future Buddha renounces the world for the religious Hfe, that his ' going forth ' is termed a Great Kenunciation. Of. p. 61 of Vol. i. of FausboU's text as to Gotama's ' going forth.' ^ No. 509, — where, however, no further details are vouchsafed. ^ As shewn above, he had already arrived at Insight through tlie idea of water. 172 Tkc Jataka. Book 1.

[;5I(;] '■'■Learn tinm from him." — Tlii.s .story was told hy tlic M;i.stcr while at •h^tiivaiia, al)out tlio Elder named 'J'i.ssa the Squire's Son. Tradition say.s that one day tlnrty young gentle)nen of Savatthi, who were all friends of one another, took [)erl'unie.s and liower.s and rol>es, and .set out with a large retinue to Jetavana, in order to hear the Master preach. Arrived at Jctavana, they sat awhile in the several enclosures— in the enclosure of the Iron-wood trees, in the enclosure of the Sfd-trees, and so forth,- till at evening the Master passed from his fragrant sweet-smelling piifimied chamlier to the Hall of Trutii and took his seat on the gorgeous liuddiia-seat. Then, with their following, these young men went to the Hall of Trutii, made an oliering of perfunu^s and flowers, bowed down at his feet those blessed feet that were glorious as full-hlown lotus-llowers, and luiro impi'inted on the sole the Wheel! — and, taking their seats, listened to the Truth, 'i'lien the thought came into their minds, "J^et us take the vows, .so far as we understand the Truth [ireaeheil !>} tlie Master." Accordingly, when the Jjlessed One left the JIall, they ap[)roaclied him and with duo oheisant-c asked to he admitted to the lirotheriiood ; and the Master admitted them to the brotherhood. VVimiing the favour of their teachers and directors they received full lirotherhood, and after li\e years' residence with their teachers and dii'ectors, by wiiich time they had got l)y heai't the two Abstracts, had come to know what was proper and what was improper, had leai'nt the three moiles of e.\pressing thanks, and had stitched and dyad robes.

At this stage, wisliing to embrace the ascetic life, they obtained the consent of their teachers and directors, and ai)proached the blaster. Jiowing before him they took their seats, saying, "Sir, we are troubled by the round of existence, dismayed by birth, decay, disease, and dcatii ; give us a theme, by thinking on which we may get free from the elements whicli occasion existence." The Master tin-ned over in his mind the eight and thirty themes of thought, and therefrom selected a suitable one, which he expounded to them. And then, after getting tiieir theme from the IVIaster, they bowed and witli a ceremonious farewell i)assed from his presence to their cells, and after gazing on their teachcns and directors went forth with bowl and rolx; to cml)race tlici asietii'. life.

Now amongst them was a Brother named the Elder Tissa the Squire's Son, a weak and irresolute man, a slave to the pleasures of tlie taste. Thought he to himself, "1 shall never be able to live in the forest, to strive with .strenuous effort, and subsist on doles of food. What is the gooil of my going? I will turn back." And so he gave up, and after accompanying those Jirothers some way he turned back. As to the other Brothers, they came in the ccnirse of their almspilgrimage tlir<nigh Ko.sala to a certain border-village, [-517] hard by which in a wooded spot tiiey kept the Jlainy-.season, and by three months' .striving and wrestling got the germ of Discernment and won Arahat.ship, making the earth shout for joy. At the end of the Itainy-season, after celebrating the Bavarana festival, they .set out thence to announce to the Ma.stcr the attainments they had won, and, coming in due cour.se to Jetavana, laid aside their bowls and robes, paid a visit to their teachers and directors, and, being an.xious to sec the JMe.ssed One, went to him and with due obei.sancc took their seats. The Master greeted them kindly and they aimounced to the Bl('s.sed One the attainments they had won, receiving praise froni him. Hearing the Master speaking in their praise, the Elder Tis,sa the Squire's Son was lillcd with a desire to live the life of a recluse all by himself. I^ikewi.sc, those other Jirothers asked and received the Master's pernnssion to return to dwell in that self-same spot in the forest. And with due obeisance they went to their cells.

Now tho Elder Ti.s.sa the Squire's Son that very iii^ht was inflated with a yearninf^ to })egiii liis austerities at once, and wliilst ])rai;tising witli excessive zeal and ardour the methods of a rechise and sleeping in an uprij^dit posture hy the side of his plaidc-hed, soon after tlie nii(hlle watch of the nigiit, round lie turned and down he fell, hi-eakin^' his thigh-hone; and severe ])ains set in, so that the oth(!r Brothers had to luu'se him and were dcsharred from J^oing. Accordint^ly, wIkmi they a,])peai'ed at the hour for waitinj^ on tlie liuddha, he asked them whether they h.id not yesterday askt^l his leave to start to-day. "Yes, sir, we did; hut our fi-iend the Klder Tissa the S(piii'e's Son, while rehearsing the metiiods of a nn-luse with gi'eat vigour but out of sc^ason, (h'opjied oft' to slee]) and fell over, breaking his thigh ; and that is why our departure has been thwarted." "This is not tlie first time, Brethren," said the Mastc^r, "that this man's backsliding has caused him to strive with unseasonable zeal, and thereby to delay your depai'ture ; he delaycil your d(!parture in the past also." And hereupon, at their retpiest, ho told tliis stoiy of the past.

Once on a time at Takkasila in the king<lom of CJandliara tlui iJodhisatta was a teacher of world-wide fame, witli 500 young bralnnins as pupils. One day thes(! pu))ils set out for thi^ forest to gatluM' firewood for tluiir master, and busied themselves in gathering sticks. Amongst tlieni was a lazy fellow who canK^ on a huge forest tree, which he imagined to be dry and rotten. So he thought that lu; could safely indulge in a nap fiist, and at the last moment climb up [31H] and break some branches off to carry home. Accordingly, lie spread out his outer robe and fell asl(;ep, snoring loudly. All the otluir young brahmins were on their way home; with their wood tied up in faggots, when th(!y came upon the slec^pei-. Jfaving kicked him in the back till he awokt;, they left him and went their way. He sprang to his feet, and rubbed his eyes for a tini(!. Then, still half asleep, lu; Ijegan to climlt the tree. But one Itranch, which he was tugging at, snapped off short; and, as it sprang uj), the end struck him in the ey(!. Clapping nne hand ovc^r his wounded eye, Ik; gathered gi'een boughs with th'' other. Then climbing down, he coided his faggot, and after hurrying away honx! with it, flung his green wood on tin; top of tln^ others' faggots.

That same day it chanced that a country family invited tlu^ master to visit them on the niori-ow, in ordf^r that they might givf^ him a brahminfeast. And so th(i mastf^r called his ])upils together, and, t(^lling tlnsm of th(i journey they would have to mak(! to the village on tluf morrow, said tlu^y could not go fasting. "So have some rice-gruel made early in tlui morning," said he ; " and eat it bcifore starting. There you will have food given you for yourselves and a portion for me. Bring it all honu; with you." Ho they got up early next morning and i-oused a maid to get them their breakfast nsady b(rtimes. And off she went for wood to light tin; fir((. The green wood lay on the to[) of the stack, and she laid her fire with it. And she blew and blew, hut could not get her tire to burn, and at last the 174 The Jataka. Book I. sun «ot up. "It's broad daylight now," said they, "and it's too late to start." And they went off to their master. " What, not yet on your way, my sons 1 " said he. " No, sir ; we have not started." " Why, pray ? " " Because that lazy so-and-so, when he went wood-gathering with us, lay down to sleep under a forest-tree ; and, to make up for lost time, he climbed up the tree in such a hurry that he hurt his eye and brought home a lot of green wood, which he threw on the top of our faggots. So, when the maid who was to cook our rice-gruel went to the stack, she took his wood, thinking it would of course be dry ; and no fire could she light before the sun was up. And this is what stopped our going."

Hearing what the young brahmin had done, the master exclaimed that a fool's doings had caused all the mischief, and repeated this stanza : [319] Learn thou from him who tore green branches down, That tasks deferred are wrought in tears at last. Such was the Bodhisatta's comment on the matter to his pupils ; and at the close of a life of charity and other good works he passed away to fare accoi'dina: to his deserts. Said the Master, "This is not the first time, Brethren, that this man has thwarted you ; he did the like in the past also." His lesson ended, he shewed the connexion and identified the Birth by saying, "The Brother who has broken his thigh was the yomig bi-ahmin of those days who hiu-t his eye ; the Buddha's followers were the rest of the young brahmins ; and I myself was the brahmin their master."

^^Ingratitude lacks more.'" — This story was told by the Master while at the Bamboo-gi-ove about Devadatta. The Brethren sat in the Hall of Truth, saying, "Sirs, Devadatta is an ingrate and does not recognise the virtues of the Blessed One." Returning to the Hall, the Master asked what topic they were discussing, and was told. "This is not the first time, Brethren,^' said he, "that Devadatta has proved an ingrate ; he was just the same in bygone days also, and he has never known my virtues." And so saying, at their request he told this story of the past. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was conceived by an elephant in the Himalayas. When born, he was white all over, like a mighty mass of silver. Like diamond balls were his eyes, like a manifestation of the five brightnesses'; red was his mouth, like scarlet cloth ; like silver flecked with red gold was his trunk ; and his four feet were as if polished with lac. Thus his person, adorned with the ten perfections, was of consunirnate beauty. When he grew up, all the elephants of the Himalayas in a body [320] followed him as their leader. Whilst he was dwelling in the Himalayas with a following of 80,000 elephants, he became aware that there was sin in the herd. So, detaching himself from the rest, he dwelt in solitude in the forest, and the goodness of his life won him the name of Grood King Elephant.

Now a forester of Benares came to the Himalayas, and made his way into that forest in quest of the implements of his craft. Losing his bearings and his way, he roamed to and fro, stretching out his arms in despair and weeping, with the fear of death before his eyes. Hearing the man's cries, the Bodhisatta was moved with compassion and resolved to help him in his need. So he approached the man. But at sight of the elephant, off ran the forester in great terror^. Seeing him run away, the Bodhisatta stood still, and this brought the man to a standstill too. Then the Bodhisatta again advanced, and again the forester ran away, halting once more when the Bodhisatta halted. Hereupon the truth dawned on the man that the elephant stood still when he himself ran, and only advanced when he himself was standing still. Consequently he concluded that the creature could not mean to hurt, but to help him. So he valiantly stood his ground this time. And the Bodhisatta drew near and said, " Why, friend man, are you wandering about here lamentiugl" "My lord," replied the forester, "I have lost my bearings and my way, and fear to perish."

Then the elephant brought the man to his own dwelling, and there entertained him for some days, regaling him with fruits of every kind. Then, saying, " Fear not, friend man, I will bring you back to the haunts of men," the elephant seated the foi*ester on his back and brought him to where men dwelt. But the ingrate thought to himself, that, if questioned, he ought to be able to reveal everything. So, as he travelled along on the elephant's back, he noted the landmarks of tree and hill. At last the elephant brought him out of the forest and set him down on the high I'oad to Benares, saying, " There lies your road, friend man : Tell no man, whether you are questioned or not, of the place of my abode." And with this leave-taking, the Bodhisatta made his way back to his own abode. Arrived at Benares, the man came, in the course of his walks through ^ This is applied to a Bodhisatta's eyes in Jat. vol. iii. 344, 9. ^ A solitary elephant, or ' rogue,' being dangerous to meet. 176 The Jataka. Book I. the city, to the ivory-workers' bazaar, where he saw ivory being worked into divers forms and shapes. And he asked the craftsmen [321] whether they would give anything for the tusk of a living elephant.

"What makes you ask such a question ? " was the reply, "A living elephant'.s tusk is worth a great deal more than a dead one's." "Oh, then, I'll bring you some ivory," said he, and off he set for the Bodhisatta's dwelling, with provisions for the journey, and with a sharp saw. Being asked what had brought him back, he whined out that he was in so sorry and wretched a plight that he could not make a living anyhow. Wherefore, he had come to ask for a bit of the kind elephant's tusk to sell for a living ! " Certainly ; I will give you a whole tusk," said the Bodhisatta, "if you have a bit of a saw to cut it off with." "Oh, I brought a saw with me, sir." "Then saw my tusks off, and take them away with you," said the Bodhisatta. And he bowed his knees till he was couched upon the earth like an ox. Then the forester sawed off both of the Bodhisatta's chief tusks ! When they were off, the Bodhisatta took them in his trunk and thus addressed the man, " Think not, friend man, that it is because I value not nor prize these tusks that I give them to you. But a thousand times, a hundred-thousand times, dearer to rae are the tusks of omniscience which can ciimprehend all things. And therefore may my gift of these to you bring me omniscience." With these words, he gave the pair of tusks to the forester as the price of omniscience.

