The Jātaka, vol. I (Ekanipāta)

The story told, the Master, as Buddha, uttered this stanza :— [480] Give food to one cat, Number Two appears: A third and fourth succeed in fruitful line; — AVitness the four that by the crystal died. His lesson ended, the Master ideutified the Birth by saying, "These four Brethren were the four cats of those days, Kauca's mother was the mouse, and I the stone-cutter." [^Yote. See Vina7/a iv. 79 for the Introductory Story.]

"With onatted hair." — This story was told by the Master while at Jctavana, about a hypocrite. The incidents were like those above related ^ Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a lizard; and in a hut hard by a village on the borders there lived a rigid ascetic who had attained the Five Knowledges, and was treated with great respect by the villagers. In an ant-hill at the end of the walk where the recluse paced up and down, dwelt the Bodhisatta, and twice or thrice each day he would go to the recluse and hear words of edification and holiness. Then with due obeisance to the good man, the Bodhisatta would depart to his own abode. After a certain time the ascetic bade farewell to the villagers and went away. In his stead there came another ascetic, a rascally fellow, to dwell in the hermitage. Assuming the holiness of the new-comer, the Bodhisatta acted towards him as to the first ascetic. One day an unexpected storm in the dry season brought out the ants on their hills', and the lizards, coming abroad to eat them, were caught in great numbers [481] by the village folk; and some were served up with vinegar and sugar for the ascetic to eat. Pleased with so savoury a dish, he asked what it was, and learned that it was a dish of lizards. Hereon he reflected that he had a remarkably fine lizai'd as his neighbour, and resolved to dine off him.

Accordingly he made ready the pot for cooking and sauce to serve the lizard in, and sat at the door of his hut with a mallet hidden under his yellow robe, awaiting the Bodhisatta's coming, with a studied air of perfect peace. At evening the Bodhisatta came, and as he drew near, marked that the hermit did not seem quite the same, but had a look about him that boded no good. Snuffing up the wind which was blowing towards him from the hermit's cell, tlie Bodhisatta smelt the smell of lizard's flesh, and at once realised how the taste of lizard had made the ascetic want to kill him with a mallet and eat him up. So he retired homeward without calling on the ascetic. Seeing that the Bodhisatta did not come, the ascetic judged that the lizard must have divined his plot, but marvelled how he could have discovered it. Determined that the lizard should not escape, he drew out the mallet and threw

1 Apparently No. 128. Cf. No. 325. 2 Cf. p. 303. The JataJca. Book I. it, just hitting the tip of the lizard's tail. Quick as thought the Bodhisatta dashed into his fastness, and putting his head out by a different hole to that by which he had gone in, cried, " Rascally hypocrite, your garb of piety led me to trust you, but now I know your villainous nature. What has a thief like you to do with hermit's clothing 1 " Thus upbraiding the false ascetic, the Bodhisatta recited this stanza :— With matted hair and garb of skin Why ape th' ascetic's piety '^ A saint without, thy heart within Is choked with foul impurity i. [482] In this wise did the Bodhisatta expose the wicked ascetic, after which he retired into his ant-hill. And the wicked ascetic departed from that place. His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth by saying, "The hypocrite was the wicked ascetic of those days, Saviputia the good ascetic who lived in the hermitage befoi'e him, and I myself the lizard."

"//('*• blinding and her heating." — This story the blaster told while at the Bamboo Grove, about Devadatta. We hear that the Brethren, meeting together in the Hall of Ti'uth, spoke one with another, saying that even as a torch from a pyre, charred at both ends and bcdungcd in the middle, does not serve as wood either in forest-ti'ee or village-hearth, so Devadatta by giving up the world to follow this saving faith had only achieved a twofold shortcoming and failure, seeing that he had missed the comforts of a lay life yet had fallen short of his vocation as a Brother. Entering the Hall, the Master asked and was told what the Brethren were talking of together. "Yes, Brethren," said he, "and so too in days gone by Devadatta came to just such another two-fold failure." So saying, he told this story of the past. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a Tree-Sprite, and there was a certain village where 1 Dhammapada v. 394. line-fislieniieu dwelt in those days. And one of these fishermen taking his tackle went off with his little boy, and cast his hook into the most likely waters known to his fellow-fishermen. Now [483] a snag caught his hook and the fisherman could not pull it up. " What a tine fish ! " thought he. "I'd better send my boy off home to my wife and tell her to get up a quarrel and keep the others at home, so that there'll be none to want to go shares in my prize." Accordingly he told the lad to run off home and tell his mother what a big fish he had hooked and how she was to engage the neighbours' attention.

Then, fearing his line might break, he flung off" his coat and dashed into the water to secure his prize. But as he groped about for the fish, he struck against the snag and j^ut out both his eyes. Moreover a robber stole his clothes from the bank. Tn an agony of pain, with his hands pressed to his blinded eyes, he clambered out trembling in every limb and tried to find his clothes.

Meantime his wife, to occupy the neighbours by a quarrel on purpose, had tricked herself out with a palm-leaf behind one ear, and had blacked one eye with soot from the saucepan. In this guise, nursing a dog, she came out to call on her neighbours. " Bless me, you've gone mad," said one woman to her. " Not mad at all," i-etorted the fisherman's wife ; " you abuse me without cause with yoiir slanderous tongue. Come your ways with me to the zemindar and I'll have you fined eight pieces' for slander." So with angry words they went off" to the zemindar. But when the matter was gone into, it was the fisherman's wife who was fined ; and she was tied up and beaten to make her pay the fine. Now when the TreeSprite saw how misfortune had befallen both the wife in the village and the husband in the forest, he stood in the fork of his tree and exclaimed, " Ah fisherman, both in the water and on land thy labour is in vain, and twofold is thy feilure." So saying he uttered this stanza : — His blinding, and her beating, clearly show A twofold failure and a twofold woe-^.

[484] His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth by saying, "Devadatt; was the fisherman of those days, and I the Tree-Sprite." 1 The Pali word here, as in No. 137, is kalulpana. But there it is sbewu by the context to be a golden coin ; wbereas here the poverty of the fisber-folk supports the view that the coin was of copper, as commonly. The fact seems to be that the word kalulpana, hke some other names of Indian coins, primarily indicated a weight of any coined metal, — whether gold, silver or copper. ^ Cf. Dhammapada, page 147. 300 Tlie Jataha. Book I.

