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BUDDHIST BIETH STORIES

OR,

JATAKA TALES.

THE OLDEST COLLECTION OF FOLK-LOEE EXTANT :

BEING

THE JATAKATTHAVANNANA,

For the first time Edited in the Original Fali

By Y. FAUSBOLL,

AND TRANSLATED

By T. W. EHYS DAYIDS,

TRANSLATION
VOLUME I,

LONDON:

TRtfBNER & CO., LUDOATE HILL.

1880.

\_All rights reserved. ']

HERTFORD :
PRINTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS.

TO
GEHEIM-RATH PROFESSOR DOCTOR

STENZLER

MY FIRST GUIDE IN ORIENTAL STUDIES

IN CONGRATULATION ON HIS ' DOCTOR JUBILAUM '

AND IN DEEP RESPECT FOR HIS PROFOUND SCHOLARSHIP

THIS WORK IS DEDICATED BY

HIS GRATEFUL PUPIL

THE AUTHOR.

TABLE OF CONTEIS^TS.

Tkakslator's Inteodtjctiok^.

Part I.
The Booh of Birth Stories, and their Migration to the
Orthodox Buddhist belief concerning it. Two reasons

for the value attached to it
Selected Stories. — 1. The Ass in the Lion's Skin

2. The Talkative Tortoise

3. The Jackal and the Crow

4. The Wise Judge

5. Sakka's Presents

6. A Lesson for Kings .
The Kalilag and Damnag Literature .
Origin of ' JEsop's ' Fables .
The Barlaam and Josaphat Literature
Other Migrations of the Buddhist Tales
Greek and Buddhist Pables
Solomon's Judgment ....
Summary of Part I. .

Paet II.

The Birth Stories in India.
Jatakas derived from the Pali Pitakas

,, in the Cariya Pitaka and Jataka Mala

,, ,, Buddhavagsa

,, at the Council of Yesali

,, on the Ancient Sculptures
The Pali !N"ames of the Jatakas .
The Jatakas one of the Navaggani
Authorship of our present Collection

West.

i-iv

viii

xii

xiv

xvi

xxii

xxix

xxxii

xxxvi

xliii

xliv

xlviii

liii

Ivii

Is:

Ixii

Ixi'ii

X TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Jatakas not included in our present Collection

,, in post-Buddhistic Sanskrit Literature .
Form of the Jatakas. — The Introductory Stories .
The Conclusions
The Abhisambuddha-gatha, or

Yerses in the Conclusion
Divisions of the Jataka Book
Actual !N'umber of the Stories
Summary of the Origin of the Present Collection
Special Lessons inculcated by the Birth Stories
„ Historical Yalue of the Birth Stories

SuPPLEMEIfTAIlY TaBLES.

I. Indian "Works .....

11. The Kalilag and Damnag Literature
III. The Barlaam and Josaphat Literature
lY. The Cariya Pitaka and the Jataka Mala .
Y. Alphabetical List of Jataka Stories in the Maha

vastu

YI. Places at which the Tales were Told
YIL The Bodisats ......

YIII. Jatakas Illustrated in Bas-relief on the Ancient
Monuments

Ixvii
Ixviii
Ixxiv

Ixxv

Ixxvi
Ixxix
Ixxxi
Ixxxii
Ixxxv
Ixxxvi

Ixxxix

xciii

xcv

xcviii

xcix
c
ci

cii

The Ceylon" Compilee's Inteodtjction, called the

Nidana KatJid.

Story of Sumedha, the First Bodisat .... 2
The Successive Bodisats in the Times of the Previous

Buddhas 31

Life of the Last Bodisat (who became Buddha) . . 58

His Descent from Heaven ...... 69

His Birth 67

Song of the Angels ....... 69

Prophecy of Kaja Devala ...... 70

TABLE OF CONTENTS,

Prophecy of the Brahman Priests

The Ploughing Festival

The Young Bodisat's Skill and "Wisdom

The Pour Visions

The Bodisat's Son is Born .

Kisa Gotami's Song .

The Great Renunciation .

The Great Struggle against Sin

The Great Yictory over Satan

The Bliss of Nirvana

The Hesitation whether to Publish the Good News

The Poundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness

Uruvela Kassapa's Conversion ....

Triumphal Entrance into Rajagaha .

Foundation of the Order

Return Home .......

Presentation of the First Monastery to the Buddha

The Birth Stories.

1. Holding to the Truth . . . Apannaka Jataka

2. The Sandy Road . . . Yannupatha Jataka .

3. The Merchant of Seri . . . Seri-vanija Jataka

4. The Story of ChuUaka the Treasurer . . . CuUaka

setthi Jataka ......

5. The Measure of Rice . . . Tandula-nali Jataka

6. On True Divinity . . . Deva-dhamma Jataka

9. The Story of Makha Deva . . . Makha-deva Jataka

10. The Happy Life . . . Sukhavihari Jataka

11. The Story of Beauty . . . Lakkhana Jataka .

12. The Banyan Deer . . . Mgrodha-miga Jataka

13. The Dart of Love . . . Kandina Jataka.

14. The Greedy Antelope . . . Yata-miga Jataka

15. The Deer who would not Learn . . . Kharadiya

Jataka .......

16. The Cunning Deer . . . Tipallatha-miga Jataka

72
75

105

111

113

114

116

119

121

131

134
147
153

158
172
178
186
190
194
199
211
214.

219
221

XII

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

. . Maluta Jataka
Eood to the Dead

Mataka-bhatta

Ayacita-

17. The Wind

18. OnOfferin^

Jataka .....

19. On Offerings given under a Yow .

bhatta Jataka .......

20. The Monkeys and the Demon . . . Nalapana Jataka

21. The Wily Antelope . . . Kurunga-miga Jataka

22. The Dog who turned Preacher . . . Kukkura

Jataka ........

23. The Ehoja Thoroughbred . . . Bhojajaniya Jataka

24. The Thoroughbred War Horse . . . Ajafina Jataka

25. The Horse at the Pord . . . Tittha Jataka .

26. Evil communications corrupt good manners . .

Mahila-mukha Jataka ....

27. The Elephant and the Dog . . . Abhinha Jataka

28. The Bull who Won the Bet . . . :N'andi-Yisala

Jataka .......

29. The Old Woman's Black Bull . . . Kanha Jataka

30. The Ox who Envied the Pig . . . Munika Jataka

31. On Mercy to Animals . . . Kulavaka Jataka

32. The Dancing Peacock . . . Nacca Jataka

33. The sad Quarrel of the Quails . . . Sammodamana

Jataka .......

34. The Eish and his Wife . . . Maccha Jataka

35. The Holy Quail . . . Yattaka Jataka .

36. The Wise Bird and the Eools . . . Sakuna Jataka

37. The Partridge, Monkey, and Elephant . . . Tittira

Jataka .......

38. The Cruel Crane Outwitted . . . Baka Jataka

39. Nanda on the Buried Gold . . . Nanda Jataka

40. The Eiery Eumace . . . Khadirangara Jataka

Index

224

226

230
232
237

240
245
249
251

257

263

266
270
275
278

291

295
299
302

307

310
315
322
326

339

INTRODUCTION.

It is well known that amongst the Buddhist Scriptures
there is one book in which a large number of old stories,
fables, and fairy tales, lie enshrined in an edifying
commentary ; and have thus been preserved for the study
and amusement of later times. How this came about
is not at present quite certain. The belief of orthodox
Buddhists on the subject is this. The Buddha, as occa-
sion arose, was accustomed throughout his long career
to explain and comment on the events happening around
him, by telling of similar events that had occurred in
his own previous births. The experience, not of one
lifetime only, but of many lives, was always present to
his mind; and it was this experience he so often used
to point a moral, or adorn a tale. The stories so told
are said to have been reverently learnt and repeated by
his disciples ; and immediately after his death 550 of
them were gathered together in one collection, called
the Book of the 550 Jatakas or Births ; the commentary
to which gives for each Jataka, or Birth Story, an
account of the event in Gotama's life which led to his

ii BUDDHIST BIRTH STORIES

first telling that particular story. Both text and com-
mentary were then handed down intact, and in the Pali
language in which they were composed, to the time of
the Council of Patna (held in or about the year 250 b.c.) ;
and they were carried in the following year to Ceylon
by the great missionary Mahinda. There the commentary
was translated into Sinhalese, the Aryan dialect spoken
in Ceylon ; and was re-translated into its present form
in the Pali language in the fifth century of our era.
But the text of the Jataka stories themselves has been
throughout preserved in its original Pali form.

/ Unfortunately this orthodox Buddhist belief as to the
history of the Book of Birth Stories rests on a foundation
of quicksand. The Buddhist belief, that most of their

\ sacred books were in existence immediately after the
Buddha's death, is not only not supported, but is con-
tradicted by the evidence of those books themselves.
It may be necessary to state what that belief is, in order
to show the importance which the Buddhists attach to
the book ; but in order to estimate the value we ourselves
should give it, it will be necessary by critical, and more
roundabout methods, to endeavour to arrive at some
more reliable conclusion. Such an investigation cannot,
it is true, be completed until the whole series of the
Buddhist Birth Stories shall have become accessible in
the original Pali text, and the history of those stories

KNOWN IN EUROPE.

Ill

shall have been traced in other sources. With the present
inadequate information at our command, it is only pos-
sible to arrive at probabilities. But it is therefore the
more fortunate that the course of the inquiry will lead
to some highly interesting and instructive results.

In the first place, the fairy tales, parables, fables,
riddles, and comic and moral stories, of which the
Buddhist Collection — known as the Jataka Book —
consists, have been found, in many instances, to bear
a striking resemblance to similar ones current in the
"West. Now in many instances this resemblance is
simply due to the fact that the Western stones tvere
borrowed from the Buddhist ones.

To this resemblance much of the interest excited
by the Buddhist Birth Stories is, very naturally, due.
As, therefore, the stories translated in the body of this
volume do not happen to contain among them any of
those most generally known in England, I insert here
one or two specimens which may at the same time
afibrd some amusement, and also enable the reader to
judge how far the alleged resemblances do actually
exist.

It is absolutely essential for the correctness of such
judgment that the stories should be presented exactly
as they stand in the original. I am aware that a close
and literal translation involves the disadvantage of pre-

FOLK-LORE.

senting the stories in a style whicL. will probably seem
strange, and even wooden, to the modern reader. But
it cannot be admitted that, for even purposes of com-
parison, it would be sufficient to reproduce the stories
in a modern form which should aim at combining
substantial accuracy with a pleasing dress.

And the Book of Birth Stories has a value quite
independent of the fact that many of its tales have been
transplanted to the West. It contains a record of the
every-day life, and every-day thought, of the people
among whom the tales were told : it is the oldest, most
complete y and most important Collection of Folk-lore extant.

The whole value of its evidence in this respect would
be lost, if a translator, by slight additions in some places,
slight omissions in others, and slight modifications here
and there, should run the risk of conveying erroneous
impressions of early Buddhist beliefs, and habits, and
modes of thought. It is important, therefore, that the
reader should understand, before reading the stories I
intend to give, that while translating sentence by
sentence, rather than word by word, I have never lost
sight of the importance of retaining in the English
version, as far as possible, not only the phraseology,
but the style and spirit of the Buddhist story-teller.

The first specimen I propose to give is a half-moral
half-comic story, which runs as follows.

The Ass in the Lion's Skin.
SIHA-CAMMA JATAKA.

(FausboU, No. 189.)

Once upon a time, while Brahma-datta was reigning
in Benares, the future Buddha was born one of a
peasant family; and when he grew up, he gained his
living by tilling the ground.

At that time a hawker used to go from place to place,
trafficking in goods carried by an ass. ISfow at each
place he came to, when he took the pack down from the
ass's back, he used to clothe him in a lion's skin, and
turn him loose in the rice and barley-fields. And when
the watchmen in the fields saw the ass, they dared not
go near him, taking him for a lion.

So one day the hawker stopped in a village ; and whilst
he was getting his own breakfast cooked, he dressed the
ass in a lion's skin, and turned him loose in a barley-
field. The watchmen in the field dared not go up to
him; but going home, they published the news. Then
all the villagers came out with weapons in their hands ;
and blowing chanks, and beating drums, they went near
the field and shouted. Terrified with the fear of death,
the ass uttered a cry — the cry of an ass !

And when he knew him then to be an ass, the future
Buddha pronounced the First Stanza :

" This is not a lion's roaring.
Nor a tiger's, nor a panther's ;
Dressed in a lion's skin,
'Tis a wretched ass that roars ! "

vi THE ASS m THE LION'S SKIN.

But when tlie villagers knew the creature to be an ass,
they beat him till his bones broke ; and, carrying off the
lion's skin, went away. Then the hawker came; and
seeing the ass fallen into so bad a plight, pronounced the
Second Stanza :

" Long might the ass.
Clad in a lion's skin.
Have fed on the barley green.

But he brayed !
And that moment he came to ruin."

And even whilst he was yet speaking the ass died on
the spot !

This story will doubtless sound familiar enough to
English ears ; for a similar tale is found in our modern
collections of so-called *^sop's Fables.'^ Professor
Benfey has further traced it in mediaeval French,
German, Turkish, and Indian literature.^ But it may
have been much older than any of these books ; for
the fable possibly gave rise to a proverb of which we
find traces among the Greeks as early as the time
of Plato.^ Lucian gives the fable in full, localizing it

1 James's *^sop's Fables' (London, Murray, 1852), p. Ill ; La Fontaine^
Book V. No. 21 ; ^sop (in Greek text, ed. Furia, 141, 262 ; ed. Coriae, 113);
Babrius (Lewis, vol. ii. p. 43).

2 Benfey' s Pancha Tantra, Book iv. , No. 7, in the note on which, at vol. i.
p. 462, he refers to Halm, p. 333 ; Robert, in the ' Fables inedites du Moyen
Age, vol. i. p. 360; and the Turkish Tuti-namah (Rosen, vol. ii. p. 149).
In India it is found also in the Northern Buddhist Collection called Katha
Sarit Sagara, by Soraadeva ; and in Hitopadesa (iii. 2, Max Miiller, p. 110).

3 Kratylos, 411 (ed. Tauchnitz, ii. 275).

THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN.

Vll

at Kume, in South. Italy/ and Julien has given us a
Chinese version in his 'Avadanas.'^ Erasmus, in his
work on proverbs,^ alludes to the fable ; and so also does
our own Shakespeare in * King John.'* It is worthy
of mention that in one of the later story-books — in a
Persian translation, that is, of the Hitopadesa — there is
a version of our fable in which, it is the vanity of the
ass in trying to sing which leads to bis disguise being
discovered, and thus brings him to grief.^ But Pro-
fessor Benfey has shown ^ that this version is simply
the rolling into one of the present tale and of another,
also widely prevalent, where an ass by trying to sing
earns for himself, not thanks, but blowsJ I shall
hereafter attempt to draw some conclusions from the
history of the story. But I would here point out that
the fable could scarcely have originated in any country
in which lions were not common; and that the Jataka
story gives a reasonable explanation of the ass being
dressed in the skin, instead of saying that he dressed
himseK in it, as is said in our *^sop's Fables.*

The reader will notice that the * moral' of the tale

1 Lucian, Piscator, 32. 2 YqI. ij. No. 91.

3 * Adagia,' under ' Asinus apud Cumanos.'
* Act ii. scene 1 ; and again, Act iii. scene 1.

5 De Sacy, ' Notes et Extraits,' x. 1, 247.

6 Loc. cit. p. 463.

1 Pancha Tantra, v, 7. Prof. "Weber (Indische Studien, iii. 352) compares
Phcedrus (Dressier, App. vi. 2) and Erasmus'' s ' Adagia ' under ' Asinus ad
Lyrura,' See also Tuti-namah (Rosen ii. 218) ; and I would add Varro, in
Aulus Gellius, iii. 16 ; and Jerome, Ep. 27, ' Ad Marcellam.'

Vlll

THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN.

is contained in two stanzas, one of which is put into
the mouth of the Bodisat or future Buddha. This will
be found to be the case in all the Birth Stories, save
that the number of the stanzas differs, and that they
are usually all spoken by the Bodisat. It should also
be noticed that the identification of the peasant's son
with the Bodisat, which is of so little importance to
the story, is the only part of it which is essentially
Buddhistic. Both these points will be of importance
further on.

The introduction of the human element takes this
story, perhaps, out of the class of fables in the most
exact sense of that word. I therefore add a story con-
taining a fable proper, where animals speak and act
like men.

The Talkative Tortoise.

KACCHAPA JATAKA.

(FausboU, No. 215.)

Once upon a time, when Brahma-datta was reigning
in Benares, the future Buddha was born in a minister's
family ; and when he grew up, he became the king's
adviser in things temporal and spiritual.

Now this king was very talkative : while he was
speaking, others had no opportunity for a word. And
the future Buddha, wanting to cure this talkativeness of
his, was constantly seeking for some means of doing so.

THE TALKATIVE TORTOISE.

At that time there was living, in a pond in the Hima-
laya mountains, a tortoise. Two young ha^sas {i.e. wild
ducks ^) who came to feed there, made friends with him.
And one day, when they had become very intimate with
him, they said to the tortoise —

" Friend tortoise ! the place where we live, at the
Golden Cave on Mount Beautiful in the Himalaya
country, is a delightful spot. Will you come there with
us?"

"But how can I get there ? "

" "We can take you, if you can only hold your tongue,
and will say nothing to anybody." ^

" 0 ! that I can do. Take me with you."

" That's right," said they. And making the tortoise
bite hold of a stick, they themselves took the two ends in
their teeth, and flew up into the air.^

Seeing him thus carried by the hagsas, some villagers
called out, " Two wild ducks are carrying a tortoise along
on a stick ! " Whereupon the tortoise wanted to say,
" If my friends choose to carry me, what is that to you,
you wretched slaves ! " So just as the swift flight of the
wild ducks had brought him over the king's palace in the
city of Benares, he let go of the stick he was biting, and
falling in the open courtyard, split in two ! And there
arose a universal cry, " A tortoise has fallen in the open
courtyard, and has split in two ! "

^ Pronounced hangsa, often rendered swan, a favourite bird in Indian tales,
and constantly represented in Buddhist carvings. It is the original Golden
Goose. See below, p. 294, and Jataka No. 136.

2 There is an old story of a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, who
inherited a family living. He went in great trouble to Dr. Routh, the Head
of his College, saying that he doubted whether he could hold, at the same y^
time, the Living and the Fellowship. "You can hold anything," was the
reply, *' if you can only hold your tongue." And he held all three.

3 In the Vinila Jataka (No. 160) they similarly carry a crow to the
Himalaya mountains.

X KACCHAPA JATAKA.

The king, taking the future Buddha, went to the place,
surrounded by his courtiers ; and looking at the tortoise,
he asked the Bodisat, " Teacher ! how comes he to be
fallen here ? "

The future Buddha thought to himself, " Long expect-
ing, wishing to admonish the king, have I sought for
some means of doing so. This tortoise must have made
friends with the wild ducks ; and they must have made
him bite hold of the stick, and have flown up into the
air to take him to the hills. But he, being unable to
hold his tongue when he hears any one else talk, must
have wanted to say something, and let go the stick ; and
so must have fallen down from the sky, and thus lost his
life." And saying, " Truly, 0 king ! those who are
called chatter-boxes — people whose words have no end —
come to grief like this," he uttered these Verses :

" Yerily the tortoise killed himself
Whilst uttering his voice ;
Though he was holding tight the stick.
By a word himself he slew.

" Behold him then, 0 excellent by strength !
And speak wise words, not out of season.
You see how, by his talking overmuch,
The tortoise fell into this wretched plight ! "

The king saw that he was himself referred to, and said,
" 0 Teacher ! are you speaking of us ? '*

And the Bodisat spake openly, and said, "0 great
king ! be it thou, or be it any other, whoever talks
beyond measure meets with some mishap like this."

And the king henceforth refrained himself, and became
a man of few words.

THE TALKATIVE TORTOISE.

This story too is found also in Greek, Latin, Arabic,
Persian, and in most European languages,^ though,
strangely enough, it does not occur in our books of
^sop's Fables. But in the * ^sop's Fables ' is usually
included a story of a tortoise who asked an eagle to teach
him to fly ; and being dropped, split into two ! ^ It is
worthy of notice that in the Southern recension of the
Pafica Tantra it is eagles, and not wild ducks or swans,
who carry the tortoise ; ^ and there can, I think, be little
doubt that the two fables are historically connected.

Another fable, very familiar to modern readers, is
stated in the commentary to have been first related in
ridicule of a kind of Mutual Admiration Society existing
among the opponents of the Buddha. Hearing the
monks talking about the foolish way in which Devadatta
and Xokalika went about among the people ascribing
each to the other virtues which neither possessed, he is
said to have told this tale.

1 Fanca Tantra^ vol. i. p. 13, where Professor Benfey (i. 239-241) traces
also the later versions in different languages. He mentions Wolff's German
translation of the Kalilah and Dimnah, vol. i. p. 91 ; KnatchbuWs English
version, p. 146 ; Simeon Seth's Greek version, p. 28 ; John of Capua's Direc-
torium Humanse Yitse, D. 5 b. ; the German translation of this last (Ulm,
1483), F. viii. 6 ; the Spanish translation, xix a. ; Firenzuola, 65 ; Doni, 93 ;
Anvar i Suhaili, p. 159 ; Le Livre des Lumieres (1664, 8vo.), 124 ; Le Cabinet
des Fees, xvii. 309. See also Contes et Fables Indiennes de Bidpai et de
Lokman, ii. 112 ; La Fontaine, x. 3, where the ducks fly to America (!) ; and
Bickell's ' Kalilag und Dimnag,' p. 24. In India it is found in Somadeva,
and in the Hitopadesa, iv. 2 (Max Miiller, p. 125). See also Julien, i. 71.

2 This version is found in Babrius (Lewis, i. 122) ; Phcedrus, ii. 7 and
vii. 14 (Orelli, 55, 128) ; and in the -S^soptean collections (Fur. 193; Corise,
61) and in Abstemius, 108.

3 Dubois, p. 109.

Xll

The Jackal and the Crow.
JAMBU-KHADAKA JATAKA.

(FausboU, No. 294.)

Long, long ago, wlien Bralima-datta was reigning in
Benares, the Bodisat had come to life as a tree- god,
dwelling in a certain grove of Jambu-trees.

Now a crow was sitting there one day on the branch
of a Jambu-tree, eating the Jambu-fruits, when a jackal
coming by, looked np and saw him.

" Ha ! " thought he. " I'll flatter that fellow, and get
some of those Jambus to eat." And thereupon he uttered
this verse in his praise :

" Who may this be, whose rich and pleasant notes
Proclaim him best of all the singing-birds ?
Warbling so sweetly on the Jambu- branch,
Where like a peacock he sits firm and grand ! "

Then the crow, to pay him back his compliments, re-
plied in this second verse :

" Tis a well-bred young gentleman, who understands
To speak of gentlemen in terms polite !
Good Sir ! — whose shape and glossy coat reveal
The tiger's offspring — eat of these, I pray ! ''

And so saying, he shook the branch of the Jambu-tree
till he made the fruit to fall.

But when the god who dwelt in that tree saw the two
of them, now they had done flattering one another, eating
the Jambus together, he uttered a third verse :

THE FOX AND THE CROW. xiii

" Too long, forsooth, I've borne the sight
Of these poor chatterers of lies —
The refuse- eater and the offal-eater
Belauding each other ! "

And making himself visible in awful shape, he frightened
them away from the place !

It is easy to understand, that when this story had been
carried out of those countries where the crow and the
jackal are the common scavengers, it would lose its
point ; and it may very well, therefore, have been
shortened into the fable of the Fox and the Crow and
the piece of cheese. On the other hand, the latter is
so complete and excellent a story, that it would scarcely
have been expanded, if it had been the original, into
the tale of the Jackal and the Crow.^

The next tale to be quoted is one showing how a wise
man solves a difficulty. I am sorry that Mr. FausboU
has not yet reached this Jataka in his edition of the
Pali text; but I give it from a Sighalese version of
the fourteenth century, which is nearer to the Pali than
any other as yet known.^ It is an episode in

1 See La Fontaine, Book i. No. 2, and the current collections of ^sop's
Fables [e.g. James's edition, p. 136). It should be added that the Jambu-
khadaka-sagyutta in the Sagyutta Nikaya has nothing to do with our fable.
The Jarabu-eater of that story is an ascetic, who lives on Jambus, and is con-
verted by a discussion on Nirvana.

2 The Sighalese text will be found in the ' Sidat Sai^garawa; p. clxxvii.

XIV

The Birth as 'Great Physician.' ^
MAHOSADHA JATAKA.

A woman, carrying her child, went to the future
Buddha's tank to wash. And having first bathed the
child, she put on her upper garment and descended
into the water to bathe herself.

Then a Yakshinl,^ seeing the child, had a craving to
eat it. And taking the form of a woman, she drew near,
and asked the mother —

* 'Friend, this is a veri/ pretty child, is it one of
yours ? '*

And when she was told it was, she asked if she might
nurse it. And this being allowed, she nursed it a little,
and then carried it oflp.

But when the mother saw this, she ran after her, and
cried out, " Where are you taking my child to ? " and
caught hold of her.

The YakshinI boldly said, "Where did you get the
child from ? It is mine ! " And so quarrelling, they
passed the door of the future Buddha's Judgment Hall.

He heard the noise, sent for them, inquired into' the
matter, and asked them whether they would abide by his

1 Literally ' the great medicine.' The Bodisat of that time received this
name because he was born with a powerful di'ug in his hand, — an omen of
the cleverness in device by which, when he grew up, he delivered people from
their misfortunes. Compare my ' Buddhism,' p. 187.

2 The Yakshas. products of witchcraft and cannibalism, are beings of
magical power, who feed on human flesh. The male Yaksha occupies in
Buddhist stories a position similar to that of the wicked genius in the
Arabian Nights ; the female YakshinI, who occurs more frequently, usually
plays the part of siren.

THE WISE JUDGE. xv

decision. And they agreed. Then he had a line drawn

on the ground ; and told the Yakshini to take hold of the

child's arms, and the mother to take hold of its legs ; and

said, "The child shall be hers who drags him over the line."
But as soon as they pulled at him, the mother, seeing

how he suffered, grieved as if her heart would break.

And letting him go, she stood there weeping.

Then the future Buddha asked the bystanders, " Whose

hearts are tender to babes ? those who have borne chil-
dren, or those who have not ? "

And they answered, " 0 Sire ! the hearts of mothers

are tender."

Then he said, " Whom think you is the mother ? she

who has the child in her arms, or she who has let go ? "
And they answered, " She who has let go is the

mother."

And he said, "Then do you all think that the other

was the thief ? "

And they answered, " Sire ! we cannot tell."

And he said, " Yerily this is a Yakshini, who took the

child to eat it"

And they asked, " 0 Sire ! how did you know it ? "

And he replied, " Because her eyes winked not, and /

were red, and she knew no fear, and had no pity, I knew

it."

And so saying, he demanded of the thief, " Who are

you?"

And she said, " Lord ! I am a Yakshini."

And he asked, " Why did you take away this child ? "

And she said, " I thought to eat him, O my Lord ! "

And he rebuked her, saying, " O foolish woman ! For I V j

your former sins you have been born a Yakshini, and now |

xvi THE WISE JUDGE.

do you still sin ! " And lie laid a vow upon her to keep
the Five Commandments, and let her go.

But the mother of the child exalted the future Buddha,
and said, " 0 my Lord ! 0 Great Physician ! may thy
life be long ! ^' And she went away, with her babe
clasped to her bosom.

The Hebrew story, in which a similar judgment is
ascribed to Solomon, occurs in the Book of Kings, which
is more than a century older than the time of Gotama.
"We shall consider below what may be the connexion
between the two.

The next specimen is a tale about lifeless things en-
dowed with miraculous powers ; perhaps the oldest tale
in the world of that kind which has been yet published.
It is an episode in

Sakka's Presents.
DADHI-YAHANA JATAKA.

(Fausboll, JN'o. 186.)

Once upon a time, when Brahma-datta was reigning
in Benares, four brothers, Brahmans, of that kingdom,
devoted themselves to an ascetic life; and having built
themselves huts at equal distances in the region of the
Himalaya mountains, took up their residence there.

SAKKA'S PRESENTS. xvii

The eldest of tliem. died, and was re-born as the god
Sakka.^ When he became aware of this, he used to go
and render help at intervals every seven or eight days to
the others. And one day, having greeted the eldest hermit,
and sat down beside him, he asked him, "Reverend Sir,
what are you in need of ? "

The hermit, who suffered from jaundice, answered, "I
want fire ! " So he gave him a double-edged hatchet.

But the hermit said, '' Who is to take this, and bring
me firewood ? "

Then Sakka spake thus to him, '' Whenever, reverend
Sir, you want firewood, you should let go the hatchet
from your hand, and say, * Please fetch me firewood :
make me fire ! ' And it will do so."

So he gave him the hatchet ; and went to the second
hermit, and asked, " Reverend Sir, what are you in need
of?"

Now the elephants had made a track for themselves close
to his hut. And he was annoyed by those elephants, and said,
" I am much troubled by elephants ; drive them away."

Sakka, handing him a drum, said, " Reverend Sir,
if you strike on this side of it, your enemies will take
to flight ; but if you strike on this side, they will become
friendly, and surround you on all sides with an army in
fourfold array." ^

^ Not quite the same as Jupiter. Sakka is a very harmless and gentle
kind of a god, not a jealous god, nor given to lasciviousness or spite. Neither
is he immortal : he dies from time to time ; and, if he has behaved well, is
rehoi-n under happy conditions. Meanwhile somebody else, usually one of
the sons of men who has deserved it, succeeds, for a hundred thousand years
or so, to his name and place and glory. Sakka can call to mind his expe-
riences in his former birth, a gift in which he surpasses most other beings.
He was also given to a kind of practical joking, by which he tempted people,
and has become a mere beneficent fairy.

2 That is, infantry, cavalry, chariots of war, and elephants of war. Truly
a useful kind of present to give to a pious hermit !

xviii DADHI-VAHAMI JATAKA.

So he gave him the drum ; and went to the third
hermit, and asked, " E-everend Sir, what are you in need
of?"

He was also affected with jaundice, and said, therefore,
"I want sour milk."

Sakka gave him a milk-bowl, and said, " If you wish
for anything, and turn this bowl over, it will become a
great river, and pour out such a torrent, that it will be
able to take a kingdom, and give it to you."

And Sakka went away. But thenceforward the hatchet
made fire for the eldest hermit ; when the second struck
one side of his drum, the elephants ran away; and the
third enjoyed his curds.

Now at that time a wild boar, straying in a forsaken
village, saw a gem of magical power. When he seized
this in his mouth, he rose by its magic into the air, and
went to an island in the midst of the ocean. And think-
ing, "Here now I ought to live," he descended, and took
up his abode in a convenient spot under an TJdumbara-tree.
And one day, placing the gem before him, he fell asleep
at the foot of the tree.

Now a certain man of the land of Kasi had been ex-
pelled from home by his parents, who said, " This fellow
is of no use to us." So he went to a seaport, and em-
barked in a ship as a servant to the sailors. And the
ship was wrecked ; but by the help of a plank he reached
that very island. And while he was looking about for
fruits, he saw the boar asleep ; and going softly up, he
took hold of the gem.

Then by its magical power he straightway rose right
up into the air ! So, taking a seat on the TJdumbara-tree,
he said to himself, " Methinks this boar must have become

SAKKA'S PRESENTS. xix

a sky-walker through the magic power of this gem.
That's how he got to be living here ! It's plain enough
what I ought to do ; I'll first of all kill and eat him, and
then I can get away ! "

So he broke a twig off the tree, and dropped it on his
head. The boar woke up, and not seeing the gem, ran
about, trembling, this way and that way. The man
seated on the tree laughed. The boar, looking up, saw
him, and dashing his head against the tree, died on the
spot.

But the man descended, cooked his flesh, ate it, and
rose into the air. And as he was passing along the
summit of the Himalaya range, he saw a hermitage ; and
descending at the hut of the eldest hermit, he stayed
there two or three days, and waited on the hermit ; and
thus became aware of the magic power of the hatchet.

" I must get that," thought he. And he showed the
hermit the magic power of his gem, and said, "Sir, do
you take this, and give me your hatchet." The ascetic,
full of longing to be able to fly through the air,^ did so.
But the man, taking the hatchet, went a little way ofi",
and letting it go, said, " 0 hatchet ! cut ofi" that hermit's
head, and bring the gem to me ! " And it went, and cut
off the hermit's head, and brought him the gem.

Then he put the hatchet in a secret place, and went to
the second hermit, and stayed there a few days. And
having thus become aware of the magic power of the
drum, he exchanged the gem for the drum ; and cut off
Im head too in the same way as before.

1 The power of going through the air is usually considered in Indian
legends to be the result, and a proof, of great holiness and long-continued
penance. So the hermit thought he would get a fine reputation cheaply.

XX DADHI-VAHANI JATAKA.

Then lie went to the third hermit, and saw the magic
power of the milk-bowl ; and exchanging the gem for it,
caused Jm head to be cut off in the same manner. And
taking the Gem, and the Hatchet, and the Drum, and
the Milk-bowl, he flew away up into the air.

Not far from the city of Benares he stopped, and sent
by the hand of a man a letter to the king of Benares
to this effect, "Either do battle, or give me up your
kingdom ! "

No sooner had he heard that message, than the king
sallied forth, saying, " Let us catch the scoundrel ! "

But the man beat one side of his drum, and a fourfold
army stood around him ! And directly he saw that the
king's army was drawn out in battle array, he poured out
his milk-bowl ; and a mighty river arose, and the multi-
tude, sinking down in it, were not able to escape ! Then
letting go the hatchet, he said, "Bring me the king's
head ! " And the hatchet went, and brought the king's
head, and threw it at his feet ; and no one had time even
to raise a weapon !

Then he entered the city in the midst of his great
army, and caused himself to be anointed king, under the
name of Dadhi-vahana (The Lord of Milk), and governed
the kingdom with righteousness.^

The story goes on to relate how the king planted a
wonderful mango, how the sweetness of its fruit turned
to sourness through the too-close proximity of bitter

1 Compare Maha-bharata, xii. 1796.

SURVIVAL OF OLD BELIEFS,

herbs, (!) and how the Bodisat, then the king's minister,
pointed out that evil communications corrupt good
things. But it is the portion above translated which
deserves notice as the most ancient example known of
those tales in which inanimate objects are endowed with
magical powers ; and in which the Seven League Boots,
or the Wishing Cup, or the Yanishing Hat, or the Won-
derful Lamp, render their fortunate possessors happy and
glorious. There is a very tragical story of a Wishing
Cup in the Buddhist Collection,^ where the Wishing
Cup, however, is turned into ridicule. It is not un-
pleasant to find that beliefs akin to, and perhaps the
result of, fetish- worship, had faded away, among Buddhist
story-tellers, into sources of innocent amusement.

In this curious tale the Hatchet, the Drum, and the
Milk-bowl* are endowed with qualities much more fit
for the use they were put to in the latter part of the
story, than to satisfy the wants of the hermits. It is
common ground with satirists how little, save sorrow,
men would gain if they could have anything they chose
to ask for. But, unlike the others we have quoted, the
tale in its present shape has a flavour distinctively Budd-
hist in the irreverent way in which it treats the great
god Sakka, the Jupiter of the pre- Buddhistic Hindus. It
takes for granted, too, that the hero ruled in righteous-

1 FausboU. No. 291.

xxii RAJOVADA JATAKA.

ness ; and this is as common in tlie Jatakas, as the
' lived happily ever after ' of modern love stories.

This last idea recurs more strongly in the Birth Story
called

A Lesson for King^s.
EAJOYADA JATAKA.

(FausboU, No. 151.)

Once upon a time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in
Benares, the future Buddha returned to life in the womb
of his chief queen ; and after the conception ceremony
had been performed, he was safely born. And when the
day came for choosing a name, they called him Prince
Brahma-datta. He grew up in due course ; and when he
was sixteen years old, went to Takkasila,^ and became
accomplished in all arts. And after his father died he
ascended the throne, and ruled the kingdom with
righteousness and equity. He gave judgments without
partiality, hatred, ignorance, or fear.^ Since he thus
reigned with justice, with justice also his ministers ad-
ministered the law. Lawsuits being thus decided with
justice, there were none who brought false cases. And
as these ceased, the noise and tumult of litigation ceased
in the king's court. Though the judges sat all day in

^ This is the well-known town in the Pan jab called by the Greeks Taxila,
and famed in Buddhist legend as the great university of ancient India, as
Nalanda was in later times.

'^ Literally " without partiality and the rest," that is, the rest of the agaiis^
the actions forbidden to judges (and to kings as judges).

A LESSON FOR AVA^GS. xxiii

the court, they had to leave without any one coming for
justice. It came to this, that the Hall of Justice would
have to be closed !

Then the future Buddha thought, " From my reigning
with righteousness there are none who come for judg-
ment ; the bustle has ceased, and the Hall of Justice will
have to be closed. It behoves me, therefore, now to
examine into my own faults ; and if I find that anything
is wrong in me, to put that away, and practise only
virtue."

Thenceforth he sought for some one to tell him his
faults ; but among those around him he found no one
who would tell him of any fault, but heard only his own
praise.

Then he thought, "It is from fear of me that these
men speak only good things, and not evil things," and
he sought among those people who lived outside the
palace. And finding no fault-finder there, he sought
among those who lived outside the city, in the suburbs,
at the four gates. ^ And there too finding no one to find
fault, and hearing only his own praise, he determined
to search the country places.

So he made , over the kingdom to his ministers, and
mounted his chariot ; and taking only his charioteer,
left the city in disguise. And searching the country
through, up to the very boundary, he found no fault-
finder, and heard only of his own virtue ; and so he
turned back from the outermost boundary, and returned
by the high road towards the city.

Now at that time the king of Kosala, Mallika by name,

1 The gates opening towards the four ''directions," that is, the four
cardinal points ot the compass.

xxiv RAyOVADA JATAKA.

was also ruling his kingdom with righteousness ; and
when seeking for some fault in himself, he also found no
fault-finder in the palace, but only heard of his own
virtue ! So seeking in country places, he too came to
that very spot. And these two came face to face in a low
cart-track with precipitous sides, where there was no
space for a chariot to get out of the way !

Then the charioteer of Mallika the king said to the
charioteer of the king of Benares, *' Take thy chariot out
of the way ! "

But he said, *' Take thy chariot out of the way, 0
charioteer ! In this chariot sitteth the lord over the
kingdom of Benares, the great king Brahma-datta/'

Yet the other replied, '* In this chariot, 0 charioteer,
sitteth the lord over the kingdom of Kosala, the great
king Mallika. Take thy carriage out of the way, and
make room for the chariot of our king ! ''

Then the charioteer of the king of Benares thought,
** They say then that he too is a king ! What is now to
be done ? " After some consideration, he said to himself,
" I know a way. I'll find out how old he is, and then
I'll let the chariot of the younger be got out of the way,
and so make room for the elder."

And when he had arrived at that conclusion, he asked
that charioteer what the age of the king of Kosala was.
But on inquiry he found that the ages of both were equal.
Then he inquired about the extent of his kingdom, and
about his army, and his wealth, and his renown, and
about the country he lived in, and his caste and tribe and
family. And he found that both were lords of a kingdom
three hundred leagues in extent ; and that in respect of
army and wealth and renown, and the countries in which

A LESSON FOR KINGS. xxv

they lived, and their caste and their tribe and their
family, they were just on a par !

Then he thought, "I will make way for the most
righteous." And he asked, " What kind of righteousness
has this king of yours ? "

And the other saying, " Such and such is our king's
righteousness," and so proclaiming his king's wickedness
as goodness, uttered the First Stanza :

The strong he overthrows by strength.
The mild by mildness, does Mallika ;
The good he conquers by goodness,
And the wicked by wickedness too.

Such is the nature of this king !

Move out of the way, 0 charioteer !

But the charioteer of the king of Benares asked him,
" Well, have you told all the virtues of your king ? "

" Yes," said the other.

" If these are his virtues, where are then his faults ? "
replied he.

The other said, "Well, for the nonce, they shall be
faults, if you like ! But pray, then, what is the kind of
goodness your king has ? "

And then the charioteer of the king of Benares called
unto him to hearken, and uttered the Second Stanza:

Anger he conquers by calmness,
And by goodness the wicked ;
The stingy he conquers by gifts,
And by truth the speaker of lies.

Such is the nature of this king !

Move out of the way, 0 charioteer ! '*

And when he had thus spoken, both Mallika the king

XXVI

RAJOVADA JATAKA.

and his charioteer alighted from their chariot. And they
took out the horses, and removed their chariot, and made
way for the king of Benares !