And the man took them off, and sold them. And when he had spent the money, back he came to the Bodhisatta, saying that the two tusks had only brought him enough to pay his old debts, and begging for the rest of the Bodhisatta's ivory. The Bodhisatta consented, and gave up the rest of his ivory after having it cut as before. And the forester went away and sold this also. Returning again, he said, " It's no use, my lord ; I can't make a living anyhow. So give me the stumps of your tusks." " So be it," answered the Bodhisatta ; and he lay down as before. Then that vile wretch, trampling upon the trunk of the Bodhisatta, that sacred trunk which was like corded silver, and clambering upon the future Buddha's temples, which were as the snowy crest of Mount Kelasa, — kicked at the roots of the tusks till he had cleared the flesh away. Then he sawed out the stumps and went his way. But scarce had the wretch passed out of the sight of the Bodhisatta, when the solid earth, inconceivable in its vast extent, [322] which can support the mighty weight of Mount Sineru and its encircling peaks, with all the world's unsavoury filth and ordure, now burst asunder in a yawning chasm, — as though unable to bear the burthen of all that wickedness ! And straightway flames from nethermost Hell enveloped the ingrate, wrapping him round as iii a shroud of doom, and bore him away. And as the wretch was swallowed u|i in the bowels of the earth, the Tree-fairy that dwelt in that forest made the region echo

with these words : — " Not even the gift of worldwide empire can satisfy the thankless and ungrateful ! " And in the following stanza the Fairy taught the Truth : — ■ Ingratitude lacks more, the more it gets; Not all the world can glut its appetite. With such teachings did the Tree-fairy make that forest re-echo. As for the Bodhisatta, he lived out his life, passing away at last to fare according to his deserts. Said the Master, "This is not the first time, Brethren, that Devadatta has proved an ingrate; he was just the same in the past also." His lesson ended, he identified the Birth by saying, "Devadatta was the ungrateful man of those days, Sariputta the Tree-fairy, and I myself Good King Elephant." [JVote. Cf Milinda-panho 202, 29.]

'■'■They knexv the icorld." — This story was told by the Master while at the Bamboo-grove, about going about to kill. For, seated in the Hall of Truth, the Brotherhood was talking of Devadatta's wickedness, saying, "Sirs, Devadatta has no knowledge of the Master's excellence ; he actually goes about to kill him !" Here the Master entered the Hall and asked what they were discussing. [323] Being told, he said, "This is not the first time, Brethren, that Devadatta has gone about to kill me; he did just the same in bygone days also." And so saying, he told this story of the past. Once on a time Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares. He had a son named Prince Wicked. Fierce and cruel was he, like a scotched snake ; he spoke to nobody without abuse or blows. Like grit in the eye was this prince to all folk both witliin and without the palace, or like a ravening ogre, — so dreaded and fell was he. One day, wishing to disport himself in the river, he went with a large retinue to the water side. And a great storm came on, and utter darkness set in. " Hi there ! " cried he to his servants ; " take me into mid-stream,

178 Tlie Jataka. Book I. bathe me there, and then bring me back again." So they took him into mid-stream and there took counsel together, saying, "What will the king do to us ? Let US kill this wicked wretch here and now ! So in you go, you pest!" they cried, as they flung him into the water. When they made their way ashore, they were asked where the prince was, and replied, " We don't see him ; finding the storm come on, he must have come out of the river and gone home ahead of us." The courtiers went into the king's presence, and the king asked where his son was. " We do not know, sire," said they ; " a storm came on, and we came away in the belief that he must have gone on ahead." At once the king had the gates thi own open ; down to the riverside he went and bade diligent search be made up and down for the missing prince. But no trace of him could be found. For, in the darkness of the storm, he had been swept away by the current, and, coming across a tree-trunk, had climbed on to it, and so floated down stream, crying lustily in the agony of his fear of drowning.

Now there had been a rich merchant living in those days at Benares, who had died, leaving forty crores buried in the banks of that same river. And because of his craving for riches, he was reborn as a snake at the spot under which lay his dear treasux"e. And also in the selfsame spot another man had hidden thirty crores, and because of his craving for riches was re-born as a rat at the same spot. In rushed the water into their dwelling-place ; and the two creatures, escaping by the way by which the water rushed in, were making their way athwart the stream, when they chanced upon the ti^ee-trunk to which the prince was clinging. [324] The snake climbed up at one end, and the rat at the other ; and so both got a footing with the prince on the trunk. Also there grew on the river's bank a Silk-cotton tree, in which lived a young parrot ; and this tree, being uprooted by the swollen waters, fell into the river. The heavy rain beat down the parrot when it tried to fly, and it alighted iu its fall upon this same tree-trunk. And so there were now these four floating down stream together upon the tree.

Now the Bodhisatta had been re-born in those days as a brahmin in the North-West country. Renouncing the world for the hermit's life on reaching manhood, he had built himself a hermitage by a bend of the river; and there he was now living. As he was pacing to and fro, at midnight, he heard the loud cries of the prince, and thought thus within himself :— "This fellow-creature must not perish thus before the eyes of so merciful and compassionate a hermit as I am. I will rescue him from the water, and save his life." So he shouted cheerily, "Be not afraid! Be not afraid !" and plunging across stream, seized hold of the tree by one end, and, being as strong as an elephant, drew it in to the bank with one long pull, and set the prince safe and sound upon the shore. Then becoming aware of the snake and the rat and the parrot, he carried them to his hermitage, and there lighting a fire, warmed the animals first, as being the weaker, and afterwards the prince. This done, he brought fruits of various kinds and set them before his guests, looking after the animals first and the prince afterwards. This enraged the young prince, who said within himself, "This rascally hei'mit pays no respect to my royal birth, but actually gives brute beasts precedence over me." And he conceived hatred against the Bodhisatta !

A few days later, when all four had recovered their strength and the waters had subsided, the snake bade farewell to the hermit with these words, "Father, you have done me a great service. I am not poor, for I have forty crores of gold hidden at a certain spot. Should you ever want money, all my hoard shall be yours. You have only to come to the spot and call 'Snake.'" Next the rat took his leave with a like promise to the hermit as to his treasure, bidding the hermit come and call out 'Rat.' [325] Then the parrot bade farewell, saying, "Father, silver and gold have I none ; but should you ever want for choice I'ice, come to where I dwell and call out 'Parrot;' and I with the aid of my kinsfolk will give you many waggon-loarls of rice." Last came the prince. His heart was filled with base ingratitude and with a determination to put his benefactor to death, if the Bodhisatta should come to visit hii7i. But, concealing his intent, he said, "Come, father, to me when I am king, and I will bestow on you the Four Requisites." So saying, he took his departure, and not long after succeeded to the throne.

The desire came on the Bodhisatta to put their professions to the test ; and first of all he went to the snake and standing hard by its abode, called out 'Snake.' At the word the snake darted forth and with every mark of respect said, "Father, in this place there are forty crores in gold. Dig them up and take them all." "It is well," said the Bodhisatta; "when I need them, I will not forget." Then bidding adieu to the snake, he went on to where the rat lived, and called out 'Rat.' And the rat did as the snake had done. Going next to the parrot, and calling out 'Parrot,' the bii-d at once flew down at his call from the tree-top, and respectfully asked whether it was the Bodhisatta's wish that he with the aid of his kinsfolk should gather paddy for the Bodhisatta from the region round the Himalayas. The Bodhisatta dismissed the parrot also with a promise that, if need arose, he would not forget the bird's offer. Last of all, being minded to test the king in his turn, the Bodhisatta came to the royal pleasaunce, and on the day after his arrival made his way, carefully dressed, into the city on his round for alms. Just at that moment, the ungrateful king, seated in all his royal splendour on his elephant of state, was passing in solemn procession round the city followed by a vast retinue. Seeing the Bodhisatta from afar, he thought to himself, "Here's that rascally hermit come

180 The Jdtaka. Booh I. to quarter himself and his appetite on me. I must have his head off before he can publish to the world the service he rendered me." With this intent, he signed to his attendants, and, on their asking what was his pleasure, said, "Methinks yonder rascally hermit is here to importune me. See that the pest does not come near my person, but seize and bind him; [326] flog him at every street-corner; and then march him out of the city, chop off his head at the place of execution, and impale his body on a stake." Obedient to their king's command, the attendants laid the innocent Great Being in bonds and flogged him at every street-corner on the way to the place of execution. But all their floggings failed to move the Bodhisatta or to wring from him any cry of "Oh, my mother and father !" All he did was to repeat this Stanza : — They knew the world, who framed this proverb true — 'A log pays better salvage than some men.' These lines he repeated wherever he was flogged, till at last the wise among the bystanders asked the hermit what service he had rendered to their king. Then the Bodhisatta told the whole story, ending with the words, — "So it comes to pass that by rescuing him from the torrent I brought all this woe upon myself. And when I bethink me how I have left unheeded the words of the wise of old, I exclaim as you have heard."

Filled with indignation at the recital, the nobles and brahmins and all classes with one accord cried out, "This ungrateful king does not recognise even the goodness of this good man who saved his majesty's life. How can we have any profit from this king ] Seize the tyrant ! " And in their anger they rushed upon the king from every side, and slew him there and then, as he rode on his elephant, with arrows and javelins and stones and clubs and any weapons that came to hand. The corpse they dragged by the heels to a ditch and flung it in. Then they anointed the Bodhisatta king and set him to rule over them. As he was ruling in righteousness, one day [327] the desire came on him again to try the snake and the rat and the parrot; and followed by a large retinue, he came to where the snake dwelt. At the call of 'Snake,' out came the snake from his hole and with every mark of respect said, "Here, my lord, is your treasure ; take it." Then the king delivered the forty crores of gold to his attendants, and proceeding to where the rat dwelt, called, 'Rat.' Out came the rat, and saluted the king, and gave up its thirty crores. Placing this treasure too in the hands of his attendants, the king went on to where the parrot dwelt, and called 'Parrot.' And in like manner the bird came, and bowing down at the king's feet asked whether it should collect rice for his majesty, " We will not trouble you," said the king, "till rice is needed. Now let us be going." So with the

seventy crores of gold, and with the rat, the snake, and the parrot as well, the king journeyed back to the city. Here, in a noble palace, to the statestory of which he mounted, he caused the treasure to be lodged and guarded • he had a golden tube made for the snake to dwell in, a crystal casket to house the rat, and a cage of gold for the parrot. Every day too by the king's command food was served to the three creatures in vessels of gold, — sweet parched-corn for the parrot and snake, and scented rice for the rat. And the king abounded in charity and all good works. Thus in harmony and goodwill one with another, these four lived their lives ; and when their end came, they passed away to fare according to their deserts. Said the Master, "This is not the first time, Brethren, that Devadatta has gone about to kill me ; he did the like in the past also." His lesson ended, he shewed the connexion and identified the Birth by saying, " Devadatta was King Wicked in those days, Siiriputta the snake, Moggallana the rat, Ananda the parrot, and I myself the righteous King who won a kingdom."

" United, forest-like." — This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a quarrel concerning water which had brought woe upon his kinsfolk. Knowing of this, he passed through the air, sat cross-legged above the river Rohinl, and emitted rays of darkness, startling his kinsfolk. Then descending from mid-air, he seated himself on the river-bank and told this story with reference to that quarrel. (Only a summary is given here; the full details will be related in the Kunala-jataka'.) But on this occasion the Master addressed his kinsfolk, [.328] saying, " It is meet, sire, that kinsfolk should dwell together in concord and unity. For, when kinsfolk are at one, enemies find no opportunity. Not to speak of human beings, even sense-lacking trees ought to stand together. For in bygone days in the Himalayas a tempest struck a Sill-forest ; yet, because the trees, shrubs, bushes, and creepers of that forest were interlaced one with another, the tempest could not overthrow even a single tree but passed harmlessly over their heads. But alone in a courtyard stood a mighty tree ; and though it had many stems and branches, yet, because it was not miited with other trees, the tempest uprooted it and laid it low. Wherefore, it is meet that you too should dwell together in concord and unity." And so saying, at their request he told this story of the past.