"In ceaseless c/reac/."— This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a sagacious counsellor. The incidents will be related in the twelfth book in connection with the Bhaddasala-jatakai. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a crow. One day the King's chaplain went out from the city to the river, bathed there, and having perfumed and garlanded himself, donned his bravest array and came back to the city. On the archway of the city gate there sat two crows ; and one of them said to his mate, "I mean to foul this brahmin's head." "Oh, don't do any such thing," said the other; "for this brahmin is a great man, and it is an evil thing to incur the Iiatred of the great. If you anger him, he may destroy the whole of our kind." " I really must," said the first. " Very well, you're sure to be found out," said the other, and flew quickly away. Just when the brahmin was under the battlements, down dropped the filth ujion him as if the crow were dropping a festoon. The enraged brahmin forthwith conceived hatred against all crows.

Now at this time it chanced that a female slave in charge of a granary spread the rice out in the sun at the granary door and was sitting there to watch it, when she fell asleep. Just then up came a shaggy goat and fell to eating the rice till the girl woke up and drove it away. Twice or three times the goat came back, as soon as she fell asleep, and ate the rice. [485] So when she had driven the creature away for the third time she bethought her that continued visits of the goat would consume half her store of rice and that steps must be taken to scare the animal away for good and so save her from so great a loss. So she took a lighted torch, and, sitting down, pretended to fall asleep as usual. And when the goat was eating, she suddenly sprang up and hit its shaggy back with her torch. At once the goat's shaggy hide M^as all ablaze, and to ease its pain, it dashed into a hay-shed near the elephant's stable and rolled in the hay. So the shed caught fire and the flames spread to the stables. As these stables caught fire, the elephants began to sufier, and many of them were badly burnt beyond the skill of the elephant-doctors to cure. When this

was reported to the King, he asked his chaplain whether he knew what would cure the elephants, "Certainly I do, sire," said the chaplain, and being pressed to explain, said his nostrum was crows' fat. Then the King ordered crows to be killed and their fixt taken. And forthwith there was a great slaughter of crows, but never was any fat found on them, and so they went on killing till dead crows lay in heaps everywhere. And a great fear was upon all crows. Now in those days the Bodhisatta had his dwelling in a great cemetery, at the head of eighty thousand ci'ows. One of these brought tidings to him of the fear that was upon the crows. And the Bodhisatta, feeling that there was none but him who could essay the task, i*esolved to free his kinsfolk from their great dread. Reviewing the Ten Perfections, and selecting therefrom Kindness as his guide, he flew without stopping right up to the King's palace, and entering in at the open window alighted underneath the King's throne. Straightway a servant tried to catch the bird, but the King entering the chamber forliade him. Recovering himself in a moment, the Great Being, remembering Kindness, came forth from beneath the King's throne and spoke thus to the King; — "Sire, a king should remember the maxim that kings should not walk according to lust and other evil passions in ruling their kingdoms. Before taking action, it is meet first to examine and know the whole matter, and then only to do that which being done is salutary. If kings do that which being done is not salutary, they fill thousands with a great fear, even the fear of death. [486] And in prescribing crows' fat, your chaplain was prompted by revenge to lie ; for crows have no fat."

By these woi-ds the King's heart was won, and he bade the Bodhisatta be set on a throne of gold and there anointed beneath the wings with the choicest oils and served in vessels of gold with the King's own meats and drink. Then when the Great Being was filled and at ease, the King said, " Sage, you say that ci'ows have no fat. How comes it that they have none?" " In this wise," answered the Bodhisatta with a voice that filled the whole palace, and he proclaimed the Truth in this stanza: — In ceaseless dread, with all mankind for foes. Their life is passed; and hence no fat have crows. This explanation given, the Great Being taught the King, saying, " Sire, kings should never act without examining and knowing the whole matter." Well pleased, the King laid his kingdom at the Bodhisatta's feet, but the Bodhisatta restored it to the King, whom he established in the Five Precepts, beseeching him to shield all living creatures from harm. And the King was moved by these words to grant inxmunity to all living The Jdtaka. Book I. creatures, and iu particular lie was unceasingly bountiful to crows. Every day he had six bushels of rice cooked for them and delicately flavoured, and this was given to the crows. But to the Great Being there was iriven food such as the King alone ate.

His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth liy saying, "Ananda was King of Benares in those days, and 1 myself the king of the crows.'

[487] ^'Bad company.''— Thm story was told by the Master while at the Bamboo-grove, about a traitorous Brother. The introductory incident is the same as that told in the Mahila-mukha-jatakai. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born an iguana. When he grew up he dwelt in a big burrow in the river bank with a following of many hundreds of other iguanas. Now the Bodhisatta had a son, a young iguana, who was great friends with a chameleon, whom he used to clip and embrace. This intimacy being reported to the iguana king, he sent for his young son and said that such friendship was misplaced, for chameleons were low creatures, and that if the intimacy was persisted in, calamity would befall the whole of the tribe of iguanas. And he enjoined his son to have no more to do with the chameleon. But the son continued in his intimacy. Again and again did the Bodhisatta speak with his son, but finding his words of no avail, and foreseeing danger to the iguanas from the chameleon, he had an outlet cut on one side of their burrow, so that there might be a means of escajje in time of need.

Now as time went on, the young iguana gi'ew to a great size, whilst the chameleon never grew any bigger. And as these mountainous emIjraces of the young giant grew painful indeed, the chameleon foresaw that they would be the death of him if they went on a few days longer, and he resolved to combine with a hunter to destroy the whole tribe of iguanas. One day in the summer the ants came out after a thunder-storm', and [488] the iguanas darted hither and thither catching them and eating them. Now there came into the forest an iguana trapper with spade and dogs to dig out iguanas ; and the chameleon thought what a haul he would put in the trapper's way. So he went up to the man, and, lying down before him, asked why he was about in the forest. "To catch iguanas," was the reply. " Well, I know where there's a burrow of hundreds of them," said the chameleon; "bring fire and brushwood and follow me." And he brought the trapper to where the iguanas dwelt. "Now," said the chameleon, "put your fuel in there and smoke the iguanas out. Meantime let your clogs be all round and take a big stick in your hand. Then as the iguanas dash out, strike them down and make a pile of the slain." So saying, the treacherous chameleon withdrew to a spot hard by, where he lay down, with his head up, saying to himself, — " This day I shall see the rout of my enemy."

The trapper set to work to siuoke the iguanas out; and fear for their lives drove them helter-skelter from their burrow. As they came out, the trapper knocked them on the head, and if he missed them, they fell a prey to his dogs. And so there was great slaughter among the iguanas. Realising that this was the chameleon's doing, the Bodhisatta cried, " One should never make friends of the wicked, for such bring sorrow in their train. A single wicked chameleon has proved the bane of all these iguanas." So saying, he escaped ])y the outlet he had i)rovided, uttering this stanza: — Bad company can never end in good. Througli frieudsliip with one sole chameleon The tribe of isjuanas met their end. 1 Malikhika may refer to the wings which the auts get in India at the beginning of the rainy season ; cf. p. 297. 304 The Jdtaka. Book I.

