ဇာတက-အဋ္ဌကထာ (ဆ)

MtJGA-PAKKHA JATAKA\ " Sheio [1] no intelligence" etc. This story the Master told at Jatavana concerning the great renunciation. One day the Brethren seated in the Hall of Truth were discussing the praises of the Blessed One's great renunciation. When the Master came and inquired of tlie Brethren what was the topic which they were discussing as they sat there, on hearing what it was, he said, " No, Brethren, this my renunciation of the world, after leaving laj kingdom, was not wonderful, when I had fully exercised the perfections for before, even when my wisdom ; was still immature, and while I was still attaining the perfections, I left my kingdom and renounced the world." And at their request he told them a story of the past. Once upon a time a king Kasiraja ruled justly in Benares. He had sixteen thousand wives, but not one among them conceived either son or daughter. The citizens assembled as in the Kusa Jataka-, saying, " Our king has no son to keep up his line " and they begged the king to pray ; for a son. The king commanded his sixteen thousand wives to pray for sons ; but though they worshipped the moon and the other deities and prayed, they obtained none. Now his chief queen Candadevi, the daughter of the king of the Maddas, was devoted to good works, and he asked her also to i)ray for a son. So on the day of the full moon she took upon herself the Uposatha vows, and while lying on a little bed, as she reflected on her virtuous life, she made an Act of Truth in these terms, " If I have never broken the commandments, by the truth of this my protestation [2] may a son be boi-ne to me." Through the power of her piety, Sakka's dwelling became hot. Sakka, having considered and ascertained the cause, said, " Candadevi asks for a son, I will give her one " ; so, as he looked for a suitable son, he saw the Bodhisatta. Now the Bodhisatta, after having reigned twenty years in Benares, had been reborn in the Ussada hell ^ The story of the deaf cripple. - No. 531, transl. v. p. 141. where he had suffered for eighty thousand years, and had then been born in the world of the thirty-three gods, and after having stayed there his allotted period, he had passed away therefrom and was desirous of going to the world of the higher gods. Sakka went up to hira and said, " Friend, if you are born in the world of men you will fully exercise the perfections and the mass of mankind will be advantaged now this chief queen of ; Kasiraja, Canda, is praying for a son, do you be born in her womb." He consented, and came attended by five hundred deities, and was himself conceived in her womb, while the other deities wei*e conceived in the wombs of the wives of the king's ministers. The queen's womb seemed to be full of diamond when she became aware of it, she told it to the king, ; who caused every care to be taken for the safety of the unborn child and ; at last she brought forth a son endued with auspicious marks. On the same day five hundred yoiing nobles were born in the ministers' houses. At that moment the king was seated on his royal dais, surrounded by his ministers, when it was announced, "A son is born to thee, O king"; at hearing it, paternal affection arose, and piei'cing through his skiu reached to the marrow in his bones joy spi'ang up within him and his heart ; became refreshed. He asked his ministers, "Are you glad at the birth of my son ? " " What art thou saying, Sire ? " they answered, " we were before helpless, now we have a help, we have obtained a lord." The king gave orders to his chief general, "A retinue must be prepared for my son, find out how many young nobles have been born to-day in the ministers' houses." He saw the five hundred and went and told it to the king. The king sent princely dresses of honour for the five hundred young nobles, and he also sent five hundred nurses. He gave moreover sixty-four nurses for the Bodhisatta, all free from the faults of being too tall, &c., [3] with their breasts not hanging down, and full of sweet milk. If a child drinks milk, sitting on the hip of a nurse who is too tall, its neck will become too long if it sits on the hip of one too short, its shoulder-boue will be compressed if the nurse be too thin, the babe's thighs will ache ; if too stout, the babe will become bow-legged ' ; the body " of a very dark nurse is too cold, of one very white, is too hot ; the children who drink the milk of a nurse with hanging bi-easts, have the ends of their noses flattened ; some nurses have their milk sour, others have it bitter, &c. Therefore, avoiding all these faults, he provided sixty-four nurses all possessed of sweet milk and without any of these faults ; and after paying the Bodhisatta great honour, he also gave the queen a boon. She accepted it and kept it in her mind. On the day of naming the child they paid great honour to the brahmans who read the different mai'ks, and inquired if there was any danger threatening. They, beholding the excellence of his marks, replied, " O king, the prince > Khalamkapddo 7 - Tliei'e is another reading, 'tlie milk.' possesses every mark of future good fortune, lie is able to i-ule not one continent only but all the four, — there is no clanger visible." The king, being pleased, when he fixed the boy's name, gave him the name Temiyakumaro, since it had rained all over the kingdom of KasI on the day of his birth and he had been born wet. When he was one month old, they adorned him and brought him to the king, and the king having looked at his dear child, embraced him and placed him on his hip and sat playing with him. Now at that time four robbers were brought before him ; one of them he sentenced to receive a thousand strokes from whips barbed with thorns, another to be imprisoned in chains, a third to be smitten with a spear, the fourth to be impaled. The Bodhisatta, on hearing his father's words, was terrified and thought to himself, " Ah ! my father through his being a king, is becoming guilty of a gi'ievous action which brings men to hell." The next day they laid him on a sumptuous bed under a white umbrella, and he woke after a short sleep and opening his eyes beheld the white umbrella and the royal pomp, and his fear increased all the more ; and as he pondered " from whence [4] have I come into this palace 1 " by his recollection of his former births, he remembered that he had once come from the world of the gods and that after that he had sufiered in hell, and that then he had been a king in that very city. While he pondered to himself, " I was a king for twenty years and then I suffered eighty thousand years in the XJssada hell, and now again I am born in this house of robbers, and my father, when four robbers were brought before him, uttered such a cruel speech as must lead to hell if I become a king I shall be born again in hell and suffer great pain thei'e," he became greatly alarmed, his golden body became pale and faded like a lotus crushed by the hand, and he lay thinking how he could escape from that house of robbers. Then a goddess who dwelt in the umbrella, and who in a certain previous birth had been his mother, comforted him, " Fear not, my child Temiya ; if you really desire to escape, then pretend to be a cripple, although not i-eally one ; though not deaf, pretend to be deaf, and, though not dumb, pretend to be dumb. Putting on these characteristics, shew no signs of intelligence." So she uttered the first stanza, " Shew no intelligence, my child, be as a fool in all men's eyes, Content to be the scorn of all, thus slialt thou gain at last the prize." Being comforted by her words he uttered the second stanza, "O goddess, I will do thy will, — what thou commandest me is best. Mother, thou wishest for my weal, thou longest but to see me blest," and so he practised these three characteristics. The king, in oi'der that his son might lose his melancholy, had the five hundred young nobles brought near him ; the children began crying for their milk, but the Bodhisatta, being afraid of hell, reflected that to die of thirst would be better than to reign, and did not cry.The nurses told this [5] to Queen Canda and she told it to the king he sent for some brahmans skilled in ; signs and omens and consulted them. They replied, " Sire, you must give the prince his milk after the proper time has passed ; he will then cry and seize the breast eagerly and drink of his own accord." So they gave him his milk after letting the proper time pass by, and sometimes they let it pass by for once, and sometimes they did not give it to him all through the day. But he, stung by fear of hell, even though thirsty, would not cry for milk. Then the mother or the nurses gave him milk, though he did not cry for it, saying, "The boy is famished." The other childi'en cried when they did not get their milk, but he neither cried nor slept nor doubled up his hands nor feet, nor would he hear a sound. Then his nurses reflected, " The hands and feet of cripples are not like his, the formation of the jaws of the dumb is not like his, the structure of the ears of the deaf is not like his ; there must be some reason for all this, let us examine into it " ; so they determined to try him with milk, and so for one whole day they gave him no milk; but, though parched, he uttered no sound for milk.Then his mother said, " My boy is famished, give him milk," and she made them give him milk. Thus giving him milk at intervals they spent a year in trying him, but they did not discover his weak point. Then saying, " The other children are fond of cakes and dainties, we will try him with them "; they set the five hundred children near him and brought various dainties and placed them close by him, and, telling them to take what they liked, they hid themselves. The other children quan-elled and struck one another and seized the cakes and ate them, but the Bodhisatta said to himself, "O Temiya, eat the cakes and dainties ifyou wish for hell," and so in his fear of hell he would not look at them. Thus even though they tried him with cakes and dainties for a whole year they discovered not his weak point. Then they said, "Children are fond of difierent kinds of fruit," and they brought all sorts of fruit and tried him [6] the other children fought for them and ate them, but he ; would not look at them, and thus for a whole year they tried him with various kinds of fruit. Then they said, " Other children are fond of playthings"; so they set golden and other figures of elephants, &c., near him; the rest of the children seized them as if they were spoil, but the Bodhisatta would not look at them, and thus for a whole year they tried him with playthings. Then they said, "There is a special food for children four years old, we will try him with that"; so they brought all sorts of food; the other children broke them in pieces and ate them but the Bodhisatta ; said to himself, " O Temiya, there no counting of the past births when is you did not obtain food," and for fear of hell he did not look at them; until at last his mother, with her heai't well nigh rent, fed him with her own hand '.Then they said, " Children five years old are afraid of the fire,we will try him with that " so, having had a large house made with ; many doors, and having covered it over with palmleaves, they set him in the middle surrounded by the other children and set fii'e to it. The others ran away shrieking, but the Bodhisatta said to himself that it was better than the torture in hell, and remained motionless as if perfectly apathetic, and when the fire came near him they took him away. Then they said, "Children six years old are afraid of a wild elephant "j so they had a welltrained elephant taught, and, when they had seated the Bodhisatta with the other children in the palace-court, they let it loose. On it came trumpeting and striking the ground with its trunk and spreading terror; the other children fled in all directions in fear for their lives, but the Bodhisatta, being afraid of where he was, and the well-trained hell, sat animal took him and him up and down, and went away without lifted hurting him. When he was seven years old, as he was sitting surrounded by his companions, they let loose some serpents with their teeth extracted and their mouths bound; the other children ran away shrieking, but the Bodhisatta, remembering the fear of hell, remained motionless, saying, " It is better to perish by the mouth of a fierce serpent"; then the serpents enveloped his whole body and they spread their hoods on his head, but still he remained motionless. Thus though they him again and tried again, they still Then could not discover his weak point. [7] they said, "Boys are fond of social gatherings"; so, having set him in the palacecourt with the five hundred boys, they caused an assembly of mimes to be gathered together ; the other boys, seeing the mimes, shouted ' bravo and laughed loudly, but the Bodhisatta, saying to himself that if he were born in hell there would never be a moment's laughter or joy, remained motionless as he pondered on hell, and never looked at the