X82 The Jataka. Book I. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the 6rst King Vessavana^ died, and Sakka sent a new king to reign in his stead. After the change, the new King Vessavana sent word to all trees and shrubs and bushes and plants, bidding the tree-fairies each choose out the abode that liked them best. In those days the Bodhisatta had come to life as a tree-fiiiry in a Sal-forest in the Himalayas. His advice to his kinsfolk in choosing their habitations was to shun trees that stood alone in the open, and to take up their abodes all round the abode which he had cliosen in that Sal-forest. Hereon the wise tree-fairies, following the Bodliisatta's advice, took up their quarters round his tree. But the foolish ones said, — "Why should we dwell in the forest? let us rather seek out the haunts of men, and take uj) our abodes outside villages, towns, or capital cities. For fairies who dwell in such places receive the richest offerings and the greatest worship." So they departed to the haunts of men, and took up their abode in certain giant trees which grew in an open space.

Now it fell out upon a day that a mighty tempest swept over the country. Naught did it avail the solitary trees that years had rooted them deep in the soil and that they were the mightiest trees that grew. Their brandies snai)ped ; their stems were broken ; and they themselves were uprooted and flung to earth by the tempest. But when it broke on the Sal-forest of interlacing trees, its fury was in vain ; for, attack where it might, not a tree could it overthrow. The forlorn fairies whose dwellings were destroyed, took their children in their arms and journeyed to the Himalayas. There they told their sorrows to the fairies of the Sal-forest, [329] who in turn told the Bodhisatta of their sad return. "It was because they hearkened not to the words of wisdom, that they have been brought to this," said he ; and he unfolded the truth in this stanza : — United, forest-like, should kinsfolk stand ; • The storm o'erthrows the solitary tree. So spake the Bodhisatta ; and when his life was spent, he passed away to fare according to his deserts. . ^J^^ ^^® Master went on to say, " Thus, sire, reflect how meet it is that kinsfolk at any rate should be united, and lovingly dwell together in concord and unity." His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth by saying, " The Buddha's followers were the fairies of those days, and I myself the wise fairy."

^ A name of Kuvera.

" Pajjunna, thunder ! " — This story the Master told while at Jetavana, about the rain he caused to fall. For in those days, so it is said, there fell no rain in Kosala ; the crops withered ; and everywhere the ponds, tanks, and lakes dried up. Even the pool of Jetavana by the embattled gateway of Jetavana gave out ; and the fish and tortoises buried themselves in the mud. Then came the crows and hawks with their lance-like beaks, and busily picked them out writliing and wriggling, and devoured them. As he marked how the tishes and the tortoises were being destroyed, the Master's heart was moved with compassion, and he exclaimed, — "This day [330] must I cause rain to fall." So, when the night grew day, after attending to his bodily needs, he waited till it was the proper hour to go the round in quest of alms, and then, girt round by a host of the Brethren, and perfect with the perfection of a Buddha, he went into Savatthi for alms. On his way back to the monastery in the afternoon from his round for alms in Savatthi, he stopped upon the steps leading down to the tank of Jetavana, and thus addressed the Elder Ananda: — "Bring me a bathing-dress, Ananda ; for I would bathe in the tank of Jetavana." " But surely, sir," replied the Elder, '' the water is all dried up, and only mud is left." "Great is a Buddha's power, Ananda. Go, bring me the bathing-dress," said the Master. So the Elder went and bi'ought the bathingdress, which the Master donned, using one end to go round his waist, and covering his body up with the other. So clad, he took his stand upon the tanksteps, and e.\claimed, — " I would fain bathe in the tank of Jetavana."

That instant the yellow-stone throne of Sakka grew hot beneath him, and he sought to discover the cause, llealising what was the matter, he summoned the King of the Storm-Clouds, and said, " The Master is standing on the steps of the tank of Jetavana, and wishes to bathe. Make haste and pour down rain in a single toiTent over all the kingdom of Kosala." Obedient to Sakka's command, the King of the Storm-Clouds clad himself in one cloud as an under garment, and another cloud as an outer garment, and chaunting the rain-song i, he darted forth eastward. And lo ! he appeared in the east as a cloud of the bigness of a threshing-floor, which grew and grew till it was as big as a hundred, as a thousand, threshing-floors ; and he thundered and lightened, and bending down his face and mouth deluged all Kosala with torrents of rain. Unbroken was the downpour, quickly filling the tank of Jetavana, and stopping only when the water was level with the topmost step. Then the Master bathed in the tank, and coming up out of the water donned his two orange-coloured cloths and his girdle, adjusting his Buddha-robe around him so as to leave one shoulder bare. In this guise he set forth, surrounded by the Brethren, and passed into his Perfumed Chamber, fragrant with sweet-smelling flowers. Here on the Buddhaseat he sate, and when the Brethren had performed their duties, he rose and exhorted the Brotherhood from the jewelled steps of his throne, and dismissed them from his presence. Passing now within his own sweet-smelling odorous chamber, he stretched himself, lion-like, upon his right side.

At even, the Brethren gathered together in the Hall of Truth, and dwelt on the forbearance and loving-kindness of the Master. "When the crops were withering, when the pools were drying up, and the fishes and tortoises were in grievous plight, then did he in his compassion come forth as a saviour. Donning a bathing-dress, he stood on the steps of the tank of Jetavana, and in a little 1 In the J. E. A. S. (New Series) 12, 286, is given a Megha-sutra. 184 The Jataha. Book I. space made the rain to pour down from the heavens till it seemed like to overwhelm all Kosala with its torrents. And by the time he returned to the Monastery, he had freed all alike from their tribulations both of mind and body." [331] So ran their talk when the Master came forth from his Perfumed Chamber into the Hall of Truth, and asked what was their theme of conversation ; and they told him. "This is not the first time. Brethren," said the Master, "that the Blessed One has made the rain to fall in the hour of general need. He did the like when born into the brute-creation, in the days when he was King of the Fish." And so saying, he told this story of the past : —

Once on a time, in this self-same kingdom of Kosala and at Savatthi too, there was a pond where the tank of Jetavana now is, — a pond fenced in by a tangle of climbing plants. Therein dwelt the Bodhisatta, who had come to life as a fish in those days. And, then as now, there was a drought in the land ; the crops withered ; water gave out in tank and pool ; and the fishes and tortoises buried themselves in the mud. Likewise, when the fishes and tortoises of this pond had hidden themselves in its mud, the crows and other birds, flocking to the spot, picked them out with their beaks and devoured them. Seeing the fate of his kinsfolk, and knowing that none but he could save them in their hour of need, the Bodhisatta resolved to make a solemn Profession of Goodness, and by its efficacy to make rain fall from the heavens so as to save his kinsfolk from certain death. So, parting asunder the black mud, he came forth, — a mighty fish, blackened with mud as a casket of the finest sandal-wood which has been smeared with collyrium. Opening his eyes which w^ere as washen rubies, and looking up to the heavens he thus bespoke Pajjunna, King of Devas, — "My heart is heavy within me for my kinsfolk's sake, my good Pajjunna. How comes it, pray, that, when I who am righteous am distressed for my kinsfolk, you send no rain from heaven?

For I, though born where it is customary to prey on one's kinsfolk, have never from my youth up devoured any fish, even of the size of a grain of rice ; nor have I ever robbed a single living creature of its life. By the truth of this my Protestation, I call upon you to send rain and succour my kinsfolk." Therewithal, he called to Pajjunna, King of Devas, as a master might call to a servant, in this stanza : — [332]

Pajjunna, thunder ! Baflae, thwart, the crow ! Breed sorrow's pangs in him ; ease me of woe ! In such wise, as a master might call to a servant, did the Bodhisatta call to Pajjunna, thereby causing heavy rains to fall and relieving numbers from the fear of death. And when his life closed, he passed away to fare according to his deserts. " So this is not the first time, Brethren," said the Master, " that the Blessed One has caused the rain to fall. He did the like in bygone days, when he was a fish." His lesson ended, he identified the Birth by saying, "The Buddha's disciples were the fishes of those days, Ananda was Pajjunna, King of Devas, and I myself the King of the Fish." [Note. Cf. Cixriya-pitaka (P. T. S. edition) page 99.]

" TTie village breeds no fear in me." — This story was told by the Master while at Jetavaua, about a lay-brother who lived at Savatthi. Tradition says that this man, who had entered the Paths and was an earnest believer, was once journeying along on some business or other in the company of a leader of a caravan ; in the jungle the carts were iniyoked and a laager was constructed ; and the good man began to pace up and down at the foot of a certain tree hard by the leader. Now five hundred robbers, who had watched their time, had surrounded the spot, armed with bows, clubs, and other weapons, with the object of looting the encampment. [333] Still unceasingly that lay-brother paced to and fro. " Surely that must be their sentry," said the robbers when they noticed him ; " we will wait till he is asleep and then loot them." So, being unable to surprise the camp, they stopped where they were. Still that lay-brother kept pacing to and fro, — all through the first watch, all through the middle watch, and all through the last watch of the night. When day dawned, the robbers, who had never had their chance, threw down the stones and clubs which they had brought, and bolted.

His business done, that lay-brother came back to Savatthi, and, approaching the Master, asked him this question, " In guarding themselves. Sir, do men prove guardians of others 1 " " Yes, lay-brother. In guarding himself a man guards others ; in guarding others, he guards himself." " Oh, how well-said, sir, is this utterance of the Blessed One ! When I was joiu-neying with a caravan-leader, I resolved to guard myself by pacing to and fro at the foot of a tree, and by so doing I guarded the whole caravan." Said the Master, " Lay-brother, in bygone days too the wise and good guarded others whilst guarding themselves." And, so saying, at the lay-brother's rec^uest he told this story of the past. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta came to life as a brahmin. Arriving at yeai'S of discretion, he became aware of the evils that spring from Lusts, and so forsook the 186 The Jdtaka. Book I. world to live as a recluse in the country round the Himalayas. Need of salt and vinegar having led him to make a pilgrimage for alms through the countryside, he travelled in the course of his wanderings with a merchant's caravan. When the caravan halted at a certain spot in the forest, he paced to and fro at the foot of a tree, hard by the caravan, enjoying the bliss of Insight.

Now after supper five hundred robbers surrounded the laager to plunder it; but, noticing the ascetic, they halted, saying, "If he sees us, he'll give the alarm ; wait till he drops off to sleep, and then we'll plunder them." But all through the livelong night the ascetic continued to pace up and down ; and never a chance did the robbers get ! So they flung away their sticks and stones and shouted to the caravan-folk ; — "Hi, there ! you of the caravan ! If it hadn't been for that ascetic walking about under the tree, we'd have plundered the lot of you. Mind and fete him tomorrow!" And so saying, they made off. When the night gave place to light, the people saw the clubs and stones which the robbers had cast away, [334] and came in fear and treml>liug to ask the Bodhisatta with respectful salutation whether he had seen the robbers. "Oh, yes, I did, sirs," he replied. "And were you not alarmed or afraid at the sight of so many robbers 1" "No," said the Bodhisatta; "the sight of robbers causes what is known as fear only to the rich. As for me,— I am penniless ; why should I be afraid 1 Whether I dwell in village or in forest, I never have any fear or dread." And thei-ewithal, to teach them the Truth, he repeated this stanza ; —

The village breeds no fear in me ; No forests me dismay. I've won by love and charity When the Bodhisatta had thus taught the Truth in this stanza to the people of the caravan, peace filled their hearts, and they shewed him honour and veneration. All his life long he developed the Four Excellences, and then was re-born into the Brahma Realm. His lesson ended, the Master shewed the connexion and identified the Birth by saying, "The Buddha's followers were the caravan-folk of those days, and I the ascetic."