But the king of Benares exhorted Mallika the king,
saying, '' Thus and thus is it right to do/' And returning
to Benares, he practised charity, and did other good
deeds, and so when his life was ended he passed away
to heaven.

And Mallika the king took his exhortation to heart;
and having in vain searched the country through for a
fault-finder, he too returned to his own city, and prac-
tised charity and other good deeds ; and so at the end
of his life he went to heaven.

The mixture in this Jataka of earnestness with dry
humour is very instructive. The exaggeration in the
earlier part of the story; the hint that law depends in
reality on false cases ; the suggestion that to decide cases
justly would by itself put an end, not only to * the
block in the law courts,' but even to all lawsuits; the
way in which it is brought about that two mighty kings
should meet, unattended, in a narrow lane ; the clever-
ness of the first charioteer in getting out of his diffi-
culties ; the brand-new method of settling the delicate
question of precedence — a method which, logically carried
out, would destroy the necessity of such questions being
raised at all; — all this is the amusing side of the

A LESSON FOR KINGS. xxvii

Jataka. It throws, and is meant to throw, an air of
unreality over the story ; and it is none the less humour
because it is left to be inferred, because it is only an
aroma which might easily escape unnoticed, only the
humour of naive absurdity and of clever repartee.

But none the less also is the story-teller thoroughly
in earnest ; he really means that justice is noble, that
to conquer evil by good is the right thing, and that
goodness is the true measure of greatness. The object
is edification also, and not amusement only. The lesson
itseK is quite Buddhistic. The first four lines of the
Second Moral are indeed included, as verse 223, in the
Dhammapada or * Scripture Yerses,' perhaps the most
sacred and most widely-read book of the Buddhist Bible ;
and the distinction between the two ideals of virtue is in
harmony with all Buddhist ethics. It is by no means,
however, exclusively Buddhistic. It gives expression to
an idea that would be consistent with most of the later
religions ; and is found also in the great Hindu Epic, the
Maha Bharata, which has been called the Bible of the
Hindus.^ It is true that further on in the same poem is
found the opposite sentiment, attributed in our story to
the king of MaUika ; ^ and that the higher teaching is
in one of the latest portions of the Maha Bharata, and

^ Maha Bharata, v. 1518. Another passage at iii. 13253 is very similar.
2 Maha Bharata, xii. 4052. See Dr. Muii-'s "Metrical Translations from
Sanskrit Writers " (1879), pp. xxxi, 88, 275, 356.

xxviii OVERCOMING EVIL BY GOOD.

probably of Buddhist origin. But wben we find tbat
the Buddhist principle of overcoming evil by good was
received, as well as its opposite, into the Hindu poem,
it is clear that this lofty doctrine was by no means re-
pugnant to the best among the Brahmans.^
/ It is to be regretted that some writers on Buddhism
have been led away by their just admiration for the
noble teaching of Gotama into an unjust depreciation
of the reKgious system of which his own was, after all,
but the highest product and result. There were doubt-
less among the Brahmans uncompromising advocates
of the worst privileges of caste, of the most debasing
belief in the efficacy of rites and ceremonies ; but this
verse is only one among many others which are in-
contestable evidence of the wide prevalence also of a
spirit of justice, and of an earnest seeking after truth.
It is, in fact, inaccurate to draw any hard-and-fast line
between the Indian Buddhists and their countrymen
of other faiths. After the first glow of the Buddhist
reformation had passed away, there was probably as
little difference between Buddhist and Hindu as there
was between the two kings in the story which has just
been told.

^ Similar passages will also be found in Lao Tse, Douglas's Confucian-
ism, etc., p. 197; Pancha Tantra, i. 247 (277) =iv. 72; in Stobaeus, quoted
by Muir, p. 356 ; and in St. Matthew, v. 44-46 ; whereas the Mallika
doctrine is inculcated by Confucius (Legge, Chinese Classics, i. 152).

XXIX

THE KALILAG AND DAMJSTAG LITERATUEE.

Among tlie other points of similarity between Buddhists
and Hindus, there is one which deserves more especial
mention here, — that of their liking for the kind of
moral- comic tales which form the bulk of the Buddhist
Birth Stories. That this partiality was by no means
confined to the Buddhists is apparent from the fact
that books of such tales have been amongst the most
favourite literature of the Hindus. And this is the
more interesting to us, as it is these Hindu collections
that have most nearly preserved the form in which
many of the Indian stories have been carried to the
West.

The oldest of the collections now extant is the one
already referred to, the Pancha Tantra, that is, the
* Five Books,' a kind of Hindu ' Pentateuch ' or * Pen-
tamerone.' In its earliest form this work is unfor-
tunately no longer extant ; but in the sixth century
of our era a book very much like it formed part of a
work translated into Pahlavi, or Ancient Persian; and
thence, about 750 a.d., into Syriac, under the title
of *Kalilag and Damnag,' and into Arabic under the
title 'Kalilah and Dimnah.'^

^ The names are corruptions of the Indian names of the two jackals,
Karatak and Damanak, who take a principal part in the first of the fables.

XXX THE KALILAG AND

These tales, though, originally Buddhist, became great
favourites among the Arabs ; and as the Arabs were
gradually brought into contact with Europeans, and
penetrated into the South of Europe, they brought the
stories with them ; and we soon afterwards find them
translated into Western tongues. It would be impos-
sible within the limits of this preface to set out in full
detail the intricate literary history involved in this
statement; and while I must refer the student to the
Tables appended to this Introduction for fuller infor-
mation, I can only give here a short summary of the
principal facts.

It is curious to notice that it was the Jews to whom
we owe the earliest versions. Whilst their mercantile
pursuits took them much ''amongst the followers of the
Prophet, and the comparative] nearness of their religious
beliefs led to a freer intercourse than was usually pos-
sible between Christians and Moslems, they were natu-
rally attracted by a kind of literature such as this —
Oriental in morality, amusing in style, and perfectly
free from Christian legend and from Christian dogma.
It was also the kind of literature which travellers would
most easily become acquainted with, and we need not
therefore be surprised to hear that a Jew, named Symeon
Seth, about 1080 a.d., made the first translation into a
European language, viz. into modern Greek. Another

DAMNAG LITERATURE. xxxi

Jew, about 1250, made a translation of a slightly
different recension of the ' Kalilah and Dimnah ' into
Hebrew ; and a third, John of Capua, turned this
Hebrew version into Latin between 1263 and 1278.
At about the same time as the Hebrew version, another
was made direct from the Arabic into Spanish, and
a fifth into Latin ; and from these five versions trans-
lations were afterwards made into German, Italian,
French, and English. //

The title of the second Latin version just mentioned
is very striking — it is "^sop the Old.'' To the trans-
lator, Baldo, it evidently seemed quite in order to ascribe
these new stories to the traditional teller of similar stories
in ancient times ; just as witty sayings of more modern
times have been collected into books ascribed to the once
venerable Joe Miller. Baldo was neither sufficiently .
enlightened to consider a good story the worse for being
an old one, nor sufficiently scrupulous to hesitate at
giving his new book the advantage it would gain from
its connexion with a well-known name.

Is it true, then, that the so-called ^sop's Fables —
so popular still, in spite of many rivals, among our
Western children — are merely adaptations from tales
invented long ago to please and to instruct the child-
like people of the East ? I think I can give an answer,
though not a complete answer, to the question.

XXX ii ORIGIN OF ^SOP'S FABLES.

^sop himself is several times mentioned in classical
literature, and always as tlie teller of stories or fables.
Thus Plato says that Socrates in his imprisonment occu-
pied himself by turning the stories (literally myths) of
-^sop into verse : ^ Aristophanes four times refers to
his tales : ^ and Aristotle quotes in one form a fable of
his, which Lucian quotes in another.^ In accordance
with these references, classical historians fix the date
of ^sop in the sixth century B.C. ;'^ but some modern
critics, relying on the vagueness and inconsistency of
the traditions, have denied his existence altogether.
This is, perhaps, pushing scepticism too far; but it may
be admitted that he left no written works, and it is quite
certain that if he did, they have been irretrievably lost.

Notwithstanding this, a learned monk of Constan-
tinople, named Planudes, and the author also of
numerous other works, did not hesitate, in the first half
y of the fourteenth century, to write a work which he
called a collection of ^sop's Fables. This was first
printed at Milan at the end of the fifteenth century ;

' Phaedo, p. 61. Comp. Bentley, Dissertation on the Fables of -^sop,
p. 136.

2 Vespse, 566, 1259, 1401, and foil. ; and Aves, 651 and foil.

8 Arist. de part, anim., iii. 2 ; Lucian Nigr., 32.

* Herodotus (ii. 134) makes him contemporary with King Amasis of Egypt,
the beginning of whose reign is placed in 569 b.c. ; Plutarch (Sept. Sap.
Conv., 152) makes him contemporary with Solon, who is reputed to have
been bom in 638 b.c ; and Diogenes Laertius (i. 72) says that he flourished
about the fifty-second Olympiad, i.e. 572-569 B.c. Compare Clinton^ Fast.
Hell. i. 237 (under the year b.c. 572) and i. 239 (under b.c. 534).

ORIGIN OF yESOP'S FABLES. xxxiii

and two other supplementary collections have subse-
quently appeared.^ From these, and especially from
the work of Planudes, all our so-called ^sop's Fables
are derived.

Whence then did Planudes and his fellow-labourers
draw their tales? This cannot be completely answered
till the source of each one of them shall have been clearly
found, and this has not yet been completely done. But
Oriental and classical scholars have already traced a
goodly number of them ; and the general results of their
investigations may be shortly stated.

Babrius, a Greek poet, who probably lived in the
first century before Christ, wrote in verse a number of
fables, of which a few fragments were known in the
Middle Ages.^ The complete work was fortunately
discovered by Mynas, in the year 1824, at Mount Athos ;
and both Bentley and Tyrwhitt from the fragments, and
Sir George Cornewall Lewis in his well-known edition )
of the whole work, have shown that several of Planudes'
Fables are also to be found in Babrius.^

1 One at Heidelberg in 1610, and the other at Paris in 1810. There is a
complete edition of all these fables, 231 in number, by T. Gl. Schneider,
Breslau, 1812.

2 See the editions by Be Furia, Florence, 1809 ; Schneider, in an ap-
pendix to his edition of ^sop's Fables, Breslau, 1812 ; Berger, Miiuchen,
1816 ; Knochy Halle, 1835 ; and Lewis, Philoloff. Museum, 1832, i. 280-
304.

3 Bentley, loc. cit. ; Tyrwhitt, De Babrio, etc., Lond., 1776. The editions
of the newly-found MS. are by Lachmann, 1845 ; Orelli and Baiter, 1845 ;
G. C. Lewis, 1846 ; and Schneidewin, 1853.

VOL. I. d

xxxiv ORIGIN OF ^SOP'S FABLES,

It is possible, also, that the ^sopean fables of the
Latin poet Phjedrus, who in the title of his work calls
himself a f reedman of Augustus, were known to Planudes.
But the work of Phsedrus, which is based on that of
Babrius, existed only in very rare MSS. till the end
of the sixteenth century,^ and may therefore have easily
escaped the notice of Planudes.

On the other hand, we have seen that versions of
Buddhist Birth Stories, and other Indian tales, had
appeared in Europe before the time of Planudes in Greek,
Latin, Hebrew, and Spanish ; and many of his stories
have been clearly traced back to this source.^ Further, as
I shall presently show, some of the fables of Babrius
and Phaedrus, found in Planudes, were possibly de-
rived by those authors from Buddhist sources. And
lastly, other versions of the Jatakas, besides those which
have been mentioned as coming through the Arabs, had
reached Europe long before the time of Planudes ; and
some more of his stories have been traced back to
Buddhist sources through these channels also.

1 It was first edited by PithoUy in 1596; also by Orelli, Ziirich, 1831.
Comp. Oesterley, ' Phaedrus und die JEsop. Fabel ini Mittelalter, '

2 By Silvestre de Sacy, in his edition of KaHlah and Dimnah, Paris, 1816 ;
Zoiseleur Deslongchamps, in his ' Essai sur les Fables Indiennes, et sur leur
Introd. en Europe,' Paris, 1838 ; Professor Benfey, in his edition of the
Pafica Tantra, Leipzig, 1859 ; Professor Max Miiller, ' On the Migration of
Fables,' Contemporary Review, July, 1870 ; Professor Weber, ' Ueber den
Zusammenhang indischer Fabeln mit Griechischen,' Indische Studien, iii.
337 and foil.; Adolf Wagener, 'Essai sur les rapports entre les apologues
de rinde et de la Grece,' 1853; Otto Keller , 'Ueber die Geschichte der
Griechischen Fabeln,' 1862.

ORIGIN OF ^SOP'S FABLES. xxxv

"What is at present known, then, with respect to the
so-called ^sop's fables, amounts to this — that none of
them are really ^sopean at all ; that the collection was
first formed in the Middle Ages; that a large number
of them have been already traced back, in various ways, j
to our Buddhist Jataka book ; and that almost the whole 1 \/
of them are probably derived, in one way or another, I
from Indian sources. J

It is perhaps worthy of mention, as a fitting close to
the history of the so-called ^ sop's Fables, that those
of his stories which Planudes borrowed indirectly from
India have at length been restored to their original
home, and bid fair to be popular even in this much-
altered form. For not only has an Englishman trans-
lated a few of them into several of the many languages
spoken in the great continent of India,^ but Narayan .
Balkrishna Grodpole, B.A., one of the Masters of the
Government High School at Ahmadnagar, has lately
published a second edition of his translation into Sanskrit
of the common English version of the successful spurious
compilation of the old monk of Constantinople !

' /. Gilchrist, * The Oriental Fabulist, or Polyglot Translations of ^sop's
and other Ancient Fables from the English Language into Hindustani,
Persian, Arabic, Bhakka, Bongla, Sanscrit, etc., in the Eoman Character,'
Calcutta, 1803.

XXXVl

THE BAELAAM AND JOSAPHAT LITERATUEE.

A complete answer to tlie question with which the last
digression started can only be given when each one of
the two hundred and thirty- one fables of Planudes and
his successors shall have been traced back to its original
author. But — whatever that complete answer may be —
the discoveries just pointed out are at least most strange
and most instructive. And yet, if I mistake not, the
history of the Jataka Book contains hidden amongst its
details a fact more unexpected and more striking still.

In the eighth century the Khalif of Bagdad was that
Almansur at whose court was written the Arabic book
Xalilah and Dimnah, afterwards translated by the learned
Jews I have mentioned into Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
A Christian, high in office at his court, afterwards became
a monk, and is well known, under the name of St. John
of Damascus, as the author in Grreek of many theological
works in defence of the orthodox faith. Among these
is a religious romance called 'Barlaam and Joasaph,'
giving the history of an Indian prince who was converted
by Barlaam and became a hermit. This history, the
reader will be surprised to learn, is taken from the life
of the Buddha ; and Joasaph is merely the Buddha
under another name, the word Joasaph, or Josaphat, being

BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT, xxxvii

simply a corruption of tlie word Bodisat, that title of the
future Buddha so constantly repeated in the Buddhist
Birth Stories.^ Now a life of the Buddha forms the intro-
duction to our Jataka Book, and St. John's romance also
contains a number of fables and stories, most of which
have been traced back to the same source.^

This book, the first religious romance published in
a "Western language, became very popular indeed, and,
like the Arabic Kalilah and Dimnah, was translated into
many other European languages. It exists in Latin,
French, Italian, Spanish, German, English, Swedish,
and Dutch. This will show how widely it was read,
and how much its moral tone pleased the taste of the
Middle Ages. It was also translated as early as 1204
into Icelandic, and has even been published in the
Spanish dialect used in the Philippine Islands !

Now it was a very ancient custom among Christians
to recite at the most sacred part of their most sacred
service (in the so-called Canon of the Mass, immediately

1 Joasaph is in Arabic written also Yudasatf ; and this, througli a confu-
sion between the Arabic letters Y and j5, is for Bodisat. See, for the history
of these changes, Reinaud, ' Memoire sur I'lnde,' 1849, p. 91 ; quoted with
approbation by Weber, ' Indische Streifen,' iii. 57.

■•* The Buddhist origin was first pointed out by Laboulaye in the Bebats,
July, 1859 ; and more fully by Liebrecht, in the ' Jahrbuch fiir romanische
und englische Literatur,' 1860. See also Littre, Journal des Savans, 1865,
who fully discusses, and decides in favour of the romance being really the
work of St. John of Damascus. I hope, in a future volume, to publish a
complete analysis of St. John's work ; pointing out the resemblances between
it and the Buddhist lives of Gotama, and giving parallel passages wherever
the Greek adopts, not only the Buddhist ideas, but also Buddhist expressions.

xxxviii MEANING OF CANONIZATION.

before tlie consecration of the Host) the names of deceased
saints and martyrs. Eeligious men of local celebrity
were inserted for this purpose in local lists, called
Diptycbs, and names universally honoured throughout
Christendom appeared in all such catalogues. The con-
fessors and martyrs so honoured are now said to be
canonized^ that is, they have become enrolled among the
number of Christian saints mentioned in the * Canon,'
whom it is the duty of every Catholic to revere, whose
intercession may be invoked, who may be chosen as
patron saints, and in whose honour images and altars
and chapels may be set up.^

For a long time it was permitted to the local eccle-
siastics to continue the custom of inserting such names
in their *Diptychs,' but about 1170 a decretal of Pope
Alexander III. confined the power of canonization, as
far as the Roman Catholics were concerned,^ to the
Pope himself. From the different Diptychs various
martyrologies, or lists of persons so to be commemorated
in the 'Canon,' were composed to supply the place of
the merely local lists or Diptychs. For as time went
on, it began to be considered more and more improper

^ Tope^ Benedict XIV. in ' De servonim Dei beatificatione et beatorum
canonisatione,' lib. i. cap. 46; Eegnier^ 'De ecclesia Chiisti,' in Migne's
Theol. Curs. Compl. iv. 710.

2 Decret. Greg., Lib. iii. Tit. xlvi., confirmed and explained by decrees of
TJrban VIII. (13th March, 1625, and 5th July, 1634) and of Alexander YII.
(1669). ^ '

AUTHORIZED MARTYROLOGY. xxxix

to insert new names in so sacred a part of the Church
prayers ; and the old names being well known, the
Diptychs fell into disuse. The names in the Martyr-
ologies were at last no longer inserted in the Canon,
but are repeated in the service called the ' Prime ' ;
though the term 'canonized' was still used of the
holy men mentioned in them. And when the increasing
number of such Martyrologies threatened to lead to
confusion, and to throw doubt on the exclusive power
of the Popes to canonize. Pope Sixtus the Fifth
(1585-1590) authorized a particular Martyrologium, \
drawn up by Cardinal Baronius, to be used throughout
the "Western Church. In that work are included not
only the saints first canonized at Rome, but all those
who, having been already canonized elsewhere, were
then acknowledged by the Pope and the College of
Rites to be saints of the Catholic Church of Christ.
Among such, under the date of the 27th of November,
are included " The holy Saints Barlaam and Josaphat,
of India, on the borders of Persia, whose wonderful
acts Saint John of Damascus has described."^

Where and when they were first canonized, I have
been unable, in spite of much investigation, to ascer-
tain. Petrus de Natalibus, who was Bishop of Equilium,

^ p. 177 of the edition of 1873, bearing the official approval of Pope
Pius IX., or p. 803 of the Cologne edition of 1610.

JiaiaMStfigBiiTtTtTTBi^ iMiiWi n

xl THE BUDDHA AS ST. JOS A THAT

tlie modern Jesolo, near Venice, from 1370 to 1400, wrote
a Martyrology called * Catalogus Sanctorum ' ; and in
it, among the * saints,* lie inserts both Barlaam and
Josaphat, giving also a short account of them derived
from the old Latin translation of St. John of Damascus.^
It is from this work that Baronius, the compiler of the
authorized Martyrology now in use, took over the names
of these two saints, Barlaam and Josaphat. But, so far
as I have been able to ascertain, they do not occur in
any martyrologies or lists of saints of the Western
Church older than that of Petrus de Natalibus.

In the corresponding manual of worship still used in
the Greek Church, however, we find, under August 26,
the name * of the holy losaph, son of Abener, king
of India.' 2 Barlaam is not mentioned, and is not there-
fore recognized as a saint in the Greek Church. No
history is added to the simple statement I have quoted ;
and I do not know on what authority it rests. But
there is no doubt that it is in the East, and probably
among the records of the ancient church of Syria, that
a final solution of this question should be sought.^

Some of the more learned of the numerous writers

1 Cat. Sanct., Leyden ed. 1542, p. cliii.

2 p. 160 of the part for the month of August of the authorized MTjvatoj/ of
the Greek Church, published at Constantinople, 1843: "Tou bffiov 'Iwdaatp,
vlov 'Afieuijp Tov 0a(nKeus ttjs 'Ii'Sms."

3 For the information in the last three pages I am chiefly indebted to my
father, the Rev. T. W. Davids, without whose generous aid I should not have
attempted to touch this obscure and difficult question.

IS A CATHOLIC SAINT. xli

wlio translated or composed new works on tlie basis of
the story of Josaphat, have pointed out in their notes
that he had been canonized;^ and the hero of the
romance is usually called St. Josaphat in the titles of
these works, as will be seen from the Table of the
Josaphat literature below. But Professor Liebrecht,
when identifying Josaphat with the Buddha, took no
notice of this; and it was Professor Max Miiller, who
has done so much to infuse the glow of life into the
dry bones of Oriental scholarship, who first pointed out
the strange fact — almost incredible, were it not for the
completeness of the proof — that Gotama the Buddha,
under the name of St. Josaphat, is now oflScially recog-
nized and honoured and worshipped throughout the
whole of Catholic Christendom as a Christian saint!

I have now followed the Western history of the
Buddhist Book of Birth Stories along two channels
only. Space would fail me, and the reader's patience
perhaps too, if I attempted to do more. But I may
mention that the inquiry is not by any means ex-
hausted. A learned Italian has proved that a good
many of the stories of the hero known throughout
Europe as Sinbad the Sailor are derived from the same
inexhaustible treasury of stories witty and wise ; ^ and a

1 See, for instance, Billius, and the Italian Editor of 1734.

2 Comparetti, ' Ricerche intorne al Libro di Sindibad,' Milano, 1869.
Com^Siie Zandsberffer, 'Die Fabeln des Sophos,' Posen, 1859.

xlii MIGRATION OF BUDDHIST TALES,

similar remark applies also to other well-known Tales
included in the Arabian Mghts.^ La Fontaine, whose
charming versions of the Fables are so deservedly ad-
mired, openly acknowledges his indebtedness to the
French versions of Kalilah and Dimnah; and Professor
Benfey and others have traced the same stories, or
ideas drawn from them, to Poggio, Boccaccio, Gower,
Chaucer, Spenser, and many other later writers. Thus,
for instance, the three caskets and the pound of flesh
in * The Merchant of Yenice,' and the precious jewel
which in *As You Like It' the venomous toad wears
in his head,2 are derived from the Buddhist tales. In
a similar way it has been shown that tales current
among the Hungarians and the numerous peoples of
Slavonic race have been derived from Buddhist sources,
through translations made by or for the Huns, who
penetrated in the time of Genghis Khan into the East
of Europe.^ And finally yet other Indian tales, not
included in the Kalilag and Damnag literature, have
been brought into the opposite comer of Europe, by
the Arabs of Spain.*

1 See Benfey, Pantscha Tantra, vol. i., Introduction, j5«mm.

2 Act ii. scene 1. Professor Benfey, in his Pantscha Tantra, i. 213-220,
has traced this idea far and wide. Dr. Dennys, in his ' Folklore of China,*
gives the Chinese Buddhist version of it.

3 See Benfey's Introduction to Pafica Tantra, §§ 36, 39, 71, 92, 166, 186.
Mr. Ralston' s forthcoming translation of Tibetan stories will throw further
light on this, at present, rather obscure subiect.

* See, for example, the Fable translated below, pp. 275-278.

GREEK AND BUDDHIST FABLES. xliii

There is only one other point on whicli a few words
should be said. I have purposely chosen as specimens
one Buddhist Birth Story similar to the Judgment of
Solomon ; two which are found also in Babrius ; and
one which is found also in Phaedrus. How are these
similarities, on which the later history of Indian Fables
throws no light, to be explained ?

As regards the cases of Babrius and Phaedrus, it can
only be said that the Greeks who travelled with Alex-
ander to India may have taken the tales there, but
they may equally well have brought them back. We
only know that at the end of the fourth, and still more
in the third century before Christ, there was constant
travelling to and fro between the Greek dominions in
the East and the adjoining parts of India, which were
then Buddhist, and that the Birth Stories were already
popular among the Buddhists in Afghanistan, where
the Greeks remained for a long time. Indeed, the very
region which became the seat of the Graeco-Bactrian
kings takes, in all the ISTorthern versions of the Birth
Stories, the place occupied by the country of Kasi in
the Pali text, — so that the scene of the tales is laid
in that district. And among the innumerable Buddhist
remains still existing there, a large number are con-
nected with the Birth Stories.^ It is also in this very

1 The legend of Sumedha's self-abnegation (see below, pp. 11-13) is laid
near Jelolabad ; and Mr. William Simpson has discovered on the spot two
bas-reliefs representing the principal incident in the legend.

XllV

district, and under tlie immediate successor of Alexander,
that the original of the ^Kalilah and Dimnah' was said
by its Arabian translators to have been written by Bidpai.
It is possible that a smaller number of similar stories
were also current among the Greeks ; and that they not
only heard the Buddhist ones, but told their own. But so
far as the Greek and the Buddhist stories can at present
be compared, it seems to me that the internal evidence
is in favour of the Buddhist versions being the originals
from which the Greek versions were adapted. Whether
more than this can be at present said is very doubtful :
when the Jatakas are all published, and the similarities
between them and classical stories shall have been fully
investigated, the contents of the stories may enable
criticism to reach a more definite conclusion.

The case of Solomon's judgment is somewhat different.
If there were only one fable in Babrius or Phsedrus
identical with a Buddhist Birth Story, we should suppose
merely that the same idea had occurred to tw;o different
minds ; and there would thus be no necessity to postulate
any historical connexion. Now the similarity of the
two judgments stands, as far as I know, in complete
isolation; and the story is not so curious but that two
writers may have hit upon the same idea. At the same
time, it is just possible that when the Jews were in
Babylon they may have told, or heard, the story.

STORY OF THE WISE JUDGE. xlv

Had we met with this story in a book unquestionably
later than the Exile, we might suppose that they heard
the story there ; that some one repeating it had ascribed
the judgment to King Solomon, whose great wisdom was
a common tradition among them ; and that it had thus
been included in their history of that king. But we
find it in the Book of Kings, which is usually assigned
to the time of Jeremiah, who died during the Exile;
and it should be remembered that the chronicle in ques-
tion was based for the most part on traditions current
much earlier among the Jewish people, and probably
on earlier documents.

If, on the other hand, they told it there, we may
expect to find some evidence of the fact in the details
of the story as preserved in the Buddhist story-books
current in the North of India, and more especially in
the Buddhist countries bordering on Persia. Now Dr.
Dennys, in his ^Folklore of China,'' has given us a
Chinese Buddhist version of a similar judgment, which
is most probably derived from a Northern Buddhist
Sanskrit original ; and though this version is very late,
and differs so much in its details from those of both
the Pali and Hebrew tales that it affords no basis itself
for argument, it yet holds out the hope that we may
discover further evidence of a decisive character. This
hope is confirmed by the occurrence of a similar tale in

xlvi STORY OF THE WISE JUDGE.

the Gesta Homanorum, a mediaeval work which, quotes
Barlaam and Josaphat, and is otherwise largely indebted
in an indirect way to Buddhist sources.^ It is true
that the basis of the judgment in that story is not the
love of a mother to her son, but the love of a son to
his father. But that very difference is encouraging.
The orthodox compilers of the * Gests of the Eomans ' ^
dared not have so twisted the sacred record. They
could not therefore have taken it from our Bible. Like
all their other tales, however, this one was borrowed
from somewhere; and its history, when discovered, may
be expected to throw some light on this inquiry.

I should perhaps point out another way in which
this tale may possibly be supposed to have wandered
from the Jews to the Buddhists, or from India to the
Jews. The land of Ophir was probably in India. The
Hebrew names of the apes and peacocks said to have
been brought thence by Solomon's coasting-vessels are
merely corruptions of Indian names ; and Ophir must
therefore have been either an Indian port (and if so,
almost certainly at the mouth of the Indus, afterwards
a Buddhist country), or an entrepot, further west,

^ No. xlv. p. 80 of Swan and Hooper's popular edition, 1877 ; No. xlii.
p. 167 of the critical edition publislied for the Early English Text Society in
1879 by S. J. H. Herrtage, who has added a valuable historical note at
p. 477.

2 This adaptation of the Latin title is worthy of notice. It of course
means ' Deeds ' ; but as most of the stories are more or less humorous, the
word Gest, now spelt Jest, acquired its present meaning.

STORY OF THE WISE JUDGE. xlvii

for Indian trade. But the very gist of the account
of Solomon's expedition by sea is its unprecedented
and hazardous character; it would have been impossible
even for him without the aid of Phoenician sailors;
and it was not renewed by the Hebrews till after
the time when the account of the judgment was
recorded in the Book of Kings. Any intercourse
between his servants and the people of Ophir must,
from the difference of language, have been of the most
meagre extent ; and we may safely conclude that it
was not the means of the migration of our tale. It
is much more likely, if the Jews heard or told the Indian
story at all, and before the time of the captivity,
that the way of communication was overland. There
is every reason to believe that there was a great and
continual commercial intercourse between East and
West from very early times by way of Palmyra
and Mesopotamia. Though the intercourse by sea was
not continued after Solomon's time, gold of Ophir,^
ivory, jade, and Eastern gems still found their way
to the West; and it would be an interesting task
for an Assyrian or Hebrew scholar to trace the evidence
of this ancient overland route in other ways.

1 Psalm xiv. 9 ; Isaiah xiii. 12 ; Job xxii. 24, xxviii. 16.

xlviii

SUMMARY.

To sum up what can at present be said on tlie con-
nexion between the Indian tales, preserved to us in the
Book of Buddhist Birth Stories, and their counterparts
in the "West : —

1. In a few isolated passages of Greek and other
writers, earlier than the invasion of India by Alexander
the Great, there are references to a legendary ^sop,
and perhaps also allusions to stories like some of the
Buddhist ones.

2. After Alexander's time a number of tales also found
in the Buddhist collection became current in Greece,
and are preserved in the poetical versions of Babrius
and Phsedrus. They are probably of Buddhist origin.

3. From the time of Babrius to the time of the first
Crusade no migration of Indian tales to Europe can be
proved to have taken pMce. About the latter time a
translation into Arabic of a Persian work containing
tales found in the Buddhist book was translated by
Jews into Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. Translations of
these versions afterwards appeared in all the principal
languages of Europe.

4. In the eleventh or twelfth century a translation
was made into Latin of the legend of Barlaam and

SUMMARY OF PART I. xlix

Josaphat, a Greek romance written in the eighth century
by St. John of Damascus on the basis of the Buddhist )
Jataka book. Translations, poems, and plays founded
on this work were rapidly produced throughout Western
Europe.

5. Other Buddhist stories not included in either of
the works mentioned in the two last paragraphs were
introduced into Europe both during the Crusades and
also during the dominion of the Arabs in Spain.

6. Versions of other Buddhist stories were introduced
into Eastern Europe by the Huns under Genghis Khan.

7. The fables and stories introduced through these
various channels became very popular during the Middle
Ages, and were used as the subjects of numerous sermons,
story-books, romances, poems, and edifying dramas. Thus
extensively adopted and circulated, they had a consider-
able influence on the revival of literature, which, hand
in hand with the revival of learning, did so much to
render possible and to bring ^bout the Great E,eforma-
tion. The character of the hero of them — the Buddha, )
in his last or in one or other of his supposed previous
births — appealed so strongly to the sympathies, and
was so attractive to the minds of mediaeval Christians,
that he became, and has ever since remained, an object
of Christian worship. And a collection of these and
similar stories — wrongly, but very naturally, ascribed to

I SUMMARY OF PART I.

a famous story-teller of the ancient Greeks — has become
the common property, the household literature, of all
the nations of Europe ; and, under the name of ^sop's
Fables, has handed down, as a first moral lesson-book
and as a continual feast for our children in the West,
tales first invented to please and to instruct our far-off
cousins in the distant East.

PAET II.

ON THE HISTOEY OF THE BIRTH STOEIES IN
INDIA.

In the previous part of this Introduction I have
attempted to point out the resemblances between certain
Western tales and the Buddhist Birth Stories, to explain
the reason of those resemblances, and to trace the
history of the Birth Story literature in Europe. Much
remains yet to be done to complete this interesting and
instructive history; but the general results can already
be stated with a considerable degree of certainty, and
the literature in which further research will have to be
made is accessible in print in the public libraries of
Europe.

For the history in India of the Jataka Book itself,
and of the stories it contains, so little has been done,
that one may say it has still to be written; and the
authorities for further research are only to be found in

Hi BIRTH STORIES IN OTHER PARTS

manuscripts very rare in Europe, and written in lan-
guages for the most part but little known. Mucli of
what follows is necessarily therefore very incomplete
and provisional.

In some portions of the Brahmanical literature, later
than the Yedas, and probably older than Buddhism,
there are found myths and legends of a character some-
what similar to a few of the Buddhist ones. But, so far
as I know, no one of these has been traced either in
Europe or in the Buddhist Collection.

On the other hand, there is every reason to hope that
in the older portions of the Buddhist Scriptures a
considerable number of the tales also included in the
Jataka Book will be found in identical or similar forms ;
for even in the few fragments of the Pitakas as yet
studied, several Birth Stories have already been dis-
covered.^ These occur in isolated passages, and, except
the story of King Maha Sudassana, have not as yet
become Jatakas, — that is, no character in the story is

^ Thus, for instance, the Mani Kantha Jataka (FausboU, No. 253) is
taken from a story which is in both the Pali and the Chinese versions of the
Yinaya Pitaka (Oldenberg, p. xlvi) ; the Tittira Jataka (Fausboll, No. 37,
translated below) occurs almost word for word in the CuUa Vagga (vi. 6, 3-5) ;
the Khandhavatta Jataka (Fausboll, No. 203) is a slightly enlarged
version of Culla Vagga, v. 6; the Sukhavihari Jataka (Fausboll, No. 10,
translated below) is founded on a story in the Culla Vagga (vii. 1, 4-6) ; the
Maha-sudassana Jataka (Fausboll, No. 95) is derived from the Sutta of
the same name in the Dlgha Nikaya (translated by me in ' Sacred Books of
the East,' vol. ix.) ; the Makha Deva Jataka (Fausboll, No. 9, translated
below) from the Sutta of the same name in the Majjhima Nikaya (No, 83) ;
and the Sakunagghi Jataka (Fausboll, No. 168), from a parable in the
Satipatthana Vagga of the Sagyutta Nikaya.

OF THE PALI PITAKAS. Hii

identified with tlie Buddha in one or other of his sup-
posed previous births. But one book included in the
Pali Pitakas consists entirely of real Jataka stories, all
of which are found in our Collection.

The title of this work is Cariya-pitaka ; and
it is constructed to show when, and in what births,
Gotama had acquired the Ten Great Perfections (Gene-
rosity, Goodness, Renunciation, Wisdom, Firmness,
Patience, Truth, Resolution, Kindness, and Equanimity),
without which he could not have become a Buddha.
In striking analogy with the modern view, that true
growth in moral and intellectual power is the result of
the labours, not of one only, but of many successive
generations ; so the qualifications necessary for the
making of a Buddha, like the characters of all the
lesser mortals, cannot be acquired during, and do not
depend upon the actions of, one life only, but are the
last result of many deeds performed through a long L^
series of consecutive lives. ^

To each of the first two of these Ten Perfections a
whole chapter of this work is devoted, giving in verse
ten examples of the previous births in which the Bodisat
or future Buddha had practised Generosity and Good-
ness respectively. The third chapter gives only fifteen

^ See on this belief below, pp. 54-58, where the verses 259-269 are
quotations from the Cariya Pitaka.

liv BIRTH STORIES IN OTHER PARTS

examples of tlie lives in whicli lie acquired tlie other
eight of the Perfections. It looks very much as if
the original plan of the unknown author had been to
give ten Birth Stories for each of the Ten Perfections.
And, curiously enough, the Northern Buddhists have
a tradition that the celebrated teacher Asvagosha began
to write a work giving ten Births for each of the Ten
Perfections, but died when he had versified only thirty-
four.^ Now there is a Sanskrit work called Jataka
Mala, as yet unpublished, but of which there are
several MSS. in Paris and in London, consisting of
thirty-five Birth Stories in mixed prose and verse, in
illustration of the Ten Perfections.^ It would be pre-
mature to attempt to draw any conclusions from these
coincidences, but the curious reader will find in a Table
below a comparative view of the titles of the Jiitakas
comprised in the Cariya Pitaka and in the Jataka
Mal5.3

There is yet another work in the Pali Pitakas which
constantly refers to the Jataka theory. The Buddha-
VAijSA, which is a history of all the Buddhas, gives an
account also of the life of the Bodisat in the character he

1 Taranatha's * Geschichte des Buddhismus ' (a Tibetan work of tlie
eighteenth century, translated into German by Schiefner), p. 92.

2 FausbblVs 'Five Jatakas,' pp. 58-68, where the full text of one Jataka is
given, and Lton Feer^ 'Etude sur les Jiitakas,' p. 57.

•* See Table, below.

OF THE PALI PITAKAS. Iv

filled during tlie lifetime of each of twenty-four of the
previous Buddhas. It is on that work that a great part
of the Pali Introduction to our Jataka Book is based,
and most of the verses in the first fifty pages of the
present translation are quotations from the Buddha- vagsa.
From this source we thus have authority for twenty-
four Birth Stories, corresponding to the first twenty-four
of the twenty-seven previous Buddhas,^ besides the
thirty-four in illustration of the Perfections, and the
other isolated ones I have mentioned.

Beyond this it is impossible yet to state what pro-
portion of the stories in the Jataka Book can thus be
traced back to the earlier Pali Buddhist literature ; and
it would be out of place to enter here upon any lengthy
discussion of the difficult question as to the date of those
earlier records. The provisional conclusions as to the
age of the Sutta and Yinaya reached by Dr. Oldenberg
in the very able introduction prefixed to his edition
of the text of the Maha Yagga, and summarized at
p. xxxviii of that work, will be sufficient for our present
purposes. It may be taken as so highly probable as to
be almost certain, that all those Birth Stories, which
are not only found in the so-called Jataka Book itself,
but are also referred to in these other parts of the

1 See the list of these Buddhas below, p. 62, where it will be seen that for
the last three Buddhas we have no Birth Story.

Ivi

THE COUNCIL OF VESA LI.

Pali Pitakas, are at least older ttian the Council of
YesSli.i

The Council of Yesali was held about a hundred years
after Gotama's death, to settle certain disputes as to
points of discipline and practice which had arisen among
the members of the Order. The exact date of Gotama's
death is uncertain ;2 and in the tradition regarding the
length of the interval between that event and the Council,
the ' hundred years ' is of course a round number. But
we can allow for all possibilities, and still keep within
the bounds of certainty, if we fix the date of the Council
of Yesali at within thirty years of 350 B.C.

The members of the Buddhist Order of Mendicants
were divided at that Council — as important for the
history of Buddhism as the Council of Nice is for the
history of Christianity — into two parties. One side
advocated the relaxation of the rules of the Order in
ten particular matters, the others adopted the stricter
view. In the accounts of the matter, which we at present
only possess from the successors of the stricter party (or.

1 This will hold good though the Buddhavaijsa and the Cariya Pitaka
should turn out to be later than most of the other books contained in the
Three Pali Pitakas. That the stories they contain have already become
Jutakas, whereas in most of the other cases above quoted the stories are still
only parables, would seem to lead to this conclusion ; and the fact that they
have preserved some very ancient forms (such as locatives in i) may merely
be due to the fact that they are older, not in matter and ideas, but only in
form. Compare what is said below as to the verses in the Birth Stories.

8 The question is discussed at length in my '•Ancient Coins and Measures
of Ceylon' in 'Numismata Orientalia,' vol. i.

THE GREAT COUNCIL. Ivii

as they call themselves, the orthodox party), it is ac-
knowledged that the other, the laxer side, were in the
majority ; and that when the older and more influential
members of the Order decided in favour of the orthodox
view, the others held a council of their own, called, from
the numbers of those who attended it, the Great Council.