dancing. Thus trying him again and again they discovered no weak point in him. Then they said, " We will try him with the sword"; so they placed him with the other boys in the palace-court, and while they were playing, a man rushed upon them, brandishing a sword like crystal and shouting and jumping, saymg, "Where is this devil's-child of the King of Kasi? I will cut ofi" his head." The others fled, shrieking in terror at the sight of him, but the Bodhisatta, having pondered on the fear of hell, sat as if unconscious. The man, although he rubbed the sword on his head and threatened to cut it off*, could not frighten him and at last went away. Thus though they tried him again and again, they could not discover his weak point. When he was ten years old, in order to try whether he was really deaf, they hung a curtain round a bed and made holes in the four sides and placed conch-blowers underneath it without letting him see them. All at once they blew the conchs, —there was one burst of sound; but the ministers, 1 I have followed Bd here. though they stood at the four sides and watched by the holes in the curtain, could not through a whole day detect in him any confusion of thought or any disturbance of hand or foot, or even a single start. So after a year had past, they tried him for another year with drums but ; even thus, though they tried him again and again, they could not discover his weak point. Then they said, "We will try him with a lamp"; so in the night-time in order to see whether he moved hand or foot in the darkness, they lightedsome lamps in jars, and having extinguished all the other lamps, they put these down for a while in the darkness, and then suddenly lifting the lamps in the jars, created all at once a blaze, and watched his behaviour; but though they thus tried him again and again for a whole year, they never saw him start even once. [8] Then they said, "We will try him with molasses"; so they smeared all his body with molasses and laid him in a place infested with flies and stirred the flies up these covered his whole body and bit it as if they were piercing it with needles, but he remained motionless as if perfectly apathetic; thus they tried him for a year, but they discovered no weak point in him. Then when he was fourteen years old, they said, " This youth now he is grown up loves what is clean and abhors what is unclean,— we will try him with what is unclean " so from that time they did not let him bathe or rinse ; his mouth or perform any bodily ablutions, until he was reduced to a miserable plight, and he looked like a released prisoner. As he lay, covered with flies, came round and i-eviled him, saying, "O the people Temiya, you are grown up now, who is to wait on you 1 are you not ashamed ? why are you lying there ? rise up and cleanse yourself." But he, remembering the torments of the hell Giitha, lay quietly in his squalor and though they tried him again and again for a year, they discovered no weak point in him. Then they put pans of fire in the bed under him, saying, " When he is distressed by the heat, he will perhaps be unable to bear the pain and will shew some signs of writhing"; boils seemed to break out on his body, but the Bodhisatta resigned himself, saying, " The fire of the hell Avici flames up a hundred leagues, — this heat is a hundred, a thousand times preferable to that," so he remained motionless. Then his parents, with breaking hearts, made the men come back, and took him out of the fire, and implored him, saying, "0 prince Temiya, we know that thou art not in any way crippled by birth, for cripples have not such feet, face, or ears as thou hast ; we gained thee as our child after-inany prayers, do not now destroy us, but deliver us from the blame of all the kings of Jambudlpa"; but, though thus entreated by them, he lay still motionless, as if he heard them not. Then his parents went away weeping; [9] and sometimes his father or his mother came back alone, and implored him; and thus they tried him again and again for a whole year, but they discovered no weak point in him. Then when he was sixteen years old they considered, "Whether it be a cripple or deaf and dumb, still there are none, who when they are grown up, do not delight in what is enjoyable and dislike what is disagreeable ; this is all natural in the proper time like the opening of flowers. We will have dramas acted before him and will thus try him." So they summoned some women full of all graces, and as beautiful as the daughters of the gods, and they promised that whichever of them could make the prince laugh, or could entangle him in sinful thoughts should become his principal queen. Then they had the prince bathed in pei'fumed water and adorned like a son of the gods, and laid on a royal bed prepared in a suite of royal chambers like the dwellings of the gods, and having filled his inner chamber with a mingled fragrance of perfumed wreaths, wreaths of flowers, iucense, unguents, spirituous liquor, and the like, they retired. Meanwhile the women surrounded him and tried hard to delight him with dancing and singing and all sorts of pleasant words ; but he looked at them in his perfect wisdom and stopped his inhalations and exhalations in fear lest they should touch his body, so that his body became quite rigid. They, being unable to touch him, said to his parents, " His body is all rigid, he is not a man, but must be a goblin." Thus his parents, though they tried him again and again, discovered no weak point in him. Thus, though they tried him for sixteen years with the sixteen great tests and many smaller ones, they were not able to detect a weak point in him. Then the king, being full of vexation, summoned the fortune-tellers and said, " When the prince was born ye said that he has fortunate and auspicious marks, he has no threatening obstacle but he is born a cripple and deaf and dumb your ; ; words do not answer to the facts." " Great king," they replied, " nothing is unseen by your teachers, but we knew how grieved you Avould be if we told you that the child of so many royal prayers [10] would be all Ill-luck; so we did not utter it." "AVhat must be done nowr' "O king, if this prince remains in this house, three dangers are threatened, viz. to your life or your royal power, or the queen; therefore it will be best to have some unlucky horses yoked to an unlucky chariot, and, placing him therein, to convey him by the western gate and bury him in the charnel-ground^" The king assented, being frightened at the threatened dangers. When the queen Candadevi heard the news she came to the king, " My lord, you gave me a boon and I have kept it unclaimed, give it to me now." "Take it, O queen." "Give the kingdom to my son." "I cannot, O queen; thy son is all Ill-luck." "Then if you will not give it for his life, give it to him for seven years." " I cannot, O queen." "Then give it to him for six years, —for five, four, three, two, one year. Give it to him for seven months, for six, five, four, three, two months, one month, for half a month." "I cannot, O queen." "Then give 1 Cf. Vol. I., tiansl., p. 215. it to him for seven days." "Well," said the king, "take yom- boon." So she had her son adorned, and, the city being gaily decorated, a proclamation was made to the beat of a drum, "This is the reign of prince Temiya," and he was seated upon an elephant and led triumphantly rightwise round the city, with a white umbrella held over his head. When he returned, and was laid on his royal bed she implored him all the night, " my child, prince Temiya, on thy account for sixteen years I have wept and taken no sleep: and my eyes are parched up, and my heart is pierced with sorrow; I know that thou art not really a cripple or deaf and dumb, do not make me — utterly destitute." In this manner she implored him day after day for five days. On the sixth day the king summoned the charioteer Sunanda and said to him, "To-morrow morning early yoke some ill-omened horses to an ill-omened chariot, and having set the prince in it, take him out by the western gate and dig a hole with four sides in the charnel-ground; throw him into it, and break his head with the back of the spade and kill him, then scatter dust over him and make a heap of earth above, [11] and after bathing youi'self come hither." That sixth night the queen implored the prince, "O my child, the King of Kasi has given orders that you are to be buried to-morrow in the charnel-ground, — to-morrow you will certainly die, my son." When the Bodhisatta heard this, he thought to himself, "O Temiya, your sixteen years' labour has reached its end," and he was glad; but his mother's heart was as it were cleft in twain. Still he would not speak to her lest his desire should not attain its end. At the end of that night, in the early morning, Sunanda the charioteer yoked the chariot and made it stand at the gate, and entering the royal bedchamber he said, "O queen, be not angry, it is the king's command." So saying, as the queen lay embracing her son he pushed her away with the back of his hand, and lifted up the prince like a bundle of flowers and came down from the palace. The queen was left in the chamber smiting her breast and lamenting with a loud cry. Then the Bodhisatta looked at her and considered, " If I do not speak she will die of a broken heart," but though he desired to speak, he reflected, " If I speak, my efibrts for sixteen years will be rendered fruitless; but if I do not speak, I shall be the saving ^ of myself and my parents." Then the charioteer lifted him into the chariot and saying, "I will drive the chariot to the western gate," he drove it to the eastern gate, and the wheel struck against the threshold. The Bodhisatta, hearing the sound, said, "My desire has attained its end," and he became still more glad at heart. When the chariot had gone out of the city, it went a space of three leagues by the power of the gods, and there the end of a forest 1 [Prof. Cowell translates as follows: 'I shall be the death of my father and mother as well as of myself,' adding a note: " I have doubtfully translated paccayo as if it were the opposite of the phrase Ipyov nvos dvai."] appeared to the chai-ioteer as if it were a charnel-ground ; so thinking it to be a suitable place, he turned the chariot out of the road, and stopping it bythe roadside he alighted and took oif all the Bodhisatta's ornaments and made them into a bundle and laid them down, and then taking a spade began to dig a hole. Then the Bodhisatta thought, " This is my time for effort for sixteen years I have never moved hands nor feet, ; are they in my power or nof?" So he rose and rubbed his right hand with his left, and his left hand with his right, [12] and his feet with both his hands, and resolved to alight from the chariot. When his foot came down, the earth r-ose up like a leather bag tilled with air and touched the hinder end of the chariot; when he had alighted, and had Avalked backwards and forwards several times, he felt that he had strength to go a hundred leagues in this manner in one day. Then he reflected, "If the chai'ioteer were to set against me, should I have the power to contend with him?" So he seized hold of the hinder end of the chai'iot and lifted it up as if it wei'e a toy-cart for children, and said to himself that he had power to contend with him and as he perceived it, a desire arose ; to adorn himself. At that moment Sakka's palace became hot. Sakka, having perceived the reason, said, " Prince Temiya's desire has attained its end, he desires to be adorned, what has he to do with human adornment 1 " and he commanded Vissakamma to take heavenly decorations and to go and adorn the son of the King of Kasi. So he went and wrapt the prince with ten thousand pieces of cloth and adorned him like Sakka with heavenly and human ornaments. The prince, decked with all the bravery of the King of the gods, went up to the hole as the charioteer was digging, and standing at the edge, uttered the third stanza: "Why in such haste, .0 charioteer? and wherefore do you dig that pit? Answer my question truthfully, — what do you want to do with it ? The charioteer went on digging the hole without looking up and spoke the fourth stanza ; " Our king has found his only sou crippled and dumb, an idiot quite — And I am sent to dig this hole and bury him far out of sight." The Bodhisatta replied : "I am not deaf nor dumb, my friend, no cripple, not e'en lame am I ; wood you bury me, you will incur great guilt thereby. If in this [13] Behold these arms and legs of mine, and hear my voice and what I say If in this wood you bury me, you will incur great guilt to-day." Then the charioteer said, "Who is this? It is only siuce I came here that he has become as he describes himself." So he left off digging the hole and looked up; and beholding his glorious beauty and not knowing whether he was a god or a man, he spoke this stanza " A heavenly minstrel or a god, or art thou Sakka, lord of all ? Who art thou, pray ; whose son art thou? what shall we name thee when we call l Then the Bodhisatta