'■'■ Bulls first, and trees." — This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana about sixteen wonderful dreams. For in the last watch of one night (so tradition says) the King of Kosala, who had been asleep all the night, dreamed sixteen great dreams, [335] and woke up in great fright and alarm as to what they might portend for him. So strong was the fear of death upon him that he could not stir, but lay there huddled up on his bed. Now, when the night grew light, his brahmins and chaplains came to him and with due obeisance asked whether his majesty had slept well. "How could I sleep well, my directors?" answered the king. "For just at daybreak I dreamed sixteen wonderful dreams, and I have been in terror ever since ! Tell me, my directors, what it all means." "We shall be able to judge, on hearing them." Then the king told them his dreams, and asked what those visions would entail upon him. The brahmins fell a- wringing their hands! "Why wring your hands, brahmins?" asked the king. "Because, sire, these are evil dreams." "What will come of them?" said the king. "One of three calamities, — harm to your kingdom, to your life, or to your riches." "Is there a remedy, or is there not?" "Undoubtedly these dreams in themselves are so threatening as to be without remedy ; but none the less we will tind a remedy for tliem.

Otherwise, what boots our much study and learning?" "What then do you propose to do to avert the evil?" "Wherever four roads meet, we would offer sacrifice, sire." "J\Iy directors," cried the king in his terror, "my life is in your hands; make haste and work my safety." "Large sums of money, and large supplies of food of every kind will be ours," thought the exultant brahmins; and, bidding the king have no fear, they departed from the palace. Outside the town they dug a sacriticial pit and collected a host of fourfooted creatures, perfect and without blemish, and a multitude of birds. But still they discovered something lacking, and back they kept coming to the king to ask for this that and the other. Now their doings were watched by Queen Mallika, who came to the king and asked what made these brahmins keep coming to him.

"I envy you," said the king; "a snake in your ear, and you not to know of it!" "What does your majesty mean?" "I have dreamed, oh such unlucky dreams ! The brahmins tell me they point to one of three calamities ; and they are anxious to ofl'er sacrifices to avert the evil. And this is what brings them here so often." "But has your majesty consulted the Chief Brahmin both of this world and of the world of devas?" "Who, pray, may he be, my dear?" asked the king. "Know you not that chiefest personage of all the world, the all-knowing and pure, the spotless master- brahmin? Surely, he, the Blessed One, will understand your dreams. Go, ask him." "And so I will, my queen," said the king. And away he went to the monastery, saluted the Master, and sat down. "What, pray, brings your majesty here so early in the morning?" asked the Master in his sweet tones. "Sir," said the king, "just before daybreak [336] I dreamed sixteen wonderful dreams, which so terrified me that I told them to the brahmins. They told me that my dreams boded evil, and that to avert the threatened calamity they must offer sacrifice wherever foiu* roads met. And so they are busy with their preparations, and many living creatures have the fear of death before their eyes. But I pray you, who are the chiefest personage in the world of men and devas, you into whose ken comes all possible knowledge of things past and present and to be, — I pray you tell me what will come of my dreams, 0 Blessed One."

The Jataka. Book I. "True it is, sire, that there is none other save me, who can tell what your dreams signify or what will come of them. I will tell you. Only tirst of all relate to me your dreams as they appeared to you." " I will, sir," said the king, and at once began this list, following the order of the dreams' appearance : — Bulls first, and trees, and cows, and calves, Horse, dish, she-jackal, waterpot, A pond, raw rice, and sandal-wood, And gourds that sank, and stones that swam*, With frogs that gobbled up black snakes, A crow with gay-plumed retiime, And wolves in panic-fear of goats ! "How was it, sir, that I had the following one of my dreams? Methought, four black bulls, like collyrium in hue, came from the four cardinal directions to the royal courtyard with avowed intent to fight ; and people flocked together to see the bull-fight, till a great crowd had gathered. But the bulls only made a show of fighting, roared and bellowed, and finally went oflf without fighting at all. This was my first dream. What will come of it /" "Sire, that dream shall have no issue in your days or in mine. But hereafter, when kings shall be niggardly and unrighteous, and when folk shall be unrighteous, in days when the world is perverted, when good is waning and evil waxing apace, — in those days of the world's backsliding there shall fall no rain from the heavens, the feet of the storm shall be lamed, the crops shall wither, and famine shall be on the laud.

Then shall the clouds gather as if for rain from the four quarters of the heavens ; there shall be haste first to carry indoors the rice and crops that the women have sj^read in the sun to dry, for fear the harvest should get wet ; and then with spade and basket in hand the men shall go forth to bank up the dykes. As though in sign of coming rain, the thunder shall bellow, the lightning shall flash from the clouds, — but even as the bulls in youi* dream, that fought not, so the clouds shall flee away without raining. This is what shall come of this dream. But no harm shall come therefrom to you; [337] for it was with regard to the future that you dreamed this dream. What the brahmins told you, was said only to get themselves a livelihood." And when the Master had thus told the fulfilment of this dream, he said, "Tell me your second dream, sire."

"Sir," said the king, "my second dream was after this manner: — Methought little tiny trees and shrubs burst through the soil, and when they had gi-own scarce a span or two high, they flowered and bore fruit I This was my second dream ; what shall come of it?" "Sire," said the Master, "this dream shall have its fulfilment in days when the world has fallen into decay and when men are shortlived. In times to come the passions shall be strong; quite young girls shall go to live with men, and it shall be with them after the manner of women, they shall conceive and bear children. The flowers typify their issues, and the fruit their oflTspring. But you, sire, have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your third dream, O great king." "Methought, sir, I saw cows sucking the milk of calves which they had borne that selfsame day. This was my third dream. What shall come of it?" " This dream too shall have its fulfilment only in days to come, when respect shall cease to be paid to age. For in the future men, shewing no reverence for parents or parents-in-law, shall themselves administer the family estate, and, if such be their good pleasure, shall bestow food and clothing on the old folks, but shall withhold their gifts, if it be not their pleasure to give. Then shall the old folks, destitute and dependent, exist by favour of their own children, like big cows suckled by calves a day old. But you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your fourth dream."

^ See Maha-Vira-Carita, p. 13, Mahabharata ii. 2196. "Methought, sir, I saw men unyoking a team of draught-oxen, sturdy and strong, and setting young steers to draw the load ; and the steers, proving unequal to the task laid on them, refused and stood stock-still, so that wains moved not on their way. This was my fourth dream. What shall come of it?" "Here again the dream shall not have its fulfilment until the future, in the days of unrighteous kings. For in days to come, unrighteous and niggardly kings shall shew no honour to wise lords skilled in precedent, fertile in expedient, and able to get through business; nor shall appoint to the courts of law and justice aged councillors of wisdom and of learning in the law. Nay, they shall honour the very young and foolish, and appoint such to preside in the courts. And these latter, ignorant alike of state-craft and of practical knowledge, shall not be able to bear the burthen of their honours or to govern, but because of their incompetence shall throw off the yoke of office. Whereon the aged and wise lords, albeit right able to cope with all difficulties, shall keep in mind how they were passed over, and shall decline to aid, saying: — 'It is no business of ours; we are outsiders; let the boys of the inner circle see to it.' [338] Hence they shall stand aloof, and ruin shall assail those kings on every hand. It shall be even as when the yoke was laid on the young steers, who were not strong enough for the burthen, and not upon the team of sturdy and strong draughtoxen, who alone were able to do the work. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your fifth dream."

"Methought, sir, I saw a horse with a mouth on either side, to which fodder was given on both sides, and it ate with both its mouths. This was my fifth dream. What shall come of it 1" "This dream too shall have its fulfilment only in the future, in the days of unrighteous and foolish kings, who shall appoint unrighteous and covetous men to be judges. These base ones, fools, despising the good, shall take bribes from both sides as they sit in the seat of judgment, and shall be filled with this twofold corruption, even as the horse that ate fodder with two mouths at once, Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your sixth dream." "Methought, sir, I saw people holding out a well-scoured golden bowl worth a hundred thousand pieces, and begging an old jackal to stale therein. And I saw the beast do so. This was my sixth dream. What shall come of it?" "This dream too shall only have its fulfilment in the future. For in the days to come, unrighteous kings, though sprung of a race of kings, mistrusting the scions of their old nobility, shall not honour them, but exalt in their stead the low-born ; whereby the nobles shall be brought low and the low-boi-n raised to lordship. Then shall the great families be brought by very need to seek to live by dependence on the upstarts, and shall oft'er them their daughters in marriage. And the union of the noble maidens with the low-born shall be like unto the staling of the old jackal in the golden bowl. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your seventh dream."

"A man was weaving rope, sir, and as he wove, he threw it down at his feet. Under his bench lay a hungry she-jackal, which kept eating the rope as he wove, but without the man knowing it. This is what I saw. This was my seventh dream. What shall come of it?"^ "This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till the future. For in days to come, women shall lust after men and strong drink and finery and gadding abroad and after the joys of this world. In their wickedness and profligacy these women shall drink strong drink with their paramours ; they shall flaunt in garlands and perfumes and unguents; and heedless of even the most pressing of their household duties, they shall keep watching for their paramours, even at crevices high up in the outer wall ; aye, they shall pound up the very seed-corn that should be sown on the morrow so as to provide good cheer ; — in all these ways shall they plunder the store won by the hard work of their husbands in field and byre, devouring the poor men's substance even as the hungry jackal under the bench ate up the rope of the rope-maker as he wove it. [339] Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your eighth dream."

J Gf. the story of Ocnus in Pausanias x. 29, 190 The Jataka. Booh I. "Methought, sir, I saw at a palace gate a big pitcher which was full to the brim and stood amid a nmnber of empty ones. And from the four cardinal points, and from the four intermediate points as well, there kept coming a constant stream of people of all the four castes, carrying water in pipkins and pouring it into the full pitcher. And the water overflowed and ran away. But none the less they still kept on pouring more and more water into the overflowing vessel, without a single man giving so much as a glance at the empty pitchers. This was my eighth dream. What shall come of it?" "This dream too shall not have its fulfilment until the future. For in days to come the world shall decay; the kingdom shall grow weak, its kings shall grow poor and niggardly ; the foremost among them shall have no more than 100,000 pieces of money in his treasury. Then shall these kings in their need set the whole of the country-folk to work for them ;— for the kings' sake shall the toiling folk, leaving their own work, sow grain and pulse, and keep watch and reap and thresh and garner ; for the kings' sake shall they plant sugar-canes, make and drive sugar-mills, and boil down the molasses; for the kings' sake shall they lay out flower-gardens and orchards, and gather in the fruits. And as they gather in all the divers kinds of produce they shall fill the royal garners to overflowing, not giving so much as a glance at their own empty barns at home. Thus it shall be like filling up the full pitcher, heedless of the quite-empty ones. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your ninth dream."

" Methought, sir, I saw a deep pool with shelving banks all round and overgrown with the five kinds of lotuses. From every side two-footed creatures and four-footed creatures flocked thither to drink of its waters. The depths in the middle were muddy, but the water was clear and sparkling at the margin where the various creatui-es went down into the pool. This was my ninth dream. What shall come of it?" " This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till the future. For in days to come kings shall grow unrighteous ; they shall rule after their own will and pleasure, and shall not execute judgment according to righteousness. These kings shall hunger after riches and wax fat on bribes ; they shall not shew mercy, love and compassion toward their people, but be fierce and cruel, amassing wealth by crushing their subjects like sugar-canes in a mill and by taxing them even to the uttermost fixrthing. Unable to i)ay the oppressive tax, the people shall fly from village and town and the like, and take refuge upon the borders of the realm ; the heart of the land shall be a wilderness, while the borders shall teem with people, — even as the water was muddy in the middle of the pool and clear at the margin. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. [340] Tell me your tenth dream."