"■Thy tightening grip."— This story was told by the Master while at the Bamboo-grove, about Devadatta's going about to kill him. For, hearing the Brethren talking together as to this in the Hall of Truth, the Master said that, as Devadatta acted now, so he acted in times gone by, yet failed— to his own grievous hurt— of his wicked purpose. And so saying, he told this story of the past. Once on a time when Bralimadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a jackal, and dwelt in a charnel-grove witli a great following of jackals of whom he was king. And at that time there was a festival held at Rajagaha, and a very wet festival it was, with eveiybody drinking hard. Now a parcel of rogues got hold of victual and drink in abundance, and putting on their best clothes sang and made merry over their fare. By midnight the meat was all gone, though the liquor still held out. Then on one asking for more meat and being told there was none left, said the fellow, " Victuals never lack while I am about. I'll off to the charnel-grove, kill a jackal prowling about to eat the corpses, and bring back some meat." So saying he snatched up a club and made his way out of the city by the sewer to the place, where he lay down, club in hand, feigning to be dead.

Just then, followed by the other jackals, the Bodhisatta came up and marked the pretended corpse. Suspecting the fraud, he determined to sift the matter. So he went round to the lee side and knew by the scent that the man was not really dead. Resolving to make the man look foolish before leaving him, the Bodhisatta stole near and took hold of the club with his teetli and tugged at it. The rascal did not leave go : not perceiving the Bodhisatta's approach, he [490] took a tighter grip. Hereon the Bodhisatta stepped back a pace or two and said, " My good man, if you had been dead, you would not have tightened your grip on your club when I was tugging at it, and so have betrayed yourself." So saying, he uttered this stanza: —

Thy tightening grip upon thy club doth show Thy rank imposture — thou'rt no corpse, I trow. Finding that he was discovered, the rogue sprang to his feet and flung his club at the Bodhisatta, but missed his aim. "Be off, you brute," said he, " I've missed you this time." Turning round, the Bodhisatta said, "True you have missed me, but be assured you will not miss the torments of the Great Hell and the sixteen Lesser Hells." Empty-handed, the rogue left the cemetery and, after bathing in a ditch, went back into the city by the way he had come. His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth by saying, "Devadatta was the rogue of those times, and I the king of the jackals."

^^Your mangled corpse." — This story was told by the Master while at the Bamboo-grove, abovit Dcvadatta's efforts to pose as a Buddha at Gayasisa^. For when his spiritual Insight left him and he lost the honour and profit which once were his, he in his perplexity asked the Master to concede the Five Points. This being refused, he made a schism in the Brotherhood and departed to Gayasisa with five hundred young Brethren, pupils of the Buddha's two chief disciples, but as yet unversed in the Law and the Rule. With this following he j)erformed the acts of a separate Brotherhood gathered together within the same precincts. Knowing well the time when the knowledge of these young Brethren should ripen, the Master sent the two Elders to them. Seeing these, [491] Devadatta joyfully set to work expounding far into the night with (as he flattered himself) the masterly power of a Buddha. Then posing as a Buddha he said, "The assembly, reverend Sariputta, is still alert and sleepless. Will you be so good as to think of some religious discourse to address to the Brethren ? My back is aching with my labours, and I must rest it awhile." So saying he went away to lie down. Then those two chief disciples taught the Brethren, enlightening them as to the Fruitions and the Paths, till in the end they won them all over to go back to the Bamboo-grove.

Finding the Monastery emptied of the Brethren, Kokalika went to Devadatta and told him how the two disciples had broken up his following and left the Monastery empty ; " and yet here you still lie asleep," said he. So saying he stripped off Devadatta's outer cloth and kicked him on the chest with as little compunction as if he were knocking a roof-peg into a mud- wall. The 1)1 ood gushed out of Devadatta's mouth, and ever after he suffered from the effects of the blow 2. ^ See pp. 34 and 35 supra. 2 The Vinaya account (Cullavagga vii. 4) omits the kicking, simply stating that Kokalika "awoke" Devadatta, and that, at the news of the defectiou, "warm blood gushed out of Devadatta's mouth." In other accounts (Spence Hardy and Bigaudet) it is stated that Devadatta died then and there. 306 Tlie Jdtaka. Book I. Said the Master to Sariputta, "AVhat was Devadatta doing when you got there ^" And Sarinutta answered that, though posing as a Buddha evil had befallen him. Said the Master, "Even as now, Sariputta, so in former times too has Devadatta imitated me to his own hurt." Then, at the Elders request, he told this story of the past.

Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was a maned lion and dwelt at Gold Den in the Himalayas. Bounding forth one day from his lair, he looked North and West, South and East, and roared aloud as he went in quest of prey. Slaying a large buffixlo, he devoured the prime of the carcass, after which he went down to a pool, and having drunk his fill of crystal water turned to go towards his den. Now a hungry jackal, suddenly meeting the lion, and being unable to make his escape, threw himself at the lion's feet. Being asked what he wanted, the jackal replied, "Lord, let me be thy servant." "Very well," said the lion; "serve me and you shall feed on prime meat." So saying, he went with the jackal following to Gold Den. Thenceforth the lion's leavings fell to the jackal^ and he grew fat. Lying one day in his den, the lion told the jackal to scan the valleys from the mountain top, to see whether there were any elephants or horses or buffalos about, or any other animals [492] of which he, the jackal, was fond. If any such were in sight, the jackal was to report and say with due obeisance, "Shine forth in thy might, Lord." Then the lion promised to kill and eat, giving a part to the jackal. So the jackal used to climb the heights, and whenever he espied below beasts to bis taste, he would report it to the lion, and falling at his feet, say, "Shine forth in thy might. Lord." Hereon the lion would nimbly bound forth and slay the beast, even if it were a rutting elephant, and share the prime of the carcass with the jackal. Glutted with his meal, the jackal would then retire to his den and sleep.