spoke, revealing himself and declaring the law, "No heavenly minstrel nor a god, nor Sakka, lord of all, am I^; I am the King of Kasi's son whom you would bury ruthlessly. I am the son of that same king under whose sway you serve and thi'ivc. You will incur great guilt to-day if here you bury me alive. If 'ueath a tree I sit and rest while it its shade and shelter lends-, I — would not break a single branch, only the sinner harms his friends. The sheltering tree — — I am the branch that tree has spread it is the king ; And you the traveller, charioteer, who sits and rests beneath its shade If in this wood you bury me, great guilt will fall upon your head." But though the Bodhisatta said this, the man did not believe [14] him. Then the Bodhisatta resolved to convince him, and he made the woods resound with his own voice and the applause of the gods, as he commenced these ten gathas in honour of friends^. " He who is faithful to his friends may wander far and wide, IMahy will gladly Avait on him, his food shall be supplied. Whatever lands he wanders through, in city or in town, He who is faithful to his friends finds honom* and renown. Xo robbers dare to injure him, no warriors him despise ; He who is faithful to his friends escapes all enemies. Welcomed by all he home returns, no cares corrode his breast. He who is faithful to his friends is of all kin the best. He honours and is honoured too, — respect he takes and gives; He who is faithful to his friends full meed from all receives. He is by others honoured who to them due honour pays. He who is faithful to his friends wins himself fame and praise. Like fire he blazes Vjrightly forth, and sheds a light divine. He who is faithful to his friends will with fresh splendour shine. His oxen sui-ely multiply, his seed unfailing grows, He who is faithful to his friends reaps sureh- all he sows. If from a mountain-top he falls or from a tree or grot, He who is faithful to his friends finds a sure resting spot. The banyan tree defies the wind, gii-t with its branches rot)ted round, He who is faithful to his friends doth all the rage of foes confound." [15] Even though he thus discoursed, Sunanda did not recognise him and asked who he was; but as he aj)proached the chariot, even before he saw the chariot and the ornaments which the prince wore, he recognised him as he looked at him, and falling at his feet and folding his hands spoke this stanza : "Come, I will take thee back, O prince, to thine own proper home; Sit on the throne and act the king, — why in this forest roam ? ' Petavatthu, p. 24. " Jut. V. 340 (p. 180 of the translation), Petavatthu, p. 23. * See Feer in the Jouni. Asiatiqiie, 1871, xvni. p. 248. Tlie Great Being replied : "I do not want that throne or wealth, I want not friend.s nor kin, Since 'tis by evil acts alone that I that throne could win." The charioteer spoke : " A brimful cvip of welcome, prince, will be prepared for thee And thy two parents in their joy great gifts will give to me. The royal wives, the princes all, Vesiyas and brahmans both. Great presents in their full content will give me, nothing loth. Those who ride elephants and cars, foot-soldiers, royal guards, When thou returnest home again, will gi^'e me sure rewards. The comitry folk and city folk will gather joyously, And when they see their pi-ince returned will presents give to me." [16] The Great Being_ spoke " By parents I was left forlorn, by city and by town. The princes left me to my fate, I have no home my own. Mj^ mother gave me leave to go, my father me forsook, Here in this forest-wild alone the ascetic's vow I took." As the Great Being called to mind his own virtues, delight arose in Ills mind and in his ecstasy he uttered a hymn of triumph : " Even to those who hurry not, th' heart's longing wins success Know, charioteer, that I to-day have gained ripe holiness^. E\'en by those who hurry not, the highest end is won Crowned with ripe holiness I go, perfect and fearing none." The charioteer replied "Thy words, my lord, are pleasant words, open thy speech and clear; Why wast thou dumb, when thou didst see ftither and mother neari" The Great Being spoke " No cripple I for lack of joints, nor deaf for lack of ears, I am not dumb for want of tongue as plainly now appears. In an old l)irthI played the king, as I remember well. But when I fell from that estate I found myself in hell. Some twenty years of luxury I passed upon that throne. But eighty thousand years in hell did for that guilt atone. [17] My former taste of royalty filled all my heart with fear; Thence was I dumb, although I saw father and mother near. My father took me on his lap, but midst his fondling ])lay, I heard the stern commands he gave, 'At once this miscreant slay, Saw him in sunder, — go, that wretch impale without delay.' Hearing such threats well might I try crippled and dumb to be. And wallow hel})lessly in filth, an idiot willingly. Kni)wing that life is short at best and filled with miseries. Who 'gainst another for its sake would let his anger rise ? Who on another for its sake would let his vengeance light, Through want of power to gi-asp the ti'uth and blindness to the right-?" 1 See Vol. I. p. 30. - The four lines of triumph are here repeated. [18] Then Sunautla reflected, "This prince, abandoning all his royal pomp as if it were carrion, has entered into the wood, unwavering in his resolve to become an ascetic, — what have I to do with this miserable life? I too will become an ascetic with him " ; so he spoke this stanza " I too would choose th' ascetic's life with thee Call me, O prince, — for I as thou would be." When thus requested, the Great Being reflected, "If I at once admit him my father and mother will not come here and thus they to the ascetic life, will suflfer loss, and the horses and chariot and ornaments will perish, and blame will accrue to me, for men will say, He is a goblin,' — has he devoured the charioteer ? ' " So wishing to save himself from blame and to provide for his parents' welfare, he entrusted the horses and chariot and ornaments to him and spoke this stanza : " Eestore the chariot first, thou'rt not a free man now ; First pay thy debts, they say, then take the ascetic's vow." The charioteer thought to himself, "If I went to the city and he meanwhile departed elsewhere his father and mother on hearing my news of him would come back with me to see him and if they found him not they ; would punish me so I will tell him the circumstances in which I find ; myself and will get his promise to remain here " so he spoke two stanzas ; : " Since I have done thy bidding, prince, I pray. Do thou be pleased to do what I shall say. Stay till I fetch the king, — stay here of gi'ace, He will be joyful when he sees thy face." [19] The Great Being replied : " Well, be it as thou sayest, charioteer I too would gladly see my father here. Go and salute my kindred all, and take A special message for my parents' sake." The man took the commands : He clasped his feet and, all due honours paid, Started to journey as his blaster bade. At that moment Candadevi opened her lattice and, as she wondered whether there were any tidings of her son and looked on the road by which the charioteer would return, she saw him coming alone and burst into lamentation. The Master has thus described it " Seeing the empty car and lonely charioteer, The mother's eyes wei'e filled with tears, her breast with fear : ' The charioteer comes back, my son is slain ; Yonder he lies, earth mixed with earth again. Our bitterest foes may well rejoice, alack ! Seeing his murderer come safely back. Dumb, crippled, — say, could he not give one cry, As on the ground he struggled helplessly 1 Could not his hands and feet force thee away, Though dumb and maimed, while on the ground he lay ? ' [20] The charioteer spoke : Promise me pardon, lady, for my word. And I will tell thee all I saw and heard.'- The queen answered " Pardon I promise you for every word Tell me in full whate'er you saw or heard." Then the charioteer spoke : " No cripple he, he is not deaf, his utterance clear and free ; He played fictitious parts at home, through dread of royalty. In an old birth he played the king as he remembers well. But when he fell from that estate he found himself in hell. Some twenty years of luxury he passed upon that throne, But eighty thousand years in hell did for that guilt atone. His former taste of royalty filled all his heart with fear ; Hence was he dumb although he saw father and mother near. Perfectly sound in all his limbs, faultlessly tall and broad, His utterance clear, his wits undimmed, he treads salvation's road. If you desire to see your son, then come at once with me. You shall behold prince Temiya, perfectly calm and free." [21]But when the prince had sent tlie charioteer away, he desired to take the ascetic vow.Knowing his desire, Sakka sent Vissakamma, saying, " Prince Temiya wishes to take the ascetic vow, go and make a hut of leaves for him and the requisite articles for an ascetic." He hastened accordingly, and in a grove of trees three leagues in extent he built a hermitage furnished with an apartment for the night and another for the day, a tank, a pit, and fruit-trees, and he prepared all the requisites for an ascetic and then returned to his own place. When the Bodhisatta saw it, he knew that it was Sakka's gift ; so he entered into the hut and took off his clothes and put on the red bark garments, both the upper and under, and threw the black antelope-skin on one shoulder, and tied up his matted hair, and, having taken a carrying pole on his shoulder and a walking staff in his hand, he went out of the hut. Then he walked repeatedly up and down, displaying the full dress of an ascetic, and having shouted triumphantly "O the bliss, O the bliss," returned to the hut ; and sitting down on the ragged mat' he entered upon the five transcended faculties. Then going out at evening and gathering some leaves from a kara"^ tree near by, he soaked them in a vessel supplied by Sakka in water without salt or 1 Kattliattharake [in iv. 58-^ nttharo is a 'rug,' "^ I ^^]. - Gaitthium parviflorum. buttermilk or spice, and ate them as if they were ambrosia, and then, as he pondered on the four perfect states, he resolved to take up his abode there. Meanwhile the King of Kasi, having heard Sunanda's words, summoned his chief general and ordered him to make pi'eparation for the journey, saying : " The horses to the chariots j'oke, — bind girths on elephants and come Sound conch and tabour far and wide, and wake the loud-voiced kettledrum. Let the hoarse tomtom fill the air, let rattling drums raise echoes sweet, Bid all this city follow me, I go my «on once more to greet. Let palace-ladies, every prince, vesiyas and brahmans eveiy one. All have their chariot-horses yoked, — I go to welcome back my son. Let elephant-riders, royal guards, horsemen and footmen every one, Let all alike prepare to go, I go to welcome back my .son. Let country folk and city folk gather in crowds in every street. Let all alike prepare to go, I go once more my son to greet." [22] The charioteers thus ordered yoked the horses, and having brought the chariots to the palace-gates informed the king. The Master has thus described it " Sindh horses of the noblest breed stood harnessed at the palace gates The charioteers the tidings bring, The train, my lord, thy presence waits.' ' '' The king spoke " ' Leave all the clumsy horses out, no weaklings in our cavalcade,' (They told the charioteer, ' Be sure not to bring liorses of that kind,') Such were the royal orders given, and such the charioteers obeyed." The king, when he went to his son, assembled the four castes, the eighteen guilds, and his whole army, and three days were spent in the assembling of the host. On the fourth day, having taken all tliat was to be taken in the procession, he proceeded to the hermitage and there was greeted by his son and gave him the due greeting in return. The Master has thus described it' : " His royal chariot then prepared, the king without delay Got in, and cried out to his wives—' Come with me all away ! With yalcstail fan and tiu-ban crest, and royal white sunshade. He mounted in the royal car-, with finest gold arrayed. Then did the king set forth at once, his charioteer beside. And quickly came where Temiya all tranquil did abide. [23] When Temiya beheld him come all brilliant and ablaze. Surrounded by attendant bauds of warriors, thus he says : 1 [This passage, down to the end of p. 23, was omitted by Prof. Cowell.] - upndliiratham: Schol. suvannapuduMratham dniyhantu, ime tayo pilde imttaam tatth' era ahhhekaharanatthuya pauca r<lja};al;iulhahlian<]uni gdnhathd ti. ' Father, 1 hope 'tis well with thee, thou hast good news to tell, I hope that all the royal queeus, my mothers, too, are well ? 