"Methought, sir, I saw rice boiling in a pot without getting done. By not getting done, I mean that it looked as though it were shai-j^ly marked off and kept apart, so that the cooking went on in three distinct stages. For part was sodden, part hard and raw, and part just cooked to a nicety. This was my tenth dream. What shall come of it?" "This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till the future. For in days to come kings shall grow unrighteous ; the people surrounding the kings shall grow unrighteous too, as also shall brahmins and householders, townsmen, and countryfolk; yes, all people alike shall grow unrighteous, not excepting even sages and brahmins. Next, their very tutelary deities — the spirits to whom they oft'er sacrifice, the spirits of the trees, and the spirits of the air — shall become unrighteous also. The very winds that blow over the realms of these unrighteous kings shall grow cruel and lawless ; they shall shake the mansions of the skies and thereby kindle the anger of the spirits that dwell there, so that they will not suffer rain to fall — or, if it does rain, it shall not fall on all the kingdom at once, nor shall the kindly shower fall on all tilled or sown lands alike to help them in their need. And, as in the kingdom at large, so in each several district and village and over each separate pool or lake, the rain shall not fall at one and the same time on its whole expanse; if it rain on the upper part, it shall not rain upon the lower; here the crops shall be spoiled by a heavy down-

pour, there wither for very drought, and here again thrive apace with kindly showers to water them. So the crops sown within the confines of a single kingdom — like the rice in the one pot— shall have no uniform character. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your eleventh dream." "Methought, sir, I saw sour buttermilk bartered for precious sandal-wood, worth 100,000 pieces of money. This was my eleventh dream. What shall come of it?" "This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till tlie future — in the days when my doctrine is waning. For in days to come many greedy and shameless Brethren shall arise, who for their belly's sake shall preach the very words in which I inveighed against greed! Because they have deserted by reason of their belly and have taken their stand on the side of the sectaries', they shall fail to make their preaching lead up to Nirvana. Nay, their only thought, as they preach, shall be by fine words and sweet voices to induce men to give them costly raiment and the like, and to be minded to give such gifts. Others again seated in the highways, at the street-corners, at the doors of kings' palaces, and so forth, shall stoop to preach for money, yea for mere coined kahapanas, half-kahapanas, padas, or masakas I^ And as they thus barter away for food or raiment or for kahapanas and half-kahapanas my doctrine the worth whereof is Nirvana, they shall be even as those who bartered away for sour buttermilk precious sandal-wood worth 100,000 pieces. [341] Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your twelfth dream."

"Methought, sir, I saw empty pumpkins sinking in the water. What shall come of it?" "This dream also shall not have its fulfilment till the future, in the days of unrighteous kings, when the world is perverted. For in those days shall kings shew favour not to the scions of the nobility, but to the low-born only ; and these latter shall become great lords, whilst the nobles sink into poverty. Alike in the royal presence, in the palace gates, in the council chamber, and in the courts of justice, the words of the low-born alone (whom the empty pumpkins typify) shall be stablished, as though they had sunk down till they rested on the bottom. So too in the assemblies of the Brotherhood, in the greater and lesser conclaves, and in enquiries regarding bowls, robes, lodging, and the like, — the counsel only of the wicked and the vile shall be considered to have saving power, not that of the modest Brethren. Thus everywhere it shall be as when the empty pumpkins sank. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your thirteenth dream." Hereupon the king said, "Methought, sir, I saw huge blocks of solid rock, as big as houses, floating like ships upon the waters. What shall come of it?"

"This dream also shall not have its fulfilment before such times as those of which I have spoken. For in those days unrighteous kings shall shew honour to the low-born, who shall become great lords, whilst the nobles sink into poverty. Not to the nobles, but to the upstarts alone shall respect be paid. In the royal presence, in the council chamber, or in the courts of justice, the words of the nobles learned in the law (and it is they whom the solid rocks typify) shall drift idly by, and not sink deep into the hearts of men ; when they speak, the upstai-ts shall merely laugh them to scorn, saying, 'What is this these fellows are saying?' So too in the assemblies of the Brethren, as afore said, men shall not deem worthy of respect the excellent among the Brethren ; the words of such shall not sink deep, but drift idly by, — even as when the rocks floated upon the waters. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your fourteentli dream." "Methought, sir, I saw tiny frogs, no bigger than minute flowerets, swiftly pursuing huge black snakes, chopping them up like so many lotus-stalks and gobbling them up. What shall come of this?"

* Reading titthakardnaih pakhhe, as conjectured by Fausboll. ^ See Vinaya ii. 294 for the same list ; and see page 6 of Rhys Davids' " Ancient Coins and Measures of Ceylon " in Numismata Orientalia (Tritbner). 192 TJie Jdtaha. Book I. "This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till those days to come such as those of which I have spoken, when the world is decaying. For then shall men's passions be so strong, and their lusts so hot, that they shall be the thralls of the very youngest of their wives for the time being, at whose sole disposal shall be slaves and hired servants, oxen, buftalos and all cattle, gold and silver, and everything that is in the house. Should the poor husband ask where the money (say) or a robe is, at once he shall be told that it is where it is, that he should mind his own business, and not be so inquisitive as to what is, or is not, in her house. And therewithal in divers ways the wives with abuse and goading taunts shall establish their dominion over their husbands, as over slaves and bondservants. [342] Thus shall it be like as when the tiny frogs, no bigger than minute flowerets, gobbled up the big black snakes. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your fifteenth dream."

"Methought, sir, I saw a village crow, in which dwelt the whole of the Ten Vices, escorted by a retinue of those birds which, because of their golden sheen, are called Royal Golden Mallards. What shall come of it?" "This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till the future, till the reign of weakling kings. In days to come kings shall arise who shall know nothing about elephants or other arts, and shall be cowards in the field. Fearing to be deposed and cast from their royal estate, they shall raise to power not their peers but their footmen, bath-attendants, barbers, and such like. Thus, shut out from royal favour' and unable to support themselves, the nobles shall be reduced to dancing attendance on the upstarts, — as when the crow had Royal Golden Swans for a retinue. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your sixteenth dream." "Heretofore, sir, it always used to be panthers that preyed on goats; but methought I saw goats chasing panthers and devouring them — munch, munch, munch ! — whilst at bare sight of the goats afar oft", terror-stricken wolves fled quaking with fear and hid themselves in their fastnesses in the thickets Such was my dream. What shall come of it?"

"This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till the future, till the reign of unrighteous kings. In those days the low-born shall be raised to lordship and be made royal favourites, whilst the nobles shall sink into obscurity and distress. Gaining influence in the courts of law because of their favour with the king, these upstarts shall claim perforce the ancestral estates, the raiment, and all the property of the old nobility. And when these latter plead their rights before the courts, then shall the king's minions have them cudgelled and bastinadoed and taken by the throat and cast out with words of scorn, such as : — 'Know your place, fools! What? do you dispute with us/ The king shall know of your insolence, and we will have your hands and feet chopped oft' and other correctives applied!' Hereupon the terrified nobles shall aflfirm that their own belongings really belong to the overbearing upstarts, and will tell the favourites to accept them. And they shall hie them home and there cower in an agony of fear. Likewise, evil Brethren shall harry at pleasure good and worthy Brethren, till these latter, finding none to help them, shall flee to the jungle. And this oppression of the nobles and of the good Brethren by the low-born and by the evil brethren, shall be like the scaring of wolves by goats. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. For this dream too has reference to future times only. [343] It was not truth, it was not love for you, that prompted the brahmins to prophesy as they did. No, it was greed of gain, and the insight that is bred of covetousness, that shaped all their self-seeking utterances."

Thus did the Master expound the import of these sixteen great dreams, adding,— "You, sire, are not the first to have these dreams; they were dreamed by kings of bygone days also ; and, then as now, the brahmins found in them a pretext for sacrifices; whereupon, at the instance of the wise and good, the Bodhisatta was consulted, and the dreams were expounded by them of old time 1 Here the Pali interpolates the irrelevant remark that " the word hi is nothing more than a particle." in just the same manner as they have now been expounded." And so saying, at the king's request, he told this story of the past. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a brahmin in the North country. When he came to years of discretion he renounced the world for a hermit's life ; he won the higher Knowledges and the Attainments, and dwelt in the Himalaya country in the bliss that comes from Insight. In those days, in just the same manner, Brahmadatta dreamed these dreams at Benares, and enquired of the brahmins concerning them. And the brahmins, then as now, set to work at sacrifices. Amongst them was a young brahmin uf learning and wisdom, a pupil of the king's chaplain, who addressed his master thus: — "Master, you have taught me the Three Vedas. Is there not therein a text that says 'The slaying of one creature giveth not life to another"?" "My son, this means money to us, a gi-eat deal of money. You only seem anxious to spare the king's treasury !" "Do as you will, master," said the young brahmin; "as for me, to what end shall I tarry longer here with you ? " And so saying, he left him, and betook himself to the royal pleasaunce.

That selfsame day the Bodhisatta, knowing all this, thought to himself: — "If I visit to-day the haunts of men, I shall work the deliverance of a great multitude from their bondage." So, passing through the air, he alighted in the royal jjleasaunce and seated himself, radiant as a statue of gold, upon the Ceremonial Stone. The young brahmin drew near and with due obeisance seated himself by the Bodhisatta in all friendliness. Sweet converse passed ; and the Bodhisatta asked whether the young brahmin thought the king ruled righteously. " Sir," answered the young man, "the king is righteous himself; but the brahmins make him side with evil. Being consulted by the king as to sixteen dreams which he had dreamed, the brahmins clutched at the opportunity for sacrifices [344] and set to work thereon. Oh, sir, would it not be a good thing that you should offer to make known to the king the real import of his dreams and so deliver great numbers of creatures from their dread?" "But, my son, I do not know the king, nor he me. Still, if he should come here and ask me, I will tell him." "I will bring the king, sir," said the young brahmin ; "if you will only be so good as to wait here a minute till I come back," And having gained the Bodhisatta's consent, he went before the king, and said that there had alighted in the royal pleasaunce an air-travelling ascetic, who said he would expound the king's dreams ; would not his majesty relate them to this ascetic ?

When the king heard this, he repaired at once to the pleasaunce with a large retinue. Saluting the ascetic, he sat down by the holy man's ID 4 The Jdtaka. Booh I. side, and asked whether it was true that he knew what would come of his dreams. "Certainly, sire," said the Bodhisatta ; "but first let me hear the dreams as you dreamed them." " Readily, sir," answered the king ; and he began as follows : — Bulls first, and trees, and cow.s, and calves, Horse, dish, she-jackal, water{)ot, A pond, raw rice, and sandal-wood, And gourds that sank, and stones that swam, — and so forth, ending up with And wolves in panic-fear of goats. And his majesty went on to tell his dreams in just the same manner as that in which King Pasenadi had described them. [345] "Enougli," said the Great Being; "you have nothing to fear or dread from all this." Having thus reassured the king, and having freed a great nniltitude from bondage, the Bodhisatta again took up his position in midair, whence he exhorted the king and established him in the Five Commandments, ending with these words: — "Henceforth, O king, join not with the brahmins in slaughtering animals for sacrifice." His teaching ended, the Bodliisatta passed straight through the air to his own abode. And the king, remaining stedfast in the teaching he had heard, passed away after a life of alms-giving and other good works to fai*e according to his deserts.

His lesson ended, the Master said, "You have nothing to fear from these dreams; away with the sacrifice!" Having had the sacrifice removed, and having saved the li\-es of a multitude of creatures, he shewed the connexion and identified the Birth by saying, "Ananda was the king of those days, Sariputta the young Brahmin, and I the ascetic." {Pcdi note. But after the passing of the Blessed One, the Editors of the Great Eedaction put the three first lines into the Conunentary, and making the lines from 'And gourds that sank' into one Stanza (therewith) ', put the whole story into the First Book.) [Note. Cf Sacy's Kahlah and Dimnah, chapter 14; Benfey's Paucatantra § 225; J.R.A.S. for 1893 page 509; and Eouse ('A Jataka in Pausanias') in 'Folklore' i. 409 (1890).] 1 I am not at all sure that this is the correct translation of this difficult and corrupt passage.

"Both squint."- '1h\^ story was told by the Master while at Jetavaua, about a miserly Lord High Treasurer. Hard by the city of Eajagaha, as we are told, was a town named Jagghery, and here dwelt a certain Lord High Ti-easurcr, known as the Million^iire Miser, who was worth eighty crores! Not .so much as the tiniest drop of oil th;ii a blade of grass will take up, did he either give away or consume for his own enjoyment. So he made no use of all his wealth either for his family or for sages and brahmins: it remained unenjoyed, — like a pool haunted by demons. Now, it fell out on a day that the Master ai'ose at dawn moved with a great compassion, and as he reviewed those ripe for conversion throughout the universe, he became aware that this Treasurer with his wife some four hundred miles away were destined to tread the Paths of Salivation. Now the day before, the Lord High Treasurer had gone his way to the palace to wait upon the king, and was on his homeward way when he saw a countrybumpkin, who was quite empty within, eating a cake stufted with gruel. The sight awoke a craving within him ! But, arrived at his own house, [346] he thought to himself, — "If I say I should like a stuffed cake, a whole host of people will want to share my meal ;

and that means getting through ever so much of my rice and ghee and sugar. I mustn't say a word to a soul." So he walked about, wrestling with his craving. As hour after hour passed, he grew yellower and yellower, and tlie veins stood out like cords on his emaciated frame. Unable at last to bear it any longer, he went to his own room and lay down hugging his bed. But still not a word would he say to a soul for fear of wasting his substance ! Well, his wife came to him, and, stroking his back, said : "What is the matter, my husband?"