Now as time went on, the jackal grew bigger and bigger till he grew haughty. "Have not I too four legs?" he asked himself. "Why am I a pensioner day by day on others' bounty? Henceforth / will kill elephants and other beasts, for my own eating. The lion, king of beasts, only kills them because of the formula, 'Shine forth in thy might, Lord.' I'll make the lion call out to me, 'Shine forth in thy might, jackal,' and then I'll kill an elephant for myself." Accordingly he went to the lion, and pointing out that he had long lived on what the lion had killed, told his desire to eat an elephant of his own killing, ending with a request to the lion to let him the jackal, couch in the lion's corner in Gold Den whilst the lion was !!l. Wl '^ir^''^'"' '" ^^"^ '"' ^'^" ^'^ ^^^^P^'^"^^- The quarry found, he asked that the lion should come to him in the den and say, 'Shine forth iu thy might, jackal.' He begged the lion not to grudge him this much. Said the lion, " Jackal, only lions can kill elephants, nor has the world ever seen a jackal able to cope with them. Give up this fancy, and continue to feed on what I kill." But say what the lion could, the jackal would not give way, and still pressed his request. So at last the lion gave way, and bidding the jackal couch in the den, climbed the peak and thence espied an elephant in rut.

Returning to the mouth of the cave, he said, "Shine forth in thy might, jackal." Then from Gold Den the jackal [493] nimbly bounded forth, looked ai'ound him on all four sides, and, thrice raising its howl, sprang at the elephant, meaning to fasten on its head. But missing his aim, he alighted at the elephant's feet. The infuriated brute raised its right foot and crushed the jackal's head, trampling the bones into powder. Then pounding the carcass into a mass, and dunging upon it, the elephant dashed trumpeting into the forest. Seeing all this, the Bodhisatta observed, "Now shine forth in thy might, jackal," and uttered this stanza : —

Your mangled corpse, your brains mashed into clay. Prove how you've shone forth in your might to-day. Thus spake the Bodhisatta, and living to a good old age he passed away in the fulness of time to fare according to his deserts. His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth by saying, "Devadatta was the jackal of those days, and I the lion."

" Vile Jdtaveda." — This story was told by the Master while at Jetavaua, touching the false austerity of the Ajlvikas, or naked ascetics. Tradition tells us that behind Jetavana they used to practise false avisterities^. A number of the Brethren seeing them there painfully squatting on their heels, swinging in the air like bats, reclining on thorns, scorching themselves with five fires, and so foi'th in ^ See (e.g.) Majjhima Nikuya, pp. 77-8, for a catalogue of ascetic austerities, to which early Buddhism was strongly opposed. The Jataka. Book I. their various false austerities -were moved to ask the Blessed One whether any good resulted therefrom. "None whatsoever," answered the Master In days -one bv, the wise and ^ood went into the forest with then- l.irtli-hre, thniknig to profit bv such austerities; but. finding themselves no bettor tor all their s;ierifaces to Fire and for all similar practices, straightway doused the birth-hre with water till it went out By an act of ^[editation the Knowledges and Attainments were gained and a title won to the Brahma llealm." So saying he told this story of the past. [494] Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a brahmin in the North country, and on the day of liis birth his parents lit a birth-fire.

In his sixteenth year they addressed liim tlius, "Son, on the day of your birth we lit a birth-fire for you. Now therefore choose. If you wish to lead a family life, learn the Three Vedas; but if you wish to attain to the Brahma Realm, take your fire with you into the forest and there tend it, so as to win INIaha-Brahma's favour and hei'eafter to enter into the Brahma Realm." Telling his parents that a family life had no charms for him, he w^ent into the forest and dwelt in a hermitage tending his fire. An ox was given him as a fee one day in a border- village, and when he had driven it home to his hermitage, the thought came to him to sacrifice a cow to the Lord of Fire. But finding that he had no salt, and feeling that the Lord of Fire could not eat his meat-oflPering without it, he resolved to go back and bring a supply from the village for the purpose. So he tied up the ox and set off again to the village. While he was gone, a band of hunters came up and, seeing the ox, killed it and cooked themselves a dinner. And what they did not eat they carried off, leaving only the tail and hide and the shanks. Finding only these sorry remains on his return, the brahmin exclaimed, " As this Lord of Fire

cannot so much as look after his own, how shall he look after me 1 It is a waste of time to serve him, bringing neither good rior profit." Having thus lost all desire to worship Fire, he said — "My Lord of Fire, if you cannot manage to protect yourself, how shall you protect mel The meat being gone, you must make shift to fare on this offal." So saying, he threw on the fire the tail and the rest of the robbers' leavings and uttered this stanza : —

Vile Jatiiveda^, here's the tail for you; And think yourself in luck to get so much ! r49£ The prime meat's gone ; put up with tail to-day, J See No. 35, p. yo. So saying the Great Being put the fire out with water and departed to become a recluse. And he won the Knowledges and Attainments, and ensured his re-birth in the Brahma Realm. His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth by saying, "I was the ascetic who in those days quenched the fire."

'■'■How many more'?" — This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about hankering after the wife of one's mundane life. The incidents of the introductory story will be told in the Indriya-jataka^ The Master spoke thus to the Brother, "It is impossible to keep a guard over a woman ; no guard can keep a woman in the right path. You yourself found in former days that all your safeguards were unavailing ; and how can you now expect to have more success?" And so saying, he told this story of the past. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a parrot. A certain brahmin in the Kasi country was as a father to him and to his younger brother, ti-eating them like his own children. Potthapada was the Bodhisatta's name, and Radha his brother's. Now the brahmin had a bold bad wife. And as he was leaving home on business, he said to the two brothers, "If your mother, my wife, is minded to be naughty, stop her." " We will, papa," said the Bodhisatta, " if we can; [496] but if we can't, we will hold our peace."

Having thus entrusted his wife to the parrots' charge, the brahmin set out on his business. Every day thenceforth his wife misconducted herself; there was no end to the stream of her lovers in and out of the house. Moved by the sight, Radha said to the Bodhisatta, "Brother, the parting injunction of our father was to stop any misconduct on his wife's part, and now she does nothing but misconduct herself. Let us stop her." 310 The Jdtaha. Book I. " Brother," said the Bodhisatta, "your words are the words of folly. You might carry a woman about in your arms and yet she would not be safe. So do not essay the impossible." And so saying he uttered this stanza : — How many more shall midnight bring? Your plan Is idle. Naught but wifely love could cm-b Her lust ; and wifely love is lacking quite. And for the reasons thus given, the Bodhisatta did not allow his brother to speak to the brahmin's wife, who continued to gad about to her heart's content during her husband's absence. On his return, the brahmin asked Potthapada about his wife's conduct, and the Bodhisatta faithfully related all that had taken place.

"Why, father," he said, "should you have anything more to do with so wicked a womanl" And he added these words, — "My father, now that I have reported my mother's wickedness, we can dwell here no longer." So saying, he bowed at the brahmin's feet and flew awa}' with Kadha to the forest. His lesson ended, the Master taught the Four Truths, at the close whereof the Brother who hankered after the wife of bis mundane life was established in the fi'uition of the first Path. "This husband and wife," said the Master, "were the brahmin and his wife of those days, Auauda was Kadha, and I myself Potthapada."