]N"ow the oldest Ceylon Chronicle, the Dipavagsa, which
contains the only account as yet published of what oc-
curred at the Great Council, says as follows : ^ —

" The monks of the Great Council turned the religion

upside down ;
They broke up the original Scriptures, and made a

new recension;
A discourse put in one place they put in another ;
They distorted the sense and the teaching of the Five

Nikayas.
Those monks — knowing not what had been spoken at

length, and what concisely,
"What was the obvious, and what was the higher

meaning —
Attached new meaning to new words, as if spoken by

the Buddha,
And destroyed much of the spirit by holding to the

shadow of the letter.
In part they cast aside the Sutta and the Yinaya so

deep,
And made an imitation Sutta and Yinaya, changing

this to that.

1 DTpavagsa, V. 32 and foil.

Iviii ILLUSTRATIONS IN SCULPTURE

The Pariwara abstract, and the Six Books of Abhi-

dhamma ;
The Patisambhida, the Mddesa, and a portion of the

Jdtaka —
So much they put aside, and made others in their

place!" ....

The animus of this description is sufficiently evident ;
and the Dipavagsa, which cannot have been written
earlier than the fourth century after the commencement
of our era, is but poor evidence of the events of seven
centuries before. But it is the best we have ; it is ac-
knowledged to have been based on earlier sources, and
it is at least reliable evidence that, according to Ceylon
tradition, a book called the Jataka existed at the time
of the Councils of Yesali.

As the Northern Buddhists are the successors of those
who held the Great Council, we may hope before long
to have the account of it from the other side, either
from the Sanskrit or from the Chinese.^ Meanwhile
it is important to notice that the fact of a Book of Birth
Stories having existed at a very early date is confirmed,
not only by such stories being found in other parts of
the Pali Pitakas, but also by ancient monuments.

Among the most interesting and important discoveries

* There are several works enumerated by Mr. Beal in his Catalogue of
Chinese Buddhistic Works in the India Office Library (see especially pp. 93-97,
and pp. 107-109), from which we might expect to derive this information.

OF THE BIRTH STORIES. lix

wHcli we owe to recent arcliaeological researches in
India must undoubtedly be reckoned tbose of tbe Bud-
dhist carvings on tbe railings round the dome- shaped
relic shrines of Sanchi, AmaravatI, and Bharhut. There
have been there found, very boldly and clearly sculp-
tured in deep bas-relief, figures which were at first
thought to represent merely scenes in Indian life. Even
so their value as records of ancient civilization would
have been of incalculable value ; but they have acquired
further importance since it has been proved that most
of them are illustrations of the sacred Birth Stories in )
the Buddhist Jataka book, — are scenes, that is, from the
life of Grotama in his last or previous births. This
would be incontestable in many cases from the carvings
themselves, but it is rendered doubly sure by the titles
of Jatakas having been found inscribed over a number
of those of the bas-reliefs which have been last dis-
covered— the carvings, namely, on the railing at
Bharhut.

It is not necessary to turn aside here to examine into
the details of these discoveries. It is sufiicient for our
present inquiry into the age of the Jataka stories that
these ancient bas-reliefs afford indisputable evidence
that the Birth Stories were already, at the end of the \
third century B.C., considered so sacred that they were \
chosen as the subjects to be represented round the most j

Ix ON THE PALI NAMES

sacred Buddhist buildings, and tliat they were already
popularly known under the technical name of ' Jatakas/
A detailed statement of all the Jatakas hitherto dis-
covered on these Buddhist railings, and other places,
will be found in one of the Tables appended to this
Introduction ; and it will be noticed that several of
those tales translated below in this volume had thus
been chosen, more than two thousand years ago, to fill
places of honour round the relic shrines of the Great
Teacher.

One remarkable fact apparent from that Table will
be that the Birth Stories are sometimes called in the
inscriptions over the bas-reliefs by names different from
those given to them in the Jataka Book in the Pali
Pitakas. This would seem, at first sight, to show that,
although the very stories as we have them must have
been known at the time when the bas-reliefs were carved,
yet that the present collection, in which different names
are clearly given at the end of each story, did not then
exist. But, on the other hand, we not only find in the
Jataka Book itself very great uncertainty as to the
names, — the same stories being called in different parts
of the Book by different titles,^ — ^but one of these very

I Thus, No. 41 is called both Losaka Jataka and Mitta-vindaka
Jataka (Feer, 'Etude sur les Jatakas,' p. 121) ; No. 439 is called Catud-
VARA Jataka and also Mitta-vindaka Jataka {Ihid. p. 120) ; No, 57 is
called Vanarinda Jataka and also Kumbhila Jataka (FausboU, vol. i.

OF THE BIRTH STORIES. Ixi

bas-reliefs has actually inscribed over it two distinct
names in full ! ^

The reason for this is very plain. When a fable
about a lion and a jackal was told (as in JS^o. 157) to
show the advantage of a good character, and it was
necessary to choose a short title for it, it was called
*The Lion Jataka,' or 'The Jackal Jataka,' or even
* The Good Character Jataka ' ; and when a fable was
told about a tortoise, to show the evil results which
follow on talkativeness (as in JN'o. 215), the fable might
as well be called * The Chatterbox Jataka ' as * The
Tortoise Jataka,' and the fable is referred to accordingly
under both those names. It must always have been
difficult, if not impossible, to fix upon a short title which
should at once characterize the lesson to be taught, and
the personages through whose acts it was taught ; and
different names would thus arise, and become inter-
changeable. It would be wrong therefore to attach
too much importance to the difference of the names on
the bas-reliefs and in the Jataka Book. And in trans-

p. 278, and vol. ii. p. 206) ; No. 96 is called Telapatta Jataka and also
TakkasTla Jataka {Ihid. vol. i. p. 393, and vol. i. pp. 469, 470) ; No. 102,
there called Pannika Jataka, is the same story as No. 217, there called
Seggu Jataka ; No. 30, there called Munika Jataka, is the same story as
No. 286, there called Saluka Jataka ; No. 215, the Kacchapa Jataka,
is called Bahu-bhani Jataka in the Dhammapada (p. 419) ; and No. 157
is called Guna Jataka, SIha Jataka, and Sigala Jataka.

1 Cunningham, 'The Stupa of Bharhut,' pi. xlvii. The carving illustrates
a fable of a cat and a cock, and is labelled both Bidala Jataka and Kukkuta
Jataka (Cat Jataka and Cock Jutaka).

Ixii THE JATAKA ONE OF THE ANGANI.

lating tlie titles we need not be afraid to allow ourselves
a latitude similar to that whicli was indulged in by tbe
early Buddhists themselves.

There is yet further evidence confirmatory of the
Dlpavagsa tradition. The Buddhist Scriptures are some-
times spoken of as consisting of nine different divisions,
or sorts of texts (Ai)gani), of which the seventh is
*Jatakas/ or ^The Jataka Collection' (Jatakai)). This
division of the Sacred Books is mentioned, not only in
the Dipavagsa itself, and in the Sumaggala YilasinI, but
also in the Agguttara Nikaya (one of the later works
included in the Pali Pitakas), and in the Saddharma
Pundarika (a late, but standard Sanskrit work of the
Northern Buddhists).^ It is common, therefore, to both
of the two sections of the Buddhist Church; and it
follows that it was probably in use before the great
schism took place between them, possibly before the
Council of Yesali itself. In any case it is conclusive
as to the existence of a collection of Jatakas at a very
early date.

The text of the Jataka Book, as now received among
the Southern Buddhists, consists, as will be seen from the

1 See the authorities quoted in my manual, * Buddhism,' pp. 214, 215 ;
and Dr. Morris, in the Academy for May, 1880.

JATAKA BOOK AND BUDDHAGHOSA. Ixiii

translation, not only of the stories, but of an elaborate
commentary, containing a detailed Explanation of tbe
verse or verses which occur in each of the stories ; an
Introduction to each of them, giving the occasion on
which it is said to have been told ; a Conclusion, explain-
ing the connexion between the personages in the Intro-
ductory Story and the characters in the Birth Story;
and finally, a long general Introduction to the whole
work. It is, in fact, an edition by a later hand of the
earlier stories; and though I have called it concisely
the Jataka Book, its full title is *The Commentary on
the Jatakas/ ^

We do not know either the name of the author of
this work, or the date when it was composed. The
meagre account given at the commencement of the work
itself (below, pp. 1, 2) contains all our present informa-
tion on these points. Mr. Childers, who is the translator
of this passage, has elsewhere ascribed the work to
Buddhaghosa ;i but I venture to think that this is,
to say the least, very uncertain.

We have, in the thirty- seventh chapter of the Maha-
vagsa,^ a perhaps almost contemporaneous account of
Buddhaghosa's literary work; and it is there distinctly
stated, that after writing in India the Atthasalini (a com-
mentary on the DhammasarjginI, the first of the Six

^ In Ms Dictionary, Preface, p. ix, note. ^ Turnoui", pp. 250-253.

Ixiv WHO COMPILED THE JATAKA BOOK.

Books of the Abhidhamma Pitaka), lie went to Ceylon
(about 430 a.d.) with the express intention of translating
tbe Sinhalese commentaries into Pali. There be studied
under tbe Tbera Saggbapali, and having proved bis
efficiency by his great work ' The Path of Purity '
(Yisuddhi-Magga, a compendium of all Buddhism), be
was allowed by the monks in Ceylon to carry out his
wish, and translate the commentaries. The Chronicle
then goes on to say that be did render ' the whole
Sinhalese Commentary^ into Pali. But it by no means
follows, as has been too generally supposed, that he
was the author of all the Pali Commentaries we now
possess. He translated, it may be granted, the Commen-
taries on the Yinaya Pitaka and on the four great divisions
(Mkayas) of the Sutta Pitaka ; but these works, together
with those mentioned above, would amply justify the
very general expression of the chronicler. The * Sinha-
lese Commentary * being now lost, it is impossible to
say what books were and what were not included under
that expression as used in the Mahavaijsa ; and to assign
any Pali commentary, other than those just mentioned,
to Buddhaghosa, some further evidence more clear than
the ambiguous words of the Ceylon Chronicle should
be required.

What little evidence we have as regards the particular
work now in question seems to me to tend very strongly

PROBABLY NOT BUDDHAGHOSA. Ixv

in tlie other direction. Buddhagliosa could scarcely liave
commenced his labours on tlie Jataka Commentary,
leaving the works I have mentioned — so much more
important from his point of view — undone. Now I
would ask the reader to imagine himself in Buddhaghosa^s
position, and then to read carefully the opening words
of our Jataka Commentary as translated below, and to
judge for himself whether they could possibly be such
words as Buddhaghosa would probably, under the cir-
cumstances, have written. It is a matter of feeling ; but
I confess I cannot think it possible that he was the
author of them. Three Elders of the Buddhist Order
are there mentioned with respect, but neither the name
of Revata, Buddhaghosa's teacher in India, nor the name
of Saijghapali, his teacher in Ceylon, is even referred
to ; and there is not the slightest allusion either to
Buddhaghosa' s conversion, his journey from India, the
high hopes he had entertained, or the work he had
already accomplished ! This silence seems to me almost
as convincing as such negative evidence can possibly be.

If not however by Buddhaghosa, the work must have
been composed after his time; but probably not long
after. It is quite clear from the account in the Maha-
vagsa, that before he came to Ceylon the Sighalese com-
mentaries had not been turned into Pali ; and on the
other hand, the example he had set so well will almost

VOL. I, f

Ixvi JATAKA TALES OUTSIDE

certainly have been quickly followed. We know one
instance at least, that of the Maliava;)sa itself, which
would confirm this supposition ; and had the present
work been much later than his time, it would not have
been ascribed to Buddhaghosa at all.

It is worthy of notice, perhaps, in this connexion,
that the Pali work is not a translation of the Sinhalese
Commentary. The author three times refers to a previous
Jataka Commentary, which possibly formed part of the
Sinhalese work, as a separate book;^ and in one case
mentions what it says only to overrule it.^ Our Pali
work may have been based upon it, but cannot be said to
be a mere version of it. And the present Commentary
agrees almost word for word, from p. 58 to p. 124 of
my translation, with the Madhura-attha-vilasinT, the
Commentary on the ^ Buddhavagsa ' mentioned above,
which is not usually ascribed to Buddhaghosa.^

The Jataka Book is not the only Pali Commentary
which has made use of the ancient Birth Stories. They
occur in numerous passages of the different exegetical
works composed in Ceylon, and the only commentary
of which anything is known in print, that on the

1 Fausboll, vol. i. p. 62 and p. 488 ; vol. ii. p. 224.

2 See the translation below, p. 82.

3 I judge from Tumour's analysis of that work in the Journal of the
Bengal Asiatic Society, 1839, where some long extracts have been translated,
and the contents of other passages given in abstract.

OUR JATAKA BOOK. Ixvii

Dhamma-padai) or ' Collection of Scripture Yerses,' con-
tains a considerable number of tbem. Mr. FausboU
has published copious extracts from this Commentary,
■wbich may be by Buddhagbosa, as an appendix to bis
edition of the text; and tbe work by Captain Rogers, \
entitled ' Buddbagbosa^s Parables' — a translation from
a Burmese book called * Dbammapada-yattbu ' (that is /
* Stories connected with tbe Dbamma-padag ') — consists
almost entirely of Jataka tales. /

In Siam there is even a rival collection of Birth
Stories, which is called Pannasa- Jatakai) (' The Fifty
Jatakas'), and of which an account has been given us 1
by M. Leon Feer;^ and the same scholar has pointed \
out that isolated stories, not contained in our collection,
are also to be found in the Pali literature of that
country .2 The first hundred and fifty tales in our col-
lection are divided into three PanndmSy or fifties;^
but the Siamese collection cannot be either of these, as
M. Feer has ascertained that it contains no tales begin-
ning in the same way as any of those in either of these
three ' Fifties.'

1 'Etude sur les Jatakas,' pp. 62-65. 2 jj,-^ pp_ 66-71.

3 This is clear from vol. i. p. 410 of Mr. FausboU' s text, where, at the
end of the 100th tale, we find the words Majjhima-pannasaho nitthito, that
is, ' End of the Middle Fifty.' At the end of the 50th tale (p. 261) there is
a corresponding entry, Pathamo pannnso, ' First Fifty ' ; and though there
is no such entry at the end of the 150th tale, the expression ' Middle Fifty'
shows that there must have been, at one time, such a division as is above
stated.

Ixviii

PROFESSOR BENFEY ON

In India itself tlie Birth Stories survived tlie fall,
as some of them had probably preceded the rise, of
Buddhism. Not a few of them were preserved by being
included in the Maha Bharata, the great Hindu epic
y which became the storehouse of Indian mythology, phi-

losophy, and folk-lore.^ Unfortunately, the date of the
final arrangement of the Maha Bharata is extremely
uncertain, and there is no further evidence of the con-
tinued existence of the Jataka tales till we come to the
time of the work already frequently referred to — the
Pancha Tantra.

It is to the history of this book that Professor Benfey
has devoted that elaborate and learned Introduction
which is the most important contribution to the study
of this class of literature as yet published ; and I cannot
do better than give in his own words his final con-
clusions as to the origin of this popular story-book:^ —

" Although we are unable at present to give any
certain information either as to the author or as to the
date of the work, we receive, as it seems to me, no
unimportant compensation in the fact, that it turned
out,3 with a certainty beyond doubt, to have been ori-
ginally a Buddhist book. This followed especially from
the chapter discussed in § 225. But it was already
indicated by the considerable number of the fables and

^ See, for instance, above, p. xxvii ; and below, p. 185.

2 ' Pantscha Tantra,' von Theodor Benfey, Leipzig, 1859, p. xi.

3 That is, in the course of Prof. Benfey's researches.

THE PANCHA TANTRA. Ixix

tales contained in tlie work, wliicli could also be traced
in Buddhist writings. Their number, and also the
relation between the form in which they are told in our
work, and that in which they appear in the Buddhist
writings, incline us — nay, drive us — to the conclusion
that the latter were the source from which our work,

within the circle of Buddhist literature, proceeded

"The proof that our work is of Buddhist origin is
of importance in two ways : firstly — on which we will
not here further insist — for the history of the work
itself ; and secondly, for the determination of what
Buddhism is. We can find in it one more proof of that
literary activity of Buddhism, to which, in my articles
on * India,' which appeared in 1840,^ I had already felt
myself compelled to assign the most important place
in the enlightenment and general intellectual develop-
ment of India. This view has since received, from year
to year, fresh confirmations, which I hope to bring
together in another place ; and whereby I hope to prove
that the very bloom of the intellectual life of India
(whether it found expression in Brahmanical or Buddhist
works) proceeded substantially from Buddhism, and is
contemporaneous with the epoch in which Buddhism
flourished ; — that is to say, from the third century before
Christ to the sixth or seventh century after Christ.
With that principle, said to have been proclaimed by
Buddhism in its earliest years, 'that only that teaching
of the Buddha's is true which contraveneth not sound
reason,'^ the autonomy of man's Intellect was, we may
fairly say, effectively acknowledged; the whole relation
between the realms of the knowable and of the unknow-
able was subjected to its control; and notwithstanding
that the actual reasoning powers, to which the ultimate
appeal was thus given, were in fact then not altogether

1 In ' Ersch und Griiber's Encyklopsedie,' especially at pp. 255 and 277.
» WassilieWf * Der Buddhismus,' etc., p. 68.

Ixx THE PANCHA TANTRA IS BUDDHIST.

sound, yet tlie way was pointed out by wMcli Eeason
could, under more favourable circumstances, begin to
liberate itself from its failings. We are already learning
to value, in the pbilosopbical endeavours of Buddhism,
the labours, sometimes indeed quaint, but aiming at
thorougbness and wortby of tbe bigbest respect, of its
severe earnestness in inquiry. And that, side by side
with this, the merry jests of light, and even frivolous
poetry and conversation, preserved the cheerfulness of
life, is clear from the prevailing tone of our work, and
still more so from the probable Buddhist origin of those
other Indian story-books which have hitherto become
known to us."

Professor Benfey then proceeds to show that the
Pancha Tantra consisted originally, not of five, but
of certainly eleven, perhaps of twelve, and just possibly
of thirteen books; and that its original design was to
teach princes right government and conduct.^ The whole
collection had then a different title descriptive of this
design; and it was only after a part became detached
from the rest that that part was called, for distinction's
sake, the Pancha Tantra, or Five Books. When this
occurred it is impossible to say. But it was certainly
the older and larger collection, not the present Pancha
Tantra, which travelled into Persia, and became the
source of the whole of the extensive *Kalilag and
Damnag' literature.^

* Compare the title of the Birth Story above, p. xxii, ' A Lesson for Kings.*
' See above, p. xxix.

THE WORK OF BIDPAI.

Ixxi

The Arabian authors of tlie work translated (through
the ancient Persian) from this older collection assign it to
a certain Bidpai ; who is said to have composed it in order
to instruct Dabschelim, the successor of Alexander in his
Indian possessions, in worldly wisdom.^ There may well
be some truth in this tradition. And when we consider
that the * Barlaam and Josaphat ' literature took its
origin at the same time, and in the same place, as the
* Kalilag and Damnag ' literature ; that both of them
are based upon Buddhist originals taken to Bagdad in
the sixth century of our era; and that it is precisely
such a book as the Book of Birth Stories from which
they could have derived all that they borrowed; it is
difficult to avoid connecting these facts together by the
supposition that the work ascribed to Bidpai may, in fact,
have been a selection of those Jataka stories bearing
more especially on the conduct of life, and preceded,
like our own collection, by a sketch of the life of the
Buddha in his last birth. Such a supposition would
afford a reasonable explanation of some curious facts
which have been quite inexplicable on the existing
theory. If the Arabic * Kalilah and Dimnah ' was an
exact translation, in our modern sense of the word trans-
lation, of an exact translation of a Buddhist work, how

1 Knatchbull, p. 29.

Ixxii OTHER AND LATER

comes it tliat the various copies of the 'Kalilah and
Dimnah' differ so greatly, not only among themselves,
but from the lately discovered Syriac * Kalilag and
Damnag,' which was also, according to the current
hypothesis, a translation of the same original? — how
comes it that in these translations from a Buddhist
book there are no references to the Buddha, and no
expressions on the face of them Buddhistic? If, on
the other hand, the later writers had merely derived
their subject-matter from a Buddhist work or works,
and had composed what were in effect fresh works on
the basis of such an original as has been suggested, we
can understand how the different writers might have
used different portions of the material before them, and
might have discarded any expressions too directly in
contradiction with their own religious beliefs.

The first three of those five chapters of the work as-
cribed to Bidpai which make up the Pancha Tantra, are
also found in a form slightly different, but, on the whole,
essentially the same, in two other Indian Story-books, —
the Katha-Sarit-Sagara (Ocean of the Rivers of
Stories), composed in Sanskrit by a Northern Buddhist
named Somadeva in the twelfth century, and in the
well-known Hitopadesa, which is a much later work.
If Somadeva had had the Pancha Tantra in its present
form before him, he would probably have included the

INDIAN STORY BOOKS. Ixxiii

whole five books in his encyclopaedic collection ; and tlie
absence from the Katha-Sarit-Sagara of the last two
books would tend to show that when he wrote his great
work the Pancha Tantra had not been composed, or at
least had not reached the North of India. ^

Somadeva derived his knowledge of the three books
he does give from the Yrihat-Katha, a work ascribed
to Gunadhya, written in the Paisachi dialect, and pro-
bably at least as early as the sixth century.^ This work,
on which Somadeva's whole poem is based, is lost. But
Dr. Biihler has lately discovered another Sanskrit poem,
based on that earlier work, written in Kashmir by
Kshemendra at the end of the eleventh century, and
called, like its original, Yrihat-Katha ; and as Somadeva
wrote quite independently of this earlier poem, we may
hope that a comparison of the two Sanskrit works will
afford reliable evidence of the contents of the Old
Vrihat-Katha.2

I should also mention here that another well-known
work, the Yetala - Panca - YinsatT (the Twenty-five
Tales of a Demon), is contained in both the Sanskrit
poems, and was therefore probably also in Gunadhya^s
collection; but as no Jataka stories have been as yet
traced in it, I have simply included it for purposes of

^ Br. Fitz-Mward EalVs Vasavadatta, pp. 22-24.

2 Dr. Buhler in the Indian Antiquary, i. 302, v. 29, vi. 269.

Ixxiv THE INTRODUCTORY STORIES.

reference in Table I., together with, the most important
of those of the later Indian story-books of which any-
thing certain is at present known.

There remains only to add a few words on the mode
in which the stories, whose history in Europe and in
India I have above attempted to trace, are presented
to us in the Jataka Book.

Each story is introduced by another explaining where
and why it was told by the Buddha; the Birth Story
itself being called the Atita-vatthu or Story of the Past,
and the Introductory Story the Paccuppanna-vatthu or
Story of the Present. There is another book in the
Pali Pitakas called Apadanai), which consists of tales
about the lives of. the early Buddhists ; and many of
the Introductory Stories in the Jataka Book (such, for
instance, as the tale about Little Poadling, No. 4, or
the tale about Kumara Kassapa, No. 12) differ very little
from these Apadanas. Other of the Introductory Stories
(such, for instance, as No. 17 below) seem to be mere
repetitions of the principal idea of the story they intro-
duce, and are probably derived from it. That the
Introductory Stories are entirely devoid of credit is
clear from the fact that different Birth Stories are in-
troduced as having been told at the same time and place,

TRANSMIGRATION OF CHARACTER, Ixxv

and in answer to tlie same question. Thus no less than
ten stories are eacli said to have been told to a certain
love-sick monk as a warning to him against his folly ; ^
the closely-allied story given below as the Introduction
to Birth Story No. 30 appears also as the Introduction
to at least four others ;2 and there are many other in-
stances of a similar kind.^

After the two stories have been told, there comes a
Conclusion, in which the Buddha identifies the person-
ages in the Birth Story with those in the Introductory
Story ; but it should be noticed that in one or two cases
characters mentioned in the Atlta-vatthu are supposed
not to have been reborn on earth at the time of the
Paccuppanna-vatthu.^ And the reader must of course
avoid the mistake of importing Christian ideas into this
Conclusion by supposing that the identity of the persons
in the two stories is owing to the passage of a *soul'
from the one to the other. Buddhism does not teach
the Transmigration of Souls. Its doctrine (which is
somewhat intricate, and for a fuller statement of which
I must refer to my Manual of Buddhism^) would be
better summarized as the Transmigration of Character;

1 Nos. 61, 62, 63, 147, 159, 193, 196, 198, 199, 263.

2 Nos. 106, 145, 191, 286.

3 Nos. 58, 73, 142, 194, 220, and 277, have the same Introductory Story.
And so Nos. 60, 104, 116, 161.

And Nos. 127, 128, 138, 173, 175.
* See the Pali note at the end of Jataka No. 91.
5 pp. 99-106.

Ixxvi THE ABHISAMBUDDHA-GATHA,

•

for it is entirely independent of the early and widely-
prevalent notion of tlie existence within eacli human
body of a distinct soul, or ghost, or spirit. The Bodisat,
for instance, is not supposed to have a Soul, which,
on the death of one body, is transferred to another;
but to be the inheritor of the Character acquired by the
previous Bodisats. The insight and goodness, the moral
and intellectual perfection which constitute Buddhahood,
could not, according to the Buddhist theory, be acquired
in one lifetime : they were the accumulated result of
the continual effort of many generations of successive
Bodisats. The only thing which continues to exist
when a man dies is his Karma ^ the result of his words
and thoughts and deeds (literally his * doing ') ; and
the curious theory that this result is concentrated in
some new individual is due to the older theory of
soul.

In the case of one Jataka (FausboU, No. 276), the
Conclusion is wholly in verse ; and in several cases the
Conclusion contains a verse or verses added by way
of moral. Such verses, when they occur, are called
Ahhisamhuddha-gathdy or Yerses spoken by the Buddha,
not when he was still only a Bodisat, but when he
had become a Buddha. They are so called to distinguish
them from the similar verses inserted in the Birth Story,
and spoken there by the Bodisat. Each story has its

OR VERSES SPOKEN BY THE BUDDHA, Ixxvii

verse or verses, either in the Ailta-vattJm or in the
Conclusion, and sometimes in both. The number of
cases in which all the verses are Ahhisamhuddha-gdthd is
relatively small (being only one in ten of the Jatakas
published^) ; and the number of cases in which they
occur together with verses in the Atlta-vatthu is very
small indeed (being only five out of the three hundred
Jatakas published 2) ; in the remaining two hundred and
sixty-five the verse or verses occur in the course of the
Birth Story, and are most generally spoken by the
Bodisat himself.

There are several reasons for supposing that these
verses are older than the prose which now forms their
setting. The Ceylon tradition goes so far as to say that
the original Jataka Book, now no longer extant, con-
sisted of the verses alone ; that the Birth Stories are
Commentary upon them ; and the Introductory Stories,
the Conclusions and the ^ Pada-gata-sannaya,'' or word-
for-word explanation of the verses, are Commentary
on this Commentary .2 And archaic forms and forced

1 Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 28, 29, 37, 55, 56, 68, 85, 87, 88, 97, 100, 114, 136
(total, eighteen in the Eka-Nipiita) ; 156 ( = 55, 56), 196, 202, 237 ( = 68),
241 (total, five in the Duka-Mpata) ; 255, 256, 258, 264, 284, 291, 300
(total, seven in the Tika-Nipata, and thirty altogether).

2 Nos. 152, 168, 179, 233, 286.

3 This helief underlies the curious note forming the last words of the Maha-
supina Jiitaka, i. 345 : "Those who held the Council after the death of the
Blessed One placed the lines heginning usabha rukhha in the Commentary,
and then, making the other lines heginning labuni into one verse, they put
(the Jataka) into the Eka-Nipata (the chapter including all those Jatakas
which have only one verse)."

Ixxviii STORIES OLDER THAN THE VERSES.

constructions in tlie verses (in striking contrast with
tlie regularity and simplicity of tlie prose parts of tlie
book), and the corrupt state in which some of the verses
are found, seem to point to the conclusion that the verses
are older.

But I venture to think that, though the present form
of the verses may be older than the present form of the
Birth Stories, the latter, or most of the latter, were in
existence first ; that the verses, at least in many cases,
were added to the stories after they had become current ;
and that the Birth Stories without verses in them at all
— those enumerated in the list in note 1 on the last
page, where the verses are found only in the Conclusion
— are, in fact, among the oldest, if not the oldest, in the
whole collection. For any one who takes the trouble to
go through that list seriatim will find that it contains a
considerable number of those stories which, from their
being found also in the Pali Pitakas or in the oldest
European collections, can already be proved to belong
to a very early date. The only hypothesis which will
reconcile these facts seems to me to be that the Birth
Stories, though probably originally older than the verses
they contain, were handed down in Ceylon till the time
of the compilation of our present Jataka Book, in the
Sinhalese language ; whilst the verses on the other hand
were not translated, but were preserved as they were
received, in Pali.

ARRANGEMENT OF THE JATAKA BOOK. Ixxix

There is another group of stories which seems to be
older than most of the others ; those, namely, in which
the Bodisat appears as a sort of chorus, a moralizer only,
and not an actor in the play, whose part may have been
an addition made when the story in which it occurs was
adopted by the Buddhists. Such is the fable above
translated of the Ass in the Lion's Skin, and most of
the stories where the Bodisat is a rukkha-devatd^th.Q
fairy or genius of a tree.^ But the materials are insuffi-
cient at present to put this forward as otherwise than
a mere conjecture.

The arrangement of the stories in our present collec-
tion is a most unpractical one. They are classified, not
according to their contents, but according to the number
of verses they contain. Thus, the First division (Nipata)
includes those one hundred and fifty of the stories which
have only one verse ; the Second, one hundred stories,
each having two verses ; the Third and Fourth, each of
them fifty stories, containing respectively three and four
verses each ; and so on, the number of stories in each
division decreasing rapidly after the number of verses
exceeds four ; and the whole of the five hundred and
fifty Jatakas being contained in twenty-two Nipatas.
Even this division, depending on so unimportant a factor

1 See, for instance, below, pp. 212, 228, 230, 317; above, p. xii; and
Jataka, No. 113.

Ixxx REPETITION OF STORIES.

as the number of tlie verses, is not logically carried out ;
and tlie round numbers of tbe stories in tbe first four
divisions are made up by including in tbem stories which,
according to the principle adopted, should not properly
be placed within them. Thus several Jatakas are only
mentioned in the first two Nipatas to say that they
will be found in the later ones ; ^ and several Jatakas
given with one verse only in the First I^ipata, are given
again with more verses in those that follow ; ^ and occa-
sionally a story is even repeated, with but little variation,
in the same Nipiita.^

On the other hand, several Jatakas, which count only
as one story in the present enumeration, really contain
several different tales or fables. Thus, for instance,
the Kulavaka Jiitaka (On Mercy to Animals)* consists
of seven stories woven, not very closely, into one. The
most striking instance of this is perhaps the TJmmagga
Jataka, not yet published in the Pali, but of which the
Sir)halese translation by the learned Batuwan Tudawa

1 Nos. 110, 111, 112, 170, 192 in the Uimnagga Jataka, and No. 264 in
the Suruci Jataka.

2 No. 30=No. 286. No. 68=No. 237.

„ 34 =

216.

86= „

290.

„ 46 =

J J

268.

102= „

217,

„ 57 =

224.

3 So No. 82 =
„ 99 =
„ 134 =
„ 195 =
„ 294 =

= No.

— 5 t

, 104.
101.
135.
225.
295,

145=,,

198.

Compare the two stories Nos.

23 and 24 translated below.

* Translated below.

pp.

, 278-290.

REAL NUMBER OF THE STORIES. Ixxxi

occupies two hundred and fifty pages octavo, and consists
of a very large number (I have not counted them, and
there is no index, but I should think they amount to
more than one hundred and fifty) of most entertaining
anecdotes. Although therefore the Birth Stories are '
spoken of as ' The five hundred and fifty Jatakas,' this
is merely a round number reached by an entirely arti-
ficial arrangement, and gives no clue to the actual number
of stories. It is probable that our present collection
contains altogether (including the Introductory Stories
where they are not mere repetitions) between two and
three thousand independent tales, fables, anecdotes, and
riddles.

Nor is the number 550 any more exact (though the
discrepancy in this case is not so great) if it be supposed
to record, not the number of stories, but the number of
distinct births of the Bodisat. In the Kulavaka Jataka,
just referred to (the tale On Mercy to Animals), there
are two consecutive births of the future Buddha ; and on
the other hand, none of the eix Jatakas mentioned in
note 1, p. Ixxx, represents a distinct birth at all — the
Bodisat is in them the same person as he is in the later
Jatakas in which those six are contained.

From the facts as they stand it seems at present to

Ixxxii SUMMARY OF THE

be the most probable explanation of tbe rise of our
Jataka Book to suppose that it was due to the religious
faith of the Indian Buddhists of the third or fourth
century B.C., who not only repeated a number of fables,
parables, and stories ascribed to the Buddha, but gave
them a peculiar sacredness and a special religious signi-
ficance by identifying the best character in each with
the Buddha himself in some previous birth. From the
time when this step was taken, what had been merely
parables or fables became * Jatakas,' a word invented to
distinguish, and used only of, those stories which have
been thus sanctified. The earliest use of that word at
present known is in the inscriptions on the Buddhist
Tope at Bharhut ; and from the way in which it is
there used it is clear that the word must have then been
already in use for some considerable time. But when
stories thus made sacred were popularly accepted among
people so accustomed to literary activity as the early
Buddhists, the natural consequence would be that the
Jatakas should have been brought together into a col-
lection of some kind ; and the probability of this having
been done at a very early date is confirmed, firstly, by
the tradition of the difierence of opinion concerning a
Jataka Book at the Councils of Yesali ; and secondly
by the mention of a Jataka Book in the ninefold divi-
sion of the Scriptures found in the Agguttara Nikaya

HISTORY OF THE JATAKA BOOK. Ixxxiii

and in tlie Saddharma Pnndarlka. To the compiler of
this, or of some early collection, are probably to be as-
cribed the Yerses, which in some cases at least are later
than the Stories.

With regard to some of the Jatakas, among which
may certainly be included those found in the Pali Pitakas,
there may well have been a tradition, more or less re-
liable, as to the time and the occasion at which they were
supposed to have been uttered by the Buddha. These
traditions will have given rise to the earliest Introductory
Stories, in imitation of which the rest were afterwards
invented ; and these will then have been handed down
as commentary on the Birth Stories, till they were finally
made part of our present collection by its compiler
in Ceylon. That (either through their later origin,
or their having been much more modified in transmis-
sion) they represent a more modern point of view than
the Birth Stories themselves, will be patent to every
reader. There is a freshness and simplicity about the
' Stories of the Past ' that is sadly wanting in the ^ Stories
of the Present ' ; so much so, that the latter (and this
is also true of the whole long Introduction containing
the life of the Buddha) may be compared more accurately
with mediaeval Legends of the Saints than with such
simple stories as ^sop's Fables, which stiU bear a like-
ness to their forefathers, the 'Stories of the Past.'

Ixxxiv HISTORY OF THE JATAKA BOOK.

The Jatakas so constituted were carried to Ceylon in
the Pali language, when Buddhism was first introduced
into that island (a date that is not quite certain, but
may be taken provisionally as about 200 B.C.) ; and the
whole was there translated into and preserved in the
Sinhalese language (except the verses, which were left
untranslated) until the compilation in the fifth century
A.D., and by an unknown author, of the Pali Jataka
Book, the translation of which into English is commenced
in this volume.

When we consider the number of elaborate similes
by which the arguments in the Pali Suttas are
enforced, there can be no reasonable doubt that the
Buddha was really accustomed to teach much by the
aid of parables, and it is not improbable that the
compiler was quite correct in attributing to him that
subtle sense of good-natured humour which led to his
inventing, as occasion arose, some fable or some tale
of a previous birth, to explain away existing failures in
conduct among the monks, or to draw a moral from
contemporaneous events. It is even already possible
to point to some of the Jatakas as being probably the
oldest in the collection; but it must be left to future
research to carry out in ampler detail the investigation
into the comparative date of each of the stories, both
those which are called * Stories of the Past' and those
which are called 'Stories of the Present.'

SPECIAL TEACHING OF THE JATAKAS. Ixxxv

Besides tiie points which the teaching of the Jatakas
has in common with that of European moralists and
satirists, it inculcates two lessons peculiar to itself — ^
firstly, the powerful influence of inherited character;
and secondly, the essential likeness between man and
other animals. The former of these two ideas underlies
both the central Buddhist doctrine of Karma and the
theory of the Buddhas, views certainly common among
all the early Buddhists, and therefore probably held by
Gotama himself. And the latter of the two underlies
and explains the sympathy with animals so conspicuous
in these tales, and the frequency with which they lay
stress upon the duty of kindness, and even of courtesy,
to the brute creation. It is curious to find in these
records of a strange and ancient faith such blind feeKng
after, such vague foreshadowing of beliefs only now
beginning to be put forward here in the West ; but it
is scarcely necessary to point out that the paramount
value to us now of the Jataka stories is historical.

In this respect their value does not consist only in
the evidence they afibrd of the intercommunion between
East and West, but also, and perhaps chiefly, in the
assistance which they will render to the study of folk-
lore ; — that is, of the beliefs and habits of men in the
earlier stages of their development. The researches of
Tylor and Waitz and Peschel and Lubbock and Spencer

Ixxxvi VALUE OF THE JATAKAS FOR

have shown us that it is by this means that it is most
easily possible rightly to understand and estimate many
of the habits and beliefs still current among ourselves.
But the chief obstacle to a consensus of opinion in such
studies is the insufficiency and inaccuracy of the autho-
rities on which the facts depend. While the ancient
literature of peoples more advanced usually ignores or
passes lightly over the very details most important from
this point of view, the accounts of modern travellers
among the so-called savage tribes are often at best very
secondary evidence. It constantly happens that such
a traveller can only tell us the impression conveyed to
his mind of that which his informant holds to be the
belief or custom of the tribe. Such native information
may be inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading ; and it
reaches us only after filtration through a European
mind more or less able to comprehend it rightly.

But in the Jatakas we have a nearly complete picture,
and quite uncorrupted and unadulterated by European
intercourse, of the social life and customs and popular
beliefs of the common people of Aryan tribes closely
related to ourselves, just as they were passing through
the first stages of civilization.
/l The popularity of the Jatakas as amusing stories may
pass away. How can it stand against the rival claims
of the fairy tales of science, and the entrancing, many-

THE HISTORY OF EARLY TIMES.

Ixxxvii

sided story of man's gradual rise and progress ? But
though these less fabulous and more attractive stories
shall increasingly engage the attention of ourselves and
of our children, we may still turn with appreciation
to the ancient Book of the Buddhist Jataka Tales as
a priceless record of the childhood of our race.

I avail myself of this opportunity of acknowledging
my indebtedness to several friends whose assistance has
been too continuous to be specified on any particular
page. Professor Childers, whose premature death was
so great a blow to Pali studies, and whose name I
never think of without a feeling of reverent and grateful
regret, had undertaken the translation of the Jatakas,
and the first thirty-three pages are from his pen. They
are the last memento of his earnest work: they stand
exactly as he left them. Professor Estlin Carpenter,
who takes a deep interest in this and cognate subjects,
has been kind enough to read through all the proofs,
and I owe to his varied scholarship many useful hints.
And my especial thanks, and the thanks of any readers
this work may meet with, are above all due to Professor
FausboU, without whose editio princeps of the Pali text,
the result of self-denying labours spread over many years,
this translation would not have been undertaken.

T. W. RHYS DAYIDS.

TABLES ILLUSTEATIYE OF THE HISTORY
AND MIGRATIONS OF THE BUDDHIST
BIRTH STORIES.

TABLE J.

INDIAN WORKS.

1. The Jataka Atthavannana. A collection, probably first made in
the third or fourth century B.C., of stories previously existing, and ascribed
to the Buddha, and put into its present form in Ceylon, in the fifth century
A.D. The Pali text is being edited by Professor Fausboll, of Copenhagen ;
vol. i. 1877, vol. ii. 1878, vol. iii. in the press. English translation in the
present work.

la. Siijhalese translation of No. 1, called Pan siya panas Jataka pota.
"Written in Ceylon in or about 1320 a.d.

lb. GuTTiLA Kawyaya. a poetical version in Elu, or old Sinhalese, of
one of the stories in la, by BadawMtawa Unnanse, about 1415. Edited in
Colombo, 1870, with introduction and commentary, by Batuwan Tuduwa.