"Nothing," said he. "Perhaps the king has been cross to you?" "No, he has not." "Have your children or servants done anything to annoy you?" "Nothing of that kind, either." "Well, then, have you a craving for anything?" But still not a word would he say, — all because of his preposterous fear that he might waste his substance; but lay there speechless on his bed. "Speak, husband," said the wife; "tell me what you have a craving for." "Yes," said he with a gulp, "I have got a craving for one thing." "And what is that, my husband?" "I should like a stuffed cake to eat!" "Now why not have said so at once ? You're rich enough ! I'll cook cakes enough to feast the whole town of Jagghery." "Why trouble about them? They must work to earn their own meal." "Well then, I'll cook only enough for our street." "How rich you are!" "Then, I'll cook just enough for our own household." "How extravagant you are !" "Very good, I'll cook only enough for our children." "Why bother about them?" "Very good then, I'll only provide for our two selves." "Why should you be in it?" "Then, I'll cook just enough for you alone," said the wife.

"Softly," said the Lord High Treasurer; "there are a lot of people on the watch for signs of cooking in this place. Pick out broken rice, — being careful to leave the whole grain, — and take a brazier and cooking-pots and just a very little milk and ghee and honey and molasses; then up with you to the seventh story of the house and do the cooking up there. There I will sit alone and undisturbed to eat." Obedient to his wishes, the wife had all the necessary things carried up, climbed all the way up herself, sent the servants away, and despatclied word to the Treasurer to come. Up he climbed, shutting and bolting door after door as he ascended, till at last he came to the seventh floor, the door of which he also shut fast. Then he sat down. His wife lit the fire in the Imiziei-, put licr pot on, and set about cooking the cokes, 196 The Jataka. Booh I. Now in the early morning, the Master had said to the Elder Great Moggallana,— "Moggallana, this Miser Millionaire [347] in the town of Jagghery near Kajagaha, wanting to eat cakes himself, is so afraid of letting others know, that he is^ having them cooked for him right up on the seventh story. Go thither; convert the man to self-denial, and by transcendental power transport husband and wife, cakes, milk, ghee and all, here to Jetavaua. This day I and the five hundred Brethren will stay at home, and I will make the cakes furnish them with a meal."

Obedient to the Master's bidding, the Elder by supernatural power passed to the town of Jagghery, and rested in mid-air before the chamber-window, duly clad in his under and outer cloths, bright as a jewelled image. The unexpected sight of the Elder made the Lord High Treasurer quake with fear. Thought he to himself, "It was to escape such visitors that I climbed up here: and now there's one of them at the window !" And, failing to realise the comprehension of that which he must needs comprehend, he sputtered with rage, like sugar and salt thrown on the fire, as he burst out with — " What will you get, sage, by your simply standing in mid-air? Why, you may pace up and down till you've made a path in the pathless air, — and yet you'll still get nothing." The Elder began to jjace to and fro in his place in the air! "What will you get by pacing to and fro?" said the Treasiu-er! "You may sit cross-legged in meditation in the air, — but still you'll get nothing." The Elder sat down with legs crossed! Then said the Treasurer, "What will you get by sitting there? You may come and stand on the window-sill ; but even that won't get you anything!" The Elder took his stand on the window-sill. "What will you get by standing on the window-sill? Why, you may belch smoke, and yet you'll still get nothing !

" said the Treasurer. Then the Elder belched forth smoke till the whole palace was filled with it. The Treasurer's eyes began to smart as though pricked with needles ; and, for fear at last that his house might be set on fire, he checked himself from adding — "You won't get anything even if you burst into flames." Thought he to himself, "This Elder is most persistent! He simply won't go away empty-handed ! I must have just one cake given him." So he said to his wife, "My dear, cook one little cake and give it to the sage to get rid of him."

So she mixed quite a little dough in a crock. But the dough swelled and swelled till it filled the whole crock, and grew to be a great big cake! "What a lot you must have used ! " exclaimed the Treasurer at the sight. And he himself with the tip of a spoon took a very little of the dough, and put that in the oven to bake. But that tiny piece of dough grew larger than the first lump ; and, one after another, every piece of dough he took became ever so big ! Then he lost heart and said to his wife, "You give him a cake, dear." But, as soon as she took one cake from the basket, at once all the other cakes stuck fast to it. .So she cried out to her husband that all the cakes had stuck together, and that she could not part them. "Oh, I'll soon part them," said he,— but found he could not ! Then husband and wife both took hold of the mass of cakes at the corner and tried to get them apart. But tug as they might, they could make no more impression together than they did singly, on the mass. Now as the Treasurer was pulling away at the cakes, he burst into a perspiration, and his craving left him. Then said he to his wife, "I don't want the cakes ; [348] give them, basket and all, to this ascetic." And she approached the Elder with the basket in her hand. Then the Elder preached the truth to the pair, and proclaimed the excellence of the Three Gems. And, teaching that giving was true sacrifice, he made the fruits of charity and other good works to shine forth even as the fullmoon in the heavens. Won by the Elder's words, the Treasurer said, " Sir, come hither and sit on this couch to eat your cakes."

"Lord High Treasurer," said the Elder, "the All-Wise Buddha with five hundred Brethren sits in the monastery waiting a meal of cakes. If such be your good pleasure, I would ask you to bring your wife and the cakes with you, and let us be going to the Master." "But where, sir, is the Mtister at the present time?" "Five and forty leagues away, in the monastery at Jetavana." "How are we to get all that way, sir, without losing a long time on the road?" "If it be your pleasure. Lord High Treasurer, I will transport you thither by my transcendental powers. The head of the staircase in your house shall remain where it is, but the bottom shall be at the main-gate of Jetavana. In this wise will I transport you to the Master in the time which it takes to go downstairs." "So be it, sir," said the Treasurer. Then the Elder, keeping the top of the staircase where it was, commanded, saying, — "Let the foot of the staircase be at the main-gate of Jetavana." And so it came to pass ! In this way did the Elder transport the Treasurer and his wife to Jetavana quicker than they could get down the stairs.

Then husband and wife came before the Master and said meal-time had come. And the Master, passing into the Eefectory, sat down on the Buddha-seat prepared for him, with the Brotherhood gathered round. Then the Lord High Treasiirer poured the Water of Donation over the hands of the Brotherhood with the Buddha at its head, whilst his wife placed a cake in the alms-bowl of the Blessed One. Of this he took what sufficed to support life, as also did the five hundred Brethren. Next the Treasurer went round ottering milk mixed with ghee and honey and jagghery ; and the Master and the Brotherhood brought their meal to a close. Lastly the Treasurer and his wife ate their fill, but still there seemed no end to the cakes. Even when all the Brethren and the scrap-eaters throughout the monastery had all had a share, still there was no sign of the end approaching. So they told the Master, saying, " Sir, the supply of cakes grows no smaller." "Then throw them down by the great gate of the monastery." So they threw them away in a cave not far from the gateway ; and to this day a spot called 'The Crock-Cake,' is shown at the extremity of that cave.

The Lord High Treasurer and his wife approached and stood before the Blessed One, who returned thanks ; and at the close of his words of thanks, the pair attained Fruition of the First Path of Salvation. Then, taking their leave of the Master, the two mounted the stairs at the great gate and found themselves in their own home once more. [349] Afterwards, the Lord High Treasurer lavished eighty crores of money solely on the Faith the Buddha taught. Next day the Perfect Buddha, returning to Jetavana after a round for alms in Savatthi, delivered a Buddha-discourse to the Brethren before retiring to the seclusion of the Perfumed Chamber. At evening, the Brethren gathered together in the Hall of Truth, and exclaimed, "How great is the power of the Elder Moggallana ! In a moment he converted a miser to charity, brouglit him with the cakes to Jetavana, set him before the Master, and stablished him in salvation. How great is the power of the Elder!" As they sat talking thus of the goodness of the Elder, the Master entered, and, on enquiry, was told of the subject of their talk. "Brethren," said he, "a Brother who is the converter of a household, should approach that household without causing it annoyance or vexation, — even as the bee when it sucks the nectar from the flower; in such wise should he draw nigh to declare the excellence of the Buddha." And in praise of the Elder Moggallana, he recited this stanza : —

Like bees, that harm no flower's scent or hue But, laden with its honey, fly away. So, sage, within thy village walk thy wayi. Then, to set forth still more the Elder's goodness, he said,— "This is not the first time. Brethren, that the miserly Treasurer has been converted by IMoggallana. In other days too the Elder converted him, and taught him how deeds and their effects are linked together." So saying, he told this story of the past. This is verse 49 of the Dhammapada. 198 Tlte Jataka. Book I. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, there was a Treasurer, Illlsa by name, who was worth eighty crores, and had all the defects which fall to the lot of man. He was lame and crook-backed and had a squint ; he was an unconverted infidel, and a miser, never giving of his store to others, nor enjoying it himself ; his house was like a pool haunted by demons. Yet, for seven generations, his ancestors had been bountiful, giving freely of their best ; but, when he became Treasurer, he bi-oke through the ti-aditions of his house. Burning down the almonry and driving the poor with blows from his gates, he hoarded his wealth.

One day, when he was returning from attendance on the king, he saw a yokel, who had journeyed far and was a-weary, seated on a bench, and filling a mug from a jar of rank spirits, and drinking it off, with a dainty morsel of stinking dried-fish as a relish. The sight made the Treasurer feel a thirst for spirits, but he thought to himself, [350] " If I drink, others will want to drink with me, and that means a ruinous expense." So he walked about, keeping his thirst under. But, as time wore on, he could do so no longer ; he grew as yellow as old cotton ; and the veins stood out on his sunken frame. On a day, retiring to his chamber, he lay down hugging his bed. His wife came to him, and rubbed his back, as she asked, " What has gone amiss with my lord ? " (What follows is to be told in the words of the former story.) But, when she in her turn said, " Then I'll only brew liquor enough for you," he said, " If you make the brew in the house, there will be many on the watch ; and to send out for the spirits and sit and drink it here, is out of the question." So he produced one single penny, and sent a slave to fetch him a jar of spii-its from the tavern. When the slave came back, he made him go from the town to the riverside and put the jar down in a remote thicket. "Now be off!" said he, and made the slave wait some distance off, while he filled his cup and fell to.

Now the Treasurer's father, who for his charity and other good works had been re-born as Sakka in the Realm of Devas, was at that moment wondering whether his bounty was still kept up or not, and became aware of the stopping of his bounty, and of his son's behaviour. He saw how his son, breaking through the traditions of his house, had burnt the almonry to the ground, had driven the poor with blows from his gates, and how, in his miserliness, fearing to share with others, that son had stolen away to a thicket to drink by himself. Moved by the sight, Sakka cried, " I will go to him and make my son see that deeds must have their consequences; I will work his conversion, and make him charitable and worthy of re-birth in the Realm of Devas." So he came down to earth, and once more trod the ways of men, putting on the semblance of the Treasurer Illisa, with the latter's lameness, and crookback, and squint. In this guise, he entered the city of Rajagaha and made his way to the palace-gate, where he bade his coming be announced to the king, "Let him approach," said the king; and he entered and stood with due obeisance before his majesty.