"Owr throats are tired." —Thin story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a number of aged Brethren. Whilst they were still of the world, they \yere rich and wealthy squires of Savatthi, all friends of one another ; and tradition tells us that while they were engaged in good works they heard the Master preach. At once they cried, "We are old ; what to us are house and home ? Let us join the Brotherhood, and following the Buddha's lovely doctrine make an end of sorrow." So they shared all their belongings amongst their children and families, and, leaving their tearfid kindred, they came to ask the Master to receive them into the Brotherhood. But when admitted, they did not live the life of Brethren ; and because of their age they failed to master the Truth i. As in their life as householders, so now too when they were Brethren they lived together, building themselves a cluster of neighbouring huts on the skirts of the Monastery. Even when they went in quest of alms, they generally made for their wives' and children's houses and ate there. In particular, all these old men were maintained by the bounty of the wife of one of their number, to whose house each brought what he had received and there ate it, with sauces and curries which she furnished. An illness having carried her oft", the aged Brethren went their way back to the monastery, and falling on one another's necks walked about bewailing the death of their benefactress, the giver of sauces.

The noise of their lamentation brought the Brethren to the spot to know what ailed them. And the aged men told how their kind benefactress was dead, and that they wept because they had lost her and should never see her like again. Shocked at such impropriety, the Brethren talked together in the Hall of Truth about the cause of the old men's sorrow, and they told the Master too, on his entering the Hall and asking what they were discussing. "Ah, Brethren," said he, "in times past, also, this same woman's death made them go about weeping and wailing; in those days she was a crow and was drowned in the sea, and these were toiling hard to empty all the water out of the sea in order to get her out, when the wise of those days saved them."

And so saying he told this story of the past. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was a sea-sprite. Now a crow with his mate came down in quest of food to the sea-shore [498] where, just before, certain persons had been offering to the Nagas a sacrifice of milk, and rice, and fish, and meat and strong drink and the like. Up came the crow and with his mate ate freely of the elements of the sacrifice, and drank a great deal of the sj)irits. So they both got very drunk. Then they wanted to disport themselves in the sea, and were trying to swim on the surf, when a wave swept the hencrow out to sea and a fish came and gobbled her vip. "Ob, my iioor wife is dead," cried the crow, bursting into tears and lamentations. Then a crowd of crows were drawn by his wailing to the spot to learn what ailed him. And when he told them how his wife had been carried out to sea, they all began with one voice to lament. Siiddenly the thought struck them that they were stronger than the sea and that all they had to do was to empty it out and rescue their comrade ! So they set to work with their bills to empty the sea out by mouthfuls, betaking themselves to dry land to rest so soon as their throats were sore with the salt water. And so they toiled away till their mouths and jaws were dry and inflamed and their eyes bloodshot, and they were ready to drop for weariness. Then in despair they turned to one another and said that it was in vain they laboured to empty the sea,

1 Buddhism combined reverence for age with mild contempt for aged novices who, after a mundane life, vouchsafed the selvage of their days and faculties to a creed only to be mastered by hard thinking and ardent zeal. 312 The Jataha. Book I. for no sooner had they got rid of the water in one i)lace than more flowed in, and there was all their work to do over again; they would never succeed in baling the water out of the sea. And, so saying, they uttered this stanza : — Oiu' tliroats are tired, our mouths are sore; The sea refiUeth evermore. Then all the crows fell to praising the beauty of her beak and eyes, her complexion, figure and sweet voice, saying that it was her excellencies that had provoked the sea to steal her from them. But [499] as they talked this nonsense, the sea-sprite made a bogey appear from the sea and so put them all to flight. In this wise they were saved. His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth by saying, "The aged Brothei-'s wife was the hen-crow of those days, and her husband the male crow ; the other aged Brethren were the rest of the crows, and I the sea-sprite."

'■^ I count it not as painP — This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a Brother who was passion-tost. Being questioned by the Master, he admitted his frailty, explaining that he longed for the wife of his mundane life, "For, oh sir!" said he, "she is so sweet a woman that I cannot live without her." "Brother," said the Master, "she is harmful to you. She it was that in former days was the means whereby you were impaled on a stake ; and it was for bewailing her at your death that you were reborn in hell. Why then do you now long after her ?" And so saying, he told the following story of the past. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a Spirit of the Air. Now in Benares there was held the night-festival of Kattika; the city was decorated like a city of the gods, and the whole people kept holiday. And a poor man had only a couple of coarse cloths which he had washed and pressed till they were in a hundred, nay, a thousand creases. But his wife said, "My husband, I want

a saflSower- colon red cloth to wear outside and one to wear underneath, as I go about at the festival hanging round your neck." "How are poor people like us to get safflowers?" said he. "Put on your nice clean attire and come along." "If I can't have them dyed with safflower, I don't want to go at all," said his wife. "Get some other woman to go to the festival with you." "[N'ow why torment me like this? How are we to get safflowers]" "Where there's a will, there's a way," retorted the woman. "Are there no safflowers in the king's conservatories'?" [500] "Wife," said he, "the king's conservatories are like a pool haunted by an ogre. There's no getting in there, with such a strong guard on the watch. Give over this fancy, and be content with what you've got." " But when it's night-time and dai'k," said she, " what's to stop a man's going where he pleases?" As she persisted in her entreaties, his love for her at last made him give way and promise she should have her wish. At the hazard of his own life, he sallied out of the city by night and got into the conservatories by breaking down the fence. The noise he made in breaking the fence roused the guard, who turned out to catch the thief. They soon caught him and with blows and curses put him in fetters.

In the morning he was brought before the king, who promptly ordered him to be impaled alive. Off he was hauled, with his hands tied behind his back, and led out of the city to execution to the sound of the execution-drum, and was impaled alive. Intense were his agonies; and, to add to them, the crows settled on his head and pecked out his eyes with their dagger-like beaks. Yet, heedless of his pain, and thinking only of his wife, the man murmured to himself, "Alas, I shall miss going to the festival with you arrayed in safflower-coloured cloths, with your arms twined round my neck." So saying, he uttered this stanza : —

I count it not as pain that, hero impaled. By crows I'm torn. My heartfelt pain is this. That my dear wife will not keep holiday Attired in raiment gay of ruddy dye. And as he was babbling thus about his wife, he died and was reborn in hell. His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth by saying, "This husband and wife were the husband and wife of those days also, and I was the Spirit of the Air who made their story known." 314 The Jdtaka. Book I.