Ic. KusA Jatakaya. a poetical version in Elu, or old Sinhalese, of one
of the stories in la, by Alagiawanna Mohottale, 1610. Edited in Colombo,
with commentary, 1868.

Id. An Eastern Love Story. Translation in verse of Ic, by Thomas Steele,
C.C.S., London, 1871.

le. AsADiSA Jatakaya. An Elu poem, by Eajadhirdja Sinha, king of
Ceylon in 1780.

2. The Cariya Pitaka. A book of the Buddhist Scriptures of the fourth
century B.C., containing thirty-five of the oldest above stories. See Table IV.

3. The Jataka Mala. A Sanskrit work of unknown date, also contain-
ing thirty-five of the oldest stories in No. 1. See Table IV.

4. The Pannasa-Jatakai), or * 50 Jatakas.' A Pali work written in
Siam, of unknown date and contents, but apparently distinct from No. 1.
See above, p. Ixvii.

XC INDIAN WORKS.

5. Pancha Tantea. ? Mediaeval. See above, pp. Ixviii-lxxii.

Text edited by Kosegarten, Bonn, 1848.

Kielhorn and Biihler, Bombay, 1868.

6. Translations: — German, 'by Benfey, Leipzig, 1859.

7. French ,, Dubois, Paris, 1826.

8. ,, ,, Lancer au, Paris, 1871.

9. Greek ,, Galanos and Typaldos, Athens, 1851.

10. HiTOPADESA. Mediaeval. Compiled principally from No. 2, with
additions from another unknown work.

Text edited by Carey and Colehrooke, Serampur, 1804.
Samilton, London, 1810.
Bernstein, Breslau, 1823.
SchUgel and Lassen, Bonn, 1829-1831.
Nyalankar, Calcutta, 1830 and 1844.
Johnson, Hertford, 1847 and 1864, with English

version.
Yates, Calcutta, 1841.

E. Arnold, Bombay, 1859 ,,

Max Muller, London, 1864-1868 „

11. Translations: — English, by Wilkins, Bath, 1787; reprinted by

Nyalankar in his edition of the text.

12. „ „ Sir W. Jones, Calcutta, 1816.
12a. ,, ,, U. Arnold, London, 1861.

13. German ,, Max Muller, Leipzig, 1844.
13«. ,, ,, Dursch, Tiibingen, 1853.

14. ,, ,, L. Fritze, Breslau, 1874.

15. French ,, LangUs, Paris, 1790.

16. ,, ,, Lancerau, Paris, 1855.

17. Greek ,, Galanos and Typaldos, Athens, 1851.

18. Vetala Panca VigsATi. Twenty-five stories told by a Vetala, or
demon. Sanskrit text in No. 32, vol. ii. pp. 288-293.

18a. Greek version of No. 18 added to No. 17.

19. Vethala Kathei. Tamil version of No. 18. Edited by Bobcrtson in
* A Compilation of Papers in the Tamil Language,' Madras, 1839.

20. No. 19, translated into English by Babington, in * Miscellaneous
Translations from Oriental Languages,' London, 1831.

21. No. 18, translated into Brajbakha, by Surat, 1740.

22. Bytal Pachisi. Translated from No. 21 into English by Baja Kali
Krishna Bahadur, Calcutta, 1834. See No. 41«.

22«. Baital Pachisi. Hindustani version of No. 21, Calcutta, 1805.
Edited by Barker, Hertford, 1855.

INDIAN WORKS.

XCl

223. Englisli versions of 22a, by /. T. Platts, Soilings, and BarTcer.

22c. ViKRAM AND THE Vampire, or Tales of Hindu DevUry. Adopted
from 225 by Richard F. Burton, London, 1870.

22d. German version of 22a, by H. Oesterley, in the * Bibliothek Orien-
talischer Marchen und Erzablungen,' 1873, with valuable introduction and
notes.

23. SsiDDi Kirn. Mongolian version of No. 18.

24. German versions of No. 23, by Benjamin Bergmann in Nomadische
Streifereien im Lande der Kalmuchen, i. 247 and foU., 1804 ; and by Juelg,
1866 and 1868.

25. German version of No. 18, by Dr. Luber, Gbrz, 1875.

26. SuKA Saptati. The seventy stories of a parrot.

27. Greek version of No. 26, by Demetrios Galanos and G. K. Typaldos,
Psittahou Mythologiai Nukterinai, included in their version of Nos. 10 and 18.

28. Persian version of No. 26, now lost; but reproduced by Nachshebi
under the title Tuti Nameh.

28a. ToTA Kahani. Hindustani version of 26. Edited by Forbes.
285. English version of 28a, by the Rev. G. Small.

29. SiNHASANA Dvateinsati. The thirty-two stories of the throne of
Yikramiiditya ; called also Vikrama Caritra. Edited in Madras, 1861.

29a. SiNGHASAN Battisi. Hindi version of 29. 'Eda.iQdi'h'^ Syed Abdoolah.

30. Vatbis Singhasan. Bengali version of No. 29, Serampur, 1818.

31. Arji Borji Chan. Mongolian version of No. 29.

32. Vrihat-katha. By Gunadhya, probably about the sixth century;
in the Paisac! Prakrit. See above, p. Ixxiii.

33. Katha Sarit Sagara. The Ocean of the Elvers of Tales. It is
founded on No. 32. Includes No. 18, and a part of No. 5. The Sanskrit
text edited by Brockhaus, Leipzig, vol. i. with German translation, 1839 ;
vol. ii. text only, 1862 and 1866. Original by Sri Somadeva Bhatta, of Kashmir,
at the begiuning of the twelfth century a.d. See above, pp. Ixxii, Ixxiii.

34. Vrihat-katha. A Sanskrit version of No. 34, by Kshemendra, of
Kashmir. Written independently of Somadeva's work. No. 32. See
above, p. Ixxiii.

35. Panca Danda Chattra Prabandha. Stories about King Vikra-
maditya's magic umbrella. Jain Sanskrit. Text and German version by
Weber, Berlin, 1877.

36. Vasavadatta. By Subandhu. Possibly as old as the sixth century.
Edited by Fitz-Edward Hall, in the Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta, 1859. This
and the next are romances, not story-books.

37. Kadambari. By Bana Bhatta, ? seventh century. Edited in Cal-
cutta, 1850 ; and again, 1872, by Tarkavacaspati.

xcii INDIAN WORKS.

38. Bengali version of No. 37, by Tara Shankar Tarkaratna. Tenth
edition, Calcutta, 1868.

39. Dasa-kumara-camta. By i)«w^m, ? sixth century. Edited by (7«rey,
1804 ; Wilson, 1846 ; and by Buhler, 1873.

39a. Hindoo Tales, founded on No. 39. By P. W. Jacob, London, 1873.
395. Fne Tetrade. By Sippolyte Faucke, Taxis, 1861-1863. Contains
a translation into French of No. 39.

40. Katharnava, the Stream of Tales. In four Books ; the first being
No. 18, the second No. 29, the third and fourth miscellaneous.

41. PuRUSHA-PAKiKSHA, the AdventuTCS of King HammTra. Probably of
the fourteenth century. By Vidyapati.

41«. English translation of No. 41, by Raja Kali Krishna, Serampur,
1830. See No. 22.

42. ViRA-CARiTAT), the Adventures of King Salivahana.

XClll

TABLE II.
THE KALILAG AND DAMNAG LITERATURE.

1. A lost Buddhist work in a language of Northern India, ascribed to
Bidpai. See above, pp. Ixx-lxxii.

2. Pelvl version, 531-579 a.d. By Barzuye, the Court physician of
Khosru Nushirvan. See above, p. xxix.

3. Kalilag und Damnag. Syrian version of No. 2. Published with
German translation by Gustav Bickell, and Introduction by Professor Benfey^
Leipzig, 1876. This and No. 15 preserve the best evidence of the contents
of No. 2, and of its Buddhist original or originals.

4. Kalilah wa Dimnah (Fables of Bidpai). Arabic version of No. 3,
by Abd-allah, son of Almokaffa. Date about 750 a.d. Text of one recen-
sion edited by Silvestre de Sacy, Paris, 1816. Other recensions noticed at
length in Ignazio Guidi's ' Studii sul testo Arabo del libro di Calila e Dimna '
(Rome, 1873).

5. Kalila and Dimna. English version of No. 4, by Knatchbull,
Oxford, 1819.

6. Das Buch des Weisen. German version of No. 4, by Wolffs
Stuttgart, 1839.

7. Stephanites kai IcHviiLATES. Greek version of No. 4, by Simeon
Seth, about 1080 a.d. Edited by Seb. Gottfried Starke, Berlin, 1697 (re-
printed in Athens, 1851), and by Aurivillius, Upsala, 1786.

8. Latin version of No. 7, by Father Fossin, at the end of his edition of
Pachymeres, Rome, 1866.

9. Persian translation of No. 4, by Abdul Maali JSfasr Allah, 1118-1153.
Exists, in MS. only, in Paris, Berlin, and Vienna.

10. Anvar I SuHAiLi, Persian translation, through the last, of No. 4,
by Husam ben All el Vaiz Tfl-KashifJ; end of the fifteenth century.

11. Anvar i Suhaili, or the Lights of Canopus. English version of
No. 10, by Fdward Eastwich, Hertford, 1854.

11«. Another English version of No. 10, hj Arthur N. Wollaston (London,
Allen).

12. LiVRE DES LuMiERES. Freuch version of No. 10, by Bavid Sahid,
d' Ispahan, Paris, 1644, 8vo.

13. Del Governo de' Regni, Italian version of No. 7, Ferrara, 1583 ;
by Giulio Nuti. Edited by Tcza, Bologna, 1872.

xciv KALILAG AND DAMN AG.

14. Hebrew version of No. 4, by Joel (?), before 1250. Exists only in a
single MS. in Paris, of wbich the first part is missing.

15. DiRECTORiuM HuMAKJE ViT^. Latin version of No. 14, by John of
Capua. "Written 1263-1278. Printed about 1480, without date or name of
place. Next to No. 3 it is the best evidence of the contents of the lost books
Nos. 1 and 2.

16. German version of No. 15, also about 1480, but without date or name
of place.

17. Version in Ulm dialect of No. 16. Ulm, 1483.

18. Baldo's * Alter ^sopus.' A translation direct from Arabic into
Latin (? thirteenth century.) Edited in du MeriVs * Poesies inedites du
moyen age,' Paris, 1854.

19. Calila e Dymna. Spanish version of No. 4 (? through an unknown
Latin version). About 1251. Published in ' Biblioteca de Autores Es-
pafioles,' Madrid, 1860, vol. 51.

20. Calila et Dimna. Latin version of the last, by Raimond de £eziers,
1313.

21. CoNDE LucANOR. By Don Juan Manuel (died 1347), grandson of
St. Ferdinand of Spain. Spanish source not certain.

22. SiNBAR THE Sailor, ot Book of the Seven Wise Masters. See
Comparetti, 'Ricerche intorno al Libro di Sindibad,' Milano, 1869.

23. CoNTES ET NouvELLES. By Bonaventure des Feriers, Lyons, 1587.

24. ExEMPLARio CONTRA LOS Enganos. 1493. Spanish version of the
Directorium.

25. DiscoRSE DEGLi Animali. Italian of last, by Ange Firenznola,
1648.

26. La Filosofia Morale. By Foni, 1552. Italian of last but one.

27. North''s English version of last, 1570.

28. Fables by La Fontaine.

First edition in vi. books, the subjects of which are mostly taken
from classical authors and from Planudes's ^sop, Paris, 1668.

Second edition in xi. books, the five later taken from Nos. 12 and
23, Paris, 1678.

Third edition in xii. books, Paris, 1694.

xcv

TABLE III.
THE BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT SERIES.

1. St. John of Damascus' s Greek Text. Seventh century a.d. First
edited by BoissoNADE, in his* * Anecdota Grseca,' Paris, 1832, vol. iv. Re-
printed in Migne's ' Patrologia Cursus Completus, Series Graeca,' torn, xcvi,
pp. 836-1250, with the Latin translation by Billy^ in parallel columns.
Boissonade's text is reviewed, and its imperfections pointed out, by Schubart
(who makes use of six Vienna MSS.) in the 'Wiener Jahrbiicher,' vol. Ixiii.

2. Syriac version of No. 1 exists only in MS.

3. Arabic version of No. 2 exists only in MS., one MS. being at least as
old as the eleventh century.

4. Latin version of No. 1, of unknown date and author, of which MSS.
of the twelfth century are still extant. There is a black-letter edition
(? Spiers, 1470) in the British Museum. It was adopted, with abbreviations
in several places, by Vincentius Bellovicensis, in his * Speculum His-
toriale' (Hb. xv. cap. 1-63); by Jacobus a Voragine, in his 'Legenda
Aurfea' (ed. Grdsse, 1846) ; and was reprinted in fuU in the editions of the
works of St. John of Damascus, published at Basel in the sixteenth century.^
From this Latin version all the later mediaeval works on this subject are
either directly or indirectly derived.

4«. An abbreviated version in Latin of the fourteenth century in the
British Museum. Arundel MS. 330, fol. 51-57. See Koch, No. 9, p. xiv.
German : —

5. Barlaam und Josaphat. A poem of the thirteenth century, pub-
lished from a MS. in the Solms-Laubach Library by L. Diefenbach, under
the title ' Mittheilimgen iiber eine noch ungedruckte m.h.d. bearbeitimg des
B. and J.' Giessen, 1836.

6. Another poem, partly published from an imperfect MS. at Ziirich, by
Franz Pfeiffer, in Ilaupt's 'Zeitsch. f. d. Alterthum,' i. 127-135.

7. Barlaam und Josaphat. By Rudolf von Ems. "Written about 1230.
Latest and best edition by Franz Pfeiffer, in * Dichtungen des deutschen

1 Billy (1535-1577) was Abbot of St. Michael's, in Brittany. Another edition of his
Latin version, by Rofweyd, is also reprinted in Mityne, ' Series Latina,' torn. Ixxiii ; and
several separate editions have aijpeared besides (Antwerp, 1602; Cologne, 162i, etc.).

2 The British Museum copy of the first, undated, edition has the date 1539 written, in
ink, on the title-page, llosweyd, in Note 4 to his edition of Pillius (Migne, vol. Ixxiii.
p. 606), mentions an edition bearing the dale 1548, In the British Museum there is a
third, dated 1575 (on the last page).

xcvi BARLAAM AND JOSAPHA T.

Mittelalters,' vol. iii., Leipzig, 1843. This popular treatment of the subject
exists in numerous MSS.

7. Die Hystori Josaphat und Barlaam. Date and author not named.
Black-letter. "Woodcuts. Title on last page. Fifty-six short chapters.
Quaint and forcible old German. A small foHo in the British Museum.

8. Sistoria von dem Leben der zweien H. Beichtiger Barlaam JEremiten,
und Josaphat des Kdnig''s in Indien Sohn, etc. Translated from the Latin
by the Counts of Helffenstein and Hohenzollern, Miinchen, 1684. In
40 long chapters, pp. 602, 12mo.

Dutch :—

9. Het Leven en Bedryf van Barlaam den Heremit, en Josaphat Koning
van Indien. Noo in Nederduits vertaalt door F. v. H., Antwerp, 1593, 12mo.

A new edition of this version appeared in 1672. This is a long and tedious
prose version of the holy legend.
French: —

8. Poem by Gui de Cambray (1200-1250). Edited by Hermann Zoten-
BERG and Paul Meyer in the 'Bibliothek des Literarischen Vereins,' in
Stuttgart, vol. Ixxv., 1864. They mention also (pp. 318-325) :—

9. La Vie de Seint Josaphaz. Poem by CnAaDRY. Edited by John Koch,
Heilbronn, 1879, who confirms the editors of No. 8 as to the following old
French versions, 10-15 ; and further adduces No. \\a.

10. A third poem by an unknown author.

11. A prose work by an unknown author — all three being of the 13th cent.
11a. Another in MS. Egerton, 745, British Museum.

12. A poem in French of the fifteenth century, based on the abstract in
Latin of No. 4, by Jacob de Voragine.

13. A Provencal tale in prose, containing only the story of Josafat and
the tales told by Barlaam, without the moralizations.

14. A miracle play of about 1400.

15. Another miracle play of about 1460.
Italian : —

16. Vita di san Giosafat convertito da Barlaam. By Geo. Antonio
Eemondini. Published about 1600, at Venezia and Bassano, 16mo. There
is a second edition of this, also without date; and a third, published in
Modena in 1768, with illustrations.

17. Storia de' SS. Barlaam e Giosafatte. By Bottari, Home, 1734,
8vo., of which a second edition appeared in 1816.

18. La santissima vita di Santo Josafat, figluolo del Be Avenero, Re delV
India, da che ei nacque per infino ch'ei morl. A prose romance, edited by
Telesforo Bini from a MS. belonging to the Commendatore Francesco de
Eossi, in pp. 124-152 of a collection * Rime e Prose,' Lucca, 1852, 8vo.

BARLAAM AND JOSAPIIA T. xcvii

19. A prose Vita da Santo Josafat. In MS. Add. 10902 of the British
Museum, which Paul Mayer (see No. 8) says begins exactly as No. 18, but
ends differently. (See Koch, No. 9 above, p. xiii.)

20, A Rappresentatione di Barlaam e Josafat is mentioned by Frederigo
Palermo in his ' I manuscritti Palatini de Firenze,' 1860, vol. ii. p. 401.

Skandinavian : —

A full account of aU the Skandinavian versions is given in Barlaam^ s ok
Jomphafs Saga, by C. E. Unger, Christiania, 1851, 8vo.

Spanish : —

Honesta, etc., historia de la rara vida de los famosos y singulares sanctos
Barlaam, etc. By Baltasat de Santa Cruz. Published in the Spanish
dialect used in the Philippine Islands at Manila, 1G92. A literal translation
of BiUus (No. 1).

English : —

In Horstmann's * Altenglische Legenden,' Paderborn, 1875, an Old
English version of the legend is published from the Bodleian MS. No. 779.
There is another recension of the same poem in the Harleian MS. No. 4196.
Both are of the fourteenth century ; and of the second there is another copy
in the Vernon MS. See further, "Warton's * History of English Poetry,'
i. 271-279, and ii. 30, 58, 308.

Horstmann has also published a Middle English version in the ' Program
of the Sagan Gymnasium,' 1877.

The Sistory of the Five Wise Philosophers ; or, the Wonderful Relation of
the Life of Jehoshaphat the Hermit, Son of Avenerian, King of Barma in
India, etc. By N. H. (that is, Nicholas Herick), Gent., London, 1711,
pp. 128, 12mo. This is a prose romance, and an abridged translation of the
Italian version of 1600 (No. 16), and contains only one fable (at p. 46) of
the Nightingale and the Fowler.

The work referred to on p. xlvi, under the title Gesta Eomanorum, a
collection of tales with lengthy moralizations (probably sermons), was made
in England about 1300. It soon passed to the Continent, and was repeatedly
re-written in numerous MSS., with additions and alterations. Three printed
editions appeared between 1472 and 1475 ; and one of these, containing 181
stories, is the source of the work now known under this title. Tale No. 168
quotes Barlaam. The best edition of the Latin version is by H. Oesterley,
Berlin, 1872. The last English translation is Hooper's, Bohn's Anti-
quarian Library, London, 1877. The Early English versions have been
edited by Sir F. Madden ; and again, in vol. xxxiii. of the Extra Series of
the Early English Text Society, by S. J. H. Herrtage.

The Seven Sages (edited by Thomas Wright for the Percy Society, 1845)
also contains some Buddhist tales.

VOL. I. • //

XCVlll

TABLE I

rPARISON OF THE CARIYA PITAKLi AXD THE JA'

MALA.

1. Akitte-cariyai).

Yvagbl-jatakag.

2. Sar)kha-c°.

Sivi-j" (8).

3. Danafijaya-c°.

Kulniasapindi-j°.
Sresbthi-j^ (21).

4. Maha-sTidassana-c".

5. Maha-goviada-c°.

Avisa j yasreshthi-3°.

6. Ximi-raja-c".

Sasa-f (10).

7. Canda-kumara-c".

Agast)-a-j°.

8. Sivi-raja-c^ (2).

Maitribala-j^.

9. Yessantara-c' (9).

Yisvaiitara-j° (9).

10. Sasa-pandita-c° (6).

Yajfia-i".
Sakra-3=.

11. Sllava-naga-c' (J. 72).

12. Bbiiridatta-c°.

Brabmana-j°.

13. Campevya-naga-c".

Ummiidayanti-j''.

14. Cula-bodhi-c°.

Suparaga-j"*.

15. Mahir)sa-raja-c° (27).

Matsya-j*' (30).

16. Riiru-raja-c°.

Yartaka-potaka-j" (29).

17. Matagga-c°.

Kaccbapa-j°.
Kumbha-j".

18. Dhammadhamma-devaputta-c°.

19. Jayadisa-c°.

Putra-i°.

20. Sai)khapala-c°.

Yisa-j^

21. Yudafijaya-c".

Sreshthi-j° (4).

22. Somanassa-c''.

Buddbabodbi-j°.

23. Ayoghara-c° (33).

Hagsa-j^

24. Btisa-c°.

Mahabodhi-j^
Mahakapi-j"^ (27, 28).

25. Soma-pandita-c° (32).

26. Temiva-c^

Sarabha-i°.
Euru.j° (16).

27. Kapi-raja-c° (25, 28).

28. Saccahvaya-panclita-c°.

Mahakapi-j° (25, 27).

29. Yattaka-potaka-c*" (16).

Kshanti-j".

30. Maccha-raja-c° (15).

Brahma -j".

31. Kanha-dipayana-c°.

Hasti-j°.

32. Sutasoma-c"' (25, 32).

Sutasoma-j° (25, 32).
Avo£rriha-j° (23).

33. Suvanna-sama-c°.

34. Ekaraja-c''.

Mahisha-j^

35. Maha-lomahagsa-c" (J. 94).

JSatapatra-j°.

For the above lists see Feer^ 'Etude sur les Jatakas,' p. 58; Gogerly,
Journal of the Ceyloin Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1853 ; and
FaiisboU, * Five Jatakas,' p. 59 ; and also above, pp. liii, liv. It will be
seen that there are seven tales with identical, and one or two more with
similar titles, in the two collections. Editions of these two works are very
much required. The Cambridge University Library possesses a MS. of the
former, with the various readings of several other MSS. noted, for me, by
Dewa Aranolis.

XCIX

TABLE V.

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF JATAKA STORIES IN THE
MAHAVASTU.

Arranged from Cowell and Eggeling's ' Catalogue of Buddhist Sanskrit MSS.
in the Possession of the Royal Asiatic Society (Hodgson Collection).'

Amaraye karmarakadhitaye jatakai). | Raksluto-nama-rislii-j°.

Arindania-j°.

Asthisenasya-j''.

Bhadravargikanag - j°.

Campaka-nagaraja-j°.

Godha-j°.

Hastinl-j°.

Kaka-j''.

Uruvilva-kasyapadi-kasyapanai)-]'

Ajnata- Kaundinya- j°.

Kinnari-j °.^

Kricchapa-3°.

Kusa-j°.

Mafijeri-j°.

Markata-j"^.

Mrigarajfio surupasya-j°.

Naliniye rajakumarlye-j".

Punyavanta-j°.

Purnasya MaitrayanT-putrasya j°.

Risliabasya-j°.

Sakuntaka-j°. (Two with this title.)

Sarakshepanai) - j ''.

Saratag-j°.

S arthavahasy a - j ° .

Sirl.j°.

SirT-prabhasya mriga-rajasya j°.

Syama-j".i (Car. Pit. 33.)

Syaniaka-j°.

Trinakuniyag nama j°.

TJpali gariga palanai)-j°.

Vanaradhipa-j".

Vara-j°.

Vijitavasya Vaideha-rajfio-j".

Yasoda-j°.

Yosodharaye harapradana-j".

,, vyaghrTbhutaya-j°.

1 These two Jatakas also form the contents of a separate MS. in the Royal Asiatic
Society's Library (Catalogue, p 14).

TABLE VI.
PLACES AT WHICH THE TALES WEEE TOLD.
M. Leon Peer has taken the trouble to count the number of times each of
the following places is mentioned at the commencement of the Commentary.

Jetavana monastery 410"

Savatthi .
Velmana .
Rajagaha .
Latthivanuyyuna
Vesali
Kosambi .
Alavi

Kundaladaha
Kusa

Magadha .
Dakkhinagiri
Migadaya .
Mithila .
By the Ganges

.416

• 55

4
5
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
1

To which we may add from pp. 124-128 below-
Kapilavatthu

494

498

TABLE VII.

THE BODISATS.

At his request the Rev. Spence Handy' s ' pandit ' made an analysis of the
number of times in which the Bodisat appears in the Buddhist Birth Stories
in each of the following characters : —

An ascetic .

A king

A tree god .

A teacher .

A courtier .

A brahman

A king's son

A nobleman

A learned man

Sakka

A monkey .

A merchant

A man of propert

A deer

A lion

A wild duck

A snipe

An elephant

A cock

A slave

An eagle .

A horse

A bull

Brahma

A peacock .

4 !

A serpent .

A potter .

An outcast

3 i

An iguana .

A fish ...

An elephant driver

A rat ...

A jackal

A crow

A woodpecker

A thief .

A pig ...

A dog

A curer of snake bites .

A gambler

A mason .

A smith

A devil dancer .

A student .

A silversmith

A carpenter

A water-fowl .

A frog

A hare . . . .

A kite

A jungle cock

A fairy . . . .

630

Cll

TABLE VIII.

JATAKAS ILLUSTRATED IN BAS-RELIEF ON THE ANCIENT
MONUMENTS.

Arranged from General Cunningham'' 8 * Stupa of Bharhut.'

No.

Plate Title inscribed on the stone.

Title in the Jataka Book.

XXV. Miga Jataka.

Nigrodha-miga

Jataka.

„ Naga2 „

Kakkataka

,, Yava-majhakiya
,, Muga-pakhaya

Jataka.

Muga-pakkha
Latukika

xxvi. Latuwa

) >

,, Cha-dantiya

Chad-danta

„ Isi-siggiya

Isa-sigga

,, (?)YamAumaw^-ayavesi ,,

Andlia-bhuta

xxvii. ?*

Kurugga-Tniga

10.

,, Hai)sa

Nacca

11.

,, Kinara

Canda-kiTiTiara

12.

Asadisa

13.

Dasaratha

14.

xliii. Isi-migo

15.

xlvi. Uda

16.

„ Secha

D ubhiya-makkata.

17.

18.

xlvii. Sujato gahuto

/ Bidala
" (Kukuta

Sujata

Kukkuta

))

19.

xlviii. Maghtl-deviya

Makha-deva

20.

,, Bhisa-haraniya

21.

xviii. Vitura-panakaya

Vidhura

^^^iii f Janako Raja
^^^^- { Sivala Devi

Janaka

22.

1 Translated below, pp. 205, and foil. This is one of those which General Cunning-
ham was unable to identify.

2 General Cunning-ham says (p. 52): "The former [Naga Jataka, i.e. Elephant
Jataka] is the correct name, as in the legend here represented Buddha is the King of
the Elephants, and therefore the Jataka, or Birth, must of necessity have been named
after him." As I have above pointed out (p. xli), the title of each Jataka, or Birth
Story, is chosen, not by any means from the character which the Bodisat fills in it,
but indifferently from a variety of other reasons. General Cunningham himself gives
the story called Isl-singga Jataka (No. 7 in the above list), in which the ascetic after
whom the Jataka is named is not the Bodisat.

8 Not as yet found in the Jataka Book ; but Dr. Biihler has shown in the ' Indian
Antiquary,' vol. i. p. 305, that it is the first tale in the ' Vrihat Katha ' of Kshemendra
(Table I. No. 34), and in the 'Katha Sarit Sagara' of Somadeva (Table I. No. 33),
and was therefore probably included in the 'Vrihat Katha' of Gunadhya (Table I.
No. 32).

* The part of the stone supposed to have contained the inscription is lost.

5 Translated below, pp. 292, 293.

6 It is mentioned below, p. 128, and is included in the Mahavastu (Table V.), and
forms the subject of the carving on one of the rails at Buddha Gaya (Rajendra Lai
Mitra, pi. xxxiv. fig. 2).

7 Not as yet found in the Jataka Book.

8 Translated below, pp. 186-188. See also above, p. ixiv.

3 There are four distinct bas-reliefs illustrative of this Jataka.

There are numerous other scenes without titles, and not yet identified in
the Jutaka Book, but which are almost certainly illustrative of Jataka Stories ;
and several scenes with titles illustrative of passages in the Nidana Katha of
the Jataka Book. So, for instance, PI. xvi. fig. 1 is the worship in heaven of
the Buddha's Head-dress, whose reception into heaven is described below,
p. 86 ; and the heavenly mansion, the Palace of Glory, is inscribed Vejayanto
Fas a do, the origin of which name is explained below, p. 287. Plate xxviii.
has a scene entitled ' Bhagavato Ohhanti ' (The Descent of the Blessed
One),^ in illustration of Maya Devi's Dream (below, pp. 62, 63) ; and
Plate Ivii. is a representation of the Presentation of the Jetavana Monastery
(below, pp. 130-133). The identifications of Nos. 12 and 13 in the above
list are very doubtful.

Besides the above, Mr. Fergusson, in his * Tree and Serpent Worship,' has
identified bas-reliefs on the Sanchi Tope in illustration of the Sama and
Asadisa Jatakas (PI. xxxvi. p. 181) and of the Vessantara Jataka (PI. xxiv.
p. 125) ; and there are other Jataka scenes on the Sanchi Tope not yet
identified.

Mr. Simpson also has been kind enough to show me drawings of bas-reliefs
he discovered in Afghanistan, two of which I have been able to identify as
illustrations of the Sumedha Jataka (below, p. 11-13), and another as illus-
trative of the scene described below on pp. 125, 126.

1 General Cunningham's reading of this inscription as Bhagavato rukdanta seems to
me to be incorrect, and his translation of it (' Buddha as the sounding elephant ') to be
grammatically impossible.

THE NIDANAKATHA

THE THEEE EPOCHS.

[vv. 1-11.] The Apannaksi and otlier Births, which in
times gone by were recounted on various occasions by the
great illustrious Sage, and in which during a long period
our Teacher and Leader, desirous of the salvation of
mankind, fulfilled the vast conditions of Buddhahood,^
were all collected together and added to the canon of
Scripture by those who made the recension of the Scrip-
tures, and rehearsed by them under the name of THE
JATAKA. Having bowed at the feet of the Great Sage,
the lord of the world, by whom in innumerable existences^
boundless benefits were conferred upon mankind, and
having paid reverence to the Law, and ascribed honour
to the Clergy, the receptacle of all honour ; and having
removed all dangers by the efficacy of that meritorious act
of veneration and honour referring to the Three Gems,
I proceed to recite a Commentary upon this Jataka,
illustrating as it does the infinite efficacy of the actions
of great men — a commentary based upon the method
of exposition current among the inmates of the Great
Monastery. And I do so at the personal request of the
elder Atthadassin, who lives apart from the world and

1 Lit. perfected the vast constituents of Buddhahood, the Paramitas are
meant.

2 Lit. in thousands of kotis of births ; a koti is ten millions.

VOL. I. 1

2 THE NIDANAKATHA.

ever dwells with his fraternity, and who desires the
perpetuation of this chronicle of Buddha ; and likewise of
Buddhamitta the tranquil and wise, sprung from the race
of Mahi/>isasaka, skilled in the canons of interpretation;
and moreover of the monk Buddhadeva of clear intellect.
May all good men lend me their favourable attention
while I speak !^

Inasmuch as this comment on the Jataka, if it be ex-
poimded after setting forth the three Epochs, the distant,
the middle, and proximate, will be clearly understood by
those who hear it by being understood from the beginning,
therefore I will expound it after setting forth the three
Epochs. Accordingly from the very outset it will be well
to determine the limits of these Epochs. Now the narra-
tive of the Bodhisatta's existence, from the time that at
the feet of Dipankara he formed a resolution to become
a Buddha to his rebirth in the Tusita heaven after
leaving the Yessantara existence, is called the Distant
Epoch. From his leaving the Tusita heaven to his at-
tainment of omniscience on the throne of Knowledge,
the narrative is called the Intermediate Epoch. And the
Proximate Epoch is to be found in the various places in
which he sojourned (during his ministry on earth). The
following is

THE DISTANT EPOCH.

Tradition tells us that four asankheyyas'^ and a hundred
thousand cycles ago there was a city called Amaravatl.
In this city there dwelt a brahmin named Sumedha, of
good family on both sides, on the father's and the

1 The above lines in the original are in verse. I have found it impossible
to follow the arrangement of the stanzas, owing to the extreme involution of
the style.

2 kxi asankheyya is a period of vast duration, lit. an incalculable.

THE STORY OF SUMEDHA. y

mother* s side, of pure conception for seven generations
back, by birth unreproacbed and respected, a man comely,
well-favoured and amiable, and endowed with remarkable
beauty. He followed his brahminical studies without
engaging in any other pursuit. His parents died while
he was still young. A minister of state, who acted as
steward of his property, bringing forth the roll-book of
his estate, threw open the stores filled with gold and silver,
gems and pearls, and other valuables, and said, " So much,
young man, belonged to your mother, so much to your
father, so much to your grandparents and great-grand-
parents," and pointing out to him the property inherited
through seven generations, he bade him guard it carefully.
The wise Sumedha thought to himself, " After amassing
all this wealth my parents and ancestors when they went
to another world took not a farthing with them, can it
be right that I should make it an object to take my
wealth with me when I go ? " And informing the king
of his intention, he caused proclamation to be made^
in the city, gave largess to the people, and embraced
the ascetic life of a hermit.

To make this matter clear the Story of Sumedha must
here be related. This story, though given in full in the
Buddhavamsa, from its being in a metrical form, is not
very easy to understand. I will therefore relate it with
sentences at intervals explaining the metrical construction.

Four asankheyyas and a hundred thousand cycles ago
there was a city called Amaravati or Amara, resounding
with the ten city cries, concerning which it is said in
Buddhavawsa,

12. Four asankheyyas and a hundred thousand cycles ago
A city there was called Amara, beautiful and pleasant,
Resounding with the ten cries, abounding in food and drink.-

* 'Lit. " caused the drums to be beat."

* Here a gloss in the text enumerates the whole ten cries.

'II

4 THE NIDANAKATHA.

Tlieii follows a stanza of Buddliava«?sa enumerating
some of these cries,

13. The trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses, (the sound of)

drums, trumpets, and chariots,
And viands and drinks were cried, with the invitation, *' Eat and
drink."

It goes on to say,

14. A city supplied with every requisite, engaged in every sort of industry,
Possessing the seven precious things, thronged with dwellers of many

races ;
The ahode of devout men, like the prosperous city of the angels.

15. In the city of Amaravati dwelt a hrahmin named Sumedha,

Whose hoard was many tens of millions, hlest with much wealth and
store ;

16. Studious, knowing the Mantras, versed in the three Vedas,
Master of the science of divination and of the traditions and ohservances

of his caste.

Now one day the wise Sumedha, having retired to the
splendid upper apartment of his house, seated himself
cross-legged, and fell a thinking. " Oh ! wise man,^
grievous is rebirth in a new existence, and the dissolution
of the body in each successive place where we are reborn.
I am subject to birth, to decay, to disease, to death, — it
is right, being such, that I should strive to attain the
great deathless Nirva??a, which is tranquil, and free from
birth, and decay, and sickness, and grief and joy ; surely
there must be a road that leads to Nirva/^a and releases
man from existence." Accordingly it is said,

17. Seated in seclusion, I then thought as follows :
Grievous is rehirth and the breaking up of the body.

18. I am subject to birth, to decay, to disease.

Therefore will I seek Nirva^m, free from decay and death, and secure.

19. Let me leave this perishable body, this pestilent congregation of

vapours,
And depart without desires and without wants.

20. There is, there must be a road, it cannot but be :
I will seek this road, that I may obtain release from existence.

* The Bodhisatta is frequently called pandita, e.g. sasapandito (Five Jat.
52), Ramapandlto (Dasaratha Jat. 1).

THE STORY OF SUMEDHA. c

Further h.e reasoned thus, " For as in this world there
is pleasure as the correlative of pain, so where there is
existence there must be its opposite the cessation of
existence ; and as where there is heat there is also cold
which neutralizes it, so there must be a Nirvana ^ that
extinguishes (the fires of) lust and the other passions ;
and as in opposition to a bad and evil condition there
is a good and blameless one, so where there is evil Birth
there must also be Nirvana, called the Birthless, because
it puts an end to all rebirth." Therefore it is said, y^

21. As where there is suffering there is also hliss,

So where there is existence we must look for non-existence.

22. And as where there is heat there is also cold,

So where there is the threefold fire of passion extinction must be
sought.

23. And as coexistent with evil there is also good,

Even so where there is birth ^ the cessation of birth should be sought.

Again he reasoned thus, " Just as a man who \^ fallen
into a heap of filth, if he beholds afar ofi" a great pond
covered with lotuses of five colours, ought to seek that
pond, saying, * By what way shall I arrive there ? ' but
if he does not seek it the fault is not that of the pond ;
even so where there is the lake of the great deathless
IN^irvawa for the washing of the defilement of sin, if it
is not sought it is not the fault of the lake. And just
as a man who is surrounded by robbers, if when there
is a way of escape he does not fly it is not the fault
of the way but of the man; even so when there is a
blessed road leading to Nirvana for the man who is
encompassed and held fast by sin, its not being sought
is not the fault of the road but of the person. And as
a man who is oppressed with sickness, there being a
physician who can heal his disease, if he does not get

^ Lit. " Extinction."

2 Mr. Fausboll points out to me that in tividhaggi and jati we have
Vedic abbreviations.

6 THE NIDANAKATHA,

cured by going to tlie physician tliat is no fault of tlie
physician ; even so if a man who is oppressed by the
disease of sin seeks not a spiritual guide who is at hand
and knows the road which puts an end to sin, the fault
lies with him and not with the sin-destroying teacher."
Therefore it is said,

24. As a man fallen among filth, beholding a brimming lake,
If he seek not that lake, the fault is not in the lake ;

25. So when there exists a lake of Nirvana that washes the stains of sin,
If a man seek not that lake, the fault is not iti the lake of Nirvana.

26. As a man beset with foes, there being a way of escape,
If he flee not away, the fault is not with the road ;

27. So when there is a way of bliss, if a man beset with sin
Seek not that road, the fault is not in the way of bliss.

28. And as one who is diseased, there being a physician at hand.

If he bid him not heal the disease, the fault is not in the healer :

29. So if a man who is sick and oppressed with the disease of sin
Seek not the spiritual teacher, the fault is not in the teacher.

And again he argued, " As a man fond of gay clothing,
throwing off a corpse bound to his shoulders, goes away
rejoicing, so must I, throwing off this perishable body,
and freed from all desires, enter the city of Nirva/ia.
And as men and women depositing filth on a dung-
heap do not gather it in the fold or skirt of their
garments, but loathing it, throw it away, feeling no
desire for it ; so shall I also cast off this perishable body
without regret, and enter the deathless city of Nirvawa.
And as seamen abandon without regret an unseaworthy
ship and escape, so will I also, leaving this body, which
distils corruption from its nine festering apertures, enter
without regret the city of Nirvana. And as a man
carrying various sorts of jewels, and going on the same
road with a band of robbers, out of fear of losing his
jewels withdraws from them and gains a safe road ; even
so this impure body is like a jewel -plundering robber,
if I set my affections thereon the precious spiritual jewel
of the sublime path of holiness will be lost to me, there-

THE STORY OF SUMEDHA.

fore ouglit I to enter the city of Mrva?^a, forsaking
this robber-like body." Therefore it is said,

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

As a man might with loathing shake off a corpse bound upon his

shoulders,
And depart secure, independent, master of himself ;
Even so let me depart, regretting nothing, wanting nothing,
Leaving this perishable body, this collection of many foul vapours.
And as men and women deposit filth upon a dungheap.
And depart regretting nothing, wanting nothing,
So will I depart, leaving this body filled with foul vapours,
As one leaves a cesspool after depositing ordure there.
And as the owners forsake the rotten bark that is shattered and

leaking,
And depart without regret or longing,

So shall I go, leaving this body with its nine apertures ever running.
As its owners desert the broken ship.
And as a man carrying wares, walking with robbers,
Seeing danger of losing his wares, parts company with the robbers

and gets him gone.
Even so is this body like a mighty robber, —
Leaving it I wiU depart through fear of losing good.