'Yes, it is well with me, my son, I have good news to tell, And all the royal queens indeed, thy mothers, all are well.' ' I hope thou drinkest no strong drink, all spirit dost eschew. To righteous deeds and almsgiving thy mind is ever true?' ' Oh yes, sti'ong drink I never touch, all spirit I eschew. To righteous deeds and almsgiving my mind is ever true.' ' The horses and the elephants I hope are well and strong. No painful bodily disease, no weakness, nothing wrong?' ' Oh yes, the elephants are well, the horses well and strong. No painful bodily disease, no weakness, nothing wrong.' 'The frontiers, as the central part, all populous, at peace. The treasures and the treasuries quite full say, what of these? Now welcome to thee, royal Sir, O welcome now to thee Let them set out a couch, that here seated the king may be.'" The king, out of respect for the Great Being, would not sit upon the couch '. [24] The Great Being said, "If he does not sit on his royal seat, let a couch of leaves be spread for him," so he spoke a stanza : "Be seated on this bed of leaves spread for thee as is meet. They will take water from this spot and duly wash thy feet." The king in his i-espect would not accept even the seat of leaves but sat on the ground. Then the Bodhisatta entered the hut of leaves, and, taking out a kara leaf ', and inviting the king, he spoke a stanza " No salt have I, this leaf alone is what I live upon, king Thou art come here a guest of mine, be pleased to accept the fai-e I bring." The king replied : " No leaves for me, that's not fare my give me a bowl of pure hill rice, ; Cooked with a subtil flavoiu"ing of meat^ to make the pottage nice." At that moment the queen Candadevi, surrounded by the royal ladies, came up, and after clasping her dear son's feet and saluting him, sat on one side with her eyes full of tears. The king said to her, " Lady, see what thy son's food is," and put some of the leaves into her hand and also gave a little to the other ladies, who took it, saying, " O my lord, dost thou indeed eat such food? thou endurest great hardship," and sat down. Then the king said, " O my son, this appears wonderful to me," and he spoke a stanza : " Most strange indeed it seems to me that thou thus loft alone Livest on such mean food and yet thy colour is not gone." ' These words, printed in the Comm. on p. 2.3, should be put in tlie text. Read : pallamke na nislcli and so on p. 24^ ; 2 A leaf of the tree Canthivm pnrrifforum. :' Cf. mtjira, in. 29^ [25] The prince thus replied : " Upon this bed of leaves strewn here I lie indeed alone, A pleasant bed it is and so my colour is riot gone ; Girt with their swords no cruel guards stand sternly looking on, A pleasant bed it is and so my colour is not gone ; Ov^er the past I do not mourn nor for the future weep, I meet the present as it comes, and so my colour keep. Mourning about the hopeless past or some uncertain future need, This dries a young man's vigoin- up as when you cut a fresh green reed." The king thought to himself, " I will inaugurate him as king and carry him away with me " so he spoke these stanzas inviting him to share the ; kingdom : "My elephants, my chariots, horsemen, and infantry. And all my pleasant palaces, dear son, I give to thee. My queen's apartments too I give, with all their pomp and pride, Thou shalt be sole king over us, —there shall be none beside. Fair women skilled in dance and song and trained for every mood Shall lap thy soul in ease and joy, — why linger in this wood 1 The daughters of thy foes shall come proud but to wait on thee ; When they have borne thee sons,, then go an anchoret to be. Come, my first-born and my heir, in the first glory of thine age. Enjoy thy kingdom to the full, what dost thou in this hermitage ? The Bodhisatta spoke : " Xo, let the yovmg man leave the world and fly its vanities. The ascetic's life best suits the young, thus counsel all the wise. [26] No, let the young man leave the world, a hermit and alone ; I will embrace the hermit's life, I need no pomp nor throne. I — watch the boy, with childish lips he father,' mother,' cries, ; ' ' Himself begets a son, and then he too grows old and dies. So the young daughter in her flower grows blithe and fair to see. But she soon fades cut down by death like the green bamboo tree. Men, women all, however young, soon perish, who in sooth — Would put his trust in mortal life, cheated by fancied youth ? As night by night gives place to dawn life still contracts its span Like fish in water which dries up, what means the youth of man ? ; This world of ours is smitten sore, is ever watched by one, They pass and pass with purpose fell, why talk of crown or throne? ' Who sorely smites this world of ours who watches grimly by I 1 And who thus pass with purpose fell 1 Tell me the mystery.' 'Tis death who smites this world, old age who watches at our gate, And 'tis the nights which jiass and win their purpose soon or late. As when the lady at her loom sits weaving all the day. Her task grows ever less and less, so waste our lives awaj'. As speeds the hurrying river's course, on with no backward flow. So in its course the life of men doth ever forward go; And as the river sweeps away trees from its banks uptorn, So are we men by age and death in headlong ruin borne." The king, as he listened to the Great Being's discourse, became dis- [27] gusted at a life spent in a house, and longed to leave the world and he ; exclaimed, " I will not go back to the city, I will become an ascetic here ; if my son will go to the city I will give him the white umbrella," so to — try him he once more invited him to take his kingdom " My elephants, my chariots, horsemen, and infantry. And all my pleasant palaces, dear son, I give to thee. My queen's ajmrtments too I give, with all their pomp and pride. Thou shalt be sole king over us, —there shall be none beside. Fair women skilled in dance and song and ti-ained for every mood Shall lap thy soul in ease and joy, why linger in this wood ? The daughters of thy foes shall come proud but to wait on thee ; When they have borne thee sons, then go an anchoret to be. My treasures and my treasuries, footmen and cavalry, And all my pleasant palaces, dear son, I give to thee. With troops of slaves to wait on thee, and queens to be embraced, Enjoy thy throne, all health to thee, why linger in this waste ? But the Great Being replied by shewing how little he wanted a kingdom. "Why seek for wealth, — it will not last why woo a wife, — she soon will die ; ; Why think of youth, 'twill soon be past and threatening age stands ever nigh. ; What are the joys that life can bring? beauty, sport, wealth, or royal fare ? What is a wife or child to me ? I am set free from every snare. This thing I know,— where'er I go. Fate watching never slumbereth ; Of what avail is wealth or joy to one who feels the grasp of death ?i [28]Do what thou hast to do to-day, who can ensure the morrow's sun ? Death is the Master-general who gives his guarantee to none. Thieves ever watch to steal our wealth, I am set free from every chain ; Go back and take thy crown away what want I with a king's domain ? ; The Great Being's discourse with its application came to an end, and when they heard it not only the king and the queen Canda but the sixteen thousand royal wives all desired to embrace the ascetic life. The king ordered a proclamation to be made in the city by beat of drum, that all who wished to become ascetics with his son should do so [29] he ; caused the doors of his treasuries to be thrown open, and he had an inscription written on a golden plate, and fixed on a great bamboo as a pillar, that his treasure-jars would be exposed in certain places and that all who pleased might take of them. The citizens also left their houses with the doors open as if were an open market, and flocked round the king. it The king and the multitude took the ascetic vow together before the Great Being. An hermitage erected by Sakka extended for three leagues. The Great Being went through the huts made of branches and leaves, and he appointed those in the centre for the women as they were naturally timid, while those on the outside were for the men. All of them on the fast-day ^ Four lines are here repeated from Vol. iv. transl. p. 81, 11. 11 — 14. J. VI. 2 stood on the ground, and gathered and ate the fruits of the trees which Vissakamma had created, and followed the rules of the ascetic life. The Great Being, knowing the mind of every one, whether he indulged thoughts of lust or malevolence or cruelty, sat down in the air and taught the Jaw to each, and as they listened they speedily developed the Faculties and the Attainments. A neighbouring king, hearing that Kasiraja had become an ascetic, resolved to establish his rule in Benares, so he entered the city, and seeing it all adorned he went up into the palace, and, beholding the seven kinds of precious stones there, he thought to himself that some kind of danger must gather round all this wealth ; so he sent for some drunken revellers and asked them by which gate the king had gone out. They told him " by the eastern gate " ; so he went out himself by that gate and proceeded along the bank of the river. The Great Being knew of his coming, and having gone to meet him, sat in the air and taught the law. Then the invader took the ascetic vow with all his company and the same ; thing happened also to another king. In this way three kingdoms were abandoned the elephants and horses were left to roam wild in the woods, ; the chariots dropped to pieces in the woods, and the money in the treasuries, being counted as mere sand, was scattered about in the hermitage. All the residents there attained to the eight Ecstatic Meditations and at the ; end of their lives became destined for the world of Bx-ahma. Yea the very animals, as the elephants and horses, having their minds calmed by the sight of the sages, were eventually reborn in the six heavens of the gods. The Master, having brought his lesson to an end, said, " Not now only but formerly also did I leave a kingdom and become an ascetic." Then he identified the Birth " the goddess in the umbrella was Uppalavanna, [30] the charioteer : was Sariputta, the father and mother were the royal family, the court was the Buddha's congregation, and the wise Mugapakkha was myself i." After they had come to the island of Ceylon, Elder Khuddakatissa, a native of Maiigana, Elder Mahavarhsaka, Elder Phussadeva, who dwelt at Katakandhakara-, Elder Maharakkhita, a native of Uparimandakamala, Elder Mahatissa, a native of Bhaggari, Elder Mahasiva, a native of Vamattapabbhara, Elder Mahamaliyadeva, a native of Kalavela,— all these elders are called the late comers in the assembly of the Kuddalaka birth^ the Mugapakkha birth^ the Ayoghara birth', and the Hatthipala births Moreover Elder Mahanaga, a native of Maddha, and Elder Mali- 1 A later addition here describes how certain priests were later than the others in adopting the ascetic life, in this birth, cf. Jdt. iv. 490. - See Sum. 190. 3 No. 70, i. p. 311. * No. 538, VI. p. 1. 5 No. 510, iv. p. 304. « No. 509, iv. p. 293. yamakadeva, remarked on the day of parinibbana, " Sir, the assembly of the Mugapakkha birth is to-day extinct." "Wherefore'?" "I was then passionately addicted to spirituous drink, and when I could not bring those with me who used to drink liquor with me I was the last of all to give up the world and become an ascetic."