" What brings you here at this unusual hour. Lord High Treasurer 1 " said the king. " I am come, Sire, because I have in my house eighty crores of treasure. Deign to have them carried to fill the royal treasury." "Nay, my Lord Treasurer; [351] the treasure within my palace is greater than this." " If you, sire, will not have it, I shall give it away to whom I will." " Do so by all means, Treasurer," said the king. " So be it, sire," said the pretended Illlsa, as with due obeisance he departed from the presence to the Treasurer's house. The servants all gathered round him, but not one could tell that it was not their real master. Entering, he stood on the thi*eshold and sent for the porter, to whom he gave orders that if anybody resembling himself should appear and claim to be master of the house they should soundly cudgel such a one and throw him out. Then, mounting the stairs to the upper story, he sat down on a gorgeous couch and sent for Illisa's wife. When she came he said with a smile, "My dear, let us be bountiful." At these words, wife, children, and servants all thought, " It's a long time since he was this way minded. He must have been drinking to be so good-natured and generous to-day." And his wife said to him, " Be as bountiful as you please, my husband." "Send for the crier," said he, "and bid him proclaim by beat of drum all through the city that everyone who wants gold, silver, diamonds, pearls, and the like, is to come to the house of Illlsa the Treasurer." His wife did as he bade, and a large crowd soon assembled at the door carrying baskets and sacks.

Then Sakka bade the treasure-chambers be thrown open, and cried, " This is my gift to you ; take what you will and go your ways." And the crowd seized on the riches there stored, and piled them in heaps on the floor and filled the bags and vessels they had brought, and went off laden with the spoils. Among them was a countryman who yoked Illisa's oxen to Illisa's carriage, filled it with the seven things of price, and journeyed out of the city along the highroad. As he went along, he drew near the thicket, and sang the Treasurer's praises in these words : — " May you live to be a hundred, my good lord Illlsa ! What you have done for me this day will enable me to live without doing another stroke of work. Whose were these oxen] — yours. Whose was this carriage? — yours. Whose the wealth in the carriage ]— yours again. It was no father or mother who gave me all this ; no, it came solely from you, my lord."

These words filled the Lord High Treasurer with fear and trembling. "Why, the fellow is mentioning my name in his talk," said he to himself. " Can the king have been distributing my wealth to the peoph; 1 " [352] At the bare thouijht he bounded from the bush, and, recognizing his own 200 The Jataka. Booh I. oxen and cart, seized the oxen by the cord, crying, " Stop, fellow; these oxen and this cart belong to me." Down leaped the man from the cart, angrily exclaiming, "You rascal! Illlsa, the Lord High Treasurer, is "ivinf^ away his wealth to all the city. What has come to you 1 " And he sprang at the Treasurer and struck him on the back like a falling thunderbolt, and went off with the cart. Illlsa picked himself up, trembling in every limb, wiped off the mud, and hurrying after his cart, seized hold of it. Again the countryman got down, and seizing Illlsa by the hair, doubled him up and thumped him about the bead for some time ; then taking him by the throat, he flung him back the way he had come, and drove off. Sobered by this rough usage, Illfsa hurried off home. There, seeing folk making off with the treasure, he fell to laying hands on here a man and there a man, shrieking, "Hi! what's this? Is the king despoiling me?" And every man he laid hands on knocked him down. Bruised and smarting, he sought to take refuge in his own house, when the porters stopped him with, " Holloa, you rascal ! Whei-e might you be going ? " And first thrashing him soundly with bamboos, they took their master by the throat and threw him out of doors. " There is none but the king left to see me righted," groaned Illlsa, and betook himself to the palace. "Why, oh why, sire," he cried, "have you plundered me like this?"

"Nay, it was not I, my Lord Treasurer," said the king. "Did you not yourself come and declare your intention of giving your wealth away, if I would not accept it ? And did you not then send the crier round and carry out your threat 1 " " Oh sire, indeed it was not I that came to you on such an errand. Your majesty knows how near and close I am, and how I never give away so much as the tiniest drop of oil which a blade of grass will take up. May it please your majesty to send for him who has given my substance away, and to question him on the matter," Then the king sent for Sakka. And so exactly alike were the two that neither the king nor his court could tell which was the real Lord High Treasurer. Said the miser Illlsa, "Who, and what, sire, is this Treasurer? /am the Treasurer." " Well, really I can't say which is the real Illlsa," said the king. " Is there anybody who can distinguish them for certain?" "Yes, sire, my wife." So the wife was sent for and asked which of the two was her husband. And she said Sakka was her husband and went to his side. [353] Then in turn Illlsa's children and servants were brought in and asked the same question ; and all with one accord declared Sakka was the real Lord High Treasurer. Here it flashed across Illlsa's mind that he had a wart on his head, hidden among his hair, the existence of which was known only to his barber. So, as a last resource, he asked that his barber might be sent for to identify him. Now at this time the Bodhisatta was his barber. Accordingly, the barber was sent for and asked if he could

distinguish the real from the false lllisa. "I could tell, sire," said he, "if I might examine their heads." "Then look at both their Leads," said the king. On the instant Sakka caused a wart to rise on his head ! After examining the two, the Bodhisatta reported that, as both alike had got warts on their heads, he couldn't for the life of him say which was the real man. And therewithal he uttered this stanza : — Both squint ; both halt ; both men are hunchbacks too ; And both have warts alike ! 1 cannot tell Which of the two the real Illlsa is. Hearing his last hope thus fail him, the Lord High Treasurer fell into a tremble ; and such was his intolerable anguish at the loss of his beloved riches, that down he fell in a swoon. Thereupon Sakka put forth his transcendental powers, and, rising in the air, addressed the king thence in these words: "Not lllisa am I, O king, but Sakka." Then those around wiped IllTsa's face and dashed water over him. Recovering, he rose to his feet and bowed to the ground before Sakka, King of Devas. Then said Sakka, "Illlsa, mine was the wealth, not thine; I am thy father, and thou art my son. In my lifetime I was bountiful toward the poor and rejoiced in doing good ; wherefore, I am advanced to this high estate and am become Sakka.

But thou, walking not in tny footsteps, art grown a niggard and a very miser; thou hast burnt my almonry to the ground, driven the poor from the gate, and hoarded thy riches. Thou hast no enjoyment thereof thyself, nor has any other human being; [354] but thy store is become like a pool haunted by demons, whereat no man may slake his thirst. Albeit, if thou wilt rebuild mine almonry and show bounty to the poor, it shall be accounted to tliee for righteousness. But, if thou wilt not, then will I strip thee of all that thou hast, and cleave thy head with the thunderbolt of Indra, and thou shalt die."

At this threat lllisa, quaking for his life, cried out, " Henceforth I will be bountiful." And Sakka accepted his promise, and, still seated in mid-air, established his son in the Commandments and preached the Truth to him, departing thereafter to his own abode. And Illlsa was diligent in almsgiving and other good works, and so assured his re-birth thereafter in heaven. "Brethren," said the Master, "this is not the first time that Moggallana has converted the miserly Treasurer ; in bygone days too the same man was converted by him." His lesson ended, he shewed the connexion and identified the Birth by saying, "This miserly Treasurer was the lUisa of those days, MoggalLana was Sakka, King of Devas, Ananda was the king, and I myself the barber." INoie. Respecting this story, see an article by the translator in the Joi(,rnal of the Royal Asiatic Society for January 1892, entitled "The Lineage of the 'Proud King'."] 202 The Jataha. Book I.

"//e gave the rohhers time." — This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a certain Minister. He, 'tis said, ingratiated himself with the king, and, after collecting the royal revenue in a border-village, privily arranged with a band of robbers that he would march the men ott" into the jungle, leaving the village for the rascals to plunder, — on condition that they gave him half tlae booty. Acc(jrdingly, at daybreak when the place was left unprotected, down came the robbers, who slew and ate the cattle, looted the \'illage, and were oft" with their booty before he came back at evening with his followers. But it was a very short time before his knavery leaked out and came to the ears of the king. And the king sent for him, and, as his guilt was manifest, he was degraded and another headman put in his place. Then the king went to the Master at Jetavana and told him what had happened. "Sire," said the Blessed One, "the man has only shewn the same disposition now which he shewed in bygone days." Then at the king's request he told this story of the past. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was i-eigning in Benares, he appointed a certain Minister to be headman of a border-village ; and everything came to pass as in the above case. Now in those days the Bodhisatta was making the round of the border- villages in the way of trade, [355] and had taken up his abode in that very village. And when the headman was marching his men back at evening with drums a-beating, he exclaimed, " This scoundrel, who privily egged on the robbers to loot the village, has waited till they had made off to the jungle again, and now back he comes with drums a-beating, — feigning a happy ignorance of anything wrong having happened." And, so saying, he uttered this stanza : —

He gave the robbers time to drive and slay The cattle, burn the houses, capture folk ; And then with drums a-beating, home he marched, — A son no more, for such a son is dead^ In such wise did the Bodhisatta condemn the headman. Not long after, the villany was detected, and the rascal was punished by the king as his wickedness deserved. ^ The scholiast's explanation is, that a son who is so lost to all decency and shame, ceases ipso faclo to be a son, and that his mother is sonless even while her son is still alive. "This is not the first time, sire," said the king, "that he has been of this disposition ; he was just the same in bygone days also." His lesson ended, the Master shewed the connexion and identified the Birth by saying, "The headman of to-day was also the headman of those days, and I myself the wise and good man who recited the stanza."

" Vuu vaunted your prowess." — This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a certain l)raggart among the Brethren. Tradition says that he used to gather round him Brethren of all ages, and go about deluding everyone with lying boasts about his nol)le descent. "Ah, Brethren," he would say, "there's no family so noble as mine, no lineage so peerless. I am a scion of the highest of princely lines ; no man is my equal in birth or ancestral estate ; there is absolutely no end to the gold and silver and other treasures we possess. Our very slaves and menials are fed on rice and meat-stews, and arc clad in the best Benares cloth, with the choicest Benares perfumes to perfume themselves withal ; — whilst I, because I have joined the Brotherhood, [356] have to content myself with this vile fare and this vile garb." But another Brother, after enquiring into his family estate, exposed to the Brethren the emptiness of this pretension. So the Brethren met in the Hall of Truth, and talk began as to how that Brother, in spite of his vows to leave worldly things and cleave only to the saving Truth, was going about deluding the Brethren with his lying boasts. Whilst the fellow's sinfulness was being discussed, the Master entered and enquired what their topic was. And they told him. "This is not the first time. Brethren," said the Master, "that he has gone about boa.sting; in bygone days too he went about boasting and deluding people." And so saying, he UAd this story of the past.

Once on a time when Brahniadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a brahmin in a market-town in the North country, and when he was grown up he studied under a teacher of world-wide fame at Takkasila. There he learnt the Three Vedas and the Eighteen Branches of knowledge, and completed his education. And he became known as the sage Little Bowman. Leaving Takkasila, he came to the Andhra country in search of practical experience. Now, it hap])ened that in this Birth the Bodhisatta was somewhat of a crooked little dwarf, and he thought to himself, " If I make my appearance before any king, he's sure to ask what a dwarf like me is good for ; why should I not use a tall broad fellow as my stalking-horse and earn my living in the shadow of his more imposing 204 The Jataka. Book I. personality?" So he betook himself to the weaveiV quarter, and there es^jying a huge weaver named Bhiinasena, saluted him, asking the man's name. " Bhimasena' is my name," said the weaver. " And what makes a fine big man like you work at so sorry a trade?" "Because I can't get a livin"- any other way." " Weave no more, friend. The whole continent can shew no such archer as I am ; but kings would scorn me because I am a dwarf. And so you, friend, must be the man to vaunt your prowess with the bow, and the king will take you into his pay [357] and make you ply your calling regularly. Meantime I shall be behind you to perform the duties that are laid upon you, and so shall earn my living in your shadow. In this manner we shall both of us thrive and prosper. Only do as I tell you." " Done with you," said the other.