Having thus in nine similes pondered upon the ad-
vantages connected with retirement from the world, the
wise Sumedha gave away at his own house, as aforesaid,
an immense hoard of treasure to the indigent and way-
farers and sufferers, and kept open house. And renouncing
all pleasures, both material and sensual, departing from
the city of Amara, away from the world in Himavanta
he made himself a hermitage near the mountain called
Dhammaka, and built a hut and a perambulation hall free
from the five defects which are hindrances (to meditation).
And with a view to obtain the power residing in the
supernatural faculties, which are characterized by the
eight causal qualities described in the words beginning
'' With a mind thus tranquillised," ^ he embraced in that

^ Bvam samdhite citte parisuddhe pariyodate anangam vigatupakkilese
mudubhute kammaniye thite anejjappatte nanadassanaya cittain abhiniharati
(Siimafifiaphala Sutta, see Lotus, p. 476, line 14).

8 THE NIDANAKATHA.

hermitage the ascetic life of a jRishi, casting off the cloak
with its nine disadvantages, and wearing the garment of
bark with its twelve advantages. And when he had
thus given up the world, forsaking this hut, crowded
with eight drawbacks, he repaired to the • foot of a tree
with its ten advantages, and rejecting all sorts of grain
lived constantly upon wild fruits. And strenuously
exerting himself both in sitting and in standing and in
walking, within a week he became the possessor of the
eight Attainments, and of the five Supernatural Faculties ;
and so, in accordance with his prayer, he attained the
might of supernatural knowledge. Therefore it is said,

38. Having pondered thus I gave many thousand millions of wealth
To rich and poor, and made my way to Himavanta.

39. Not far from Himavanta is the mountain called Dhamraaka,

Here I made an excellent hermitage, and built with care a leafy hut.

40. There I built me a cloister, free from five defects,

Possessed of the eight good qualities, and attained the strength of
the supernatural Faculties.

41. Then I threw off the cloak possessed of the nine faults,

And put on the raiment of bark possessed of the twelve advantages.

42. I left the hut, crowded with the eight drawbacks,
And went to the tree-foot possessed of ten advantages.^

43. "Wholly did I reject the grain that is sown and planted,

And partook of the constant fruits of the earth, possessed of many
advantages.

44. Then I strenuously strove, in sitting, in standing, and in walking,
And within seven days attained the might of the Faculties.^

Now while the hermit Sumedha, having thus attained
the strength of supernatural knowledge, was living in
the bliss of the (eight) Attainments, the Teacher Dlpan-
kara appeared in the world. At the moment of his
conception, of his birth, of his attainment of Buddhahood,
of his preaching his first discourse, the whole universe

^ Mr. Fausbbll writes to me that gune for gunehi must be viewed as an old
Pali form originating in the Sanskrit gunaih.

2 Here follow four pages of later commentary or gloss, which I leave
untranslated.

SUMEDHA AND DIPANKARA.

of ten thousand worlds trembled, shook and quaked, and
gave forth a mighty sound, and the thirty-two prognostics
showed themselves. But the hermit Sumedha, living in
the bliss of the Attainments, neither heard that sound
nor beheld those signs. Therefore it is said.

45.

46.

Thus when I had attained the consummation, while I was subjected

to the Law,
The Conqueror named Dipankara, chief of the universe, appeared.
At his conception, at his birth, at his Buddhahood, at his preaching,
I saw not the four signs, plunged in the blissful trance of meditation.

At that time Dipankara Buddha, accompanied by a
hundred thousand saints, wandering his way from place
to place, reached the city of E,amma, and took up his
residence in the great monastery of Sudassana. And the
dwellers of the city of Ramma heard it said, " Dipankara,
lord of ascetics, having attained supreme Buddhaship,
and set on foot the supremacy of the Law, wandering his
way from place to place, has come to the town of Ramma,
and dwells at the great monastery of Sudassana." And
taking with them ghee and butter and other medicinal
requisites and clothes and raiment, and bearing perfumes
and garlands and other offerings in their hands, their
minds bent towards the Buddha, the Law, and the Clergy,
inclining towards them, hanging upon them, they ap-
proached the Teacher and worshipped him, and presenting
the perfumes and other offerings, sat down on one side.
And having heard his preaching of the Law, and invited
him for the next day, they rose from their seats and
departed. And on the next day, having prepared alms-
giving for the poor, and having decked out the town,
they repaired the road by which the Buddha was to
come, throwing earth in the places that were worn away
by water and thereby levelling the surface, and scattering
sand that looked like strips of silver. And they sprinkled
fragrant roots and flowers, and raised aloft flags and
banners of many-coloured cloths, and set up banana

10 THE NIDANAKATHA.

arches and rows of brimming jars. Then the hermit
Sumedha, ascending from his hermitage, and proceeding
through the air till he was above those men, and
beholding the joyous multitude, exclaimed, "What can
be the reason?" and alighting stood on one side and
questioned the people, " Tell me, why are you adorning
this road ? " Therefore it is said,

47. In the region of the border districts, having invited the Buddha,
With joyful hearts they are clearing the road by which he should

come.

48. And I at that time leaving my hermitage,
Rustling my barken tunic, departed through the air.

49. And seeing an excited multitude joyous and delighted.
Descending from the air I straightway asked the men,

50. The people is excited, joyous and happy.

For whom is the road being cleared, the path, the way of his coming ?

And the men replied, " Lord Sumedha, dost thou not
know? Dipankara Buddha, having attained supreme
Knowledge, and set on foot the reign of the glorious
Law, travelling from place to place, has reached our
town, and dwells at the great monastery Sudassana ;
we have invited the Blessed One, and are making ready
for the blessed Buddha the road by which he is to
come.'' And the hermit Sumedha thought, ''The very
sound of the word Buddha is rarely met with in the
world, much more the actual appearance of a Buddha ;
it behoves me to join these men in clearing the road.'*
He said therefore to the men, " If you are clearing this
road for the Buddha, assign to me a piece of ground,
I will clear the ground in company with you." They
consented, saying, "It is well ; " and perceiving the
hermit Sumedha to be possessed of supernatural power,
they fixed upon a swampy piece of ground, and assigned
it to him, saying, "Do thou prepare this spot." Sumedha,
his heart filled with joy of which the Buddha was the
cause, thought within himself, "I am able to prepare

SUMEDHA AND DIPANKARA.

this piece of ground by supernatural power, but if so
prepared it will give me no satisfaction ; this day it
behoves me to perform menial duties ; " and fetching
earth he threw it upon the spot.

But ere the ground could be cleared by him, — with
a train of a hundred thousand miracle-working saints
endowed with the six supernatural faculties, while angels
offered celestial wreaths and perfumes, while celestial
hymns rang forth, and men paid their homage with
earthly perfumes and with flowers and other offerings,
Dipankara endowed with the ten Forces, with all a Buddha's
transcendant majesty, like a lion rousing himself to seek
his prey on the Yermilion plain, came down into the road
all decked and made ready for him. Then the hermit
Sumedha — as the Buddha with unblenching eyes ap-
proached along the road prepared for him, beholding that
form endowed with the perfection of beauty, adorned with
the thirty-two characteristics of a great man, and marked
with the eighty minor beauties, attended by a halo of
a fathom's depth, and sending forth in streams the six-
hued Buddha -rays, linked in pairs of different colours,
and wreathed like the varied lightnings that flash in
the gem- studded vault of heaven — exclaimed, " This day
it behoves me to make sacrifice of my life for the
Buddha : let not the Blessed one walk in the mire — nay,
let him advance with his four hundred thousand saints
trampling on my body as if walking upon a bridge of
jewelled planks, this deed will long be for my good
and my happiness." So saying, he loosed his hair, and
spreading in the inky mire his hermit's skin mantle, roll
of matted hair and garment of bark, he lay down in the
mire like a bridge of jewelled planks. Therefore it is said.

51. Questioned by rae they replied, An incomparable Buddha is born into
the world,
The Conqueror named Dipankara, lord of the universe,
For him the road is cleared, the way, the path of his coming.

12 THE NIDANAKATHA.

52. When I heard the name of Buddha joy sprang up forthwith within me,
Eepeating, a Buddha, a Buddha ! I gave utterance to my joy.

53. Standing there I pondered, joyful and excited,

Here I will sow the seed, may the happy moment not pass away.

54. If you clear a path for the Buddha, assign to me a place,
I also will clear the road, the way, the path of his coming.

hh. Then they gave me a piece of ground to clear the pathway ;

Then repeating within me, a Buddha, a Buddha ! I cleared the road.
b^. But ere my portion was cleared, Dlpankara the great sage,

The Conqueror, entered the road with four hundred thousand saints
like himself,

Possessed of the six supernatural attributes, pure from all taint of sin.

57. On every side men rise to receive him, many drums send forth their music.
Men and angels overjoyed, shout forth their applause.

58. Angels look upon men, men upon angels,

And both with clasped hands upraised approach the great Being.

59. Angels with celestial music, men with earthly music.
Both sending forth their strains approach the great Being.

60. Angels floating in the air sprinkle down in all directions
Celestial Erythrina flowers, lotuses and coral flowers.

61. Men standing on the ground throw upwards in all directions
Champac and Salala flowers, Cadamba and fragrant Mesua, Punnaga,

and Ketaka.

62. Then I loosed my hair, and spreading in the mire
Bark robe and mantle of skin, lay prone upon my face.

63. Let the Buddha advance with his disciples, treading upon me ;
Let him not tread in the mire, it will be for my blessing.

And as lie lay in the mire, again beholding the Buddha-
majesty of Dlpankara Buddha with his unblenching gaze,
he thought as follows : " Were I willing, I could enter
the city of Ramma as a novice in the priesthood, after
having destroyed all human passions ; but why should I
disguise myself^ to attain Nirva/^a after the destruction

' The following is what I take to be the meaning of this passage : " If I
chose I could at once enter the Buddhist priesthood, and by the practice of
ecstatic meditation (Jhuna) free myself from human passion, and become an
Arhat or saint. I should then at death at once attain Nirvawa and cease to
exist. But this would be a selfish course to pursue, for thus I should benefit
myself only. "Why should I thus slip unobserved and in the humble garb of
a monk into Nirva,?m ? Nay, let me rather qualify myself to become a Buddha,
and so save others as well as myself." This is the great Act of Eenunciation
by which the Bodhisattva, when Nirvana was within his grasp, preferred to
endure ages of heroic trials in the exercise of the Paramitas, that he might be
enabled to become a Buddha, and so redeem mankind. See D'Alwis's Intro-
duction to Kachchilyana's Grammar, p. vi.

SUMEDHA AND DIPANKARA.

of human passion? Let me rather, like Dipankara, having
risen to the supreme knowledge of the Truth, enable
mankind to enter the Ship of the Truth and so carry them
across the Ocean of Existence, and when this is done
afterwards attain Nirvawa ; this indeed it is right that
I should do." Then having enumerated the eight con-
ditions (necessary to the attainment of Buddhahood), and
having made the resolution to become Buddha, he laid
himself down. Therefore it is said,

64. As I lay upon the ground this was the thought of my heart,

If I wished it I might this day destroy within me all human passions.

65. But why should I in disguise arrive at the knowledge of the Truth ?

I will attain omniscience and hecome a Buddha, and (save) men and
angels.

66. "Why should I cross the ocean resolute hut alone ?

I will attain omniscience, and enable men and angels to cross.

67. By this resolution of mine, I a man of resolution
Will attain omniscience, and save men and angels,

68. Cutting ofE the stream of transmigration, annihilating the three forms

of existence.
Embarking in the ship of the Truth, I will carry across with me men
and angels.^

And the blessed Dipankara having reached the spot
stood close by the hermit Sumedha's head. And opening
his eyes possessed of the five kinds of grace as one opens
a jewelled window, and beholding the hermit Sumedha
lying in the mire, thought to himself, " This hermit who
lies here has formed the resolution to be a Buddha ; will
his prayer be fulfilled or not?" And casting forward \
his prescient gaze into the future, and considering, he
perceived that four asankheyyas and a hundred thousand
cycles from that time he would become a Buddha named
Gotama. And standing there in the midst of the assembly /
he delivered this prophecy, " Behold ye this austere
hermit lying in the mire ?" "Yes, Lord," they answered.

^ What follows from yasma to nipajji belongs to a later commentary. I
resume the translation with p. 15, line 11.

THE NIDANAKATHA.

" This man lies here having made the resolution to become
a Buddha, his prayer will be answered; at the end of
four asankheyyas and a hundred thousand cycles hence
he will become a Buddha named Gotama, and in that
birth the city Kapilavatthu will be his residence, Queen
Maya will be his mother. King Suddhodana his father,
his chief disciple will be the thera Upatissa, his second
disciple the thera Kolita, the Buddha's servitor will be
Ananda, his chief female disciple the nun Khema, the
second the nun Uppalavawwa. When he attains to years
of ripe knowledge, having retired from the world and
made the great exertion, having received at the foot of
a banyan- tree a meal of rice milk, and partaken of it
by the banks of the Neranjara, having ascended the
throne of Knowledge, he will, at the foot of an Indian
fig-tree, attain Supreme Buddhahood. Therefore it is
said,

70. DTpankara, knower of all worlds, receiver of offerings,
Standing by that wMcli pillowed my head, spoke these words :

71. See ye this austere hermit with his matted hair,
Countless ages hence he will be a Buddha in this world.

72. Lo, the great Being departing from pleasant Kapila,

Having fought the great fight, performed all manner of austerities,

73. Having sat at the foot of the Ajapala tree, and there received rice

pottage,
Shall approach the Neranjara river.

74. Having received the rice pottage on the banks of the Neranjara, the

Conqueror
Shall come by a fair road prepared for him to the foot of the
Bodhi-tree.

75. Then, unrivalled and glorious, reverentially saluting the throne of

Bodhi,
At the foot of an Indian fig-tree he shall attain Buddhahood.

76. The mother that bears him shall be called Maya,

His father will be Suddhodana, he himself will be Gotama.

77. His chief disciples will be Upatissa and Kolita,

Void of human passion, freed from desire, calm-minded and tranquil.

78. The servitor Ananda will attend upon the Conqueror,
Khema and Uppalavawwa will be his chief female disciples,

79. Void of human passion, freed from desire, calm-minded and tranquil.
The sacred tree of this Buddha is called Assattha.

SUMEDHA AND DIPANKARA.

The hermit Sumedha, exclaiming, " My prayer, it seems,
will be accomplished," was filled with happiness. The
multitudes, hearing the words of Dipankara Buddha,
were joyous and delighted, exclaiming, " The hermit
Sumedha, it seems, is an embryo Buddha, the tender
shoot that will grow up into a Buddha." For thus
they thought, "As a man fording a river, if he is
unable to cross to the ford opposite him, crosses to a
ford lower down the stream, even so we, if under the
dispensation of Dipankara Buddha we fail to attain the
Paths and their fruition, yet when thou shalt become
Buddha we shall be enabled in thy presence to make the
paths and their fruition our own," — and so they recorded
their prayer (for future sanctification). And Dipankara
Buddha also having praised the Bodhisatta, and made
an ofiering to him of eight handfuls of flowers, reveren-
tially saluted him and departed. And the Arhats also,
four hundred thousand in number, having made ofierings
to the Bodhisatta of perfumes and garlands, reverentially
saluted him and departed. And the angels and men
having made the same offerings, and bowed down to him,
went their way.

And the Bodhisatta, when all had retired, rising from
his seat and exclaiming, " I will investigate the Perfec-
tions," sat himself down cross-legged on a heap of flowers.
And as the Bodhisatta sat thus, the angels in all the ten
thousand worlds assembling shouted applause. " Venerable
hermit Sumedha," they said, " all the auguries which
have manifested themselves when former Bodhisattas
seated themselves cross-legged, saying, 'We will inves-
tigate the Perfections,' — all these this day have appeared :
assuredly thou shalt become Buddha. This we know, to
whom these omens appear, he surely will become Buddha ;
do thou make a strenuous effort and exert thyself." "With
these words they lauded the Bodhisatta with varied
praises. Therefore it is said.

6 THE NIDANAKATIIA.

80. Hearing these words of the incomparahle Sage,

Angels and men delighted, exclaimed. This is an emhryo Buddha.

81. A great clamour arises, men and angels in ten thousand worlds
Clap their hands, and laugh, and make obeisance with clasped hands,

82. " Should we fail," they say, " of this Buddha's dispensation,
Yet in time to come we shall stand before him.

83. As men crossing a river, if they fail to reach the opposite ford.
Gaining the lower ford cross the great river,

84. Even so we all, if we lose this Buddha,
In time to come shall stand before him."

85. The world-knowing Dipankara, the receiver of offerings,
Having celebrated ray meritorious act, went his way.^

86. All the disciples of the Buddha that were present saluted me with

reverence,
Men, Nagas, and Gandhabbas bowed down to me and departed.

87. When the Lord of the world with his following had passed beyond

my sight.
Then glad, with gladsome heart, I rose up from my seat.

88. Joyful I am with a great joy, glad with a great gladness ;
Flooded with rapture then I seated myself cross-legged.

89. And even as thus I sat I thought within myself,

I am subject to ecstatic meditation, I have mastered the supernatural
Faculties.

90. In a thousand worlds there are no sages that rival me.
Unrivalled in miraculous powers I have reached this bliss.

91. When thus they beheld me sitting,^ the dwellers of ten thousand

worlds
Eaised a mighty shout. Surely thou shalt be a Buddha !

92. The omens 3 beheld in former ages when Bodhisatta sat cross-legged,
The same are beheld this day.

93. Cold is dispelled and heat ceases.

This day these things are seen,— verily thou shalt be Buddha.

94. A thousand worlds are stilled and silent.

So are they seen to-day, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

95. The mighty winds blow not, the rivers cease to flow,
These things are seen to-day, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

96. All flowers blossom on land and sea,

This day they all have bloomed, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

97. All creepers and trees are laden with fruit,

This day they all bear fruit, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

98. Gems sparkle in earth and sky,

This day all gems do glitter, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

^ Lit. " raised his right foot (to depart)."

2 Lit. " at my sitting cross-legged."

3 Mr. FausboU writes that yam is a mistake of the copyist for yd=:ydni.

THE PROGNOSTICS. ly

99. Music earthly and celestial sounds,

Both these to-day send forth their strains, — verily thou shalt be
Buddha.

100. Flowers of every hue rain down from the sky,

This day they are seen,— verily thou shalt be Buddha.

101. The mighty ocean bends itself, ten thousand worlds are shaken,
This day they both send up their roar, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

102. In hell the fires of ten thousand worlds die out,

This day these fires are quenched, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

103. Unclouded is the sun and all the stars are seen.

These things are seen to-day, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

104. Though no water fell in rain, vegetation burst forth from the earth,
This day vegetation springs from the earth, — verily thou shalt be

Buddha.

105. The constellations are aU aglow, and the lunar mansions in the vault

of heaven,

Visakha is in conjunction with the moon, — verily thou shalt be
Buddha.

106. Those creatures that dwell in holes and caves depart each from

his lair.
This day these lairs are forsaken, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

107. There is no discontent among mortals, but they are filled with

contentment.
This day all are content, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

108. Then diseases are dispelled and hunger ceases.

This day these things are seen, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

109. Then Desire wastes away. Hate and Folly perish.

This day all these are dispelled, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

110. No danger then comes near ; this day this thing is seen.
By this sign we know it, — verily thou shalt become Buddha.

111. No dust flies abroad ; this day this thing is seen.

By this sign we know it, verily thou shalt be Buddha.

112. All noisome odours flee away, celestial fragrance breathes around,
Suph fragrance breathes this day, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

113. All the angels are manifested, the Formless only excepted,
This day they all are seen, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

114. All the hells become visible,

These all are seen this day, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

115. Then walls, and doors, and rocks are no impediment,

This day they have melted into air,^ — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

116. At that moment death and birth do not take place,

This day these things are seen, — verily thou shalt be Buddha.

117. Do thou make a strenuous effort, hold not back, go forward,
This thing we know,— verily thou shalt be Buddha.

^ Or " have risen into the air " ?

1 8 THE NIDANAKATHA.

And tlie Bodhisatta, having heard the words of Dlpan-
kara Buddha, and of the angels in ten thousand worlds,
filled with immeasurable resolution, thought thus within
himself, " The Buddhas are beings whose word cannot
fail; there is no deviation from truth in their speech.
For as the fall of a clod thrown into the air, as the
death of a mortal, as the sunrise at dawn, as a lion's
roaring when he leaves his lair, as the delivery of a
woman with child, as all these things are sure and
certain, — even so the word of the Buddhas is sure and
cannot fail, verily I shall become a Buddha." Therefore
it is said,

118. Having heard the words of Buddha and of the angels of ten thousand

worlds,
Glad, joyous, delighted, I then thought thus within myself :

119. The Buddhas speak not doubtful words, the Conquerors speak not

vain words,
There is no falsehood in the Buddhas, — verily I shall become a
Buddha.

120. As a clod cast into the air doth surely fall to the ground,

So the word of the glorious Buddhas is sure and everlasting.

121. As the death of all mortals is sure and constant.

So the word of the glorious Buddhas is sure and everlasting.

122. As the rising of the sun is certain when night has faded.

So the word of the glorious Buddhas is sure and everlasting. »

123. As the roaring of a lion who has left his den is certain,

So the word of the glorious Buddhas is sure and everlasting.

124. As the delivery of women with child is certain,

So the word of the glorious Buddhas is sure and everlasting.

And having thus made the resolution, *' I shall surely
become Buddha," with a view to investigating the condi-
tions that constitute a Buddha, exclaiming, " Where are
the conditions that make the Buddha, are they found
above or below, in the principal or the minor directions?"
investigating successively the principles of all things, and
beholding the first Perfection of Almsgiving, practised
and followed by former Bodhisattas, he thus admonished
his own soul : " Wise Sumedha, from this time forth

THE TEN PARAMITAS.

thou must fulfil the perfection of Almsgiving ; for as a
water- jar overturned discharges the water so that none
remains, and cannot recover it, even so if thou, indifferent
to wealth and fame, and wife and child, and goods great
and small, give away to all who come and ask everything
that they require till nought remains, thou shalt seat
thyself at the foot of the tree of Bodhi and become a
Buddha." With these words he strenuously resolved to
attain the first perfection of Almsgiving. Therefore
it is said,

125. Come, I will search the Buddha-making conditions, this way and

that,
Above and below, in all the ten directions, as far as the principles of
things extend.

126. Then, as I made my search, I beheld the first Gift-perfection,
The high road followed by former sages.

127. Do thou strenuously taking it upon thyself advance

To this first perfection of almsgiving, if thou wilt attain Buddhaship.

128. As a brimming water-jar, overturned by any one.
Discharges entirely all the water, and retains none within,

129. Even so, when thou seest any that ask, great, small, and middling,
Do thou give away all in alms, as the water- jar overthrown.

But considering further, " There must be beside this
other conditions that make a Buddha," and beholding the
second Perfection of Mor^l Practice, he thought thus,
" 0 wise Sumedha, from this day forth mayest thou fulfil
the perfection of Morality ; for as the Yak ox, regardless
of his life, guards his bushy tail, even so thou shalt
become Buddha, if from this day forward regardless
of thy life thou keepest the moral precepts." And he
strenuously resolved to attain the second perfection of
Moral Practice. Therefore it is said,

130. For the conditions of a Buddha cannot be so few,

Let me investigate the other conditions that bring Buddhaship to
maturity.

131. Then investigating I beheld the second Perfection of Morality
Practised and followed by former sages.

20 THE NIDANAKATHA,

1 32. This second one do thou strenuously undertake,

And reach the perfection of Moral Practice if thou wilt attain
Buddhahood.

133. And as the Yak cow, when her tail has got entangled in anything,
Then and there awaits death, and will not injure her tail,'

1 34. So also do thou, having fulfilled the moral precepts in the four stages,
Ever guard the Sila as the Yak guards her tail.

But considering further, "These cannot be tlie only
Buddha-making conditions," and beholding the third
Perfection of Self-abnegation, he thought thus, " 0 wise
Sumedha, mayest thou henceforth fulfil the perfection
of Abnegation ; for as a man long the denizen of a prison
feels no love for it, but is discontented, and wishes to
live there no more, even so do thou, likening all births
to a prison-house, discontented with all births, and anxious
to get rid of them, set thy face toward abnegation,
thus shalt thou become Buddha.'' And he strenuously
made the resolution to attain the third perfection of
Self-abnegation. Therefore it is said,

135. For the conditions that make a Buddha cannot be so few,

I will investigate others, the conditions that bring Buddhaship to
maturity.

136. Investigating then I beheld the third Perfection of Abnegation
Practised and followed by former sages.

137. This third one do thou strenuous^ undertake,

And reach the perfection of abnegation, if thou wilt attain Buddhahood.

138. As a man long a denizen of the house of bonds, oppressed with

suffering.
Feels no pleasure therein, but rather longs for release,

139. Even so do thou look upon all births as prison-houses.

Set thy face toward self-abnegation, to obtain release from Existence.

But considering further, "These cannot be the only
Buddha-making conditions," and beholding the fourth
Perfection of Wisdom, he thought thus, " 0 wise Sumedha,

1 Viz., I suppose, by dragging it forcibly away. This metaphor, which to
us appears wanting in dignity, is a favourite one with the Hindus. The tail
of the Yak or Tibetan ox [Bos Grunniens) is a beautiful object, and one of
the insignia of Hindu royalty.

THE TEN PARAMITAS. 2i

do thou from this day forth fulfil the perfection of
Wisdom, avoiding no subject of knowledge, great, small,
or middling,^ do thou approach all wise men and ask
them questions ; for as the mendicant friar on his begging
rounds, avoiding none of the families, great and small,
that he frequents,^ and wandering for alms from place
to place, speedily gets food to support him, even so
shalt thou, approaching all wise men, and asking them
questions, become a Buddha." And he strenuously re-
solved to attain the fourth perfection of Wisdom. There-
fore it is said,

140. For the conditions that make a Buddha cannot be so few,

I will investigate the other conditions that bring Buddhaship to
maturity.

141. Investigating then I beheld the fourth Perfection of Wisdom
Practised and followed by former sages.

142. This fourth do thou strenuously undertake,

And reach the perfection of wisdom, if thou wilt attain Buddhahood.

143. And as a monk on his begging rounds avoids no families,
Either small, or great, or middling, and so obtains subsistence,

144. Even so thou, constantly questioning wise men.

And reaching the perfection of wisdom, shalt attain supreme
Buddhaship.

But considering further, "These cannot be the only
Buddha-making conditions," and seeing the fifth Perfec-
tion of Exertion, he thought thus, " 0 wise Sumedha, do
thou from this day forth fulfil the perfection of Exertion.
As the lion, the king of beasts, in every action^ strenuously
exerts himself, so if thou in all existences and in all thy
acts art strenuous in exertion, and not a laggard, thou
shalt become a Buddha." And he made a firm resolve
to attain the fifth perfection of Exertion. Therefore it
is said.

' Lit. " not avoiding anything among things great, small, and middling.

2 After kind understand kularh, as will be seen from v. 143.

3 Lit. in all postm*es, walking, standing, etc.

22 THE NIDANAKATHA.

145. For the conditions of a Buddha cannot be so few,

I will investigate the other conditions which bring Buddhaship to
maturity.

146. Investigating then I beheld the fifth Perfection of Exertion
Practised and followed by former sages.

147. This fifth do thou strenuously undertake,

And reach the perfection of exertion, if thou wilt attain Buddhahood.

148. As the lion, king of beasts, in lying, standing and walking.
Is no laggard, but ever of resolute heart,

149. Even so do thou also in every existence strenuously exert thyself,
And reaching the perfection of exertion, thou shalt attain the supreme

Buddhaship.

But considering further, "These cannot be tlie only
Buddha-making conditions," and beholding the sixth
Perfection of Patience, he thought to himself, " 0 wise
Sumedha, do thou from this time forth fulfil the perfec-
tion of Longsuffering ; be thou patient in praise and in
reproach. And as when men throw things pure or foul
upon the earth, the earth does not feel either desire or
repulsion towards them, but suffers them, endures them
and acquiesces in them, even so thou also, if thou art
patient in praise and reproach, shalt become Buddha."
And he strenuously resolved to attain the sixth perfection
of Longsuffering. Therefore it is said,

150. For the conditions of a Buddha cannot be so few,

I will seek other conditions also which bring about Buddhaship.

151. And seeking then I beheld the sixth Perfection of Longsuffering
Practised and followed by former Buddhas.

152. Having strenuously taken upon thee this sixth perfection.

Then with unwavering mind thou shalt attain supreme Buddhaship.

153. And as the earth endures all that is thrown upon it,

Whether things pure or impure, and feels neither anger nor pity,

154. Even so enduring the praises and reproaches of all men,

Going on to perfect longsuffering, thou shalt attain supreme Buddha-
ship.

But further considering, " These cannot be the only
conditions that make a Buddha," and beholding the
seventh Perfection of Truth, he thought thus within

THE TEN PARAMITAS.

himself, " 0 wise Sumedha, from this time fortli do thou
fulfil the perfection of Truth ; though the thunderbolt
descend upon thy head, do thou never under the influence
of desire and other passions utter a conscious lie, for the
sake of wealth or any other advantage. And as the
planet Yenus at all seasons pursues her own course, nor
ever goes on another course forsaking her own, even so,
if thou forsake not truth and utter no lie, thou shalt
become Buddha." And he strenuously turned his mind
to the seventh perfection of Truth. Therefore it is said,

155.

156.

157.

158.

159.

For these are not all the conditions of a Buddha,

I will seek other conditions which bring about Buddhaship.

Seeking then I beheld the seventh Perfection of Truth

Practised and followed by former Buddhas.

Having strenuously taken upon thyself this seventh perfection,

Then free from duplicity of speech thou shalt attain supreme

Buddhaship.
And as the planet Venus, balanced in all her times and seasons,
In the world of men and devas, departs not from her path,
Even so do thou not depart from the course of truth, ^
Advancing to the perfection of truth, thou shalt attain supreme

Buddhaship.

But further considering, " These cannot be the only
conditions that make a Buddha," and beholding the eighth
Perfection of Resolution, he thought thus within himself,
*' 0 wise Sumedha, do thou from this time forth fulfil the
perfection of Resolution; whatsoever thou resolvest be
thou unshaken in that resolution. For as a mountain,
the wind beating upon it in all directions, trembles not,
moves not, but stands in its place, even so thou, if
unswerving in thy resolution, shalt become Buddha."
And he strenuously resolved to attain the eighth per-
fection of Eesolution. Therefore it is said,

160. For these are not all the conditions of a Buddha,

I will seek out other conditions that bring about Buddhaship.

Lit. depart from thy course in the matter of truthful things.

THE NIDANAKATHA.

161. Seeking then I beheld the eighth Perfection of Resolution
Practised and followed by former Buddhas.

162. Do thou resolutely take upon thyself this eighth perfection,
Then thou being immovable shalt attain supreme Buddhaship.

163. And as the rocky mountain, immovable, firmly based,

Is unshaken by many winds, and stands in its own place,

164. Even so do thou also remain ever immovable in resolution,
Advancing to the perfection of resolution, thou shalt attain supreme

Buddhaship.

But further considering, "These cannot be the only
conditions that make a Buddha," and beholding the ninth
Perfection of Good- will, he thought thus within himself,
*' 0 wise Sumedha, do thou from this time forth fulfil the
perfection of Good-will, mayest thou be of one mind
towards friends and foes. And as water fills with its
refreshing coolness good men and bad alike,^ even so,
if thou art of one mind in friendly feeling towards all
mortals, thou shalt become Buddha." And he strenuously
resolved to attain the ninth perfection of Good- will.
Therefore it is said,

165. For these are not all the conditions of a Buddha,

I will seek out other conditions that bring about Buddhaship.

166. Seeking I beheld the ninth Perfection of Good- will
Practised and followed by former Buddhas.

167. Do thou, taking resolutely upon thyself this ninth perfection,
Become unrivalled in kindness, if thou wilt become Buddha.

168. And as water fills with its coolness

Good men and bad alike, and carries off all impurity,

169. Even so do thou look with friendship alike on the evil and the good.
Advancing to the perfection of kindness, thou shalt attain supreme

Buddhaship.

But further considering, " These cannot be the only
conditions that make a Buddha," and beholding the tenth
Perfection of Equanimity, he thought thus within himself,
" 0 wise Sumedha, from this time do thou fulfil the

' Lit. having made its coldness exactly alike for bad people and good
people, pervades them.

THE TEN PARAMITAS. 25

perfection of Equanimity, be thou of equal mind in
prosperity and adversity. And as the earth is indifferent
when things pure or impure are cast upon it, even so,
if thou art indifferent in prosperity and adversity, thou
shalt become Buddha." And he strenuously resolved to
attain the tenth perfection of Equanimity. Therefore
it is said,

170. For these cannot be all the conditions of a Buddha,

I will seek other conditions that bring about Buddhaship.

171. Seeking then I beheld the tenth Perfection of Equanimity
Practised and followed by former Buddhas.

172. If thou take resolutely upon thyself this tenth perfection,
Becoming well-balanced and firm, thou shalt attain supreme Buddha-
ship.

173. And as the earth is indifferent to pure and impure things cast

upon her,
To both alike, and is free from anger and favour,

174. Even so do thou ever be evenly-balanced in joy and grief,
Advancing to the perfection of equanimity, thou shalt attain supreme

Buddhaship.

Then he thought, "These are the only conditions in
this world that, bringing Buddhaship to perfection and
constituting a Buddha, have to be fulfilled by Bodhisattas;
beside the ten Perfections there are no others. And
these ten Perfections are neither in the heaven above
nor in the earth below, nor are they to be found in the
east or the other quarters, but reside in my heart of
flesh." Having thus realized that the Perfections were
established in his heart, having strenuously resolved to
keep them all, grasping them again and again, he
mastered them forwards and backwards;^ taking them
at the end he went backward to the beginning, taking
them at the beginning he placed them at the end,^ taking
them at the middle he carried them to the two ends,
taking them at both ends he carried them to the middle.

1 i.e. alternately from the first to the tenth and from the tenth to the first.
* i.e. put the first last.

26 THE NIDANAKATHA.

Repeating, " The Perfections are the sacrifice of limbs,
the Lesser Perfections are the sacrifice of property, the
Unlimited Perfections are the sacrifice of life,'' he mastered
them as the Perfections, the Lesser Perfections and the
Unlimited Perfections, — like one who converts two
kindred oils into one,^ or like one who, using Mount Meru
for his churning-rod, churns the great Cakkavala ocean.
And as he grasped again and again the ten Perfections,
by the power of his piety this earth, four nahutas and
eight hundred thousand leagues in breadth, like a bundle
of reeds trodden by an elephant, or a sugar-mill in
motion, uttering a mighty roar, trembled, shook and
quaked, and spun round like a potter's wheel or the
wheel of an oil-mill. Therefore it is said,

17o. These are all the conditions in the world that bring Buddhaship to
perfection :
Beyond these are no others, therein do thou stand fast.

176. While he grasped these conditions natural and intrinsic,^

By the power of his piety the earth of ten thousand worlds quaked.

177. The earth sways and thunders like a sugar-mill at work,
Like the wheel of an oil-mill so shakes the earth.

And while the earth was trembling the people of
Pamma, unable to endure it, like great Sal-trees over-
thrown by the wind that blows at the end of a cycle,
fell swooning here and there, while waterpots and other
vessels, revolving like a jar on a potter's wheel, struck
against each other and were dashed and ground to pieces.
The multitudes in fear and trembling approaching the
Teacher said, " Tell us. Blessed one, is this turmoil caused
by dragons, or is it caused by either demons, or ogres, or
by celestial beings ? — for this we know not, but truly
this whole multitude is grievously afilicted. Pray does

1 Vijesinha.

2 Vijesinha writes to me, "Natural and intrinsic virtues. The Sinhalese
gloss says : paramarthavu rasasahitavu lakshana-ceti nohot svabhavalakshana
ha sarvadharmasadharanalakshana-^ti. In the latter case it would mean,
having the quality of conformity with all laws."

THE GREAT RESOLVE.

this portend evil to tlie world or good ? — ^tell us the cause
of it." The Teacher hearing their words said, " Fear not
nor be troubled, there is no danger to you from this.
The wise Sumedha, concerning whom I predicted this
day, ' Hereafter he will be a Buddha named Gotama,'
is now mastering the Perfections, and while he masters
them and turns them about, by the power of his piety
the whole ten thousand worlds with one accord quake
and thunder." Therefore it is said,

178. All the multitude that was there in attendance on the Buddha,
Trembling, fell swooning there upon the ground.

179. Many thousands of waterpots and many hundred jars

Were crushed and pounded there and dashed against each other.

180. Excited, trembling, terrified, confused, their sense disordered,
The multitudes assembling, approached the Buddha.

181. Say, will it be good or evil to the world ?

The whole world is afflicted, ward off this (danger), thou Omniscient
One.

182. Then the Great Sage Dipankara enjoined upon them,
Be confident, be not afraid at this earthquaking :

183. He concerning whom I predicted this day, He will be a Buddha

in this world.
The same is investigating the time-honoured Conditions followed by
the Buddhas.

184. Therefore while he is investigating fully these Conditions, the

groundwork of a Buddha,
The earth of ten thousand worlds is shaken in the world of men and
of angels.

And the people hearing the Buddha's words, joyful and
delighted, taking with them garlands, perfumes and
unguents, left the city of Eamma, and went to the
Bodhisatta. And having offered their flowers and other
presents, and bowed to him and respectfully saluted him,
they returned to the city of Ramma. And the Bodhisatta,
having made a strenuous exertion and resolve, rose from
the seat on which he sat. Therefore it is said,

185. Having heard the Buddha's word, their minds were straightway

calmed.
All of them approaching me again paid me their homage.

2 8 THE NIDANAKATIIA.

186. Having taken upon me the Perfections of a Buddha, having made

firm my resolve,
Having bowed to Dlpankara, I rose from my seat.

And as the Bodhisatta rose from his seat, the angels in
all the ten thousand worlds having assembled and offered
him garlands and perfumes, uttered these and other
words of praise and blessing, "Venerable hermit Sumedha,
this day thou hast made a mighty resolve at the feet of
Dlpankara Buddha, mayest thou fulfil it without let
or hindrance : fear not nor be dismayed, may not
the slightest sickness visit thy frame, quickly exercise
the Perfections and attain supreme Buddhaship. As the
flowering and fruit-bearing trees bring forth flowers and
fruit in their season, so do thou also, not letting the right
season pass by, quickly reach the supreme knowledge
of a Buddha." And thus having spoken, they returned
each one to his celestial home. Then the Bodhisatta,
having received the homage of the angels, made a
strenuous exertion and resolve, saying, " Having fulfilled
the ten Perfections, at the end of four asankheyyas and
a hundred thousand cycles I shall become a Buddha.'*
And rising into the air he returned to Himavanta. There-
fore it is said,

187. As he rose from his seat both angels and men
Sprinkle him with celestial and earthly flowers.

188. Both angels and men pronounce their blessing,

A great prayer thou hast made, mayest thou obtain it according to
thy wish.

189. May all dangers be averted, may every sickness vanish,

Mayest thou have no hindrance, — quickly reach the supreme knowledge
of a Buddha.

190. As when the season is come the flowering trees do blossom,

Even so do thou, 0 mighty One, blossom with the wisdom of a
Buddha.

191. As all the Buddhas have fulfilled the ten Perfections,
Even so do thou, 0 mighty One, fulfil the ten Perfections.

192. As all the Buddhas are enlightened on the throne of knowledge,
Even so do thou, 0 mighty One, receive enlightenment in the wisdom

of a Buddha.

DEATH OF DIPANKARA BUDDHA. 29

193. As all the Buddhas have estahlished the supremacy of the Law,
Even so do thou, 0 mighty One, establish the supremacy of the Law.

194. As the moon on the mid-day of the month shines in her purity,
Even so do thou, with thy mind at the full, shine in ten thousand

worlds.

195. As the sun released by Rahu glows fervently in his heat,

Even so, having redeemed mankind, do thou shine in all thy majesty.

196. As all the rivers find their way to the great ocean,

Even so may the worlds of men and angels take refuge in thee.

197. The Bodhisatta extolled with these praises, taking on himself the ten

Conditions,
Commencing to fulfil these Conditions, entered the forest.

End of the Story of Sumedha.

And the people of the city of Eamma, ha^sdng returned
to the city, kept open house to the priesthood with the
Buddha at their head. The Teacher having preached
the Law to them, and established them in the three
Refuges and the other branches of the Faith, departing
from the city of Ramma, living thereafter his allotted
span of life, having fulfilled all the duties of a Buddha,
in due course attained Nirva;?a in that element of an-
nihilation in which no trace of existence remains. On
this subject all that need be said can be learnt from the
narrative in the Buddhavamsa, for it is said in that work,

198. Then they, having entertained the Chief of the world with his clergy,
Took refuge in the Teacher Dlpankara.

199. Some the Buddha established in the Refuges,
Some in the five Precepts, others in the ten.

200. To some he gives the privilege of priesthood, the four glorious

Fruitions,
On some he bestows those peerless qualities the analytical Knowledges.