" Who art thou, striving," etc. This story the Master, while dwelling at Jetavaua, told concerning the great Renunciation. One day the Brethren sat in the Hall of Truth discussing the Tathagata's great Renunciation. The Master came and found that this was their subject so he said " This is not the first ; time that the Tathagata performed the great Renunciation, he performed it also formerly." And herewith he told a story of the past. Once upon a time there was a king named Mahajanaka reigning in Mithila in the kingdom of Videha. He had two sons, Aritthajanaka and Polajanaka the elder he made viceroy and the younger commander-in- ; chief. Afterwards, when Mahajanaka died, Aritthajanaka, having become king, gave the viceroyalty to his brother. One day a slave went to the king and told him that the viceroy was desirous to kill him. The king, after repeatedly hearing the same story, became suspicious, and had Polajanaka thrown into chains and imprisoned with a guard in a certain house not far from the palace. The prince made a solemn asseveration, " If I am my brother's enemy, let not my chains be unloosed nor the door become opened; but otherwise, may my chains be unloosed and the door become opened," and thereupon [31] the chains broke into pieces and the door flew open. He went out and, going to a frontier village, took up hisabode there, and the inhabitants, having recognised him, waited upon him; and the king was unable to have him arrested. In course of time he became master of the frontier district, and, having now a large following, he said to himself, " If I was not my brother's enemy before, I am indeed his enemy now," and he went to Mithila with a lax-ge host, and encamped in the outskirts of the city. The inhabitants heard that Prince Polajanaka was come, and most of them joined him with their elephants and other riding animals, and the inhabitants of other towns also gathered with them. So he sent a message to his brother, "I was "not your enemy before but I am indeed your enemy now; give the royal umbrella up to me or give battle." As the king went to give battle, he bade farewell to his principal queen. " Lady," he said, " victory and defeat in a battle cannot be foi'etold, — any fatal accident befalls me, do you carefully if preserve the child in your womb": so saying he departed; and the soldiers of Polajanaka ere long took his life in battle. The news of the king's death caused a universal confusion in the whole city. The queen, having learned that he was dead, quickly put her gold and choicest treasures into a basket and spread a cloth on the top and strewed some husked rice over that; and having put on some soiled clothes and disfigured her person, she set the basket on her head and went out at an unusual time of the day, and no one recognised her. She went out by the northern gate; but she did not know the way, as she had never gone anywhere before and was unable to fix the points of the compass; so since she had only heard that there was such a city as Kalacampa, she sat down and kept asking whether there were any people going to Kalacampa city. Now it was no common child in her womb, but it was the Great Being re-born, after he had accomplished the Perfections, and all Sakka's world shook with his majesty. Sakka considered what the cause could be, and he reflected that a being of great merit must have been conceived in her womb, and that he must go and see it so he created a covered carriage and prepared ; a bed in it and stood at the door of the house where she was sitting, as if he were an old man driving the carriage, and he asked if any one wanted to go to Kalacampa. "I want to go there, father." [32] "Then mount up into this carriage, lady, and take your seat." " Father, I am far gone with child, and I cannot climb up I will follow behind, but give me ; room for this my basket." "What are you talking about, mother] there is no one who knows how to drive a carriage like me; fear not, but climb up and sit down." By his divine power he caused the earth to rise as she was climbing up, and made it touch the hinder end of the carriage. She climbed up and lay down in the bed, and she knew that it must be a god. As soon as she lay down on the divine bed she fell asleep. Sakka at the end of thirty leagues came to a river, and he Avoke her, saying, " Mother, get down and bathe in the river; at the head of the bed there is a cloak, put it on; and in the carriage there is a cake to eat, eat it." She did so and lay down again and at evening time, when she reached Campa and saw the gate, the watch-tower and the walls, she asked what city it was. He replied, "Campa city, mother." "What sayest thou, father? Is it not sixty leagues from our city to Campa?" "It is so, mother, but I know the straight road." He then made her alight at the southern gate ; " Mother, my village lies fui'ther on, — do you enter the city," so saying Sakka went on, and vanishing, departed to his own place. The queen sat down in a certain hall. At that time a certain Brahmin, a reciter of hymns, who dwelt at Campa, was going with his five hundred disciples to bathe, and as he looked he saw her sitting there so fair and comely, and, by the power of the being in her womb, immediately as he saw her he conceived an affection for her as for a youngest sister, and making his pupils stay outside he went alone into the hall and asked her, " Sister, in what village dost thou dwell 1" "I am the chief queen of King Aritthajanaka in Mithila," she said. " Why art thou come here 1 " " The king has been killed by Polajanaka, and I in fear have come here to save my unborn child." "Is there any kinsman of thine in this city?" "There is none, father." "Do not be anxious; I am a Northern Bi-ahmin of a great family, a teacher famed far and wide, I will watch over you as if you were ray sister, — call me your brother and clasp my feet and make a loud lamentation." [33] She made a great wailing and fell at his feet and they each condoled with the other. His pupils came running up and asked him what it all meant. "This is my youngest sister, who was born at such a time when I was away." "O teacher, do not grieve, now that you have seen her at last." He caused a grand covered carriage to be brought and made her sit down in it and sent her to his own house, bidding them tell his wife that it was his sister and that she was to do everything that was necessary. His Brahmin wife gave her a hot water bath and prepared a bed for her and made her lie down. The Brahmin bathed and came home and at the time of the meal he bade them call his ; sister and ate with her, and watched over her in the house. Soon after she brought forth a son, and they called him after his grandfather's name Prince Mahajanaka. As he grew up and played with the lads, — when they used to provoke him with their own pure Khattiya birth, he would strike them roughly from his own superior strength and stoutness of heart. When they made a loud outcry and were asked who had struck them, they would reply "The widow's son." The prince reflected "They always call me the widow's son, — I will ask my mother about it"; so one day he asked her, "Mother, whose son am II" She deceived him, saying that the Brahmin was his father. When he beat them another day and they called him the widow's son, he replied that the Brahmin was his father and ; when they retorted " What is the Brahmin to you 1 " he pondered, " These lads say to me 'What is the Brahmin to you?' My mother will not explain the matter to me, she will not tell me the truth for her own honour's sake, —come, I will make her tell it to me." So when he was sucking her milk he bit her breast and said to her, "Tell me who my father is, if you do not tell me I will cut your breast off." She, being unable to deceive him, said, " My child, you are the son of King Aritthajanaka of Mithila ; thy father was killed by Polajanaka, and I came to this city in my care to save thee, and the Brahmin has treated me as his sister and taken care of me." From that time he was no longer angry when he was called the widow's son: and before he was sixteen years old he had learned the three vedas and all the sciences; [34] and by the time he was sixteen, he had become very handsome in his person. Then he thought to himself, "I will seize the kingdom that belonged to my father"; so he asked his mother " Have you any money in hand? If not, I will can-y on trade and make money and seize my father's kingdom." " Son, I did not come empty-handed, I have a store of pearls and jewels and diamonds sufficient for gaining the kingdom — take them and seize the throne do not carry ; on trade." "Mother," he said, "give that wealth to me, but I will only take half of it, and I will go to Suvamiabhumi and get great riches there, and will then seize the kingdom." He made her bring him the half, and having got together his stock-in-trade he put it on board a ship with some merchants bound for Suvannabhumi, and bade his mother farewell, telling her that he was sailing for that country. " My son," she said, " the sea has few chances of success and many dangers, —do not go, —you have ample money for seizing the kingdom." But he told his mother that he would go, so he bade her adieu and embarked on board. That very day a disease broke out in Polajanaka's body and he could not rise from his bed. There were seven caravans with their beasts^ embarked on board in seven days the ship made seven hundred leagues, but having gone too violently in its course it could not hold out: — its planks gave way, the water rose higher and higher, the ship began to sink iii the middle of the ocean while the crew wept and lamented and invoked their diffei-ent gods. But the Great Being never wept nor lamented nor invoked any deities, but knowing that the a essel was doomed he rubbed some sugar and ghee, and, having eaten his belly-full, he smeared his two clean garments with oil and put them tightly round him and stood leaning against the mast. When the vessel sank the mast stood upright. The crowd on board became food for the fishes and tortoises, and the water all round assumed the colour of blood ; but the Great Being, standing on the mast, having determined the direction in which Mithila lay, flew ixp from the top of the mast, and by his strength passing beyond the fishes and tortoises fell at the distance of 140 cubits from the ship. That very day Polajanaka died. After that the Great Being crossed through the jewel-coloured waves, making his way like a mass of gold, [35] he passed a week as if it had been a day, and when he saw the shore again he washed his mouth with salt water ^ and kept the fast. Now at that time a daughter of the gods named Manimekhala had been appointed guardian of the sea by the four guardians of the world. They said to her, "Those beings who possess such virtues as revex'ence for their mothers and the like do not deserve to fall into the sea, look out — for such " but for those seven days she had not looked at the sea, for ; they say that her memory had become bewildered in her enjoyment of her 1 I would read sattajamghasatthdni (cf. Text, iii. 283, 18). The text -satMii would mean " 700 legs," i.e. 350 men (?). 2 Reading lonodakena as Dr Fausboll proposes. divine happiness, and others even say that she had gone to be present at a divine assembly; at last however she had looked, saying to herself, "This is the seventh day that I have not looked at the sea, — who is making his way yonder 1 " As she saw the Great Being she thought to herself, " If Prince Mahajanaka had perished in the sea I should [not] have kept' my entry into the divine assembly " so assuming an adorned form she stood ! in the air not far from the Bodhisatta and uttered the first stanza, as she thus tested his powers : "Who art thou, striving manfully here in mid-ocean far from land? Who is the friend thou trustest in, to lend to thee a helping hand?" The Bodhisatta replied, " This is my seventh day here in the ocean, I have not seen a second living being beside myself, — who can it be that speaks to me 1 " so, looking into the air, he uttered the second stanza "Knowing my duty in the world, to strive, O goddess, while I can. Here in mid ocean far from land I do my utmost like a man." Desirous to hear sound doctrine, she uttered to him the third stanza " Here in this deep and boundless waste where shore is none to meet the eye, Thy utmost strivings are in vain, here in mid-ocean thou must die." The Bodhisatta replied, "Why dost thou speak thus? if I pez'ish while I make my best eiforts, I shall at all events escape from blame," and he spoke a stanza : [36] "He who does all a man can do is free from guilt towards his kin, The lord of heaven acquits him too and he feels no remorse within." Then the goddess spoke a stanza "What use in strivings such as these, where barren toil is all the gain, 'Wliere there is no reward to win, and only death for all thy pain?" Then the Bodhisatta uttered these stanzas to shew to her her want of discernment "He who thinks there is nought to win and will not battle while he may, Be his the blame whate'er the loss, —'twas his faint heart that lost the day. Men in this world devise their plans, and do their business as seems best, The plans may prosper or may fail, —the unknown future shows the rest. Seest thou not, goddess, here to-day 'tis our own actions which decide ; Drowned are the others, I am saved, and thou 'art standing by my side. So I will ever do my best to fight through ocean to the shore ; While strength holds out I still will strive, nor yield till I can strive no more." [37] The goddess, on hearing his stout words, uttered a stanza of praise : "Thou who thus bravely fightest on amidst this fierce vmbounded sea Nor shrinkest from the appointed task, striving where duty calleth thee, Go where thy heart would have thee go, nor let nor hindrance shall there be." 1 [Prof. Cowell adds on the margin of his text : " na, or is it a question ? "] Then she asked him whither she should carry him, and on his answering " to the city of Mithila," she threw him up like a garland and seizing him in both arms and making him lie on her bosom, she took him as if he was her dear child and sprang up in the air. For seven days the Bodhisatta slept, his body wet with the salt spray and thrilled with the heavenly contact. Then she brought him to Mithila and laid him on his right side on the ceremonial stone in a mango grove, and, leaving him in the care of the goddesses of the garden, departed to her own abode. Now Polajanaka had no son: he had left only one daughtei-, wise and learned, named Slvallde^a. They had asked him on his death-bed, "O king, to whom shall we give the kingdom when thou art become a god ? " and he had said, " Give it to him who can please the princess, my daughter Sivali, or who knows which is the head of the square bed, or who can string the bow which requires the strength of a thousand men, or who can draw out the sixteen great