"0/IC6' hUtcii, twice s%."— This story was told by the Master when at Jetavana, about subduing desires. We are told that some five hundred rich friends, sons of merchants of Savatthi, were led by listening to the Master's teachings to give their hearts to the Truth, and that joining the Brotherhood they lived in Jetavana in the part that Anathapindika paved with gold pieces laid side by side^. ' iSTow in the middle of a certain night thoughts of lust took hold of them, and, in their distress, they set themselves to lay hold once again of the lusts they had renounced. In that hour the Master raised aloft the lamp of his omniscience to discover what manner of passion had hold of the Brethren in Jetavana, and, reading their hearts, perceived that lust and desire had sprung up within them. Like as a mother watches over her only child, or as a one-eyed man is careful of the one eye left him, even so watchful is the Master over his disciples ; — at morn or even, at whatsoever hour their passions war against them, he will not let his faithful be overpowered but in that self-same hour subdues the raging lusts that beset them. Wherefore the thought came to him, " This is like as when thieves break into the city of an emperor ; I will unfold the Truth straightway to these Brethren, to the end that, subduing their lusts, 1 may raise them to Arahatship."

So he came forth from his perfumed chamber, and in sweet tones called by name for the venerable Elder, Ananda, Treasurer of the Faith. And the Elder came and with due obeisance stood before the Master to know his pleasure. Then the Master bade him assemble together in his pei-fumed chamber all the Brethren who dwelt in that quarter of Jetavana. Tradition says that the Master's thought was that if he summoned only those five hundred Brethren, they would conclude that he was aware of their lustful mood, and would be debarred by their agitation from receiving the Truth; accordingly he summoned all the Brethren who dwelt there. And the Elder took a key and went from cell to cell summoning the Brethren till all were assembled in the perfumed chamber. Then he made ready the Buddha-seat. In stately dignity like Mount Sineru resting on the solid earth, the Master seated himself on the Buddha-seat, making a glory shine round him of paired garlands upon garlands of six-coloured light, which divided and divided into masses of the size of a platter, of the size of a canopy, and of the size of a tower, until, like shafts of lightning, the rays reached to the heavens above. It was even as when the sun rises, stirring the ocean to the depths.

With reverent obeisance and reverent hearts, the Brethren entered and took their seats around him, encompassing him as it were within an orange curtain. Then in tones as of Maha-Brahma the Master [502] said, "Brethren, a Brother should not harbour the three evil thoughts, — lust, hatred and cruelty. Never let it be imagined that wicked desires are a trivial matter. For such desires are like an enemy ; and an enemy is no trivial matter, but, given opportunity, works only destruction. Even so a desire, though small at its first arising, has only to be allowed to grow, in order to work utter destruction. Desire is like poison in food, like the itch in the skin, like a viper, like the thunderbolt of Indra, ever to be shunned, ever to be feared. Whensoever desire arises, forthwith, without 1 Or 'paved with crores.' See Vinaya, Cullav. vi. 4. 9, translated in S. B. E., Volume XX., page 188. Cf. also Jdtaka (text) i. 92. finding a moment's harbourage in the heart, it should be expelled by thought and reflection, — like as a raindrop rolls at once ofl^ the leaf of the lotus. The wise of former times so hated even a slight desire that they crushed it out before it could grow larger." And so saying, he told this story of the past.

Once on a time when Bralimadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was re-born into life as a jackal and dwelt in the forest by the river-side. Now an old elephant died by the banks of the Ganges, and the jackal, finding the carcass, congratulated himself on lighting upon such a store of meat. First he bit the trunk, biit that was like biting a ploughhandle. "There's no eating here," said the jackal and took a bite at a tusk. But that was like biting bones. Then he tried an ear, but that was like chewing the rim of a winnowing-basket. So he fell to on the stomach, but found it as tough as a grain-basket. The feet were no better, for they were like a mortar. Next he tried the tail, but that was like the pestle. "That won't do either," said the jackal; and having failed elsewhere to find a toothsome part, he tried the rear and found that like eating a soft cake. "At last," said he, "I've found the right place," and ate his way right into the belly, where he made a plenteous meal off the kidneys, heart and the i-est, quenching his thirst with the blood. And when night came on, he lay down inside. As he lay there, the thought came into the jackal's mind, "This carcass is both meat and house to me, and wherefore should I leave if?" So there he stopped, and dwelt in the elephant's inwards, eating away.

Time wore on till the summer sun and the summer winds dried and shrank the elephant's hide, [503] until the entrance by which the jackal had got in was closed and the interior was in utter darkness. Thus the jackal was, as it were, cut off from the world and confined in the interspace between the worlds. After the hide, the flesh dried up and the blood was exhausted. In a frenzy of despair, he rushed to and fro beating against his prison walls in the fruitless endeavour to escape. But as he bobbed up and down inside like a ball of rice in a boiling saucepan, soon a tempest broke and the downpour iBoistened the shell of the carcass and restored it to its former state, till light shone like a star through the way by which the jackal had got in. "Saved ! saved!" cried the jackal, and, backing into the elephant's head made a rush head-first at the outlet. He managed to get through, it is true, but only by leaving all his hair on the way. And first he ran, then he halted, and then sat down and surveyed his hairless body, now smooth as a palm-stem. "Ah !" he exclaimed, "this misfortune has befallen me because of my greed and my greed alone. Henceforth I will not be greedy nor ever again get into

316 The Jdtaha. Book I. the carcass of an elephant," And his terror found expression in this stanza : — Once bitten, twice shy. Ah, gi-eat was my fear! Of elephants' inwards henceforth I'll steer clear. And with these words the jackal made off, nor did he ever again so much as look either at that or at any other elephant's carcass. And thenceforth he was never greedy again. His lesson ended, the Master said, "Brethren, never let desires take root in the heart but pluck them out wheresoever they spring up." [504] Having preached the Four Truths (at the close whereof those five hundred Brethren won Arahatship and the rest won varying lesser degrees of salvation), the Master identified the Birth as follows : — "I was myself the jackal of those days."