201. To some the Lord of men grants the eight sublime Acquisitions,

On some he bestows the three "Wisdoms and the six supernatural
Faculties.

202. In this order ^ the Great Sage exhorte the multitude.

Therewith the commandment of the world's Protector was spread
wide abroad.

* Vij. says, "In that order, viz. in the Saranagamana first, then in the
Fahcaaila, then in the Daaaaila^ and so on."

THE NIDANAKATHA.

203. He of the miglity jaw, of the hroad shoulder, DTpankara by name,
Procured the salvation of many men, warded off from them future

punishment.

204. Beholding persons ripe for salvation, reaching them in an instant,
Even at a distance of four hundred thousand leagues, the Great S-age

awakened them (to the knowledge of the truth).

205. At the first conversion the Buddha converted a thousand millions.
At the second the Protector converted a hundred thousand.

206. When the Buddha preached the truth in the angel world,
There took place a third conversion of nine hundred millions..

207. The Teacher DTpankara had three assemblies.
The first was a meeting of a million millions.

208. Again when the Conqueror went into seclusion at Narada Ku^a,
A thousand million spotless Arhats met together.

209. When the Mighty One dwelt on the lofty rock Sudassana,

Then the Sage surrounded himself with nine hundred thousand
millions,

210. At that time I was an ascetic wearing matted hair, a man of austere

penances.
Moving through the air, accomplished in the five supernatural
Faculties.

211. The (simultaneous) conversion of tens of thousands, of twenties of

thousands, took place.
Of ones and twos the conversions were beyond computation.^

212. Then did the pure religion of Dipankara Buddha become widely

spread.
Known to many men prosperous and flourishing.

213. Four hundred thousand saints, possessed of the six Faculties, endowed

with miraculous powers.
Ever attend upon Dipankara, knower of the three worlds.

214. Blameworthy are all they who at that time leave the human existence.
Not having obtained final sanctity, still imperfect in knowledge.

215. The word of Buddha shines in the world of men and angels, made to

blossom by saints such as these,
Freed from human passion, void of all taint (of sin).

216. The city of Dipankara Buddha was called RammavatI,
The khattiya Sumedha was his father, Sumedha his mother.

217. Sumangala and Tissa were his chief disciples,
And Sagata was the servitor of Dipankara Buddha.

218. Nandu and Sunanda were his chief female disciples.
The Bodhi-tree of this Buddha is called the Pipphali.^

219. Eighty cubits in height the Great Sage Dipankara

Shone conspicuous as a Deodar pine, or as a noble Sal-tree in full
bloom.

' Lit. " arithmetically innumerable."
2 The Banyan-tree.

ATONBANJVA BUDDHA. 31

220. A hundred thousand years was the age of this Great Sage,

And so long as he was living on earth he brought many men to
salvation.

221. Having made the Truth to flourish, having saved great multitudes

of men.
Having flamed like a mass of fire, he died together with his disciples.

222. And all this power, this glory, these jewel-wheels on his feet,
All is wholly gone, — are not all existing things vanity !

223. After Dlpankara was the Leader named Kow<fafifia,

Of infinite power, of boundless renown, immeasurable, unrivalled.

Next to tlie Dlpankara Buddlia, after the lapse of one
asankheyya, the Teacher Ko?zrfaniia appeared. He also
had three assemblies of saints, at the first assembly there
were a million millions, at the second ten thousand
millions, at the third nine hundred millions. At that
time the Bodhisatta, having been born as a universal
monarch named Yijitavin, kept open house to the priest-
hood with the Buddha at their head, in number a million
of millions. The Teacher having predicted of the Bodhi-
satta, "He will become a Buddha," preached the Law.
He having heard the Teacher's preaching gave up his
kingdom and became a Buddhist monk. Having mastered
the three Treasuries,^ having obtained the six supernatural
Faculties, and having practised without failure the ecstatic
meditation, he was reborn in the Brahma heavens. The
city of Ko?z^anna Buddha was E-ammavatI, the khattiya
Sunanda was his father, his mother was queen Sujata,
Bhadda and Subhadda were his two chief disciples, Anu-
ruddha was his servitor, Tissa and Upatissa his chief
female disciples, his Bodhi-tree was the Salakalyam, his
body was eighty- eight cubits high, and the duration of
his life was a hundred thousand years.

After him, at the end of one asankheyya, in one
and the same cycle four Buddhas were born, Mangala,
Sumana, Revata and Sobhita. Mangala Buddha had
three assemblies of saints, of these at the first there were

1 The three divisions of the Buddhist Scriptures.

32 THE NIDANAKATHA.

a million million priests, at the second ten thousand
millions, at the third nine hundred millions. It is related
that a step-brother of his, prince Ananda, accompanied
by an assembly of nine hundred millions, went to the
Teacher to hear him preach the Law. The Teacher gave
a discourse dealing successively with his various doctrines,
and Ananda and his whole retinue attained Arhatship
together with the analytical Knowledges. The Teacher
looking back upon the meritorious works done by these
men of family in former existences, and perceiving that
they had merit to acquire the robe and bowl by miraculous
means, stretching forth his right hand exclaimed, *' Come,
priests."^ Then straightway all of them having become
equipped with miraculously obtained robes and bowls,
and perfect in decorum,^ as if they were elders of sixty
years standing, paid homage to the Teacher and attended
upon him. This was his third assembly of saints. And
whereas with other Buddhas a light shone from their
bodies to the distance of eighty cubits on every side, it
was not so with this Buddha, but the light from his body
permanently filled ten thousand worlds, and trees, earth,
mountains, seas and all other things, not excepting even
pots and pans and such-like articles, became as it were
overspread with a film of gold. The duration of his life
was ninety thousand years, and during the whole of this
period the sun, moon and other heavenly bodies could not
shine by their own light, and there was no distinction
between night and day. By day all living beings went
about in the light of the Buddha as if in the light of
the sun, and men ascertained the limits of night and
day only by the flowers that blossomed in the evening
and by the birds and other animals that uttered their
cries in the morning. If I am asked, "What, do not
other Buddhas also possess this power ? " I reply, Cer-

1 The formula by whicli a Buddha admits a layman to the priesthood.

2 Vijesinha.

MANGALA BUDDHA.

tainly they do, for they might at will fill with their
lustre ten thousand worlds or more. But in accordance
with a prayer made by him in a former existence, the
lustre of Mangala Buddha permanently filled ten thousand
worlds, just as the lustre of the others permanently
extended to the distance of a fathom.^ The story is that
when he was performing the duties of a Bodhisatta,^
being in an existence corresponding to the Vessantara
existence,^ he dwelt with his wife and children on a
mountain like the Yanka mountain (of the Vessantara
Jiitaka). One day a demon named Kharada^Ztika,* hearing
of the Bodhisatta's inclination to giving, approached him
in the guise of a brahmin, and asked the Bodhisatta for
his two children. The Bodhisatta, exclaiming, "I give
my children to the brahmin," cheerfully and joyfully
gave up both the children, thereby causing the ocean-girt
earth to quake.^ The demon, standing by the bench at
the end of the cloistered walk, while the Bodhisatta
looked on, devoured the children like a bunch of roots.
Not a particle of sorrow^ arose in the Bodhisatta as he
looked on the demon, and saw his mouth as soon as he
opened it disgorging streams of blood like flames of fire,
nay, a great joy and satisfaction welled within him as he
thought, " My gift was well given." And he put up the
prayer, "By the merit of this deed may rays of light
one day issue from me in this very way." In consequence
of this prayer of his it was that the rays emitted from
his body when he became Buddha filled so vast a space.
There was also another deed done by him in a former
existence. It is related that, when a Bodhisatta, having
visited the relic shrine of a Buddha, he exclaimed, "I

' Lit. " like the fathom-light of the others, so the personal lustre of
Mangala Buddha remained constantly pervading ten thousand worlds."

2 i.e. the Pararaitas.

3 i.e. his last birth before attaining Buddhahood.

* This name means " sharp- fanged."

* In approval of his act ojt faith.

« Lit. '* no grief as big as the tip of a hair."

VOL. I. 8

THE NIDANAKATHA.

ought to sacrifice my life for this Buddha," and having
wrapped round the whole of his body in the same way
that torches are wrapped, and having filled with clarified
butter a golden vessel with jewelled wick -holders, worth
a hundred thousand pieces, he lit therein a thousand
wicks, and having set fire to the whole of his body begin-
ning with his head, he spent the whole night in cir-
cumambulating the shrine. And as he thus strove till
dawn not the root of a hair of his head was even heated,
'twas as one enters the calyx of a lotus, for the Truth
guards him who guards himself. Therefore has the
Blessed One said,

224. E-eligion verily protects him who walks according
thereto,
Religion rightly followed brings happiness.
This blessing is then in rightly following the Law,
The righteous man goes not to a state of punish-
ment.

And through the merit of this work also the bodily lustre
of this Buddha constantly extended through ten thousand
worlds. At this time our Bodhisatta,^ having been born
as the brahmin Suruci, approached the Teacher with
the view of inviting him to his house, and having heard
his sweet discourse, said, " Lord, take your meal with me
to-morrow." '* Brahmin, how many monks do you wish
for ? " ** Nay but how many monks have you in your
escort ?" At that time was the Teacher's first assembly,
and accordingly he replied, " A million millions." " Lord,
bring them all with you and come and take your meal
at my house." The Teacher consented. The Brahmin
having invited them for the next day, on his way home
thought to himself, " I am perfectly well able to supply

1 Viz. Gotama Bodhisatta.

MANGALA BUDDHA. ' 35

all these monks with broth and rice and clothes and such-
like necessaries, but how can there be room for them to
sit down?^' This thought of his caused the marble
throne of the archangel Indra, three hundred and thirty-
six thousand leagues away, to become warm.^ Indra ex-
claiming, " Who wishes to bring me down from my
abode?'' and looking down with the divine eye beheld
the Bodhisatta, and said, "The brahmin Suruci having
invited the clergy with the Buddha at their head is
perplexed for room to seat them, it behoves me also to
go thither and obtain a share of his merit." And having
miraculously assumed the form » of a carpenter, axe in
hand he appeared before the Bodhisatta and said, " Has
any one got a job to be done for hire ? " The Bodhisatta
seeing him said, " What sort of work can you do ? "
" There's no art that I do not know ; any house or hall
that anybody orders me to build, I'll build it for him."
" Yery well, I've got a job to be done." " What is it,
sir?" "I've invited a million million priests for to-
morrow, will you build a hall to seat them all?" "I'll
build one with pleasure if you've the means of paying
me." " I have, my good man." " Yery well, I'll build
it." And he went and began looking out for a site.
There was a spot some fifty leagues in extent ^ as level as
a kasi?^a circle.^ Indra fixed his eyes upon it, while he
thought to himself, " Let a hall made of the seven
precious stones rise up over such and such an extent of
ground." Immediately the edifice bursting through the
ground rose up. The golden pillars of this hall had silver
capitals,* the silver pillars had golden capitals, the gem
pillars had coral capitals, the coral pillars had gem
capitals, while those pillars which were made of all the

1 When a good man is in diflSculty, Indra is apprised of it by his marble
throne becoming warm,

2 Lit. twelve or thirteen yojanas ; a yojana is four leagues.

3 Used in the ecstatic meditation.

* The Pali word for the capital of a column is gha^aka, " little pot."

36 THE NIDANAKATHA,

seven precious stones had capitals of tlie same. Next lie
said, *' Let the hall have hanging wreaths of little bells
at intervals," and looked again. The instant he looked a
fringe of bells hung down, whose musical tinkling, as
they were stirred by a gentle breeze, was like a symphony
of the five sorts of instruments, or as when the heavenly
choirs are going on. He thought, " Let there be hanging
garlands of perfumes and flowers,'* and there the garlands
hung. He thought, " Let seats and benches for a million
million monks rise up through the earth," and straight-
way they appeared. He thought, "Let water vessels
rise up at each corner of the building," and the water
vessels arose. Having by his miraculous power efiected
all this, he went to the brahmin and said, "Come, sir,
look at your hall, and pay me my wages." The Bodhisatta
went and looked at the hall, and as he looked his whole
frame was thrilled in every part with fivefold joy. And
as he gazed on the hall he thought thus within himself,
" This hall was not wrought by mortal hands, but surely
through my good intention, my good action, the palace of
Indra became hot, and hence this hall must have been
built by the archangel Indra ; it is not right that in such
a hall as this I should give alms for a single day, I will
give alms for a whole week." For the gift of external
goods, however great, cannot give satisfaction to the
Bodhisattas, but the Bodhisattas feel joy at their self-
renunciation when they sever the crowned head, put out the
henna- anointed eyes, cut out the heart and give it away.
For when our Bodhisatta in the Sivijataka gave alms in
the middle of his capital, at the four gates of the city, at
a daily expenditure of five bushels of gold coins, this
liberality failed to arouse within him a feeling of satis-
faction at his renunciation. But on the other hand, when
the archangel Indra came to him in the disguise of a
brahmin, and asked for his eyes, then indeed, as he took
them out and gave them away, laughter rose within him,

MANGA LA BUDDHA.

nor did Ms heart swerve a hair's breadtli from its purpose.
And hence we see that as regards almsgiving the Bodhi-
sattas can have no satiety. Therefore this Bodhisatta
also thinking, " I ought to give alms for seven days to a
million million priests," seated them in that hall, and
for a week gave them the alms called gavapana.^ Men
alone were not able to wait upon them, but the angels
themselves, taking turns with men, waited upon them.
A space of fifty leagues or more sufficed not to contain
the monks, yet they seated themselves each by his own
supernatural power. On the last day, having caused the
bowls of all the monks to be washed, and filled them with
butter clarified and unclarified, honey and molasses, for
medicinal use, he gave them back to them, together with
the three robes. The robes and cloaks received by novices
and ordained priests were worth a hundred thousand.
The Teacher, when he returned thanks, considering,
" This man has given such great alms, who can he be ? "
and perceiving that at the end of two asankheyyas and
four thousand cycles he would become a Buddha named
Gotama, addressing the Bodhisatta, made this prediction :
"After the lapse of such and such a period thou shalt
become a Buddha named Gotama.'* The Bodhisatta,
hearing the prediction, thought, " It seems that I am to
become a Buddha, what good can a householder's life do
me? I will give up the world," and, treating all this
prosperity like so much drivel, he received ordination at
the hands of the Teacher. And having embraced the
ascetic life and learnt the word of Buddha, and having
attained the supernatural Faculties and the Attainments,
at the end of his life he was reborn in the Brahma
heavens. The city of Mangala Buddha was called Uttara,
his father was the khattiya Uttara; his mother was
Uttara, Sudeva and Dhammasena were his two chief

^ According to the gloss printed in the text it is a compound of milk, rice,
honey, sugar and clarified butter.

38 THE NIDANAKATHA.

disciples, Palita was his servitor, Sivall and Asokii his
two chief female disciples. The Naga was his Bodhi-tree,
his body was eighty- eight cubits high. When his death
took place, after he had lived ninety thousand years, at
the same instant ten thousand worlds were involved in
darkness, and in all worlds there was a great cry and
lamentation of men.

225. After Ko??67anna the Leader named Mangala,
Dispelling darkness in the world, held aloft the

torch of truth.

And after the Buddha had died, shrouding in darkness
ten thousand worlds, the Teacher named Sumana appeared.
He also had three great assemblies of saints, at the first
assembly the priests were a million millions, at the second,
on the Golden Mountain, ninety million of millions, at
the third eighty million of millions. At this time the
Bodhisatta was the Naga king Atula, mighty and powerful.
And he, hearing that a Buddha had appeared, left the
Niiga world, accompanied by his assembled kinsmen, and,
making offerings with celestial music to the Buddha,
whose retinue was a million million of monks, and having
given great gifts, bestowing upon each two garments of
fine cloth, he was established in the Three Befuges. And
this Teacher also foretold of him, " One day he will be a
Buddha." The city of this Buddha was named Khema,
Sudatta was his father, Sirima his mother, Sarawa and
Bhavitatta his chief disciples, Udena his servitor, So??a
and Upaso?2a his chief female disciples. The Niiga was
his Bodhi-tree, his body was ninety cubits high, and his
age ninety thousand years.

226. After Mangala came the Leader named Sumana,
In all things unequalled, the best of all beings.

After him the Teacher Revata appeared. He also had

REVATA BUDDHA.

three assemblies of saints. At the first assembly the priests
were innumerable, at the second there were a million
millions, so also at the third. At that time the Bodhi-
satta having been born as the brahmin Atideva, having
heard the Teacher's preaching, was established in the
Three Refuges. And raising his clasped hands to his
head, having praised the Teacher's abandonment of human
passion, presented him with a monk's upper robe. And he
also made the prediction, " Thou wilt become a Buddha."
Now the city of this Buddha was called Sudhaiinavatl,
his father was the khattiya Yipula, his mother Yipulii,
Yaruna and Brahmadeva his chief disciples, Sambhava
his servitor, Bhadda and Subhadda his chief female
disciples, and the Naga-tree his Bo-tree. His body was
eighty cubits high, and his age sixty thousand years.

227. After Sumana came the Leader named Bevata,

The Conqueror unequalled, incomparable, un-
matched, supreme.

After him appeared the Teacher Sobhita. He also had
three assemblies of saints; at the first assembly a thou-
sand million monks were present, at the second nine
hundred millions, at the third eight hundred millions.
At that time the Bodisat having been born as the brahman
Ajita, and having heard the Teacher's preaching, was
established in the Three Befuges, and gave a great
donation to the Order of monks, with the Buddha at their
head. To this man also he prophesied, saying, "Thou
shalt become a Buddha." Sudhamma was the name of
the city of this Blessed One, Sudhamma the king was
his father, Sudhamma his mother, Asama and Sunetta
lis chief disciples, Anoma his servitor, Nakula and
Sujata his chief female disciples, and the Niiga-tree his
Bo-tree ; his body was fifty- eight cubits high, and his
age ninety thousand years.

THE NIDANAKATHA.

228. After E-evata came tlie Leader named Sobhita,
Subdued and mild, unequalled and unrivalled.

After bim, wben an asagkbeyya bad elapsed, tbree
Buddbas were born in one kalpa — Anomadassin, Paduma,
and Narada. Anomadassin bad tbree assemblies of saints;
at tbe first eigbt bundred tbousand monks were present,
at tbe second seven, at tbe tbird six. At tbat time tbe
Bodisat was a Yakkha chief, migbty and powerful, tbe
lord of many millions of millions of yakkbas. He, bearing
tbat a Buddba bad appeared, came and gave a great
donation to tbe Order of monks, witb tbe Buddba at tbeir
bead. And tbe Teacber propbesied to bim too, saying,
" Hereafter tbou sbalt be a Buddba." Tbe city of Ano-
madassin tbe Blessed One was called CandavatI, Yasava
tbe king was bis fatber, Yasodbara bis motber, Nisabba
and Anoma bis cbief disciples, Yaruna bis servitor,
Sundarl and Sumana bis cbief female disciples, tbe Arjuna-
tree bis Bo-tree ; bis body was fifty-eigbt cubits bigb,
bis age a bundred tbousand years.

229. After Sobbita came tbe perfect Buddba — tbe best

of men —
Anomadassin, of infinite fame, glorious, difficult
to surpass.

After bim appeared tbe Teacber named Paduma. He
too bad tbree assemblies of saints ; at tbe first assembly
a million million monks were present, at tbe second tbree
bundred tbousand, at tbe tbird two bundred tbousand of
tbe monks wbo dwelt at a great grove in tbe uninbabited
forest. At tbat time, wbilst tbe Tatbagata was living in
tbat grove, tbe Bodisat baving been born as a lion, saw
tbe Teacber plunged in ecstatic trance, and witb trustful
beart made obesiance to bim, and walking round bim witb
reverence, experienced great joy, and tbrice uttered a

PADUMA BUDDHA. 41

mighty roar. For seven days lie laid not aside the bliss
arising from the thought of the Buddha, but through joy
and gladness, seeking not after prey, he kept in attendance
there, offering up his life. When the Teacher, after
seven days, aroused himself from his trance, he looked
upon the lion and thought, "He will put trust in the
Order of monks and make obeisance to them ; let them
draw near." At that very moment the monks drew
near, and the lion put faith in the Order. The Teacher,
knowing his thoughts, prophesied, saying, " Hereafter he
shall be a Buddha." Now the city of Paduma the
Blessed One was called Champaka, his father was Paduma
the king, his mother Asama, Siila and Upasala were his
chief disciples, Yaruna his servitor, Rama and Uparama
his chief female disciples, the Crimson-tree his Bo-tree;
his body was fifty-eight cubits high, and his age was a
hundred thousand years.

230. After Anomadassin came the perfect Buddha, the
best of men,
Paduma by name, unequalled, and without a rival.

After him appeared the Teacher named Ndrada. He
also had three assemblies of saints ; at the first assembly
a million million monks were present, at the second
ninety million million, at the third eighty million million.
At that time the Bodisat, having taken the vows as a sage,
acquired the five kinds of Wisdom and the eight sublime
Acquisitions, and gave a great donation to the Order,
with the Buddha at their head, making an offering of red
sandal wood. And to him also he prophesied, "Hereafter
thou shalt be a Buddha." The city of this Blessed One
was called Dhafinavati, his father was Sumedha the
warrior, his mother Anoma, Bhaddasala and Jetamitta
his chief disciples, Vasettha his servitor, Uttarii and.
PaggunI his chief female disciples, the great Crimson-

THE NIDANAKATHA.

tree was Ms Bo-tree; Ms body was eighty-eiglit cuMts
Mgli, and his age was ninety thousand years.

231. After Paduma came the perfect Buddha, the best

of men,
Narada by name, unequalled, and without a rival.

After Narada the Buddha a hundred thousand world-
cycles ago there appeared in one kalpa only one Buddha
called Padumuttara. He also had three assemblies of saints ;
at the first a million million monks were present, at the
second, on the Vebhara Mountain, nine hundred thousand
million, at the third eight hundred thousand million. At
that time the Bodisat, born as the Mahratta of the name
of Jatikiy gave an offering of robes to the Order, with
the Buddha at their head. And to him also he announced,
^' Hereafter thou shalt be a Buddha.'^ And at the time
of Padumuttara the Blessed One there were no infidels,
but all, men and angels, took refuge in the Buddha.
His city was called HaijsavatI, his father was Ananda the
warrior, his mother Sujata, Devala and Sujata his chief
disciples, Sumana his servitor, Amita and Asama his chief
female disciples, the Sala-tree his Bo-tree ; his body was
eighty- eight cubits high, the light from his body extended
twelve leagues, and his age was* a hundred thousand years.

232. After Niirada came the perfect Buddha, the best

of men,
Padumuttara by name, the Conqueror unshaken,
like the sea.

After him, when thirty thousand world- cycles had
elapsed, two Buddhas, Sumedha and Sujata, were born in
one kalpa. Sumedha also had three assemblies of his
saints ; at the first assembly, in the city Sudassana, a
thousand million sinless ones were present, at the second

NARADA BUDDHA.

nine hundred, at tlie third eight hundred. At that time
the Bodisat, born as the hrahman youth named TJttara,
lavished eight hundred millions of money he had saved
in giving a great donation to the Order, with the Buddha
at their head. And he then listened to the Law, and
accepted the E-efuges, and abandoned his home, and took
the vows. And to him also the Buddha prophesied,
saying, "Hereafter thou shalt be a Buddha." The city
of Sumedha the Blessed One was called Sudassana,
Sudatta the king was his father, Sudatta his mother,
Sarana and Sabbakama his two chief disciples, Sagara his
servitor, E/ama and Surama his two chief female disciples,
the great Champaka-tree his Bo-tree ; his body was
eighty-eight cubits high, and his age was ninety thousand
years.

233. After Padumuttara came the Leader named Su-
medha,
The Sage hard to equal, brilliant in glory, supreme
in all the world.

After him appeared the Teacher Sujdta. He also had
three assemblies of his saints ; at the first assembly sixty
thousand monks were present, at the second fifty, at the
third forty. At that time the Bodisat was a universal
monarch; and hearing that a Buddha was born he went to
him and heard the Law, and gave to the Order, with the
Buddha at their head, his kingdom of the four continents
with its seven treasures, and took the vows under the
Teacher. All the dwellers in the land, taking advan-
tage of the birth of a Buddha in their midst, did duty as
servants in the monasteries, and continually gave great
donations to the Order, with the Buddha at their head.
And to him also the Teacher prophesied. The city of
this Blessed One was called Sumangala, Uggata the king
was his father, PabhavatI his mother, Sudassana and

44- THE NIDANAKATHA.

Deva his chief disciples, Narada his servitor, Naga and
Nagasamala his chief female disciples, and the great
Bambu-tree his Bo-tree ; this tree, they say, had smaller
hollows and thicker wood than ordinary bambus have,^
and in its mighty upper branches it was as brilliant as a
bunch of peacocks' tails. The body of this Blessed One
was fifty cubits high, and his age was ninety thousand
years.

234. In that age, the Mandakalpa, appeared the Leader
Sujata,
Mighty jawed and grandly framed, whose measure
none can take, and hard to equal.

After him, when eighteen hundred world- cycles had
elapsed, three Buddhas, Piyadassin, Atthadassin, and
Dhammadassin, were born in one kalpa. Piyadassin also
had three assemblies of his saints ; at the first a million
million monks were present, at the second nine hundred
million, at the third eight hundred million. At that
time the Bodisat, as a young brahman called Kassapa, who
had thoroughly learnt the three Yedas, listened to the
Teacher's preaching of the Law, and built a monastery
at a cost of a million million, and stood firm in the
Refuges and the Precepts. And to him the Teacher
prophesied, saying, " After the lapse of eighteen hundred
kalpas thou shalt become a Buddha." The city of this
Blessed One was called Anoma, his father was Sudinna
the king, his mother Cauda, Palita and Sabbadassin his
chief disciples, Sobhita his servitor, Sujata and Dhamma-
dinna his chief female disciples, and the Priyaggu-tree
his Bo-tree. His body was eighty cubits high, and his
age ninety thousand years.

^ Compare Jataka No. 20 below.

ATTHADASSIN THE BUDDHA. 45

235. After Sujata came Piyadassin, Leader of the world,
Self-taught, hard to match, unequalled, of great

glory.

After him appeared the Teacher called Atthadassin.
He too had three assemblies of his saints ; at the first
nine million eight hundred thousand monks were present,
at the second eight million eight hundred thousand, and
the same number at the third. At that time the Bodisat,
as the mighty ascetic Susima, brought from heaven
the sunshade of Mandarava flowers, and oflPered it to the
Teacher, who prophesied also to him. The city of this
Blessed One was called Sobhita, Sagara the king was his
father, Sudassana his mother, Santa and Apasanta his
chief disciples, Abhaya his servitor, Dhamma and Su-
dhamma his chief female disciples, and the Champaka his
Bo-tree. His body was eighty cubits high, the glory
from his body always extended over a league, and his age
was a hundred thousand years.

236. In the same Mandakalpa Atthadassin, best of men.
Dispelled the thick darkness, and attained supreme

Enlightenment.

After him appeared the Teacher named Dhammadassin.
He too had three assemblies of his saints ; at the first
a thousand million monks were present, at the second
seven hundred millions, at the third eight hundred
millions. At that time the Bodisat, as Sakka the king
of the gods, made an offering of sweet- smelling flowers
from heaven, and heavenly music. And to him too the
Teacher prophesied. The city of this Blessed One was
called Sarana, his father was Sarana the king, his mother
Sunanda, Paduma and Phussadeva his chief disciples,
Sunetta his servitor, Khema and Sabbanama his chief
female disciples, and the red Kuravaka-tree (called also

46 THE NIDANAKATHA.

Bimbijala) his Bo-tree. His body was eighty cubits high,
and bis age a hundred thousand years.

237. In the same Mandakalpa the far-famed Dhamma-

dassin
Dispelled the thick darkness, illumined earth and
heaven.

After him, ninety-four world- cycles ago, only one
Buddha, by name Siddhattha, appeared in one kalpa. Of
his disciples too there were three assemblies ; at the first
assembly a million million monks were present, at the
second nine hundred millions, at the third eight hundred
millions. At that time the Bodisat, as the ascetic Man-
gala of great glory and gifted with the powers derived
from the Higher Wisdom, brought a great jambu fruit
and presented it to the Tathiigata. The Teacher, having
eaten the fruit, prophesied to the Bodisat, saying,
" Ninety-four kalpas hence thou shalt become a Buddha.'*
The city of this Blessed One was called Yebhara, Jayasena
the king was his father, Suphassa his mother, Sambala
and Sumitta his chief disciples, Revata his servitor, Sivali
and Surama his chief female disciples, and the Kanikara-
tree his Bo-tree. His body was sixty cubits high, and
his age a hundred thousand years.

238. After Dhammadassin, the Leader named Siddhattha
E/Ose like the sun, bringing all darkness to an end.

After him, ninety-two world-cycles ago, two Buddhas,
Tissa and Phussa by name, were born in one kalpa.
Tissa the Blessed One had three assemblies of his saints ;
at the first a thousand millions of monks were present,
at the second nine hundred millions, at the third eight
hundred millions. At that time the Bodisat was born as
the wealthy and famous warrior-chief Sujdta, When he

TISSA BUDDHA.

had taken tlie vows and acquired tlie wonderful powers
of a rishi, lie heard that a Buddha had been born ; and
taking a heaven-grown Mandarava lotus, and flowers of
the Paricchattaka-tree (which grows in Indra's heaven),
he ofifered them to the Tathagata as he walked in the
midst of his disciples, and he spread an awning of flowers
in the sky. To him, too, the Teacher prophesied, saying,
"Ninety-two kalpas hence thou shalt become a Buddha."
The city of this Blessed One was called Khema, Jana-
sandha the warrior- chief was his father, Paduma his
mother, the god Brahma and Udaya his chief disciples,
Sambhava his servitor, Phussa and Sudatta his chief
female disciples, and the Asana-tree his Bo-tree. His
body was sixty cubits high, and his age a hundred
thousand years.

239. After Siddhattha, Tissa, the unequalled and un-
rivalled.
Of infinite virtue and glory, was the chief Gruide
of the world.

After him appeared the Teacher named Phusm. He
too had three assemblies of his saints; at the first
assembly six million monks were present, at the second
five, at the third three million two hundred thousand. At
that time the Bodisat, born as the icarrior- chief Vijitavl,
laid aside his kingdom, and, taking the vows under the
Teacher, learnt the three Pitakas, and preached the Law
to the people, and fulfilled the Perfection of Moralitjr.i
And the Buddha prophesied to him in the same manner.
The city of this Blessed One was called Kiisi (Benares),
Jayasena the king was his father, Sirima his mother,
Surakkhita and Dhammasena his chief disciples, Sabhiya
his servitor. Gala and Upacala his chief female disciples,

1 Comp. pp. 19-20, verses 130-134.

48 THE NIDANAKATHA.

and the Amalaka-tree his Bo-tree. His body was fifty-
eight cubits high, and his age ninety thousand years.

240. In the same Mandakalpa Phussa was the Teacher

supreme,
Unequalled, unrivalled, the chief Guide of the
world.

After him, ninety world-cycles ago, appeared the
Blessed One named Vipassin. He too had three assem-
blies of his saints ; at the first assembly six million eight
hundred thousand monks were present, in the second
one hundred thousand, in the third eighty thousand. At
that time the Bodisat, born as the mighty and powerful
snake king Atula, gave to the Blessed One a golden chair,
inlaid with the seven kinds of gems. To him also he
prophesied, saying, "Ninety-one world-cycles hence thou
shalt become a Buddha." The city of this Blessed One
was called BandhumatI, Bandhuma the king was his
father, BandhumatI his mother, Khandha and Tissa his
chief disciples, Asoka his servitor, Canda and Candamitta
his chief female disciples, and the Bignonia (or Patali-
tree) his Bo-tree. His body was eighty cubits high, the
efiulgence from his body always reached a hundred
leagues, and his age was a hundred thousand years.

241. After Phussa, the Supreme Buddha, the best of

men,
Yipassin by name, the far-seeing, appeared in the
world.

After him, thirty- one world- cycles ago, there were two
Buddhas, called Sikhin and Yessabhu. Sikhin too had
three assemblies of his saints ; at the first assembly a
hundred thousand monks were present, at the second
eighty thousand, at the third seventy. At that time the

VESSABHU BUDDHA.

Bodisat, born as Idng Arindama, gave a great donation of
robes and other things to the Order with the Buddha
at their head, and offered also a superb elephant, decked
with the seven gems and provided with all things suitable.
To him too he prophesied, saying, "Thirty-one world-
cycles hence thou shalt become a Buddha." The city of
that Blessed One was called ArunavatI, Aruna the warrior-
chief was his father, Pabhiivatl his mother, Abhibhu and
Sambhava his chief disciples, Khemagkura his servitor,
Makhela and Paduma his chief female disciples, and the
Pundarika-tree his Bo-tree. His body was thirty- seven
cubits high, the effulgence from his body reached three
leagues, and his age was thirty- seven thousand years.

242. After Yipassin came the Supreme Buddha, the
best of men,
Sikhin by name, the Conqueror, unequalled and
unrivalled.

After him appeared the Teacher named Yesmhhu. He
also had three assemblies of his saints ; at the first
eight million priests were present, at the second seven,
at the third six. At that time the Bodisat, born as the
king Sudassana, gave a great donation of robes and other
things to the Order, with the Buddha at their head.
And taking the vows at his hands, he became righteous
in conduct, and found great joy in meditating on the
Buddha. To him too the Blessed One prophesied, saying,
*' Thirty-one world-cycles hence thou shalt be a Buddha."
The city of this Blessed One was called Anopama, Sup-
patlta the king was his father, Yasavati his mother, Sona
and Uttara his chief disciples, Upasanta his servitor,
Dama and Sumala his chief female disciples, and the
Sal-tree his Bo-tree. His body was sixty cubits high,
and his age sixty thousand years.

so THE NIDANAKATHA,

243. In the same Mandakalpa, the Conqueror named

Vessabhu,
Unequalled and unrivalled, appeared in the world.

After him, in this world-cycle, four Buddhas have
appeared — Kakusandha, Konagamana, Kassapa, and our
Buddha. Kaknmmiha the Blessed One had one assembly,
at which forty thousand monks were present. At that
time the Bodisjit, as Ks/tt'ma the king, gave a great dona-
tion, including robes and bowls, to the Order, with the
Buddha at their head, and having given also collyriums
and drugs, he listened to the Law preached by the
Teacher, and took the vows. And to him also the
Buddha prophesied. The city of Kakusandha the Blessed
One was called Kheraa, Aggidatta the Brahnuui was his
father, Visakhii the Brahman woman his mother, Yidhura
and Sanjiva his chief disciples, Buddhija his servitor,
Siinm and Campaka his chief female disciples, imd the
great Sirlsa-tree his Bo-tree. His body was forty cubits
high, and his age forty thousand years.

244. After Yessabhu came the perfect Buddha, the

best of men,
Kakusandha by name, infinite and hard to equal.

After him appoaretl the Teacher Kon Cigamana. Of his
disciples too there was one assembly, at which thirty
thousand monks were present. At that time the Bodisat,
as Piihlnita the kini^ went, surrounded by his ministers,
to the Teacher, and listened to the preaching of the Law.
And having given an invitation to the Order, with the
Buddha at their head, he kept up a great donation, giving
cloths of silk, and of line texture, and woven with gold.
And he took the vows from the Teacher's hands. And to
him too the Buddha prophesied. The city of this Blessed
One was called Sobhavatl, Yauuadatta the Bi*ahmim was

KASSAPA BUDDHA. 51

his father, Uttara the Brahman woman his mother,
Bhiyyosa and Uttara his chief disciples, Sotthija his
servitor, Samudda and Uttara his chief female disciples,
and the Udumbara-tree his Bo-tree. His body was
twenty cubits high, and his age was thirty thousand
years.

245. After Kakusandha came the Perfect Buddha, the
best of men,
Konagamana by name. Conqueror, chief of the
world, supreme among men.

After him the Teacher named Kassapa appeared in the
world. Of his disciples too there was one assembly, at
which twenty thousand monks were present. At that
time the Bodisat, as the Brahman youth Jotipdla, accom-
plished in the three Yedas, was well known on earth
and in heaven as the friend of the potter Ghatikara.
Going with him to the Teacher and hearing the Law, he
took the vows ; and zealously learning the three Pitakas,
he glorified, by faithfulness in duty and in works of
supererogation, the religion of the Buddhas. And to
him too the Buddha prophesied. The birthplace of the
Blessed One was called Benares, Brahmadatta the brah-
man was his father, DhanavatI of the brahman caste his
mother, Tissa and Bharadvaja his chief disciples, Sab-
bamitta his servitor, Anula and Uruvela his chief female
disciples, and the Nigrodha-tree his Bo-tree. His body
was twenty cubits high, and his age was twenty thousand
years.

24t). After Konagamana came the Perfect Buddha,
best of men,
Kassapa by name, that Conqueror, king of
Bighteousness, and giver of Light.

Again, in the kalpa in which Dipagkara the Buddha

52 THE NIDANAKATHA.

appeared, three other Buddlias appeared also. On their
part no prophecy was made to the Bodisat, they are
therefore not mentioned here ; but in the commentary,
in order to mention all the Buddhas from this kalpa, it
is said,

247. Tanhaijkara and Medhagkara, and Saranagkara,
And the perfect Buddha Dlpagkara, and Kondanna

best of men,

248. And Maggala^ and Sumana, and Revata, and

Sobhita the sage,
Anomadassin, Paduma, Narada, Padumuttara,

249. And Sumedha, and Sujata, Piyadassin the famous

one,
Atthadassin, Dhammadassin, Siddhattha guide of
the world,

250. Tissa, and Phussa the perfect Buddha, Yipassin,

Sikhin, Yessabhu,
Kakusandha, Konagamana, and Kassapa too the
Guide, —

251. These were the perfect Buddhas, the sinless ones,

the well-controlled ;
Appearing like suns, dispelling the thick darkness ;
They, and their disciples too, blazed up like

flames of fire and went out.

Thus our Bodisat has come down to us through four
asav^hheyyas plus one hundred thousand kalpas, making
resolve in the presence of the twenty-four Buddhas, begin-
ning with Dipaijkara. Now after Kassapa there is no
other Buddha beside the present supreme Buddha. So
the Bodisat received a prophecy from each of the twenty-
four Buddhas, beginning at Dlpa^jkara.

And furthermore in accordance with the saying,

" The resolve (to become a Buddha) only succeeds

QUALIFICA TIONS OF BODISA TS. 5 3

by the combination of eight qualifications :

being a man, and of the male sex, and capable

of attaining arahatship, association with the

Teachers, renunciation of the world, perfection

in virtue, acts of self-sacrifice, and earnest

determination, ' '

he combined in himself these eight qualifications. And

exerting himself according to the resolve he had made

at the feet of Dlpagkara, in the words,

"Come, I will search for the Buddha-making
conditions, this way and that ; " ^
and beholding the Perfections of Almsgiving and the
rest to be the qualities necessary for the making of a
Buddha, according to the words,

"Then, as I made my search, I beheld the first
Perfection of Almsgiving ; '^^
he came down through many births, fulfilling these
Perfections, even up to his last appearance as Yessantara.
And the rewards which fell to him on his way, as they
fall to all the Bodisats who have resolved to become
Buddhas, are lauded thus :

252. So the men, perfect in every part, and destined to

Buddhahood,
Traverse the long road through thousands of
millions of ages.

253. They are not born in hell, nor in the space between

the worlds ;
They do not become ghosts consumed by hunger,

thirst, and want.
And they do not become small animals, even

though born to sorrow.

254. When born among men they are not blind by

birth,

' See verse 125, above p. 19. 2 gee verse 126, above p. 19.

54 THE NIDANAKATHA.

They are not hard of hearing, they are not classed
among the dumb.

255. They do not become women ; among hermaphro-

dites and eunuchs
They are not found, — these men destined to
Buddhahood.

256. Free from the deadly sins, everywhere pure-living,
They follow not after vain philosophy, they per-
ceive the working of Karma.

257. Though they dwell in heaven, they are not born

into the Unconscious state,
Nor are they destined to rebirth among the angels
in the Pure Abodes.^

258. Bent upon renunciation, holy in the world and

not of it,
They walk as acting for the world's weKare,
fulfilling all perfection.