treasures." "0 king, tell us the list of the treasures." Then the king repeated it "The treasure of the rising sun, the treasure at his setting seen, The treasure outside, that within, and that not outside nor within, [38] At th' mounting, at the dismounting, jsaZ-jjillars four, the yojana round. The end of th' teeth, the end of th' tail, the kebuka, th' ends of the trees, The sixteen pi-ecious treasures these, and these remain, where these are found, The bow that tasks a thousand men, the bed, the lady's heart to please." The king, besides these treasures, repeated also a list of others. After his death the ministers performed his obsequies, and on the seventh day they assembled and deliberated "The king said that we were to give the : kingdom to him who is able to please his daughter, but who will be able to please her?" They said, "The general is a favourite," so they sent a command to him. He at once came to the royal gate and signified to the princess that he was standing there. She, knowing why he had come, and intending to try whether he had the wisdom to bear the royal umbrella, gave command that he should come. On hearing the command and being desirous to please her, he ran up quickly from the foot of the staircase and stood by her. Then to try him, she said, " Run quickly on the level ground." He sprang forward, thinking that he was pleasing the princess. She said to him, "Come hither." He came up with all speed. She saw his want of wisdom and said, " Come and rub my feet." In order to please her, he sat down and rubbed her feet. Then she struck him on the breast with her foot and made him fall on his back, and she made a sign to her female attendants, "Beat this blind and senseless fool and seize him by the throat and thrust him out " and they did so. " Well, general ? ; they said ; he replied, " Do not mention it, she is not a human being." Then the treasurer went, but she put him also in the same way to shame. So too the cashier, the keeper of the umbi'ella, the sword- bearer : Then the multitude deliberated and she put them all to shame. said, " No one can please the princess give her to him who is able to : string the bow which requires the strength of a thousand men." But no one could string it. Then they said, "Give her to him who knows which is the head of the square bed." But no one knew it. " Then give her to him who is able to draw out the sixteen great treasures." But no one could draw them out. [39] Then they consulted together, " The kingdom cannot be preserved without a king; what is to be done?" Then the family priest said to them, " Be not anxious we must send out the festive ; carriage, the king who is obtained by the festal carriage will be able to rule over all India." So they agreed, and having decorated the city and yoked four lotus-coloured horses to the festive chariot and spread a covei-let over them and fixed the five ensigns of royalty, they surrounded them with an army of four hosts. Now musical instruments are sounded in front of a chariot which contains a rider, but behind one which contains none ; so the family priest, having bid them sound the musical instruments behind, and having sprinkled the strap of the car and the goad with a golden ewer, bade the chariot proceed to him who has merit sufficient to rule the kingdom. The car went solemnly round the palace and proceeded up the kettle-drum road. The general and the other officers of state each thought that the car was coming up to him, but it passed by the houses of them all, and having gone solemnly round the city it went out by the eastern gate and passed onwards to the park. When they saw it going along so quickly, they thought to stop it; but when the family priest said, "Stop it not; let it go a hundred leagues if it pleases," the car entered the park and went solemnly round the ceremonial stone and stopped as ready to be mounted. The family priest beheld the Bodhisatta lying there and addressed the ministers, "Sirs, I see someone lying on the stone; we know not whether he has wisdom worthy of the white umbrella or not; if he is a being of holy merit he will not look at us, but if he is a creature of ill omen he will start up in alarm and look at us trembling; sound forthwith all the musical instruments." Forthwith they sounded the hundreds of instruments, — it was like the noise of the sea. The Great Being awoke at the noise, and having uncovered his head and looked round, beheld the great multitude and having perceived that it must be the white umbrella which had come to him he again wrapped his head and turned round and lay on his left side. The family priest uncovered his feet and, beholding the marks, said, " Not to mention one continent, he is able to rule all the four," so he bade them sound the musical instruments again. [40] The Bodhisatta uncovered his face, and having turned round lay on his right side and looked at the crowd. The family priest, having comforted the people, folded his hands and bent down and said, " Rise, my lord, the kingdom belongs to thee." "Where is the king?" he replied. "He is dead." "Has he left no son or brother?" "None, my lord." " Well, I will take the kingdom "; so he rose and sat down cross-legged on the stone slab. Then they anointed him thei-e and then and he was ; called King Mahajanaka. He then mounted the chariot, and, having entered the city with royal magnificence, went up to the palace and mounted the dais, having arranged the different positions for the general and the other officers. Now the princess, wishing to prove him by his first behaviour, sent a man to him, saying, " Go to the king and tell him, ' the princess Sivali summons thee, go quickly to her The wise king as if he did not '." hear his words, went on with his description of the palace, "Thus and — thus will it be well." Being unable to attract his attention he went away and told the princess, " Lady, the king heard thy words but he only keeps on describing the palace and utterly disregards thee." She said to herself, " He must be a man of a lofty soul," and sent a second and even a thii-d messenger. The king at last ascended the palace walking at his own pleasure at his usual pace yawning like a lion. As he drew near, the princess could not stand still before his majestic bearing; and coming up she gave him her hand to lean on. He caught hold of her hand and ascended the dais, and having seated himself on the royal couch beneath the white umbrella, he inquired of the ministers, "When the king died, did he leave any instructions with you ? " Then they told him that the kingdom was to be given to him who could please the princess Sivali, "The pi'incess Sivali gave me her hand to lean on as I came near: I have therefore succeeded in pleasing her; tell me something else." "He said that the kingdom was to be given to him who could decide which was the head of the square bed," The king replied, " This is hard to tell, but it can be known by a contrivance," so he took out a golden needle from his head and gave it into the princess' hand, saying, " Put this in its place." [41] She took it and put it in the head of the bed. Thus they also say in the proverb She gave him a sword'.' By that indication he knew which ' was the head, and, as if he had not heard it before, he asked what they were saying, and when they repeated it, he replied, " It is not a wonderful thine for one to know which is the head " and so saying, he asked if ; there were any other test. " Sire, he commanded us to give the kingdom to him who could string the bow which required the strength of a thousand men," When they had brought it at his order, he strung it while sitting on the bed as if it were only a woman's bow for carding cotton ^ Tell me " something else," he said, " He commanded us to give the kingdom to him who could draw out the sixteen great treasures," " Is there a list 1 " and So in the Kathasaritsagara, § 72, 47, 54, the snake-maiden gives the hero a sword and horse. 2 See Grierson's Bihur Peasant Life, pp. 64, 98. they repeated the before-mentioned list. As he listened the meaning became clear to him like the moon in the sky. " There is not time to-day, we will take the treasui'e to-morrow." The next day he assembled the ministers and asked them, " Did your king feed pacceka-buddhas ] " When they answered in the affirmative, he tlioiight to himself, '" The sun' cannot be this sun, but pacceka-buddhas are called suns from their likeness thereto; the treasui-e must be where he used to go and meet them." Then he asked them, " When the pacceka-buddhas came, where did he use to go and meet them ? " They told him of such and such a place : so be bade them dig that spot and draw out the treasure from thence, and they did so. "When he followed them as they departed, where did he stand as he bade them farewell?" They told him, and he bade them draw out the treasure from thence, and they did so. The great multitude uttered thousands of shouts and expressed their joy and gladness of heart, saying, " When they heard before of the rising of the sun, they used to wander about, digging in the direction of the actual sunrise, and when they heard of his setting, they used to go digging in the direction of the actual sunset, but here are the real riches, here is the true marvel." When they said, "The treasure within " he drew out the treasure of the threshold within the great gate of the palace ; " The treasure —he drew out the treasure of the outside," threshold outside ; " Neither —he drew out the within nor without," treasure from below the threshold [42] At the mounting," — he drew ; " out the treasure from the place where they planted the golden ladder for mounting the royal state elephant " At the dismounting,"— he drew out ; the treasure ft-om the place where they dismounted from the royal elephant's shoulders; "The four great sw^pillars," —there were four great feet, made of sd^ wood, of the royal couch where the courtiers made their prostrations on the ground, and from under them he brought out four jars full of treasure; "A yojana round," — now a yojana is the yoke of a chariot, so he dug round the royal couch for the length of a yoke and brought out jars of treasure from thence; "The treasure at the end of the teeth," — in the place where the royal elephant stood, he brought out two treasures from the spot in front of 'his two tusks'; "At the end of his tail," at — the place where the royal horse stood, he brought out jars from the place opposite his tail; "In the kebuka" now water is called kehuka so he ; ; had the water of the royal lake drawn off and there revealed a treasure " The treasui-e at the ends of the trees," — he drew out the jars of treasure buried within the circle of shade thrown at midday under the great sdltrees in the royal garden. Having thus brought out the sixteen treasures, he asked if there was anything more, and they answered "No." The multitude were delighted. The king said, " I will throw this wealth in the mouth of charity " so he had five halls for alms erected in the middle ; of the city and at the four gates, and made a great distribution. Then he sent for his mother and the Brahmin from Kalacampa, and paid them great honour. In the early days of his reign, King Mahajanaka, the son of Aritthajanaka, ruled over all the kingdoms of Yideha. "The king, they say, is wise, we will see him," so the whole city was in a stir to see him, and they came from different parts with presents; they prepared a great festival in the city, covered the walls of the palace with plastered impressions of their hands', hung perfumes and flower-wreaths, darkened the air as they threw fried grain, flowers, perfumes and incense, and got ready all sorts of food to eat and drink. In oi-der to present off"erings to the king they gathered round and stood, bringing food hard and soft, and all kinds of drinks and fruits [43], while the crowd of the king's ministers sat on one side, on another a host of brahmins, on another the wealthy merchants and the like, on another the most beautiful dancing-girls brahmin pane- ; gyrists, skilled in festive songs, sang their cheerful odes with loud voices, hundreds of musical instruments were played, the king's palace was filled with one vast sound as if it wei'e in the centre of the Yugandhara ocean"; every place which he looked upon trembled. The Bodhisatta as he sat under the white umbrella, beheld the great pomp of glory like Sakka's magnificence, and he remembered his own struggles in the great ocean " Courage is the right thing to put forth, — if I had not shewn courage in the great ocean, should I ever have attained this glory 1 " and joy arose in his mind as he i-emembered and he burst into a triumphant utter- it, ance*. [44] He after that the ten royal duties and ruled ful611ed righteously and waited on the pacceka-buddhas. In course of time Queen Sivali brought forth a son eudowed with all auspicious marks and they called his name Dighavu-kumara. AYhen he grew up his father made him viceroy. One day when various sorts of fruits and flowers were brought to the king by the gardener, he was pleased when he saw them, and shewed him honour, and told him to adoi-n the garden and he would pay it a visit. The gardener cai'ried out these instructions and told the king, and he, seated on a royal elephant and surrounded by his retinue, entered at the garden-gate. Now near it stood two bright green mango trees, the one without fruit, the other full of very sweet fruit. As the king had not eaten of the fruit no one ventured to gather any, and the king, as he rode on his elephant, gathered a fruit and ate it. The moment the mango touched the end of his tongue, a divine flavour seemed to arise and he thought to himself, " When I return I will eat several more " but ; when once it was known that the king had eaten of the first fruit of the 1 Hatthattharddihi, cf. pistapancangula Harsac. 