'■'■If poison lurJc." — This story was told about the Licchavi Prince Wicked of Vesali by the Master when he was living in the gabled house in the great forest near Vesali. In those days Vesali enjoyed marvellous prosperity. A triple wall encompassed the city, each wall a league distant from the next, and there were three gates with watch-towers. In that city there were always seven thousand seven hundred and seven kings to govern the kingdom, and a like number of viceroys, generals, and treasurers. Among the kings' sons was one known as Wicked Licchavi Prince, a fierce, passionate and cruel young man, always punishing, like an enraged viper. Such was his passionate nature that no one could say more than two or three words in his presence; and neither parents, kindred, nor friends could make him better. So at last his parents resolved to bring the ungovernable youth to the All- Wise Buddha, realising that none but he could possibly tame their son's fierce spirit. So they brought him to the Master, whom, with due obeisance, they besought to read the youth a lecture. Then the Master addressed the prince and said: — "Prince, human beings sliould not be passionate or cruel or ferocious. The fierce man is one who is harsh and unkind alike to the mother that bore him, to his father and child, to his brothers and sisters, and to his wife, friends and kindred ; inspiring terror like a viper darting forward to bite, like a robber springing on his victim in the forest, like an ogre advancing to devour, — the fierce man straightway will be re-born after this life in hell or other place of punishment ; and even in this life,

however much adorned he is, he looks ugly. Be his face beautiful as the orb of the moon at the full, yet is it loathly as a lotus scorched by flames, as a disc of gold overworn with filth. It is such rage that drives men to slay themselves with the sword, to take poison, to hang themselves, and to throw themselves fnnn precipices ; and so it comes to pass that, meeting their death by reason of their own rage, they are re-born into torment. So too they who injure others, are hated even in tliis life and shall for their sins pass at the body's death to hell and punishment ; and when once more they are born as men, [505] disease and sickness of eye and ear and of every kind ever beset them from their birth onward. Wherefore let all men shew kindness and be doers of g<iod, and then assuredly hell and punishment have no fears for them." Such was the power of this one lecture upon the prince that his pride was humbled forthwith ; his arrogance and selfishness passed from him, and his heart was turned to kindness and love. Nevermore did he revile or strike, but became gentle as a snake with drawn fangs, as a crab with broken claws, as a bull with broken horns.

^larking this change of mood, the Brethren talked together in the Hall of Truth of how the Licchavi Prince Wicked, whom the ceaseless exhortations of his parents could not curb, had been subdued and humbled with a single exhortation by the All-Wise Buddha, and how this was like taming six rutting elephants at once. Well had it been said that, 'The elephant- tamer. Brethren, guides the elephant he is breaking in, making it to go to right or left, backward or forward, according to his will ; in like manner the horse-tamer and the oxtamer with horses and oxen ; and so too the Blessed One, the All-wise Buddha, guides the man he would train aright, guides him whithersoever he wills along any of the eight directions, and makes his pupil discern shapes external to himself. Such is the Buddha and He alone,' — and so forth, down to the words, — 'He that is hailed as chief of the trainers of men, supreme in bowing men to the yoke of Truth *.' "For, sirs," said the Brethi*en, "there is no trainer of men like unto the Supreme Buddha." And here the Master entered the Hall and questioned them as to what they were discussing. Then they told him, and he said, "Brethren, this is not the first time that a single exhortation of mine has conquered tlie prince ; the like happened before."

And so saying, he told this story of the past. Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta came to life again as a bi^ahmin iu the NortI) country, and when he grew up he lii'st learned the Three Vedas and all learning, at Takka-silfi, and for some time lived a mundane life. But when his parents died he became a recluse, dwelling in the Himalayas, and attained the mystic Attainments and Knowledges. There he dwelt a long time, till need of salt and other necessaries of life brought him back to the paths of men, and he came to Benares, where he took up his quarters in the royal pleasaunce. Next day he dressed himself with care and pains, and in the best garb of an ascetic went in quest of alms to the city [506] and came to the king's gate. The king was sitting down and saw the Bodhisatta from the window and marked within himself how the hermit, wise in heart and soul, fixing his gaze immediately before him, moved on in lion-like majesty, as though at every 1 The quotation has not been traced in published texts. 318 The Jataha. Book I.

footstep he were depositing a purse of a thousand pieces. "If goodness dwell anywhere," thought the king, "it must be in this man's breast." So summoning a courtier, he bade him bring the hermit into the presence. And the courtier went up to the Bodhisatta and with due obeisance, took his alms-bowl from his hand. " How now, your excellency'?" said the Bodhisatta. "The king sends for your reverence," replied the courtier. "My dwelling," said the Bodhisatta, "is in the Himalayas, and I have not the king's favour." So the courtier went back and reported this to the king. Bethinking him that he had no confidential adviser at the time, the king bade the Bodhisatta be brought, and the Bodhisatta consented to come. The king greeted him on his entrance with great courtesy and bade him be seated on a golden throne beneath a royal parasol. And the Bodhisatta was fed on dainty food which had been made ready for the king's own eating. Then the king asked where the ascetic lived and learned that his home was in the Himalayas. "And where are you going now ? " " In search, sire, of a habitation for the rainy season." "Why not take up your abode in my pleasaunce?" suggested the king. Then, having gained the Bodhisatta's consent, and having eaten food himself, he went with his guest to the pleasaunce and there had a hermitage built with a cell for the day, and a cell for the night. This dwelling was provided with the eight requisites of an ascetic. Having thus installed the Bodhisatta, the king put him under the charge of the gai-dener and went back to the palace. So it came to pass that the Bodhisatta dwelt thenceforward in the king's pleasaunce, and twice or thrice every day the king came to visit him.

Now the king had a tierce and passionate son who was known as Prince Wicked, who was beyond the control of his father and kinsfolk. Councillors, brahmins and citizens all pointed out to the young man the error of his ways, but in vain. He paid no heed to their counsels. And the king felt that the only hope of reclaiming his son lay with the virtuous ascetic. So as a last chance [507] he took the prince and handed him over to the Bodhisatta to deal with. Then the Bodhisatta walked with the prince in the pleasaunce till they came to where a seedling Nimb tree was growing, on which as yet grew but two leaves, one on one side, one on the other. "Taste a leaf of this little tree, prince," said the Bodhisatta, "and see what it is like." The young man did so ; but scarce had he put the leaf in his mouth, when he spat it out with an oath, and hawked and spat to get the taste out of his mouth. "What is the mattei-, prince?" asked the Bodhisatta, "Sir, to-day this tree only suggests a deadly poison; but, if left to grow, it will prove the death of many persons," said the prince, and forthwith plucked up and crushed in his hands the tiny growth, reciting these lines : —

If poison lurk in the baby tree. What will the full growth prove to be? Then said the Bodhisatta to him, "Prince, dreading what the poisonous seedling might grow to, you have torn it up and rent it asunder. Even as you acted to the tree, so the people of this kingdom, dreading what a prince so fierce and passionate may become when king, will not place you on the throne but uproot you like this Nimb tree and drive you forth to exile. Wherefore take warning by the tree and henceforth shew mercy and abound in loving-kindness." From that hour the prince's mood was changed. He grew humble and meek, merciful and overflowing with kindness. Abiding by the Bodhisatta's counsel, [508] when at his father's death he came to be king, he abounded in charity and other good works, and in the end ])assed away to fare accordinsr to his deserts. His lesson ended, the Master said, "So, Brethren, this is not the first time that I have tamed Prince Wicked ; I did the same in days gone by." Then he identified the Birth by saying, "The Licchavi Prince Wicked of to-day was the Prince Wicked of the story, Ananda the king, and I the ascetic who exhorted the prince to goodness."