Accordingly, the Bodhisatta took the weaver with him to Benares, acting as a little page of the bow, and putting the other in the front ; and when they were at the gates of the palace, he made him send word of his coming to the king. Being summoned into the royal presence, the pair entered together and bowing stood before the king. " What brings you hei'e?" said the king. "1 am a mighty archer," said Bhimasena; "there is no archer like me in the whole continent." " What pay would you want to enter my service?" "A thousand pieces a fortnight, sire." "What is this man of yours?" " He's my little page, sire." " Very well, enter my service." So Bhimasena entered the king's service ; but it was the Bodhisatta who did all his work for him. Now in those days there was a tiger in a forest in Kclsi which blocked a frequented high-road and had devoured many victims. When this was reported to the king, he sent for Bhimasena and asked whether he could catch the tiger. "How could I call myself an archer, sire, if I couldn't catch a tiger?" The king gave him largesse and sent him on the errand. And home to the Bodhisatta came Bhimasena with the news. "All right," said the Bodhisatta; "away you go, my friend." "But are you not coming too?" " No, I won't go ;

but I'll tell you a little plan." " Please do, my friend." " Well don't you be rash and approach the tiger's lair alone. What you will do is to muster a strong band of countryfolk to march to the spot with a thousand or two thousand bows ; when you know that the tiger is aroused, you bolt into the thicket and lie down flat on your face. The countryfolk will beat the tiger to death ; and as soon as he is quite dead, you bite off" a creeper with your teeth, and draw near to the dead tiger, ti-ailing the creeper in your hand. At the sight of the dead body of the brute, you will burst out with— ' Who has killed the tiger? I meant to lead it [358] by a creeper, like an ox, to the king, and with this intent had

1 The name means "one who has or leads a terrible army;" it is the name of the second Pandava. just stepped into the thicket to get a creeper. I must know who killed the tiger before I could get hack with my creeper.' Then the countryfolk will be very frightened and bribe you heavily not to report them to the king ; you will be credited with slaying the tiger • and the king too will give you lots of money." "Very good," said Bhimasena; and off he went and slew the tiger just as the Bodhisatta had told him. Having thus made the road safe for travellers, back he came with a large following to Benares, and said to the king, '* I have killed the tiger, sire ; the foi'est is safe for travellers now." Well-pleased, the king loaded him with gifts. Another day, tidings came that a certain road was infested with a buffalo, and the king sent Bhimasena to kill it. Following the Bodhisatta's directions, he killed the buffalo in the same way as the tiger, and returned to the king, who once more gave him lots of money. He was a great lord now. Intoxicated by his new honoiirs, he treated the Bodhisatta with contempt, and scorned to follow his advice, saying, " I can get on without you. Do you think there's no man but yourself?" This and many other harsh things did he say to the Bodhisatta.

Now, a few days later, a hostile king marched upon Benares and beleaguered it, sending a message to the king summoning him either to surrender his kingdom or to do battle. And the king of Benares ordered Bhimasena out to fight him. So Bhimasena was armed cap-a-i)ie in soldierly fashion and mounted on a war-elephant sheathed in complete armour. And the Bodhisatta, who was sei-iously alarmed that Bhimasena might got killed, armed himself cap a-jjie also and seated himself modestly behind Bhimasena. Surrounded by a host, the elephant«passed out of the gates of the city and arrived in the forefront of the battle. At the first notes of the martial drum Bhimasena fell a-quaking with fear. *' If you fall off now, you'll get killed," said the Bodhisatta, and accordingly fastened a cord round him, which he held tight, to prevent him from falling off the elei>hant. But the sight of the field of battle proved too much for Bhimasena, and the fear of death was so sti-ong on him that he fouled the elephant's back. "Ah," said the Bodhisatta, " the present does not tally with the past. Then you affected the warrior ; now your prowess is confined to befouling the elephant you ride on." And so saying, he uttered this stanza : —

[359] You vaunted your prowess, and loud was your boast ; You swore you would vanquish the foe ! But is it consistent, when faced with their host, To vent your emotion, sir, so? When the Bodhisatta had ended these taunts, he said, " But don't you be afraid, my friend. Am not I here to protect you 1 " Then he made Bhimasena get off the ele])hant and bade him wash himself and go home. "And now to win renown this day," said the Bodhisatta, raising his 206 TJie Jataha. Book I. battle-cry as he dashed into the fight. Breaking through the king's camp, he dragged the king out and took him alive to Benares. In great joy at his prowess, his royal master loaded him with honours, and from that day forward all India was loud with the fame of the Sage Little Bowman. To Bhimaseua he gave lai-gesso, and sent him back to his own home; whilst he himself excelled in charity and all good works, and at his death jiassed away to fare according to his deserts. "Thus, Brethren," said the Master, "this is not the first time that this Brother has been a braggart ; he was just the same in bygone days too." His lesson ended, the Master shewed the connexion and identified the Birth by saying, "This braggart Brother was the Bhunasena of those days, and I myself the Sage Little Bowman."

[360] " We dranh.^—Thxii story was told by the Master about the Elder Sagata, while he was dwelling in the Ghosita-park near Kosambl. For, after spending the rainy season at Savatthi, the Master had come on an alms-pilgrimage to a market-town named Bhaddavatika, where cowherds and goatherds and farmers and wayfarers respectfully besought him not to go down to the Mango Ferry; "for," said they, "in the Mango Ferry, in the demesne of the naked ascetics, dwells a poisonous and deadly Naga, known as the Niiga of the Mango Ferry, who might harm the Blessed One." Feigning not to hear them, though they repeated their warning thrice, the Blessed One held on his way. Whilst the Blessed One was dwelling near Bhaddavatika in a certain grove there, the Elder Sagata, a servant of the Buddha, who had won such supernatural powers as a worldling can possess, went to the demesne, piled a couch of leaves at the spot where the Naga-king dwelt, and sate himself down cross-legged thereon. Being unable to conceal his evil nature, the Niiga raised a great smoke. So did the Elder. Then the Naga sent forth flames. So too did the Elder. But, whilst the Naga's flames did no harm to the Elder, the Elder's flames did do harm to the Naga, and so in a short time he mastered the Naga-king and established him in the Refuges and the Commandments, after which he repaired back to the ]\Iaster. And the Master, after dwelling as long as it pleased him at Bhaddavatika, went on to Kosambl. Now the story of the Naga's conversion by Sagata, had got noised abroad all over the countryside, and the townsfolk of Kosambl went forth to meet the Blessed One and saluted him, after which they passed to the Elder Sagata and saluting him, said, " Tell us, sir, what you lack and we will furnish it." The Elder himself remained

silent; but the followers of the Wicked Six^ made answer as follows :—" Sirs, to those who have renounced the world, white spirits are as rare as they are acceptable. Do you think you could get the Elder some clear wliite spirit?" "To be sure we can," said the townsfolk, and invited tlic Master to take his meal with them next day. Then they went back to their own town and arranged that each in his own h<nise should offer clear white spirit to the Elder, and accordingly they all laid in a store and invited the Elder in and plied him with the liquor, house by house. So deep were his potations that, on his way out of town, the Elder fell prostrate in the gateway and tliere lay hiccoughing nonsense. On his way back from his meal in the town, the Master came on the Elder lying in this state, and bidding the Brethren carry Sagata home, [361] passed on his way to the pai-k. The Brethren laid the Ekler down with his head at the Buddha's feet, but he turned round so that he came to lie with his feet towards the Buddha. Then the Master asked his question, "Brethren, does Sagata shew that respect towards me now that he formerly did?" "No, sir." "Tell me. Brethren, who it was that mastered the Naga-king of the Mango Ferry?" "It was Sagata, sir." "Think you that in his present state Sagata could master even a harmless water-snake?" "That he could not, sir." "Well now. Brethren, is it proper to drink that which, when drunk, steals away a man's senses?" "It is improper, sir." Now, after discoursing with the Brethren in dispraise of the Elder, the Blessed One laid it down as a precept that the drinking of intoxicants was an offence requiring confession and absolution ; after which he rose up and passed into his perfumed chamber.

Assembling together in the Hall of Truth, the Brethren discussed the sin of spirit-drinking, saying, "What a great sin is the drinking of spirits, sirs, seeing that it has blinded to the Buddha's excellence even one so wise and so gifted as Sagata." Entering the Hall of Truth at this iM)int, the Master asked what topic they were discussing ; and they told him. "Brethren," said he, " this is not the fii'st time that they who had renounced the world have lost their senses through drinking spirits ; the very same thing took place in liygone days." And so saying, he told this story of the past. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born into a northern bralnnin-family in Kasi ; and when he grew up, he renounced the world for the hermit's life. He won the Higher Knowledges and the Attainments, and dwelt in the enjoyment of the bliss of Insight in the Himalayas, with five hundred pupils around him. Once, when the rainy season had come, his pupils said to him, "Master, may we go to the haunts of men and bring back salt and vinegar?" "For my own part, sirs, I shall remain here; but you may go for your health's sake, and come back when the rainy season is over."

" Very good," said they, and taking a respectful leave of their master, came to Benares, where they took up their abode in the royal pleasaunce. On the morrow they went in quest of alms to a village just outside the city gates, where they had plenty to eat ; and next day they made their way into the city itself. The kindly citizens gave alms to them, and the king was soon informed that five hundred hermits from tlie Himalayas had ^ See note on pape 71. 208 The Jdtaka. Booh I. taken up their abode iu the royal pleasaunce, and that they were ascetics of great austerity, subduing the flesh, and of great virtue. Hearing this good character of them, the king went to the pleasaunce and graciously made them welcome [362] to stay there for four months. They promised that they would, and thenceforth were fed in the royal palace and lodged in the pleasaunce. But one day a drinking festival was held in the city, and the king gave the five hundred hermits a large supply of the best spirits, knowing that such things rarely come in the way of those who renounce the world and its vanities. The ascetics drank the liquor and went back to the pleasaunce. There, in drunken hilarity, some danced, some sang, whilst others, wearied of dancing and singing, kicked about their rice-hampers and other belongings, — after which they lay down to sleep.

"When they had slept off their drunkenness and awoke to see the traces of their revelry, they wept and lamented, saying, " We have done that which we ought not to have done. We have done this evil because we are away from our master." Forthwith, they quitted the pleasaunce and returned to the Himalayas. Laying aside their bowls and other belongings, they saluted their master and took their seats. " Well, my sons," said he, "were you comfortable amid the haunts of men, and were you spared weary journeyings in quest of alms? Did you dwell in unity one with another?"

"Yes, master, we were comfortable; but we drank forbidden drink, so that, losing our senses and forgetting ourselves, we both danced and sang." And by wa}^ of setting the matter forth, they composed and repeated this stanza : — We drank, we danced, we sang, we wept ; 'twas well That, when we drank the drink that steals away The senses, we were not transformed to apes. " This is what is sure to happen to those who are not living under a master's care," said the Bodhisatta, rebuking those ascetics; and he exhorted them saying, "Henceforth, never do such a thing again." Living on with Insight unbroken, he became destined to re birth thereafter in the Brahma Realm. [36.3] His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth (and henceforth we shall omit the words 'shewed the connexion'), by saying,— "My disciples were the baud of hermits of those days, and I their teacher."

" No more to dwell." — This story was told hy the Master while at Jetavana, about a self-willed Brother. The incidents of this Birth, which took place in the days of the Buddha Kassapa, will be related in the Tenth Book in the MahilMittavindaka Jataka*. Then the Bodhisatta uttered this Stanza : — No^ more to dwell in island palaces Of crystal, silver, or of sparkling gems, — With flinty headgear thou'rt invested now; Nor shall its griding torture ever cease Till all thy sin be purged and life shall end. So saying, tlie Bodhisatta passed to his own abode among the Devas. And Mittavindaka, having donned that lieadgear, suffered grievous tomnent till his sin had been spent and he passed away to fare according to his deserts. His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth, by saying, "This selfwilled Brother was the Mittavindaka of those days, and I myself the King of the Devas."

"-4 friend is he." — This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a friend of Anatha-pindika's. Tradition says that the two had made mud -pies together, and had gone to the same school ; but, as years went by, the friend, whose name was 'Curse,' sank into great distress and could not make a living anyhow. So he came to the rich man, who was kind to him, and paid him to look after all his property; and the poor friend was employed under Anfithapindika and did all his business for him. After he had gone up to the rich man's it was a common thing to hear in the house — "Stand up, Curse," or "Sit down, Curse," or "Have your dinner. Curse." 1 No. 439. See No. 41, and Divy;1vadana, p. 603, &c. 210 Tlie Jataha. Booh I. One day the Treasurer's friends and acquaintances called on him and said, " Lord Treasurer, don't let this sort of thing go on in your house. It's enough to scare an ogre to hear such ill-omened observations as— 'Stand up, Curse,' or 'Sit down,' Curse,' or 'Have your dinner, Curse.' The man is not your social equal ; he's a miserable wretch, dogged by misfortune. Why have anything to do with him ?" "Not so," replied Anatha-pindika ; "a name only serves to denote a man, and the wise do not measure a man i)y his name ; nor is it proper to wax superstitious aboiit mere sounds. Never will I throw over, for his mere name's sake, the friend with whom I made mud-pies as a child." And he rejected their advice.