While he was thus fulfilling the Perfections, there was
no limit to the existences in which he fulfilled the Per-
fection of Almsgiving. As, for instance, in the times
when he was the brahman Akitti, and the brahmin Sagkha,
and the king Dhananjaya, andMaha-sudassana, and Maha-
govinda, and the king Nimi, and the prince Cauda, and
the merchant Yisayha, and the king Sivi, and Yessantara.
So, certainly, in the Birth as the Wise Hare, according
to the words,^

259. When I saw one coming for food, I ofiered my

own self,
There is no one like me in giving, such is my
Perfection of Almsgiving,

1 In the four highest of the thirty-one spheres of existence the angels are
unconscious, and the five worlds below these are called the Pure Abodes.

2 All the following verses down to verse 269 are quotations from the
Cariyapitaka.

PERFECTIONS OF THE BODISAT. 55

he, offering up his own life, acquired the Supreme Per-
fection called the Perfection of Almsgiving.

In like manner there is no limit to the existences — as,
for instance, in the times when he was the snake king
Sllava, and the snake king Campeyya, the snake king
Bhuridatta, the snake king Chaddanta, and the prince
Allnasattu, son of king Jayaddisa — in which he fulfilled
the Perfection of Goodness. So, certainly, in the
Saijkhapala Birth, according to the words,

260. Even when piercing me with stakes, and striking

me with javeKns,
I was not angry with the sons of Bhoja, such is
my Perfection of Goodness,

he, offering up himself, acquired the Supreme Perfection,
called the Perfection of Goodness.

In like manner there is no limit to existences — as, for
instance, in the times when he was the prince Somanassa,
and the prince Hatthipala, and the wise man Ayoghara —
in which, forsaking his kingdom, he fulfilled the Perfec-
tion of Renunciation. So, certainly, in the Cula-Sutasoma
Birth, according to the words,

261. The kingdom, which was in my power, like

spittle I rejected it.
And, rejecting, cared not for it, such is my
Perfection of Eenunciation,

he, renouncing the kingdom for freedom from the ties of
sin,^ acquired the Supreme Perfection, called the Perfec-
tion of Renunciation.

In like manner, there is no limit to the existences — as,

^ The Saggas, of which there are five— lust, hate, ignorance, pride, and
false doctrine.

56 THE NIDANAKATHA.

for instance, in the times when lie was tlie wise man
Yidhura, and the wise man Maha-govinda, and the wise
man Kuddala, and the wise man Araka, and the ascetic
Bodhi, and the wise man Mahosadha — in which he
fulfilled the Perfection of Wisdom. So, certainly, in
the time when he was the wise man Senaka in the
Sattubhatta Birth, according to the words,

262. Searching the matter out by wisdom, I set the

brahman free from pain.
There is no one like me in wisdom ; such is my
Perfection of Wisdom,

he, pointing out the snake which had got into the
bellows, acquired the Supreme Perfection called the
Perfection of Wisdom.

So, certainly, in the Maha-Janaka Birth, according
to the words,

263. Out of sight of the shore, in the midst of the

waters, all men are as if dead,
There is no other way of thinking ; such is my
Perfection of Resolution,

he, crossing the Great Ocean, acquired the Supreme
Perfection called the Perfection of Resolution.

And so in the Khantivada Birth, according to the
words,

264. Even when he struck me with a sharp axe, as if

I were a senseless thing,
I was not angry with the king of Kasi ; such is
my Perfection of Patience,

he, enduring great sorrow as if he were a senseless thing,
acquired the Perfection of Patience.

PERFECTIONS OF THE BOD IS AT. 57

And SO in the Maha-Sutasoma Birth, according to the
words,

265. Guarding the word of Truth, and offering up

my life,
I delivered the hundred warriors ; such is my
Perfection of Truth,

he, offering up his life, and observing truth, obtained
the Perfection of Truth.

And in the Mugapakkha Birth, according to the words,

266. Father and mother I hated not, reputation I

hated not,
But Omniscience was dear to me, therefore was I
firm in duty,

offering up even his life, and being resolute in duty, he
acquired the Perfection of Resolution.

And so in the Ekaraja Birth, according to the words,

267. No man terrifies me, nor am I in fear of any

man;
Firm in the power of kindness, in purity I take
delight,

regarding not even his life while attaining to kindness,
he acquired the Perfection of Good- will.

So in the Somahagsa Birth, according to the words,

268. I lay me down in the cemetery, making a pillow

of dead bones :
The village children mocked and praised : to all I
was indifferent,

he was unshaken in equanimity, even when the villagers
tried to vex or please him by spitting or by offering

58 THE NIDANAKATHA.

garlands and perfumes, and thus he acquired the
Perfection of Equanimity.

This is a summary only, the account will be found
at length in the Cariya Pitaka.

Having thus fulfilled the Perfections, in his birth as
Yessantara, according to the words,

269. This earth, unconscious though she be and
ignorant of joy or grief.
E'en she by my free-giving's mighty power was
shaken seven times,

he performed such mighty acts of virtue as made the
earth to shake. And when, in the fullness of time, he
had passed away, he reassumed existence in the Tusita
heaven.

Thus should be understood the period, called Dure-
nidana, from the Resolution at the feet of Dlpagkara
down to this birth in the City of Delight.

II.— AYIDtJEE NIDANA.

It was when the Bodisat was thus dwelling in the City
of Delight, that the so-called "Buddha proclamation''
took place. For three such "Proclamations" take place
on earth. These are the three. When they realize that
at the end of a hundred thousand years a new dispensa-
tion will begin, the angels called Loka-byuha, with their
hair flying and dishevelled, with weeping faces, wiping
away their tears with their hands, clad in red garments,
and with their clothes all in disorder, wander among
men, and make proclamation, saying,

" Friends, one hundred thousand years from now there
will be a new dispensation ; this system of worlds will
be destroyed ; even the mighty ocean will dry up ; this

THE GREA T PROCLAMA TIONS.

great eartli, with Sineru tlie monarcli of mountains, will
be burned up and destroyed ; and the whole world, up
to the realms of the immaterial angels, will pass away.
Therefore, 0 friends, do mercy, live in kindness, and
sympathy, and peace, cherish your mothers, support your
fathers, honour the elders in your tribes." This is called
the proclamation of a new Age [Kappahalahalag].

Again, when they realize that at the end of a thousand
years an omniscient Buddha will appear on earth, the
angel- guardians of the world go from place to place
and make proclamation, saying, " Friends, at the end
of a thousand years from this time a Buddha will appear
on earth." This is called the proclamation of a Buddha
[Buddha-halahalaiQ ] .

Again, when the angels realize that at the end of a
hundred years a universal monarch will appear, they go
from place to place and make proclamation, saying,
" Friends, at the end of a hundred years from this time
a universal monarch will appear on earth." This is
called the proclamation of a Universal monarch [Cakka-
vatti-halahalaij]. These are the three great proclamations.

When of these three they hear the Buddha- proclama-
tion, the deities of the ten thousand world- systems
assemble together ; and having ascertained which of
the then living beings will become the Buddha, they go
to him and beseech him to do so, — so beseeching him
when the first signs appear that his present life is
drawing to its close. Accordingly on this occasion they
all, with the archangels in each world- system,^ assembled
in one world, and going to the future Buddha in the
Heaven of Delight, they besought him, saying,

** 0 Blessed One, when thou wast fulfilling the Ten
Perfections, thou didst not do so from a desire for the

^ The names are given in the text ; the four Maharajas, Sakka, Suyama,
Santusita, Paraniraitta-vasavatti, and Maha- Brahma, They are the arch-
angels in the different heavenly seats in^ each world-system (Cakkavala)
of the Buddhist cosmogony.

6o THE NIDANAKATHA.

glorious state of an archangel — Sakka, or Mara, or
Brahma — or of a mighty king upon earth ; thou wast
fulfilling them with the hope of reaching Omniscience
for the sake of the Salvation of mankind ! Now has the
moment come, O Blessed One, for thy Buddhahood;
now has the time, 0 Blessed One, arrived ! ''

But the Great Being, as if he had not granted the
prayer of the deities, reflected in succession on the
following five important points, viz. the time of his
advent; the continent and country where he should
appear; the tribe in which he should be born; the mother
who should bear him, and the time when her life should
be complete.

Of these he first reflected on the Time, thinking, " Is
this the time or not?" And on this point he thought,
" When the duration of human existence is more than
a hundred thousand years, the time has not arrived.
"Why not ? Because in such a period men perceive
not that living beings are subject to birth, decay, and
death ; the threefold pearl of the preaching of the Gospel
of the Buddhas is unknown; and when the Buddhas
speak of the impermaneuce of all things, of the univer-
sality of sorrow, and of the delusion of individuality,
people will neither listen nor believe, saying, 'What is
this they talk of?' At such a time there can be no
perception of the truth, and without that the gospel will
not lead to salvation. That therefore is not the time.
Neither is it the right time when the term of human
existence is under one hundred years. Why not ?
Because then sin is rife among men; and admonition
addressed to the sinners finds no place for edification,
but like a streak drawn on the water vanishes quickly
away. That therefore is not the time. When, however,
the term of human existence is under a hundred thousand
and over a hundred years, that is the proper time." Now
at that time the age of man was one hundred years.

BIR TH OF THE BOD ISA T. 6 1

The Great Being therefore saw that the time of his
advent had arrived.

Then reflecting upon the Continent, and considering
the four great continents with their surrounding islands/
he thought, " In three of the continents the Buddhas do
not — but in Jambudvlpa they do — appear," and thus he
decided on the continent.

Then reflecting upon the District, and thinking,
" Jambudvlpa indeed is large, ten thousand leagues in
extent ; now in which district of it do the Buddhas
appear ? '* he fixed upon the Middle Country.^ And
calling to mind that the town named Kapilavastu was
in that country, he concluded that he ought to be
born in it.

Then reflecting on the Tribe, he thought, "The
Buddhas are not born in the Yaisya caste, nor the Sudra
caste ; but either in the Brahmana or in the Kshatriya
caste, whichever is then held in the highest repute.
The Kshatriya caste is now predominant, I must be born
in it, and Suddhodana the chief shall be my father.''
Thus he decided on the tribe.

Then reflecting on the Mother, he thought, "The
mother of a Buddha is not eager for love, or cunning after
drink, but has fulfilled the Perfections for a hundred
thousand ages, and from her birth upwards has kept the
five Precepts unbroken. Now this lady Maha Maya is

^ In the seas surrounding each continent (Mahadipa) there are five hun-
dred islands. See Hardy's Manual of Buddhism, p. 13,

2 Majjhima-desa, of which the commentator adds, " This is the country thus
spoken of in the Vinaya," quoting the passage at Mahavagga, v. 13, 12, which
gives the boundaries as follows : *' To the E. the town Kajaggala, and beyond
itMahasald; to the S.E. the river SalalavatI; to the S. the town Setak annika ;
to the W. the brahman town and district Thuna; and to the N. the Usiraddhaja
Mountain." These are different from the boundaries of the Madhya Desa of
later Brahminical literature, on which see Lassen's 'Indische Alterthumskunde,'
vol. i. p. 119 (2nd edition). This sacred land was regarded as the centre of
Jambudvlpa ; that is, of the then known world — just as the Chinese talk of
China as the Middle Country, and as other people have looked on their own
capital as the navel or centre of the world, and on their world as the centre of
the universe.

62 THE NIDANAKATHA.

sucli a one, slie shall be my motlier." And further
considering how long her life should last, he foresaw that
it would still last ten months and seven days.

Having thus reflected on these five important points,
he favoured the deities by granting their prayer, saying,
" The time has arrived, 0 Blessed Ones, for me to become
a Buddha." He then dismissed them with the words,
"You may depart;" and attended by the angels of the
heaven of Joy, he entered the grove of Gladness in the
City of Delight.

Now in each of the angel-heavens (Devalokas) there
is such a grove of Gladness ; and there the angels are
wont to remind any one of them who is about to depart
of the opportunities he has gained by good deeds done in
a former birth, saying to him, " When fallen hence,
mayest thou be reborn in bliss." And thus He also,
when walking about there, surrounded by angels re-
minding him of his acquired merit, departed thence ;
and was conceived in the womb of the Lady Maha Maya.

In order to explain this better, the following is the
account in fuller detail. At that time, it is said, the
Midsummer festival was proclaimed in the City of
Kapilavastu, and the people were enjoying the feast.
During the seven days before the full moon the Lady
Maha Miiya had taken part in the festivity, as free from
intoxication as it was brilliant with garlands and per-
fumes. On the seventh day she rose early and bathed
in perfumed water : and she distributed four hundred
thousand pieces in giving great largesse. Decked in her
richest attire she partook of the purest food : and vowing
to observe the Eight Commandments, she entered her
beautiful chamber, and lying on her royal couch she fell
asleep and dreamt this dream.

The four archangels, the Guardians of the world, lifting
her up in her couch, carried her to the Himalaya moun-
tains, and placing her under the Great Siila-tree, seven

MA HA MA YA'S DREAM. 63

leagues higli, on the Crimson Plain, sixty yojanas broad,
they stood respectfully aside. Their queens then came
toward her, and taking her to the lake of Anotatta,
bathed her to free her from human stains ; and dressed
her in heavenly garments ; and anointed her with per-
fumes ; and decked her with heavenly flowers. Not far
from there is the Silver Hill, within which is a golden
mansion ; in it they spread a heavenly couch, with its
head towards the East, and on it they laid her down.
Then the future Buddha, who had become a superb white
elephant, and was wandering on the Golden Hill, not far
from there, descended thence, and ascending the Silver
Hill, approached her from the North. Holding in his
silvery trunk a white lotus flower, and uttering a far-
reaching cry, he entered the golden mansion, and thrice
doing obeisance to his mother's couch, he gently struck
her right side, and seemed to enter her womb.^

Thus was he conceived at the end of the Midsummer
festival. And the next day, having awoke from her sleep,
she related her dream to the raja. The raja had sixty-
four eminent Brahmans summoned, and had costly seats
spread on a spot made ready for the state occasion with
green leaves and dalbergia flowers, and he had vessels
of gold and silver filled with delicate milk-rice com-
pounded with ghee and sweet honey, and covered with
gold and silver bowls. This food he gave them, and he
satisfied them with gifts of new garments and of tawny
cows. And when he had thus satisfied their every desire,
he had the dream told to them, and then he asked them,
" What will come of it ? "

The Brahmans said, "Be not anxious, 0 king ! your
queen has conceived : and the fruit of her womb will be
a man-child ; it will not be a woman- child. You will

^ It is instructive to notice that in later accounts it is soberly related as
actual fact that the Bodisat entered his mother's womb as a white elephant :
and the Incarnation scene is occasionally so represented in Buddhist sculptures.

64 THE NIDANAKATHA.

have a son. And lie, if lie adopts a houseliolder's life,
will become a king, a Universal Monarcli ; but if, leaving
bis borne, be adopt tbe religious life, be will become a
Buddha, wbo will remove from tbe world tbe veils of
ignorance and sin."

!N^ow at tbe moment wben tbe future Buddba made
himself incarnate in bis mother's womb, tbe constituent
elements of the ten thousand world- systems quaked, and
trembled, and were shaken violently. Tbe Thirty-two
Good Omens also were made manifest. In the ten thou-
sand world-systems an immeasurable light appeared. The
blind received their sight (as if from very longing to
behold this bis glory). The deaf beard the noise. The
dumb spake one with another. The crooked became
straight. The lame walked. All prisoners were freed
from their bonds and chains. In each hell the fire was
extinguished. The hungry ghosts received food and
drink. The wild animals ceased to be afraid. The
illness of all who were sick was allayed. All men began
to speak kindly. Horses neighed, and elephants trum-
peted gently. All musical instruments gave forth each
its note, though none played upon them. Bracelets and
other ornaments jingled of themselves. All the heavens
became clear. A cool soft breeze wafted pleasantly for
all. Rain fell out of due season. Water, welling up
from tbe very earth, overflowed.^ The birds forsook
their flight on high. Tbe rivers stayed their waters'
flow. Tbe waters of the mighty ocean became fresh.
Everywhere tbe earth was covered with lotuses of every
colour. All flowers blossomed on land and in water.
Tbe trunks, and branches, and twigs of trees were covered
with the bloom appropriate to each. On earth tree-lotuses
sprang up by sevens together, breaking even through

^ I think this is the meaning of the passage, though Prof. Childers has
a different rendering of the similar phrase at verse 104, where I would
read "it" instead of " vegetation." Compare Dathavagsa, i. 46.

THE THIRTY-TWO SIGNS. 65

the rocks ; and hanging-lotuses descended from the skies.
The ten-thousand world-systems revolved, and rushed as
close together as a bunch of gathered flowers ; and became
as it were a woven wreath of worlds, as sweet-smelline:
and resplendent as a mass of garlands, or as a sacred altar
decked with flowers.

From the moment of the incarnation, thus brought
about, of the future Buddha, four angels, with swords
in their hands, stood guard over the Bodisat and his
mother, to shield them from all harm. Pure in thought,
having reached the highest aim and the highest honour,
the mother was happy and unwearied ; and she saw the
child within her as plainly as one could see a thread passed
through a transparent gem.^ But as a womb in which a
future Buddha has dwelt, like a sacred relic shrine, can
never be occupied by another ; the mother of the Bodisat,
seven days after his birth, died, and was reborn in the
City of Delight.

Now other women give birth, some before, some
after, the completion of the tenth month, some sitting,
and some lying down. Not so the mother of a Bodisat.
She gives birth to the Bodisat, standing, after she has
cherished him in her womb for exactly ten months. This
is a distinctive quality of the mother of a Buddha elect.

And queen Maha Miiya, when she too had thus cherished
the Bodisat in her womb, like oil in a vessel, for ten
months, felt herself far gone with child: and wishing
to go to her family home she spake to King Suddhodana,
and said,

" 0 king ! I wish to go to Devadaha, to the city of my
people."

The king, saying, *' It is good," consented, and had the
road from Kapilavastu to Devadaha made plain, and decked

^ I once saw a notice of some mediaeval frescoes in wliicli the Holy Child
was similarly represented as visible within the Tirgin's womb, but have
unfortunately mislaid the reference.

THE NIDANAKATHA.

with arches of plaintain-trees, and well-filled water-pots,
and flags, and banners. And seating the queen in a
golden palanquin carried by a thousand attendants, he
sent her away with a great retinue.

Now between the two towns there is a pleasure- grove
of sala-trees belonging to the people of both cities, and
called the Lumbini grove. At that time, from the roots
to the topmost branches, it was one mass of fruits and
flowers ; and amidst the blossoms and branches swarms
of various- coloured bees, and flocks of birds of difierent
kinds, roamed, warbling sweetly. The whole of the
Lumbini grove was like a wood of variegated creepers,
or the well- decorated banqueting hall of some mighty
king. The queen beholding it was filled with the desire
of besporting herself in the sal-tree grove ; and the
attendants, carrying the queen, entered the wood. When
she came to the monarch sal-tree of the glade, she
wanted to take hold of a branch of it, and the branch
bending down, like a reed heated by steam, approached
within reach of her hand. Stretching out her hand she
took hold of the branch, and then her pains came upon
her. The people drawing a curtain round her, retired.
Standing, and holding the branch of the sal-tree, she
was delivered.

That very moment the four pure-minded Maha Brahma
angels came there bringing a golden net ; and receiving
the future Buddha on that net, they placed him before
his mother, saying, " Be joyful, 0 Lady ! a mighty son
is born to thee ! "

Now other living things, when they leave their mother's
womb, leave it smeared with ofiensive and impure matter.
Not so a Bodisat. The future Buddha left his mother's
womb like a preacher descending from a pulpit or a man
from a ladder, erect, stretching out his hands and feet,
unsoiled by any impurities from contact with his mother's
womb, pure and fair, and shining like a gem placed on

THE BIRTH OF THE BUDDHA.

fine muslin of Benares. But thougli this was so, two
showers of water came down from heaven in honour of
them and refreshed the Bodisat and his mother.

From the hands of the angels who had received him in
the golden net, four kings received him on cloth of ante-
lope skins, soft to the touch, such as are used on occasions
of royal state. From their hands men received him on a
roll of fine cloth ; and on leaving their hands he stood up
upon the ground and looked towards the East. Thousands
of world- systems became visible to him like a single
open space. Men and angels ofiering him sweet-smelling
garlands, said, " 0 great Being, there is no other like
thee, how then a greater ? " Searching the ten directions
(the four points of the compass, the four intermediate
points, the zenith and the nadir), and finding no one like
himself, he took seven strides, saying, " This is the best
direction." And as he walked the archangel Brahma
held over him the white umbrella, and the archangel
Suyiima followed him with the fan, and other deities
with the other symbols of royalty in their hands. Then
stopping at the seventh step, he sent forth his noble voice
and shouted the shout of victory, beginniag with, " I am
the chief of the world." ^

Now the future Buddha in three births thus uttered
his voice immediately on leaving his mother's womb ; in
his birth as Mahosadha, in his birth as Yessantara, and
in this birth. In the Mahosadha birth the archangel
Sakka came to him as he was being born, and placing
some fine sandal- wood in his hand, went away. He came
out from the womb holding this in his fist. His mother
asked him, *' What is it you hold, dear, as you come ? "
He answered, " Medicine, mother ! " So because he came
holding medicine, they gave him the name of Medicine-
child (Osadhadaraka). Taking the medicine they kept

1 The Madurattha VilSsinT adds the rest, "I am supreme in the world;
this is my last birth ; henceforth there will be no rebirth for me."

THE NIDANAKATHA.

it in a chatty (an earthenware water-pot) ; and it became
a drug by which all the sickness of the blind and deaf
and others, as many as came, was healed. So the saying
sprang up, " This is a powerful drug, this is a powerful
drug ; " and hence he was called Mahosadha (The Great
Medicine Man).

Again, in the Yessantara birth, as he left his mother's
womb, he stretched out his right hand, saying, "But is
there anything in the house, mother? I would give a
gift." Then his mother, saying, " You are born, dear, in
a wealthy family," took his hand in hers, and placed on it
a bag containing a thousand.

Lastly, in this birth he sang the song of victory. Thus
the future Buddha in three births uttered his voice as he
came out of his mother's womb. And as at the moment
of his conception, so at the moment of his birth, the
thirty-two Good Omens were seen.

Now at the very time when our Bodisat was born in
the Lumbini grove, the lady, the mother of Rahula,
Channa the attendant, Kaludayi the minister, Kanthaka
the royal horse, the great Bo-tree, and the four vases full
of treasure, also came into being. Of these last, one was
two miles, one four, one six, and one eight miles in size.
These seven are called the Sahajata, the Connatal Ones.^

The people of both towns took the Bodisat and went
to Kapilavastu. On that day too, the choirs of angels in
the Tavatigsa heaven were astonished and joyful; and
waved their cloaks and rejoiced, saying, " In Kapilavastu,

1 There is some mistake here, as the list contains nine— or if the four
treasures count as one, only six- Connatal Ones. I think before Kaluduyi
we should insert Ananda, the loving disciple. So Alabaster and Hardy
(Wheel of the Law, p. 106; Manual of Buddhism, p. 146). Bigandet also
adds Ananda, but calls him the son of Amittodana, which is against the
common tradition (Life or Legend of Guadama, p. 36, comp. my Buddhism,
p. 52). The legend is certainly, as to its main features, an early one, for
it is also found, in greatly exaggerated and contradictory terms, in the books
of Northern Buddhists (Lalita Vistara, Foucaux, p. 97, Beal, p. 53, comp.
Senart, p. 294).

THE BUDDHIST SIMEON, 69

to Suddliodaiia tlie king, a son is born, wlio, seated under
tlie Bo-tree, will become a Buddha."

At tbat time an ascetic named Kala Devala (a con-
fidential adviser of Suddhodana the king, who had passed
through the eight stages of religious attainment)^ had
eaten his mid- day meal, and had gone to the Tavati;)sa
heaven, to rest through the heat of the day. Whilst
there sitting resting, he saw these angels, and asked
them, ''Why are you thus glad at heart and rejoicing?
Tell me the reason of it.''

The angels replied, "Sir, to Suddhodana the king is
born a son, who seated under the Bo-tree will become a
Buddha, and will found a Kingdom of Righteousness.^
To us it will be given to see his infinite grace and to
hear his word. Therefore it is that we are glad ! "

The ascetic, hearing what they said, quickly came
down from the angel- world, and entering the king's
house, sat down on the seat set apart for him, and said,
"A son they say is born to you, 0 king ! let me see him."

The king ordered his son to be clad in splendour
and brought in to salute the ascetic. But the future
Buddha turned his feet round, and planted them on
the matted hair of the ascetic.^ For in that birth there
was no one worthy to be saluted by the Bodisat, and
if those ignorant ones had placed the head of the
future Buddha at the feet of the ascetic, assuredly the
ascetic's head would have split in two. The ascetic rose
from his seat, and saying, "It is not right for me to
work my own destruction," he did homage to the Bodisat.
And the king also seeing this wonder did homage to
his own son.

' Saniapatti.

2 Dhmnmacakka-jQ pavattessatt. See my " Buddhism," p. 45.

3 It was considered among the Brahmans a sign of holiness to wear matted
or platted hair. This is referred to in the striking Buddhist verse (Dhamma-
pada, V. 394), " What is the use of platted hair, 0 fool ! What of a garment
of skins ! Your low yearnings are within you, and the outside thou makest
clean ! "

70 THE NIDANAKATHA.

Now the ascetic had the power of calling to mind the
events of forty ages (kalpas) in the past, and of forty
ages in the future. Looking at the marks of future
prosperity on the Bodisat's body, he considered with
himself, "Will he become a Buddha or not?" And
perceiving that he would most certainly become a Buddha,
he smiled, saying, "This is a wonderful child." Then
reflecting, " Will it be given to me to behold him when
he has become a Buddha ? " he perceived that it would
not. " Dying before that time I shall be reborn in the
Formless World ; so that while a hundred or perhaps a
thousand Buddhas appear among men, I shall not be able
to go and be taught by them. And it will not be my good
fortune to behold this so wonderful child when he has
become a Buddha. Great, indeed, is my loss ! " And he
wept.

The people seeing this, asked, saying, " Our master
just now smiled, and has now begun to weep ! Will, sir,
any misfortune befall our master's little one ? " ^

"There is no misfortune in him; assuredly he will
become a Buddha," was the reply.

" Why then do you weep ? "

" It will not be granted to me," he said, " to behold so
great a man when he has become a Buddha. Great,
indeed, is my loss ! bewailing myself, I weep."

Then reflecting, " Will it be granted or not to any one
of my relatives to see him as a Buddha ? " he saw it
would be granted to his nephew Nalaka. So he went to
his sister's house, and said to her, " Where is your son
Nalaka ? "

" In the house, brother."

" Call him," said he. When he came he said to him,
" In the family of Suddhodana the king, dear, a son is

^ " Our master " is here, of course, the sage. It is a pretty piece of
-politeness, not unfrequent in the Jutakas, to address a stranger as a relation.
See below, Jataka I^o. 3.

THE NAME-GIVING.

born, a young Buddlia. In thirty-five years lie will
become a Buddlia, and it will be granted you to see bim.
This very day give up tbe world ! "

Bearing in mind that bis uncle was not a man to
urge bim witbout a cause, tbe young man, tbougb born
in a family of incalculable wealtb,^ straigbtway took
out of tbe inner store a yeUow suit of clotbes and an
eartbenware pot, and sbaved bis bead and put on tbe
robes. And saying, " I take tbe vows for tbe sake of tbe
greatest Being upon eartb," be prostrated bimself on tbe
ground and raised bis joined bands in adoration towards
tbe Bodisat. Tben putting tbe begging bowl in a bag,
and carrying it on bis sboulder, be went to tbe Himalaya
mountains, and lived tbe life of a monk.

Wben tbe Tatbagata bad attained to complete En-
ligbtenment, Nalaka went to bim and beard tbe way of
salvation.^ He tben returned to tbe Himalayas, and
reacbed Arabatsbip. And wben be bad lived seven montbs
longer as a pilgrim along tbe most excellent Patb, be past
away wben standing near a Golden Hill, by tbat final ex-
tinction in wbicb no part or power of man remains.*^

Now on tbe fiftb day tbey batbed tbe Bodisat' s bead,
saying, *' Let us perform tbe rite of cboosing a name for
bim." So tbey perfumed tbe king's bouse witb four
kinds of odours, and decked it witb Dalbergia flowers,
and made ready rice well cooked in milk. Tben tbey
sent for one bundred and eigbt Brabmans who bad
mastered tbe tbree Vedas, and seated tbem in tbe king's
bouse, and gave tbem tbe pleasant food to eat, and did

1 Literally " worth eighty and seven times a koti," both eighty and seven
being lucky numbers.

2 Literally, ''and caused him to declare, 'The way of salvation for
Nalaka.' " Perhaps some Sutta is so called. Tathagata, "gone, or come, in
like manner; subject to the fate of all men," is an adjective applied
originally to all mortals, but afterwards used as a favourite epithet of
Gotama. Childers compares the use of ' Son of Man.'

3 Anupadisesaya JSibbana-dhatuya parmibbayi. In the translator's
" Buddhism," p. 113, an analysis of this phrase will be found.

72 THE NIDANAKATHA.

them great honour, and asked them to recognize the signs
of what the child should be.
Among them —

270. E-ama, and Dhaja, and Lakkhana, and Mantin,
Kondanya and Bhoja, Suyama and Sudatta,
These eight Brahmans then were there,
Their senses all subdued ; and they declared the
charm.

Now these eight Brahmans were recognizers of signs ;
it was by them that the dream on the night of conception
had been interpreted. Seven of them holding up two
fingers prophesied in the alternative, saying, " If a man
having such marks should remain a householder, he
becomes a Universal Monarch ; but if he takes the vows,
he becomes a Buddha.'* And, so saying, they declared
all the glory and power of a Cakkavatti king.

But the youngest of all of them, a young Brahman
whose family name was Kondanya, beholding the per-
fection of the auspicious marks on the Bodisat, raised
up one finger only, and prophesied without ambiguity,
and said, " There is no sign of his remaining amidst the
cares of household life. Yerily, he will become a Buddha,
and remove the veils of sin and ignorance from the
world."

This man already, under former Buddhas, had made
a deep resolve of holiness, and had now reached his last
birth. Therefore it was that he surpassed the other
seven in wisdom ; that he perceived how the Bodisat
would only be subject to this one life ; and that, raising
only one finger, he so prophesied, saying, " The lot of
one possessed of these marks will not be cast amidst
the cares of household life. Yerily he will become a
Buddha ! "

Now those Brahmans went home, and addressed their

THE FOUR OMENS. 73

sons, saying, " We are old, beloved ones ; whether or not
we shall live to see the son of Suddhodana the king
after he has gained omniscience, do you, when he has
gained omniscience, take the vows according to his
religion." And after they all seven had lived out their
span of life, they passed away and were reborn according
to their deeds.

But the young Brahman Kondanya was free from
disease ; and for the sake of the wisdom of the Great
Being he left all that he had and made the great re-
nunciation. And coming in due course to Uruvela, he
thought, "Behold how pleasant is this place ! how suit-
able for the exertions of a young man desirous of wrest-
ling with sin." So he took up his residence there.

And when he heard that the Great Being had taken
the vows, he went to the sons of those Brahmans, and
said to them, " Siddhattha the prince has taken the vows.
Assuredly he will become a Buddha. If your fathers
were in health they would to-day leave their homes, and
take the vows : and now, if you should so desire, come,
I will take the vows in imitation of him." But all of
them were not able to agree with one accord ; three did
not give up the world; the other four made Kondanya
the Brahman their leader, and took the vows. It was
those five who came to be called " the Company of the
Five Elders."

Then the king asked, "After seeing what, will my
son forsake the world ? "

" The four Omens," was the reply.

"Which four?"

"A man worn out by age, a sick man, a dead body,
and a monk."

The king thought, "From this time let no such things
come near my son. There is no good of my son's
becoming a Buddha. I should like to see my son
exercising rule and sovereignty over the four great

74. THE NIDAMAKATHA.

continents and tlie two thousand islands tliat surround
them; and walking, as it were, in the vault of heaven,
surrounded by an innumerable retinue." ^ Then, so say-
ing, he placed guards two miles apart in the four direc-
tions to prevent men of those four kinds coming to the
sight of his son.

That day also, of eighty thousand clansmen assembled
in the festival hall, each one dedicated a son, saying,
"Whether this child becomes a Buddha or a king, we
give each a son ; so that if he shall become a Buddha, he
shall live attended and honoured by Kshatriya monks,
and if he shall become a king, he shall live attended and
honoured by Kshatriya nobles." ^ And the raja appointed
nurses of great beauty, and free from every fault, for
the Bodisat. So the Bodisat grew up in great splendour
and surrounded by an innumerable retinue.

Now one day the king held the so-called Ploughing
Festival. On that day they ornament the town like a
palace of the gods. All the slaves and servants, in new
garments and crowned with sweet- smelling garlands,
assemble in the king's house. For the king's work a
thousand ploughs are yoked. On this occasion one hun-
dred and eight minus one were, with their oxen-reins
and cross-bars, ornamented with silver. But the plough
for the king to use was ornamented with red gold ; and
so also the horns and reins and goads of the oxen.

The king, leaving his house with a great retinue, took
his son and went to the spot. There there was a Jambu-
tree thick with leaves and giving a dense shade. Under
it the raja had the child's couch laid out ; and over the
couch a canopy spread inlaid with stars of gold, and
round it a curtain hung. Then leaving a guard there,
the raj a, clad in splendour and attended by his minis-
ters, went away to plough.

1 Literally ' a retinue thirty -six leagues in circumference/ where 'thirty-
six ' is a mere sacred number.

2 Kshatriya was the warrior caste.

THE PLOUGHING FESTIVAL. 75

At such, a time the king takes hold of a golden plough,
the attendant ministers one hundred and eight minus
one silver ploughs, and the peasants the rest of the
ploughs. Holding them they plough this way and that
way. The raja goes from one side to the other, and
comes from the other back again.

On this occasion the king had great success ; and the
nurses seated round the Bodisat, thinking, " Let us go
to see the king's glory,*' came out from within the
curtain, and went away. The future Buddha, looking all
round, and seeing no one, got up quickly, seated himself
cross-legged, and holding his breath, sank into the first
Jhiina.^

The nurses, engaged in preparing various kinds of food,
delayed a little. The shadows of the other trees turned
round, but that of the Jambu-tree remained steady and
circular in form. The nurses, remembering their young
master was alone, hurriedly raised the curtain and re-
turned inside it. Seeing the Bodisat sitting cross-legged,
and that miracle of the shadow, they went and told the
raja, saying, " 0 king ! the prince is seated in such and
such a manner ; and while the shadows of the other trees
have turned, that of the Jambu-tree is fixed in a circle ! "

And the raja went hurriedly and saw that miracle,
and did homage to his son, saying, " This, Beloved One,
is the second homage paid to thee ! "

But the Bodisat in due course grew to manhood. And
the king had three mansions made, suitable for the three
seasons, one nine stories high, one seven stories high,
and one five stories high ; and he provided him with
forty thousand dancing girls. So the Bodisat, surrounded
by well-dressed dancing girls, like a god surrounded by
troops of houris, and attended by musical instruments
which played of themselves, lived, as the seasons changed,

* A state of religious meditation. A full explanation is given in the
translator' s " B uddhism,* 'pp. 174-176.

76 THE NIDANAKATHA.

in each -of these mansions in enjoyment of great majesty.
And the mother of Rahula was his principal queen.

Whilst he was thus in the enjoyment of great pro-
sperity the following talk sprang up in the public assembly
of his clansmen : " Siddhattha lives devoted to pleasure ;
not one thing does he learn; if war should break out,
what would he do ? ''

The king sent for the future Buddha, and said to him,
*' Your relations, Beloved One, say that you learn nothing,
and are given up to pleasure: now what do you think
you should do about this ? "

" 0 king ! there is no art it is necessary for me to
learn. Send the crier round the city, that I may show
my skill. Seven days from now I will show my kindred
what I can do."

The king did so. The Bodisat assembled those so
skilled in archery that they could split even a hair, and
shoot as quick as lightning ; and then, in the midst of
the people, he showed his relatives his twelve-fold skill,
and how unsurpassed he was by other masters of the
bow.^ So the assembly of his clansmen doubted no
longer.

Now one day the future Buddha, wanting to go to his
pleasure ground, told his charioteer to harness his chariot.
The latter accordingly decked the gloriously beautiful
chariot with all its trappings, and harnessed to it four
state horses of the Sindhi breed, and white as the leaves
of the white lotus flower. And he informed the Bodisat.
So the Bodisat ascended the chariot, resplendent like a
mansion in the skies, and went towards the garden.

The angels thought, " The time for young Siddhattha
to attain Enlightenment is near, let us show him the
Omens." And they did so by making a son of the
gods represent a man wasted by age, with decayed teeth

^ A gloss adds, " This should be understood as is related at full in the
Sarabhar)ga Jutaka."

THE FOUR OMENS.

and grey hair, bent and broken down in body, and with a
stick in his hand. But he was only visible to the future
Buddha and his charioteer.

Then the Bodisat asked his charioteer, as is told in the
Mahapadana, "What kind of man is this, whose very
hair is not as that of other men ? " When he heard his
servant's answer, he said, " Shame then be to life ! since
the decay of every living being is notorious ! " and with
agitated heart he turned back at that very spot and re-
entered his palace.

The king asked, "Why does my son turn back so
hurriedly ? ''

"He has seen an old man," they said; "and having
seen an old man, he will forsake the world."

"By this you ruin me," exclaimed the raja; "quickly
get ready concerts and plays to be performed before
my son. So long as he continues in the enjoyment
of pleasure, he will not turn his thoughts to forsaking
the world ! " Then increasing the guards, he placed
them at each point of the compass, at intervals of half
a league.

Again, one day, when the future Buddha, as he was
going to his pleasure ground, saw a sick man represented by
the gods, he made the same inquiry as before ; and then,
with agitated heart, turned back and re-entered his palace.
The king also made the same inquiry, and gave the
same orders as before; and again increasing the guard,
placed them all round at a distance of three-quarters of
a league.

Once more, when the future Buddha, as he was going
to his pleasure ground, saw a dead man represented by
the gods, he made the same inquiry as before ; and then,
with agitated heart, turned back and re-entered his palace.
The king also made the same inquiry, and gave the same
orders as before ; and again increasing the guard, placed
them all round at a distance of a league.

^8 THE NIDANAKATHA.

Once again, when the future Buddha, as he was going
to his pleasure ground, saw one who had abandoned the
world, carefully and decently clad, he asked his charioteer,
" Friend, what kind of man is that ? " As at that time
there was no Buddha at all in the world, the charioteer
understood neither what a mendicant was nor what were
his distinguishing characteristics ; but nevertheless, in-
spired by the gods, he said, " That is a mendicant friar ; "
and described the advantages of renouncing the world.
And that day the future Buddha, cherishing the thought
of renouncing the world, went on to his pleasure ground.

The repeaters of the Digha Nikiiya,^ however, say that
he saw all the four Omens on the same day, and then
went to his pleasure ground. There he enjoyed himself
during the day and bathed in the beautiful lake ; and at
sunset seated himself on the royal resting stone to be
robed. Now his attendants brought robes of different
colours, and various kinds of ornaments, and garlands,
and perfumes, and ointments, and stood around him.

At that moment the throne on which Sakka was seated
became warm.^ And thinking to himself, "Who is it
now who wants me to descend from hence?" he perceived
that the time for the adornment of the future Buddha
had come. And he said to Yissakamma, " Friend Yissa-
kamma, the young noble Siddhattha, to-day, at midnight,
will carry out the Great Renunciation. This is the last
time he will be clad in splendour. Go to the pleasure
ground and adorn him with heavenly array."

By the miraculous power which angels have, he ac-

^ The members of the Buddhist Order of mendicant friars were in the
habit of selecting some book or books of the Buddhist Scriptures, which it
was their especial duty to learn by heart, repeat to their pupils, study,
expound, and preach from. Thus the Digha Nikaya, or collection of long
treatises, had a special school of " repeaters " [bhanaka) to itself.

2 At critical moments in the lives of persons of importance in the religious
legends of Buddhist India, the seat of the Archangel Sakka becomes warm.
Fearful of losing his temporary bliss, he then descends himself, or sends
Vissakamma, the Buddhist Vulcan, to act as a deus ex machinu, and put things
straight.