63, 13, and 157, 1. 1. ^ This is one of the seas between the seven concentric circles of rock round Meru. Hardy, p. 12. ^ The six stanzas which follow in the Pali were translated in Vol. iv. p. 171. tree, everybody from the viceroy to the elephant-keepers gathered and ate some, and those who did not take the fruit broke the boughs with sticks and stripped off the leaves till that tree stood all broken and battered, while the other one stood as beautiful as a mountain of gems. As the king came out of the garden, he saw it and asked his ministers about it. " The crowd saw that your majesty had eaten the first fruit and they have plundered it," they replied. " But this other tree has not lost a leaf or a colour." "It has not lost them because it had no fruit." The king was greatly moved, "This tree [45] keeps its bright green because it has no while its fellow is broken and battered because of its fruit. fruit, This kingdom is like the fruitful tree, but the ascetic life is like the barren tree ; it is the possessor of property who has fears, not he who is without anything of his own. Far from being like the fruitful tree I will be like the barren one, — leaving all my glory behind, I will give up the world and become an ascetic." Having made this firm resolution, he entered the city, and standing at the door of the palace, sent for his commandei'-in-chief, and said to hitn, " O general, from this day forth let none see my face except one servant to bring my food and another to give me water for my mouth and a toothbrush, and do you take my old chief judges and with their help govern my kingdom I will henceforth live the life of a : Buddhist priest on the top of the palace." So saying he went up to the top of the palace alone, and lived as a Buddhist priest. As time passed on the people assembled in and when they saw not the the courtyard, Bodhisatta they said, " He is not like our old king," and they repeated two stanzas " Our king, the lord of all the earth, is changed from what he was of old, He heeds no joyous song to-day nor cares the dancers to behold ; The deer, the garden, and the swans fail to attract his absent eye, Silent he sits as stricken dumb and lets the cares of state pass by." They asked the butler and the attendant, " Does the king ever talk to you ] " " Never," they replied. Then they related how the king, with his mind plunged in abstraction, and detached from all desires, had remembered his old friends the pacceka-buddhas, and saying to himself, "Who will show me the dwelling-place of those beings free from all attachments and possessed of all virtues]" had uttered aloud his intense feelings in three stanzas : " Hid from all sight, intent on bliss, freed from all bonds and mortal fears, In whose fair garden, old and young, together dwell those heavenly seers ? [46] — They have left all desires behind, those happy glorious saints I bless. Amidst a world by passion tost they roam at" peace and passionless. They have all burst the net of death, and the deceiver's outspread snare, Freed from all ties, they roam at will, ' who will guide me where they are '( Four months passed as he thus led an ascetic's life on the palace, and at last his mind turned intently towards giving up the world: his own home seemed like one of the hells between the sets of worlds ^ and the three modes of existence - presented themselves to him as all on fire. In this frame of mind he burst into a description of Mithila, as he thought, "When will the time come that I shall be able to leave this Mithila, adorned and decked out like Sakka's palace, and go to Himavat and there " put on the ascetic's dress % "When 3 shall I leave this Mithila, spacious and splendid though it be, By architects with rule and line laid out in order fair to see, With walls and gates and battlements, traversed by streets on every side, With horses, cows, and chariots thronged, [47] with tanks and gardens beautified, Videha's far-famed capital, gay with its knights and warrior swarms. Clad in their robes of tiger-skins, with banners spread and flashing arms, Its brahmins dressed in Kagi cloth, perfumed with sandal, decked with gems,— Its palaces and all their queens with robes of state and diadems ! When shall I leave them and go forth, the ascetic's lonely bhss to win, Carryingmy — rags and water-pot, when will that happy life begin 1 When shall I wander through the woods, eating their hospitable fruit, Tmiing my heart in solitude as one might tuue a seven-stringed lute*, Cutting my spirit free from hope of present or of future gain, As the cobbler^ when he shapes his shoe cuts off rough ends and leaves it plain ^." [52] Now he had been born at a time when men lived to the age of 10,000 years; so after reigning 7,000 years he became an ascetic while 3,000 years still remained of his life: and when he had embraced the ascetic life, he still dwelt in a house four months from the day of his seeing the mango tree ; but thinking to himself that an ascetic's house would be better than the palace, he secretly instructed his attendant to have some yellow robes and an earthen vessel brought to him from the market. He then sent for a barber and made him cut his hair and beard; he put on one yellow robe as the under dress, another as the uppei*, and the third he wrapped over his shoulder, and, having put his vessel in a bag, he hung it on his shoulder ; then, taking his walking-stick, he walked several times backwards and forwards on the top-story with the triumphant step of a pacceka-buddha. That day he continued to dwell there, but the next day at sunrise he began to go down. The queen Sivall sent for seven hundred favourite concubines, and said to them, " It is a long time, ^ See Hardy, Budhism, p. 27. ^ So. the Kamaloka, the Rupabrahmaloka, and the Ariipabrahmaloka. 3 A long description, full of repetitions, is here much condensed. * See Mahdvagga, v. 1. 16. sThe use of the word rathakdro might suggest ' wooden shoes,' but these were forbidden by Buddha, see Mahavagga, v. 6. 6 Cf. Vol. IV. p. 172 (text). foui" full months, since we last beheld the king, we shall see him to-day, do you all adorn yourselves and put forth your graces and blandishments and try to entangle him in the snares of passion." Attended by them all arrayed and adorned, she ascended the palace to see the king ; [53j but although she met him coming down, she knew him not, and thinking that it was a pacceka-buddha come to instruct the king she made a salutation and stood on one side and the Bodhisatta came down from the palace. ; But the queen, after she had ascended the palace, and beheld the king's locks, of the colour of bees, lying on the royal bed, and the articles of his toilet lying on the royal bed, exclaimed, " That was no pacceka-buddha, it " must have been our own dear lord, we will implore him to come back ; so having gone down from the top-story and reached the palace yard, she and all the attendant queens unloosed their hair and let it fall on their backs and smote their breasts Avith their hands, and followed the king, wailing plaintively, " Why dost thou do this thing, O great king " 1 The whole city was disturbed, and all the people followed the king weeping, " Our king, they say, has become an ascetic, how shall we ever find such " a just ruler again 1 Then the Master, as he described the women's weeping, and how the king left them all and went on, uttered these stanzas " There stood the seven hundred queens, stretching their arms in pleading woe. Arrayed in all their ornaments, — 'Great king, why dost thou leave us so?' But leaving those seven hundred queens, tender, gracious, — the great king fair, Followed the guidance of his vow, with stern resolve unfaltering. Leaving the inaugurating cup ^ the old sign of royal pomp and state, He takes his earthen pot to-day, a new career to inaugurate." The weeping Sivali, finding herself unable to stop the king, as a [54] fresh resource sent for the commander-in-chief and bade him kindle a fire before the king among the old houses and ruins which lay in the direction where he was going, and to heap up grass and leaves and make a great smoke in different places. He did so. Then she went to the king and, falling at his feet, told him in two stanzas that Mithila was in flames. " Terrible are the raging fires, the stores and treasm-es burn, The silver, gold, gems, shells, and pearls, are all consumed in turn ; Rich garments, ivory, copper, skins, all meet one ruthless fate; Turn back, O king, and save thy wealth before it be too late." The Bodhisatta replied, "What sayest thou, O queen? the possessions of those who have can be burned, but I have nothing " We who have nothing of om* own may live without a care or sigh Mithila's palaces may burn, but naught of mine is burned thereby 2." ^ For the golden jars used at a king's inauguration see Eamay. 11. 15, Kathasarits. XV. 77. '^ These lines seem proverbial in various shapes, cf. Dhammapada, 200 ; Mahabh. xn. 9917, 529, 6641. [55] So saying he went out by the northern gate, and his queens also went out. The queen Sivali bade them shew him how the villages were being destroyed and the land wasted; so they pointed out to him how armed men wei'e running about and plundering in different directions, while others, davibed with red lac, were being carried as wounded or dead on boards. The people shouted, " O king, while you guard the kingdom, they spoil and kill your subjects." Then the queen repeated a stanza, imploring the king to return : " Wild foresters lay waste the land, — return, and save us all ; Let not thy kingdom, left by thee, in hopeless ruin fall." The king reflected, " No robbers can rise up to spoil the kingdom while I am ruling, — this must be Sivalidevl's invention," so he repeated these stanzas as not understanding her : " We who have nothing of our own may live without a care or sigh. The kingdom may lie desolate, but naught of mine is harmed thereby. We who have nothing of our own may live without a care or sigh, Feasting on joy in perfect bliss like an Abhassara deity i." Even after he had thus spoken the people still followed. Then he said to himself, " They do not wish to return, — I will make them go back " so when he had gone about half a mile he turned back, and standing in the high i-oad, he asked his ministers, " Whose kingdom is this ? [56] "Thine, O king." "Then punish whosoever passes over this line," so saying he drew a line across with his staff. No one was able to violate that line ; and the people, standing behind that line, made loud lamentation. The queen also being unable to cross that line, and beholding the king going on with his back turned towards her, could not resti'ain her grief, and beat her breast, and, falling across, forced her way over the line. The people cried, " The line-guardians have broken the line," and they followed where the queen led. The Great Being went towards the Northern Himavat. The queen also went with him, taking all the army and the animals for riding. The king, being unable to stop the multitude, journeyed on for sixty leagues. Now at that time an ascetic, named Narada, dwelt in the Golden Cave in Himavat who possessed the five supernatural faculties after passing seven days in an ecstasy, he had ; risen from his trance and was shouting triumphantly, " O the bliss, O the bliss ! " and while gazing with his divine eye to see if there was anyone in India who was seeking for this bliss, he beheld Mahajanaka the potential Buddha. He thought, " The king has made the great renunciation, but he cannot turn the people back who follow headed by the queen Sivali, — they may put a hindrance in his way, and I will give him an exhortation to confirm his purpose still more " ; so by his divine power 1 For these heavenly beings, 'the Kadiant ones,' see Burnouf, Introd. p. 611. he stood in the air in front of the king and thus spoke, to strengthen his resolve " Wherefore is all this noise and din, as of a village holiday ? Why is this crowd assembled here ? will the ascetic kiudly say ? The king replied : " I've crossed the bound and left the world, 'tis this has brought these hosts of men ; I leave them with a joyous heart: thou know'st it all, —why ask me then?" [57] Then the ascetic repeated a stanza to confirm