'■'■Befriend a villain." — This story was told by the Master when at the Bamboogrove, about King Ajatasattu's adherence to false teachers i. For he believed in that rancorous foe of the Buddbas, the base and wicked Devadatta, and in his infatuation, wishing to do honour to Devadatta, expended a vast sum in erecting a monastery at Gayaslsa. And following Devadatta's wicked counsels, he slew 1 See Vinaya, Cullav. vii. 3. 4- (translated in S. B. E. xx. pp. 242 &c.). In the Sdmannaphala Sutta, the Digha Nikaya gives the incidents of this introductory story and makes the King confess to having killed his father (Vol. i. p. 85). 320 Tlie Jdtaha. Booh I. the good and virtuous old King his father, who had entered on the Paths, thereby destroying his own chance of winning like goodness and virtue, and bringing great woe upon himself. Hearing that the earth had swallowed vip Devadatta, he feared a like fate for himself. And such was the frenzy of his terror that he recked not of his kingdom's welfare, slept not upon his bed, but ranged abroad quaking in every limb, like a young elephant in an agony of pain. In fancy he saw the earth yawning for him, and the flames of hell darting forth ; he could see himself fastened down on a bed of burning metal with iron lances being thrust into his body. Like a wounded cock, not for one instant was he at peace.

The desire came on him to see the All- Wise Buddha, to be reconciled to him, and to ask guidance of him ; but because of the magnitude of his transgressions he shrank from coming into the Buddha's presence. When the Kattika festival came round, and by night Rajagaha was illuminated and adorned like a city of the gods, the King, as he sat on high upon a throne of gold, saw Jivaka Komarabhacca sitting near. The idea flashed across his mind to go with Jivaka to the Buddha, but he felt he could not say outright that he would not go alone but wanted Jivaka to take him. No ; the better course would be, after praising the beauty of the night, [509] to propose sitting at the feet of some sage or brahmin, and to ask the courtiers what teacher can give the heart peace. Of course, they would severally praise their own masters ; but Jivaka would be sure to extol the All-Enlightened Buddha; and to the Buddha the King with Jivaka would go. So he burst into fivefold praises of the night, saying — "How fair, sirs, is this clear cloudless night ! How beautiful ! How charming ! How delightful ! How lovely^ ! What sage or brahmin shall we seek out, to see if haply he may give our hearts peace ? "

Then one minister recommended Purana Kassapa, another Makkhali Gosala, and others again Ajita Kesakambala, Kakudha Kaccayana, Safijaya Belatthiputta, or Nigantlia Nathaputta. All these names the King heard in silence, waiting for his chief minister, Jivaka, to speak. But Jivaka, suspecting that the King's real object was to make him speak, kept silence in order to make sure. At last the King said, " Well, my good Jivaka, why have you nothing to say ? " At the word Jivaka arose from his seat, and with hands clasped in adoration towards the Blessed One, cried, " Sire, yonder in my mango-grove dwells the All-Enlightened Buddha with thirteen hundred and fifty Brethren. This is the high fame that has arisen concerning him." And here he proceeded to recite the nine titles of honour ascribed to him, beginning with ' Venerable^.' When he had further shewn how from his birth onwards the Buddha's powers had surpassed all the earlier presages and expectations, Jivaka said, " Unto him, the Blessed One, let the King repair, to hear the truth and to put questions." His object thus attained, the King asked Jivaka to have the elephants got ready and went in royal state to Jivaka's mango-grove, where he found in the perfumed pavilion the Buddha amid the Brotherhood which was tranquil as the ocean in perfect repose. Look where he would, the King's eye saw only the endless ranks of the Brethren, exceeding in numbers any following he had ever seen. Pleased with the demeanour of the Brethren, the King bowed low jind spoke words of praise. Then saluting the Buddlia, he seated himself, and asked him the question, 'What is the fruit of the religious life?' And the Blessed One gave utterance to the Samaiifiaphala Sutta in two sections 3. Glad at heart, the King made his peace with the Buddha at the close of the Sutta, and rising up departed with solemn obeisance. Soon after the King had gone,

Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born into the family of a wealthy brahmin. Arriving at years of discretion, he went to study at Takkasila, where he received a complete education. In Benares as a teacher he enjoyed world-wide fame and had five hundred young brahmins as pupils. Among these was one named Saiijlva, to whom the Bodhisatta taught the spell for raising the dead to life. But though the young man was taught this, he was not taught the counter charm. Proud of his new power, he went with his fellow-pupils to the forest wood-gathering, and there came on a dead tiger. " Now see me bring the tiger to life again," said he. " You can't," said they. " You look and you will see me do it." " Well, if you can, do so," said they and climbed up a tree forthwith. Then SanjTva repeated his charm and struck the dead tiger with a potsherd. Up started the tiger and quick as lightning sprang at Safijiva and bit him on the throat, killing him outright. Dead fell the tiger then and there, and dead fell Sanjiva too at the same spot. So there the two lay dead side by side.

The young brahmins took their wood and went back to their master to whom they told the story. " My dear pupils," said he, " mark herein how by I'eason of showing favour to the sinful and paying honour where it was not due, he has brought all this calamity upon himself." And so saying he uttered this stanza : — [511] Befriend a villain, aid him in his need, And, like that tiger which Saiijlva^ raised To life, he straight devours you for your pains. ^ Unlike the preceding sentence, this last sentence does not occur in the Digha Nikaya. The interpolation is interesting as suggesting the license with which words were put into the Master's mouth by Buddhist authors. 2 The gloss suggests that sahjiviko ( = 'of or belonging to Sanjiva') is an acrid pun on the meaning of Sanjivo, which means 'alive,' — the tiger having been restored to life by Sanjiva, whom it bereft of life by way of reward. 322 The JdtaJca. Book I. Such was the Bodhisatta's lesson to the young brahmins, and after a life of almsgiving and otlier good deeds he passed away to fare according to his deserts. His lesson ended the Master identified the Birth by saying, " Ajatasattu was the young brahmin of those days who brought the dead tiger to life, and I the world-fanicd teacher."