his resolve : "Think not thou hast already crossed, while with this body still beset; There are still many foes in front, ^thou hast not won thy victory yet." The Great Being exclaimed : " Nor pleasures known nor those unknown have power mj' steadfast soul to bend, "What foe can stay me in my course as 1 press onwards to the end ? Then he repeated a stanza, declaring the hindrances : " Sleep, sloth, loose thoughts to pleasure turned, surfeit, a discontented mind The body brings these bosom-guests, — many a hindrance shalt thou find." [58] The Great Being then praised him in this stanza " Wise, Brahmin, are thy warning words, I thank thee, stranger, for the same Answer my question if thou wilt ; who art thou, say, and what thy name." Narada replied : " Know I am Narada by name, — a kassapa i ; my heavenly rest I have just left to tell thee this, —to associate with the wise is best. The four perfections exercise, — find in this path thy highest joy ; Whate'er it be thou lackest yet, bj' patience and by calm supply ; High thoughts of self, low thoughts of self,^nor this, nor that befits the sage; Be virtue, knowledge, and the law the guardians of thy pilgrimage." Njlrada then returned through the sky to his own abode. After he was gone, another ascetic, named Migajina, who had just arisen from an ecstatic trance, beheld the Great Being and resolved to utter an exhortation to him that he might send the multitude away ; so he appeared above hiui in the air and thus spoke [59] " Horses and elephants, and they who in city or in country dwell, Thou hast left them all, Janaka an earthen bowl contents thee well. ; Say, have thy subjects or thy friends, thy ministers or kinsmen dear, AYounded thy heart by treachery that thou hast chosen this refuge here?" The Bodhisatta replied : " Never, any time, in any place, on any plea. seer, at Have I done wrong to any friend nor any friend done wrong to me. ^ Narada is sometimes called the son of the Muni Ka<;j'apa; see Wilson, Vishnu Piinliui, Vol. II. p. 19. J. VI. 3 T saw the world devoured by pain, darkened with misery and with sin ; I watched its victims bound and slain, caught helplessly its toils within ; 1 drew the warning to myself and here the ascetic's life Vjegin." [60] The ascetic, wishing to liear more, asked him : "None chooses the ascetic's life unless some teacher point the waj-. By practice or by theory: who was thy holy teacher, say." The Great Being replied : "Never at any time, O seer, have I heard words that touched my heart From Brahman or ascetic lips, bidding me choose the ascetic's jiart." He then told liim at length why he had left the world : " I wandered through my royal park one summers day in all my pride, With songs and tuneful instruments filling the air on every side, And there I saw a j\lango-tree, which near the wall had taken root, It stood all broken and despoiled by the rude crowds that sought it^s fruit. Startled I left my royal pomp and stopped to gaze with curious eye, Contrasting with this fruitful tree a barren one which grew close by. The fruitful tree stood there forlorn, its leaves all strijjped, its branches bare. The barren tree stood green and strong, its foliage waving in the air. [61]We kings are like that fruitful tree, with many a foe to lay us low. And rob us of the pleasant fruit which for a little while we show. The elephant for ivory, the panther for hi.s skin is slain. Houseless and friendless at the last the wealthy find their wealth their bane ; That pair of ti'ees my teachers were, — from them my lesson did I gain." Migajina, having heard the king, exhorted him to be earnest and returned to his own abode. When he was gone, Queen Slvali fell at the king's feet, and .said : " In chariots or on elephants, footmen or horsemen, all as one, Thy subjects raise a common wail, Our king has left us and' is gone I O comfort first their stricken hearts and crown thy son to rule instead ; Then, if thou wilt, forsake the world the pilgi'im's lonely path to tread." The Bodhisatta replied : " I've left behind my subjects all, friends, kinsmen, home and native land ; [62] But th' nobles of Videha race, Dighavu trained to bear command, Fear not, queen of Mithila, they will be near to uphold thy hand." The queen exclaimed, "O king, thou hast become an ascetic, what am I to do?" Then he said to her, "I will counsel thee, carry out my words " ; so he addressed her thus : " If thou would'st teach my son to rule, sinning in thought, and word and deed, An evil ending will be thine — this is the destiny decreed ; A beggar's portion, gained as alms, so say the wise, is all our need." Thus he counselled her, and while they went on, talking together, the sun set. The queen encamped iii a suitable place, while the king went to the root of a tree and passed the night there, and the next day, after perform- ing his ablutions, went on his way. The queen gave orders that the army should come after, and followed him. At the time for going the round for alms they reached a city called Thiina. At that time a man in the city had bought a large piece of flesh at a slaughter-house and, after frying it on a prong with some coals, had placed it on a board to grow cool ; but wliile he was busied about something else a dog ran oft" with it. The man pursued it as far as the southern gate of the city, liut stopped there, being tired. The king and queen were coming up separately in front of the dog, [63] which in alarm at seeing them dropped the meat and made off. The Great Being saw this, and reflected, " He has dropped it and gone off, disregarding it, the real owner is unknown, there is not another piece of offal alms so good as this : I will eat it " ; so taking out his own earthen dish and seizing the meat he wiped it, and, putting it on the dish, went to a pleasant spot where there was some water and ate it. The queen thought to herself, " If the king were worthy of the kingdom he would not eat the dusty leavings of a dog, he is not really my husband " ; and she said aloud, "O great king, dost thou eat such a disgusting morsel 1" "It is your own blind folly," he replied, " which j^revents your seeing the especial value of this piece of alms " so he carefully examined the spot where it ; had been dropped, and ate it as if it were ambrosia, and then washed his mouth and his hands and feet. Then the queen addressed him in words of l)lame : " Should tlie fourth eating-time come round, a man will die if still he fast Yet for all that the noble soul would loathe so foul a mess to taste ; This is not right which thou hast done, shame on thee, shame, I say, O king ; Eating the leavings of a dog, thou hast done a most unworthy thing." The Great Being replied : " Leavings of householder or dog are not forbidden food, I ween ; [64] If it be gained by lawful means, all food is pure and lawful, qiieen." As they thus talked together they reached the city-gate. Some boys were playing there ; and a girl was shaking some sand in a small winnowingbasket. On one of her hands there was a single bracelet, and on the other two ; these two jangled together, the other one Avas noiseless. The king saw the incident, and thought to himself, " Sivali keeps following me; a wife is the ascetic's bane, and men blame me and say that even when I have left the world I cannot leave my wife ; if this girl is wise, she will be able to tell Sivali the reason why she should turn back and leave me. I will hear her story and send Sivali away." So he said to her : *' Nestling beneath thy mother's care, girl, with those trinkets on thee bound, Why is one arm so musical while the other never makes a sound ? The girl replied : " Ascetic, on this hand I wear two bracelets fast instead of one, 'Tis from their contact that they sound, 'tis by the second this is done. But mark this other hand of mine: a single bracelet it doth wear, That keeps its place and makes no sound, silent because no other's there. The second jangles and makes jars, that which is single cannot jar ; Would'st thou be happy ? be alone only the lonely happy are." ; [65] Having heard the girl's words, he took up the idea and addressed the queen ; " Hear what she says ; this servant girl would overwhelm my head with shame Were I to yield to thy request ; it is the second brings the blame. Here are two paths do thou take one, the other by myself take I : ; Call me not husband from henceforth, thou art no more my wife goodbye." : The queen, on hearing him, bade him take the better path to the right, while she chose tlie left ; but after going a little way, being unable to restrain her grief, she again came to him, and she and the king entered the city together. Explaining this, the Master said : " With these words on their lips they entered the city of Thuna." [66] After they had entered, the Bodhisatta went on his begging-round and reached the door of the house of a maker of arrows, while Sivali stood on one side. Now at that time the ai'row-maker had heated an arrow in a pan of coals and had wetted it with some sour rice-gruel, and, closing one eye, was looking with the other while he made the arrow straight. The Bodhisatta reflected, " If this man is wise, he will be able to explain the incident, — I will ask him " ; so he went up to him : The Master described what had happened in a stanza: " To a fletcher's house he came for alms ; the man with one eye closed did stand. And with the other sideways looked to shape the arrow in his hand." Then the Great Being said to him : "One eye thou closest and dost gaze with the other sideways, — is this right? '"' I pray, explain thy attitude ; thinkest thou, it improves thy sight i He replied : " The wide horizon of both eyes ser\'es only to distract the view ; But if you get a single line, your aim is fixed, your vision true. It is the second that makes jars, that which is single cannot jar ; Would'st thou be happy ? be alone only the lonely happy are." ; [67] After these words of advice, he was silent. The Great Being proceeded on his round, and, having collected .some food of various sorts, went out of the city, and sat down in a spot pleasant with water ; and having done all he had to do, he put away his bowl in his liag and addressed Sivali : " Thou heai-'st the fletcher : like the girl, he would o'erwhelm my head with shame Were I to yield to thy request ; it is the second brings the blame. Here are two paths do thou take one, the other by myself take I : ; Call me not husband from henceforth, thou art no more my wife goodbye." : She still continued to follow him even after this speech ; but she could not persuade the king to turn back, and the people followed hei-. Now there was a forest not far off and the Great Being saw a dark tract of trees.He was wishing to make the queen turn back, and he saw some munja grass near the road ; so he cut a stalk of it, and said to her, "See, Sivall, this stalk cannot be joined again, so our intercourse " " Like can never be joined again ; and he repeated this half stanza ; to a munja reed full-grown, live on, O Snali, alone." When she heard him, she said, "I am henceforth to have no intercom-se with King Mahajanaka" ; and being unable to control her grief, she beat her breast with both hands and fell senseless [68] on the road. The Bodhisatta, perceiving that she was unconscious, plunged into the wood, carefully obliterating his footsteps. His ministers came and sprinkled her body with water and rubbed her hands and feet, and at last she recovered consciousness. She asked, " Where is the king?" " Do you not know? " they said. "Search for him," she cried. But though they ran hither and thither they saw him not. So she made a great lamentation, and after erecting a tope where he had stood, she offered worship with flowers and perfumes, and returned. The Bodhisatta entered into the region of Himavat, and in the course of seven days he perfected the Faculties and the Attainments, and he returned no more to the land of men. The queen also erected topes on the spots where he had conversed with the arrow-maker, and with the girl, and where he had eaten the meat, and where he had conversed with Migajina and with Narada, and offered worship with flowers and perfumes and ; then, surrounded by the army, she entered Mithila and had her son's coronation performed in the mango-garden, and made him enter with the army into the city. But she herself, having adopted the ascetic life of a rishi, dwelt in that garden and practised the preparatory rites for producing mystic meditation until at last she attained absorption and became destined to birth in the Brahma world. The Master, his lesson ended, said, " This is not the first time that the Tathagata performed the great Renunciation he performed it also formerly." So ; saying he identified the Birth " At that time the sea-goddess was Uppalavanna, : Narada was Sariputta, Migajina was Moggallana, the girl was the princess Kliemfl, the maker of arrows was Ananda, Sivali was the mother of Rahula, Prince Dighavu was Rahula, the parents were the members of the royal family, and I myself was the king Mahajanaka."