GO TAMA'S SON.

cordingly, that very moment, drew near in tlie likeness
of the royal barber ; and taking from the barber's hand
the material for the turban, he arranged it round the
Bodisat's head. At the touch of his hand the Bodisat
knew, " This is no man, it is a son of the gods." When
the first round of the turban was put on, there arose, by
the appearance of the jewelry on the diadem, a thousand
folds ; when the turban was wrapt the second time round,
a thousand folds arose again ; when ten times, ten thou-
sand folds appeared. How so many folds could seem to
rise on so small a head is beyond imagination ; for in
size the largest of them were as the flower of the Black
Priyaggu creeper, and the rest even as Kutumbaka
blossoms. And the head of the future Buddha became
like a Kuyyaka flower in full bloom.

And when he was arrayed in all his splendour, — the
musicians the while exhibiting each one his peculiar skill,
the Brahmans honouring him with words of joy and
victory, and the men of lower castes with festive cries and
shouts of praise ; — he ascended his superbly decorated car.

At that time Suddhodana the king, who had heard
that the mother of Eahula had brought forth a son, sent
a message, saying, "Make known my joy to my son ! ''
The future Buddha, hearing this, said, " An impediment
has come into being, a bond has come into being.'' When
the king asked, " What did my son say ? " and heard
that saying ; he gave command, " From henceforth let
E-iihula (impediment) be my grandson's name." But the
Bodisat, riding in his splendid chariot, entered the town
with great magnificence and exceeding glory.

At that time a noble virgin, Kisa Gotami by name, had
gone to the flat roof of the upper story of her palace,
and she beheld the beauty and majesty of the Bodisat
as he was proceeding through the city. Pleased and
delighted at the sight, she burst forth into this song of
joy :—

8o- THE NIDANAKATHA.

271. Blessed indeed is that motlier, —
Blessed indeed is tliat father, —
Blessed indeed is that wife, —
Who owns this Lord so glorious !

Hearing this, the Bodisat thought to himself, " On
catching sight of such a one the heart of his mother is
made happy, the heart of his father is made happy, the
heart of his wife is made happy ! This is all she says.
But by what can every heart attain to lasting happiness
and peace P " And to him whose mind was estranged
from sin the answer came, " When the fire of lust is gone
out, then peace is gained ; when the fires of hatred and
delusion are gone out, then peace is gained ; when the
troubles of mind, arising from pride, credulity, and all
other sins, have ceased, then peace is gained ! Sweet is
the lesson this singer makes me hear, for the Nirvana of
Peace is that which I have been trying to find out.
This very day I will break away from household cares !
I will renounce the world ! I will follow only after the
Nirvana itself ! ^

Then loosing from his neck a string of pearls worth a
hundred thousand, he sent it to Kisa GotamI as a teacher's
fee. Delighted at this, she thought, "Prince Siddhattha
has fallen in love with me, and has sent me a present."
But the Bodisat, on entering his palace in great splen-
dour, reclined on a couch of state.

Thereupon women clad in beautiful array, skiKul in

1 The force of this passage is due to the fullness of meaning which, to the
Buddhist, the words nibbuta and nibbanai) convey. No words in Western
languages cover exactly the same ground, or connote the same ideas. To
explain them fully to any one unfamiliar with Indian modes of thought
would be difficult anywhere, and impossible in a note ; but their meaning is
pretty clear from the above sentences. "Where in them, in the song, the
words blessed, happy, peace, and the words gone out, ceased, occur, nibbuta
stands in the original in one or other of its two meanings ; where in them the
words Nirvana, Nirvona of Peace occur, nibbanat) stands in the original.
Nirvana is a lasting state of happiness and peace, to be reached here on earth
by the extinction of the ' fires ' and ' troubles ' mentioned in this passage.

THE NAUTCH GIRLS.

tlie dance and song, and lovely as heavenly virgins,
brought their musical instruments, and ranging them-
selves in order, danced, and sang, and played delight-
fully. But the Bodisat, his heart being estranged
from sin, took no pleasure in the spectacle, and fell
asleep.

And the women, saying, " He, for whose sake we
were performing, is gone to sleep ? Why should we play
any longer ? " laid aside the instruments they held, and
lay down to sleep. The lamps fed with sweet- smelling
oil were just burning out. The Bodisat, waking up, sat
cross-legged on the couch, and saw them with their stage
properties laid aside and sleeping — some foaming at the
mouth, some grinding their teeth, some yawning, some
muttering in their sleep, some gaping, and some with
their dress in disorder — ^plainly revealed as mere horrible
sources of mental distress.

Seeing this wof ul change in their appearance, he became
more and more disgusted with lusts. To him that magni-
ficent apartment, as splendid as Sakka's residence in
heaven, began to seem like a charnel-house full of loath-
some corpses. Life, whether in the worlds subject to
passion, or in the worlds of form, or in the formless
worlds, seemed to him like staying in a house that had
become the prey of devouring flames.^ An utterance of
intense feeling broke from him — *' It all oppresses me !
It is intolerable ! " and his mind turned ardently to the
state of those who have renounced the world. Resolving
that very day to accomplish the Great Renunciation, he
rose from his couch, went to the door and called out,
" Who is there ? "

Channa, who had been sleeping with his head on the
threshold, answered, " It is I, sir, Channa/'

1 Literally. " The three Bhavas seemed like houses on fire." The three
Bhavas are Existence in the Kama-loka, the Rupa-loka, and the Arupa-loka
respectively : that is, existence in the worlds whose inhabitants are subject
to passion, have material forms, and have immaterial forms respectively.

82 THE NIDANAKA7HA,

Then said lie, " I am resolved to-day to accomplisli the
Great Renunciation — saddle me a horse/'

So Channa went to the stable- yard, and entering the
stables saw by the light of the lamps the mighty steed
Kanthaka, standing at a pleasant spot under a canopy of
cloth, beautified with a pattern of jasmine flowers. " This
is the very one I ought to saddle to-day," thought he ;
and he saddled Kanthaka.

Even whilst he was being saddled the horse knew, " He
is saddling me so tightly, and not as on other days for such
rides as those to the pleasure grounds, because my master
is about to-day to carry out the Great Renunciation."
Then, glad at heart, he neighed a mighty neigh ; and the
sound thereof would have penetrated over all the town,
had not the gods stopped the sound, and let no one hear it.

Now after the Bodisat had sent Channa on this errand,
he thought, "I will just look at my son." And rising
from his couch he went to the apartments of E-ahula's
mother, and opened her chamber door. At that moment
a lamp, fed with sweet-smelling oil, was burning dimly in
the inner chamber. The mother of Rahula was asleep on
a bed strewn with many jasmine flowers,^ and resting her
hand on the head of her son. Stopping with his foot on
the threshold, the Bodisat thought, "If I lift her hand
to take my son, she will awake ; and that will prevent my
going away. I will come back and see him when I have
become a Buddha." And he left the palace.

Now what is said in the Jataka commentary, " At that
time Rahula was seven days old," is not found in the
other commentaries. Therefore the view given above
should be accepted.^

And when the Bodisat had left the palace, he went to his
horse, and said, "My good Kanthaka, do thou save me this

^ Literally, " about an ammana {i e. five or six bushels) of the large jasmine
and the Arabian jasmine."

2 The Jataka Commentary here referred to is, no doubt, the older com-
mentary in Elu, or old Sinhalese, on which the present work is based.

THE MYTHIC HORSE.

once to-niglit ; so tliat I, having become a Buddlia by your
help, shall save the world of men, and that of angels too."
Then leaping up, he seated himself on Kanthaka's back.

Xanthaka was eighteen cubits in length from the nape
of his neck, and of proportionate height ; he was strong
and fleet, and white all over like a clean chank shell. If
he should neigh or paw the ground, the sound would
penetrate through all the town. Therefore the angels so
muffled the sound of his neighing that none could hear
it ; and placed, at each step, the palms of their hands
under his feet.

The Bodisat rode on the mighty back of the mighty
steed ; told Channa to catch hold of its tail, and arrived
at midnight at the great gate of the city.

Now the king thinking, " In that way the Bodisat
will not be able at any time to open the city gate and
get away," had placed a thousand men at each of the two
gates to stop him. The Bodisat was mighty and strong
according to the measure of elephants as ten thousand
million elephants, and according to the measure of men
as a million million men. He thought, " If the door
does not open, sitting on Kanthaka's back with Channa
holding his tail, I will press Kanthaka with my thighs,
and jumping over the city rampart, eighteen cubits high,
I will get away ! " Channa thought, *' If the door is not
opened, I will take my master on my neck, and putting
my right hand round Kanthaka's girth, I will hold him
close to my waist, and so leap over the rampart and get
away ! " Kanthaka thought, " If the door is not opened,
I will spring up with my master seated as he is on my
back, and Channa holding by my tail, and will leap over
the rampart and get away ! " And if the door had not
been opened, verily one or other of those three would
have accomplished that whereof he had thought. But
the angel residing at the gate opened it.

At that moment Mara came there with the intention

84 THE NIDANAKATHA.

of stopping the Bodisat ; and standing in tlie air, lie ex-
claimed, *' Depart not, 0 my lord ! in seven days from
now tlie wheel of empire will appear, and will make you
sovereign over tlie four continents and the two thousand
adjacent isles. Stop, 0 my lord ! "

" Who are you ? " said he.

" I am Yasavatti," was the reply.

" Mara ! Well do I know that the wheel of empire
would appear to me ; but it is not sovereignty that I
desire. I will become a Buddha, and make the ten
thousand world-systems shout for joy."

Then thought the Tempter to himself : " Now, from
this time forth, whenever a thought of lust or anger or
malice shall arise within you, I will get to know of it."
And he followed him, ever watching for some slip, as
closely as a shadow which never leaves its object.

But the future Buddha, making light of the kingdom
of the world, thus within his reach, — casting it away as one
would saliva, — left the city with great honour on the full-
moon day of Asalhi, when the moon was in the Uttara-
salha lunar mansion {i.e. on the 1st July). And when he
had left the city a desire sprang up within him to gaze
upon it ; and the instant he did so the broad earth re-
volved like a potter's wheel, and was stayed: saying as
it were to him, " 0 Great Being, there is no need for you
to stop in order to fulfil your wish." So the Bodisat,
with his face towards the city, gazed at it-; and he fixed
at that place a spot for the Kanthaka-Nivattana Cetiya
(that is. The Shrine of Kanthaka's Staying — a Dagaba
afterwards built where this miracle was believed to have
happened). And keeping Kanthaka in the direction in
which he was going, he went on with great honour and
exceeding glory.

For then, they say, angels in front of him carried sixty
thousand torches, and behind him too, and on his right
hand, and on his left. And while some deities, undefined

THE GREAT RENUNCIATION.

on the edge of the horizon, held torches aloft ; other
deities, and the Nagas, and Winged Creatures, and other
superhuman beings, bore him company — doing homage
with heavenly perfumes, and garlands, and sandal-wood
powder, and incense. And the whole sky was full of
Paricchataka flowers from Indra's heaven, as with the
pouring rain when thick clouds gather. Heavenly songs
floated around ; and on every side thousands of musical
instruments sounded, as when the thunder roars in the
midst of the sea, or the great ocean heaves against the
boundaries of the world !

Advancing in this pomp and glory, the Bodisat, in that
one night, passed beyond three kingdoms, and arrived,
at the end of thirty leagues, at the bank of the river
called Anoma. But why could not the horse go still
further ? It was not through want of power : for he
could go from one edge of the round world to the other,
as easily as one could step across the circumference of a
wheel lying on its side ; — and doing this in the forenoon,
he could return and eat the food prepared for him. But
on this occasion he was constantly delayed by having to
drag himself along, and break his way through the mass
of garlands and flowers, cast down from heaven in such
profusion by the angels, and the Snakes, and the Winged
Creatures, that his very flanks were hid. Hence it was
that he only got over thirty leagues.

Now the Bodisat, stopping at the river side, asked
Channa, " What is this river called ? "

" Its name, my lord, is Anoma."

"And so also our renunciation of the world shall be
called Anoma (illustrious)," said he ; and signalling to
his horse, by pressing it with his heel, the horse sprang
over the river, five or six hundred yards in breadth, and
stood on the opposite bank.

The Bodisat, getting down from the horse's back, stood
on the sandy beach, extending there Kke a sheet of silver,

86 THE NIDANAKATHA.

and said to Channa, " Good Channa, do thou now go back,
taking my ornaments and Kanthaka. I am going to
become a bermit."

*' But I also, my lord, will become a bermit."

" You cannot be allowed to renounce tbe world, you
must go back,'' be said. Three times be refused this
request of Cbanna's ; and be delivered over to bim both
tbe ornaments and Kantbaka.

Tben be tbougbt, " Tbese locks of mine are not suited
for a mendicant. Now it is not rigbt for any one else to
cut tbe bair of a future Buddba, so I will cut tbem off
myself witb my sword." Tben, taking bis sword in bis
rigbt band, and holding tbe plaited tresses, together with
the diadem on them, with his left, he cut them off. So bis
bair was thus reduced to two inches in length, and curling
from the rigbt, it lay close to his head. It remained that
length as long as be lived, and the beard the same. There
was no need at all to shave either bair or beard any more.

The Bodisat, saying to bimseK, " If I am to become a
Buddha, let it stand in the air ; if not, let it fall to the
ground ; " threw the bair and diadem together as he held
them towards the sky. The plaited bair and the jewelled
turban went a league off and stopped in the air. The arch-
angel Sakka caught sight of it witb his divine eye, and
receiving it into a jewel casket, a league high, be placed
it in tbe Tavatigsa heaven, in the Dagaba of the Diadem.

272. Cutting off his bair, witb pleasant perfumes sweet,
Tbe Lordly Being cast it to the sky.
Tbe thousand-eyed one, Sakka, the sky God,
Received it humbly in a golden casket.

Again tbe Bodisat tbougbt, " This my raiment of
Benares muslin is not suitable for a mendicant." Now
tbe archangel Ghatikara, who bad formerly been bis
friend in the time of Kassapa Buddba, was led by bis

DEATH OF KANTHAKA.

friendsliip, whicli had. not grown old in that long interval,
to think, '' To-day my friend is accomplishing the Great
Renunciation, I will go and provide him with the requi-
sites of a mendicant."

273. The three robes, and the alms bowl,
Eazor, needle, and girdle.
And a water strainer — these eight
Are the wealth of the monk devout.

Taking these eight requisites of a mendicant, he gave
them to him. The Bodisat dressed himself in the outward
signs of an Arahat, and adopted the sacred garb of Renun-
ciation; and he enjoined upon Channa to go and, in his
name, assure his parents of his safety. And Channa did
homage to the Bodisat reverently, and departed.

Now Kanthaka stood listening to the Bodisat as he
talked with Channa. And thinking, " From this time
forth I shall never see my master more ! " he was unable
to bear his grief. And going out of their sight, he died
of a broken heart ; and was reborn in the Tavatigsa
heaven as an angel, with the name of Kanthaka. So
far the sorrow of Channa had been but single ; now torn
with the second sorrow of Kanthaka' s death, he returned,
weeping and bewailing, to the city.

But the Bodisat, having renounced the world, spent
seven days in a mango grove called Anupiya, hard by
that spot, in the joy of salvation. Then he went on foot
in one day to Rajagaha, a distance of thirty leagues,^

1 The word rendered league is yojana., said by Childers (Dictionary, s. v.)
to be twelve miles, but really only between seven and eight miles. See my
Ancient Coins and Measures, pp. 16, 17. The thirty yojanas here mentioned,
together with the thirty from Kapilavastu to the river Anoma, make together
sixty, or four hundred and fifty miles from Kapilavastu to Rajagaha, which
is far too much for the direct distance. There is here, I think, an undesigned
coincidence between Northern and Southern accounts; for the Lalita Vistara
(Chap. xvi. at the commencement) makes the Bodisat go to Rajagaha via
VesaU, and this would make the total distance exactly sixty yojanas.

88 THE NIDANAKATHA.

and entering tlie city, begged his food from door to door.
The whole city at the sight of his beauty was thrown
into commotion, like that other Eajagaha by the entrance
of Dhana-palaka, or like heaven itself by the entrance of
the Euler of the Gods.

The guards went to the king and said, describing him,
" 0 king ! such and such a being is begging through the
town. We cannot tell whether he is a god, or a man, or
a Naga, or a Supanna,^ or what he is."

The king, watching the Great Being from his palace,
became full of wonder, and gave orders to his guards,
saying, " Go, my men, and see. If it is a superhuman
being, it will disappear as soon as it leaves the city ; if a
god, it will depart through the air ; if a snake, it will dive
into the earth ; if a man, it will eat the food just as it is."

But the Great Being collected scraps of food. And
when he perceived there was enough to support him, he
left the city by the gate at which he had entered. And
seating himself, facing towards the East, under the
shadow of the Pandava rock, he began to eat his meal.
His stomach, however, turned, and made as if it would
come out of his mouth. Then, though distressed by that
revolting food, for in that birth he had never even beheld
such food with his eyes, he himself admonished himself,
saying, " Siddhattha, it is true you were born in a family
where food and drink were easily obtainable, into a state
of life where your food was perfumed third- season's rice,
with various curries of the finest kinds. But ever since
you saw one clad in a mendicant's garb, you have been
thinking, 'When shall I become like him, and live by
begging my food ? would that that time were come ! '
And now that you have left all for that very purpose,
what is this that you are doing ? " And overcoming his
feelings, he ate the food.

1 These are tlie superhuman Snakes and Winged Creatures, who were sup-
posed, like the gods or angels, to be able to assume the appearance of men.

THE GREAT STRUGGLE.

«9

The king's men saw this, and went and told him what
had happened. Hearing what his messengers said, the
king quickly left the city, and approaching the Bodisat,
was so pleased at the mere sight of his dignity and grace,
that he offered him all his kingdom.

The Bodisat said, " In me, 0 king ! there is no desire
after wealth or sinful pleasures. It is in the hope of
attaining to complete enlightenment that I have left all."
And when the king gained not his consent, though he
asked it in many ways, he said, "Assuredly thou wilt
become a Buddha ! Deign at least after thy Buddhahood
to come to my kingdom first.''

This is here concisely stated ; but the full account,
beginning, " I sing the Renunciation, how the Wise One
renounced the world," will be found on referring to the
Pabbajja Sutta and its commentary.

And the Bodisat, granting the king's request, went
forward on his way. And joining himself to Alara
Kalama, and to Uddaka, son of Rama, he acquired their
systems of ecstatic trance. But when he saw that that
was not the way to wisdom, he left off applying himself
to the realization of that system of Attainment.^ And
with the intention of carrying out the Great Struggle
against sin, and showing his might and resolution to
gods and men, he went to Uruvela. And saying, "Plea-
sant, indeed, is this spot!" he took up his residence there,
and devoted himself to the Great Struggle.^

1 Samapatti.

2 The Great Struggle played a great part in the Buddhist system of moral
training ; it was the wrestling with the flesh by which a true Buddhist
overcame delusion and sin, and attained to Nirvana. It is best explained by
its four-fold division into 1 . Mastery over the passions. 2. Suppression of
sinful thoughts. 3. Meditation on the seven kinds of Wisdom (Bodhi-anga,
see ' Buddhism,' p. 173) ; and 4. Fixed attention, the power of preventing
the mind from wandering. It is also called Sammappadhana, Right Effort,
and forms the subject of the Maha-Padhana Sutta, in the Digha Nikaya.
The system was, of course, not worked out at the time here referred to ; but
throughout the chronicle the biographer ascribes to Gotama, from the
beginning, a knowledge of the whole Buddhist theory as afterwards elaborated.
For to our author that theory had no development,^ it was Eternal and Im-
mutable Truth already revealed by innumerable previous Buddhas.

90 THE NIDANAKATHA.

And those five mendicants, Kondanya and the rest,
begging their way through villages, market towns, and
royal cities, met with the Bodisat there. And for six
years they stayed by him and served him, while he was
carrying out the Great Struggle, with different kinds of
service, such as sweeping out the hermitage, and so on ;
thinking the while, " Now he will become a Buddha !
now he will become a Buddha ! "

Now the Bodisat thought, " I will perform the utter-
most penance." And he brought himself to live on one
seed of the oil plant, or one grain of rice, and even to fast
entirely ; but the angels gathered the sap of life and in-
fused it into him through the pores of his skin. By this
fasting, however, he became as thin as a skeleton ; the
colour of his body, once fair as gold, became dark ; and
the Thirty- two signs of a Great Being disappeared. And
one day, when walking up and down, plunged in intense
meditation, he was overcome by severe pain ; and he
fainted, and fell.

Then certain of the angels began to say, " The men-
dicant Gotama is dead.'' But others said, " Such is the
condition of Arahats (saints)." And those who thought
he was dead went and told Suddhodana the king, saying,
" Your son is dead."

*' Did he die after becoming a Buddha, or before ? "

"He was unable to attain to Buddhahood, and fell
down and died in the midst of the Great Struggle."

When the king heard this, he refused to credit it,
saying, '* I do not believe it. My son could never die
without attaining to Wisdom ! "

If you ask, " Why did not the king believe it ? " it
was because he had seen the miracles at the foot of the
Jambu-tree, and on the day when Kala Devala had been
compelled to do homage to the Bodisat.

And the Bodisat recovered consciousness again, and
stood up. And the angels went and told the king, " Your

SUyATA'S OFFERING.

son, 0 king, is well." And the king said, " I knew my
son was not dead.''

And the Great Being's six years' penance became noised
abroad, as when the sound of a great bell is heard in the
sky. But he perceived that penance was not the way to
Wisdom ; and begging through the villages and towns,
he collected ordinary material food, and lived upon it.
And the Thirty-two signs of a Great Being appeared
again upon him, and his body became fair in colour, like
unto gold.

Then the five attendant mendicants thought, "This
man has not been able, even by six years' penance, to
attain Omniscience ; how can he do so now, when he goes
begging through the villages, and takes material food?
He is altogether lost in the Struggle. To think of getting
spiritual advantage from him is like a man, who wants to
bathe his head, thinking of using a dewdrop. What is
to be got from him ? " And leaving the Great Being,
they took each his robes and begging bowl, and went
eighteen leagues away, and entered Isipatana (a suburb
of Benares, famous for its schools of learning).

Now at that time, at Uruvela, in the village Senani,
there was a girl named Sujata, born in the house of
Senani the landowner, who, when she had grown up,
prayed to a Nigrodha-tree, saying, " If I am married into
a family of equal rank, and have a son for my first-born
child, then I will spend every j^ear a hundred thousand
on an ofiering to thee." And this her prayer took efiect.

And in order to make her ofiering, on the full-moon day
of the month of May, in the sixth year of the Great
Being's penance, she had driven in front of her a thou-
sand cows into a meadow of rich grass. With their milk
she had fed five hundred cows, with theirs two hundred
and fifty, and so on down to eight. Thus aspiring after
quantity, and sweetness, and strength, she did what is
called, " Working the milk in and in."

92 THE NIDANAKATHA,

And early on tlie full-moon day in tlie month of May,
thinking, " JSTow I will make the offering," she rose up
in the morning early and milked those eight cows. Of
their own accord the calves kept away from the cows'
udders, and as soon as the new vessels were placed ready,
streams of milk poured into them. Seeing this miracle,
Sujata, with her own hands, took the milk and poured it
into new pans ; and with her own hands made the fire
and began to cook it. When that rice-milk was boiling,
huge bubbles rising, turned to the right and ran round
together; not a drop fell or was lost ; not the least smoke
rose from the fireplace.

At that time the four guardian angels of the world
came from the four points of the compass, and kept watch
by the fireplace. The archangel Brahma held over it a
canopy of state. The archangel Sakka put the sticks
together and lighted the fire. By their divine power the
gods, gathering so much of the Sap of life as would suffice
for the support of all the men and angels of the four
continents, and their circumjacent two thousand isles —
as easily as a man crushing the honey- comb formed round
a stick would take the honey — they infused it into the
milk-rice. At other times the gods infused the Sap of
life into each mouthful of rice as he took it ; but on the
day of his Buddhahood, and on the day of his Death,
they infused it into the very vessel-full of rice itself.

Sujata, seeing that so many wonders appeared to her
on this one day, said to her slave-girl Punnii, "Friend
Punna ! Yery gracious is our god to-day ! Never before
have I seen such a wonder. Go at once and keep watch
by the holy place." " Yery good, my lady," replied she ;
and ran and hastened to the foot of the tree.

Now the Bodisat had seen that night five dreams, and
on considering their purport he had drawn the conclusion,
'* Yerily this day I shall become a Buddha." And at the
end of the night he washed and dressed himself, and

GO TAMA AND THE TREE GOD.

waiting till the time should come to go round begging
his food, lie went early, and sat at the foot of that tree,
lighting it all up with his glory.

And Punna coming there saw the Bodisat sitting at the
foot of the tree and lighting up all the region of the East ;
and she saw the whole tree in colour like gold from the
rays issuing from his body. And she thought, " To-day
our god, descending from the tree, is seated to receive our
offering in his own hand." And excited with joy, she
returned quickly, and announced this to Sujatii. Sujata,
delighted at the news, gave her all the ornaments be-
fitting a daughter, saying, "To-day, from this time forth,
be thou to me in the place of an elder daughter ! "

And since, on the day of attaining Buddhahood, it is
proper to receive a golden vessel worth a hundred thou-
sand, she conceived the idea, " We will put the milk- rice
into a vessel of gold." And sending for a vessel of gold
worth a hundred thousand, she poured out the well-cooked
food to put it therein. All the rice-milk flowed into the
vessel, like water from a lotus leaf, and filled the vessel
full. Taking it she covered it with a golden dish, and
wrapped it in a cloth. And adorning herself in all her
splendour, she put the vessel on her head, and went with
great dignity to the Nigrodha-tree. Seeing the Bodisat,
she was filled with exceeding joy, taking him for the
tree- god; and advanced, bowing, from the spot whence
she saw him. Taking the vessel from her head, she un-
covered it ; and fetching sweet-scented water in a golden
vase, she approached the Bodisat, and stood by.

The earthenware pot given him by the archangel
Ghatikara, which had never till then left him, disap-
peared at that moment. Not seeing his pot, the Bodisat
stretched out his right hand, and took the water. Sujata
placed the vessel, with the milk-rice in it, in the hand
of the Great Being. The Great Being looked at her.
Pointing to the food, she said, "0, my lord! accept

THE NIDANAKATHA.

what I liave offered thee, and depart withersoever seemeth
to thee good/' And adding, " May there arise to thee as
much joy as has come to me ! '* she went away, valuing
her golden vessel, worth a hundred thousand, at no more
than a dried leaf.

But the Bodisat rising from his seat, and leaving the
tree on the right hand, took the vessel and went to the
bank of the Neranjara river, down into which on the
day of their complete Enlightenment so many thousand
Bodisats had gone. The" name of that bathing place is
the Supatitthita ferry. Putting the vessel on the bank,
he descended into the river and bathed.

And having dressed himself again in the garb of the
Arahats, worn by so many thousand Buddhas, he sat
down with his face to the East; and dividing the rice
into forty-nine balls of the size of so many single- seeded
Palmyra fruits, he ate all that sweet milk- rice without
any water. ^ Now that was the only food he had for forty-
nine days, during the seven times seven days he spent,
after he became a Buddha, at the foot of the Tree of
"Wisdom. During all that time he had no other food ;
he did not bathe ; nor wash his teeth ; nor feel the
cravings of nature. He lived on the joy arising from
intense Meditation, on the joy arising from the Noble
Path, on the joy arising from the Fruit thereof.

But when he had finished eating that milk- rice, he took
the golden vessel, and said, " If I shall be able to-day to
become a Buddha, let this pot go up the stream ; if not,
let it go down the stream ! " and he threw it into the water.
And it went, in spite of the stream, eighty cubits up the
river in the middle of the stream, all the way as quickly as
a fleet horse. And diving into a whirlpool it went to the
palace of Kala Nagaraja (the Black Snake King) ; and
striking against the bowls from which the three previous

1 The fruit of the PalmjTa (Borassus Flabelliformis) has always three
seeds. I do not understand the allusion to a one-seeded Palmyra.

THE THRONE OF WISDOM.

Buddhas had eaten, it made them, sound " click! click ! "
and remained stationary as the lowest of them. Killa,
the snake-king, hearing the noise, exclaimed, '' Yesterday
a Buddha arose, now to-day another has arisen ; " and he
continued to praise him in many hundred stanzas.

But the Bodisat spent the heat of the day in a grove of
sala-trees in full bloom on the bank of the river. And in
the evening, when the flowers droop on the stalks, he
proceeded, like a lion when it is roused, towards the Tree
of Wisdom, along a path five or six hundred yards wide,
decked by the gods. The Snakes, and Genii, and Winged
Creatures, 1 and other super Imman beings, ofiered him
sweet- smelling flowers from heaven, and sang heavenly
songs. The ten thousand world- systems became filled
with perfumes and garlands and shouts of approval.

At that time there came from the opposite direction a
grass-cutter named Sotthiya, carrying grass ; and recog-
nizing the Great Being, he gave him eight bundles of
grass. The Bodisat took the grass ; and ascending the
rising ground round the Bo-tree, he stood at the South
of it, looking towards the North. At that moment the
Southern horizon seemed to descend below the level of
the lowest hell, and the Northern horizon mounting up
seemed to reach above the highest heaven.

The Bodisat, saying, "This cannot, I think, be the
right place for attaining Buddhahood," turned round it,
keeping it on the right hand ; and went to the Western
side, and stood facing the East. Then the Western hori-
zon seemed to descend beneath the lowest hell, and the
Eastern horizon to ascend above the highest heaven ;
and to him, where he was standing, the earth seemed

^ Nagas, Yakkhas and Supannas. The Yakkhas are characterized through-
out the Jataka stories hy their cannibalism ; the female Yakkhas as sirens
luring men on to destruction. They are invisible till they assume human
shape ; but even then can be recognized by their red eyes. That the Ceylon
aborigines are called Yakkhas in the Mahavagsa probably results from a tra-
dition of their cannibalism. On the others, see above, p. 88.

96 ^ THE NIDANAKATHA.

to bend up and down like a great cart wlieel lying
on its axis when its circumference is trodden on.

The Bodisat, saying, " This cannot, I think, be the
right place for attaining Buddhahood," turned round it,
keeping it on the right hand ; and went to the Northern
side, and stood facing the South. Then the Northern
horizon seemed to descend beneath the lowest hell, and
the Southern horizon to ascend above the highest heaven.

The Bodisat, saying, "This cannot, I think, be the
right place for attaining Buddhahood," turned round it,
keeping it on the right hand ; and went to the Western
side, and stood facing towards the East. Now in the
East is the place where all the Buddhas have sat cross-
legged ; and that place neither trembles nor shakes.

The Great Being, perceiving, "This is the steadfast
spot chosen by all the Buddhas, the spot for the throwing
down of the temple of sin," took hold of the grass by
one end, and scattered it there. And immediately there
was a seat fourteen cubits long. For those blades of
grass arranged themselves in such a form as would be
beyond the power of even the ablest painter or carver to
design.

The Bodisat turning his back upon the trunk of the
Bo-tree, and with his face towards the East, made the
firm resolve, "My skin, indeed, and nerves, and bones,
may become arid, and the very blood in my body may
dry up ; but till I attain to complete insight, this seat I
will not leave ! " And he sat himself down in a cross-
legged position, firm and immovable, as if welded with a
hundred thunderbolts.

At that time the angel Mara, thinking, "Siddhattha
the prince wants to free himself from my dominion. I
will not let him get free yet ! " went to the hosts of his
angels, and told the news. And sounding the drum,
called "Satan's War-cry," he led forth the army of Satan.

That army of Mara stretches twelve leagues before him,

THE CONTEST OF GOOD AND EVIL. 97

twelve leagues to right and left of him, behind him it
reaches to the rocky limits of the world, above him it is
nine leagues in height ; and the sound of its war-cry is
heard, twelve leagues away, even as the sound of an
earthquake.

Then Mara, the angel, mounted his elephant, two hun-
dred and fifty leagues high, named, "Girded with moun-
tains." And he created for himself a thousand arms, and
seized all kinds of weapons. And of the remainder, too,
of the army of Mara, no two took the same weapon ; but
assuming various colours and various forms, they went on
to overwhelm the Gfreat Being.

But the angels of the ten thousand world- systems con-
tinued speaking the praises of the Great Being. Sakka,
the king of the angels, stood there blowing his trumpet
Vijayuttara. Now that trumpet is a hundred and twenty
cubits long, and can itself cause the wind to enter, and
thus itself give forth a sound which will resound for four
months, when it becomes still. The Great Black One, the
king of the Nagas, stood there uttering his praises in
many hundred stanzas. The archangel Maha Brahma
stood there, holding over him the white canopy of state.
But as the army approached and surrounded the seat
under the Bo-tree, not one of the angels was able to stay,
and they fled each one from the spot where the army met
them. The Black One, the king of the Nagas, dived into
the earth, and went to Manjerika, the palace of the Nagas,
five hundred leagues in length, and lay down, covering
his face with his hands. Sakka, taking the Vijayuttara
trumpet on his back, stopped on the rocky verge of the
world. Maha Brahma, putting the white canopy of state
on to the summit of the rocks at the end of the earth,
went to the world of Brahma. Not a single deity was
able to keep his place. The Great Being sat there alone.

But Mara said to his host, " Friends ! there is no other
man like Siddhattha, the son of Suddhodana. We cannot

98 THE NIDANAKATHA,

give Mm battle face to face. Let us attack him from be-
hind ! " The Great Being looked round on three sides,
and saw that all the gods had fled, and their place was
empty. Then beholding the hosts of Mara coming thick
upon him from the North, he thought, "Against me
alone this mighty host is putting forth all its energy
and strength. No father is here, nor mother, nor brother,
nor any other relative to help me. But those ten cardi-
nal virtues have long been to me as retainers fed from
my store. So, making the virtues my shield, I must
strike this host with the sword of virtue, and thus over-
whelm it ! " And so he sat meditating on the Ten Per-
fections.^

Then Mara the angel, saying, " Thus will I drive away
Siddhattha," caused a whirlwind to blow. And imme-
diately such winds rushed together from the four corners
of the earth as could have torn down the peaks of moun-
tains half a league, two leagues, three leagues high —
could have rooted up the shrubs and trees of the forest —
and could have made of the towns and villages around
one heap of ruins. But through the majesty of the
goodness of the Great Being, they reached him with their
power gone, and even the hem of his robe they were un-
able to shake.

Then saying, " I will overwhelm him with water and
so slay him," he caused a mighty rain to fall. And
the clouds gathered, overspreading one another by hun-
dreds and by thousands, and poured forth rain; and by
the violence of the torrents the earth was saturated ;
and a great flood, overtopping the trees of the forest,
approached the Great Being. But it was not able to wet
on his robe even the space where a dew-drop might fall.

Then he caused a storm of rocks to fall. And mighty,
mighty, mountain peaks came through the air, spitting

^ His acquisition of the Ten Perfections, or Cardinal Virtues, is described
above, pp. 64-58.

THE ATTACK OF THE EVIL ONE. 99

forth fire and smoke. But as they reached the Great
Being, they changed into bouquets of heavenly flowers.

Then he raised a storm of deadly weapons. And they
came — one-edged, and two-edged swords, and spears, and
arrows — smoking and flaming through the sky. But as
they reached the Great Being, they became flowers from
heaven.

Then he raised a storm of charcoal. But the embers,
though they came through the sky as red as red Kigsuka
flowers, were scattered at the feet of the future Buddha as
heavenly flowers.

Then he raised a storm of ashes ; and the ashes came
through the air exceeding hot, and in colour like fire ; but
they fell at the feet of the future Buddha as the dust of
sandal-wood.

Then he raised a storm of sand ; and the sand, exceeding
fine, came smoking and flaming through the air ; but it
fell at the feet of the future Buddha as heavenly flowers.

Then he raised a storm of mud. And the mud came
smoking and flaming through the air ; but it fell at the
feet of the future Buddha as heavenly perfume.

Then saying, " By this I will terrify Siddhattha, and
drive him away ! " he brought on a thick darkness. And
the darkness became fourfold : but when it reached the
future Buddha, it disappeared as darkness does before the
brightness of the sun.

Thus was Mara unable by these nine — the wind, and
the rain, and the rocks, and the weapons, and the char-
coal, and the ashes, and the sand, and the mud, and the
darkness — to drive away the future Buddha. So he
called on his host, and said, " Why stand you still ?
Seize, or slay, or drive away this prince ! " And himself
mounted the Mountain- girded, and seated on his back, he
approached the future Buddha, and cried out, '' Get up,
Siddhattha, from that seat ! It does not belong to thee !
It is meant for me ! ''

100 THE NIDANAKATHA.

The Great Being listened to his words, and said,
" Mara ! it is not by you that the Ten Cardinal Yirtues
have been perfected, nor the lesser Yirtues, nor the
higher Yirtues. It is not you who have sacrificed your-
self in the five great Acts of Self-renunciation, who have
diligently sought after Knowledge, and the Salvation of
the world, and the attainment of Wisdom. This seat does
not belong to thee, it is to me that it belongs."

Then the enraged Mara, unable to endure the vehe-
mence of his anger, cast at the Great Being that
Sceptre- javelin of his, the barb of which was in shape
as a wheel. But it became a garland of flowers, and
remained as a canopy over him, whose mind was bent
upon good.

Now at other times, when that "Wicked One throws his
Sceptre- javelin, it cleaves asunder a pillar of solid rock as
if it were the tender shoot of a bambu. "When, however,
it thus turned into a garland-canopy, all the host of Miira
shouted, " Now he shall rise from his seat and flee ! **
and they hurled at him huge masses of rock. But these
too fell on the ground as bouquets at the feet of Him
whose mind was bent upon good !

And the angels stood on the edge of the rocks that
encircle the world ; and stretching forwards in amaze-
ment, they looked on, saying, " Lost ! lost is Siddhattha
the Prince, the glorious and beautiful ! What can he
do to save himself ! "

Then the Great Being exclaimed, " I have reached the
throne on which sit the Buddhas-to-be when they are
perfect in all goodness, on that day when they shall reach
Enlightenment."

And he said to Mara, standing there before him, " Mai a,
who is witness that thou hast given alms ? "

And Mara stretched forth his hand to the hosts of his
followers, and said, " So many are my witnesses."

And that moment there arose a shout as the sound of

THE POWER OF CHARITY.

lOi

an earthquake from the hosts of the Evil One, saying, " I
am his witness ! I am his witness ! "

Then the Tempter addressed the Great Being, and said,
" Siddhattha ! who is witness that thou hast given alms?''

And the Great Being answered, "Thou hast living
witnesses that thou hast given alms : and I have in this
place no living witness at all. But not counting the
alms I have given in other births, let this great and
solid earth, unconscious though it be, be witness of the
seven hundredfold great alms I gave when I was born as
Wessantara ! "

And withdrawing his right hand from beneath his robe,
he stretched it forth towards the earth, and said, "Are
you, or are you not witness of the seven hundredfold
great gift I gave in my birth as Wessantara ? "

And the great Earth uttered a voice, saying, "I am
witness to thee of that ! " overwhelming as it were the
hosts of the Evil One as with the shout of hundreds of
thousands of foes.

Then the mighty elephant " Girded with mountains,"
as he realized what the generosity of Wessantara had been,
fell down on his knees before the Great Being. And the
army of Mara fled this way and that way, so that not even
two were left together : throwing off their clothes and
their turbans, they fled, each one straight on before him.

But the heavenly hosts, when they saw that the army
of Mara had fled, cried out, " The Tempter is overcome !
Siddhattha the Prince has prevailed ! Come, let us
honour the Victor ! " And the Nagas, and the Winged
Creatures, and the Angels, and the Archangels, each
urging his comrades on, went up to the Great Being at
the Bo-tree's foot, and as they came,

274. At the Bo-tree's foot the Naga bands

Shouted, for joy that the Sage had won ;
" The Blessed Buddha — ^he hath prevailed !
And the Tempter is overthrown ! "

ssisc

102 THE NIDANAKATHA.

275. At the Bo-tree's foot the Winged Ones
Shouted, for joy that the Sage had won ;

" The Blessed Buddha — he hath prevailed !
And the Tempter is overthrown ! ''

276. At the Bo-tree*s foot the Angel hosts
Shouted, for joy that the Sage had won ;

" The Blessed Buddha — ^he hath prevailed !
And the Tempter is overthrown ! ''

277. At the Bo-tree's foot the Brahma Gods
Shouted, for joy that the Sage had won ;

" The Blessed Buddha — he hath prevailed !
And the Tempter is overthrown ! "

The other gods, too, in the ten thousand world- systems,
offered garlands and perfumes and uttered his praises
aloud.

It was while the sun was still above the horizon, that
the Great Being thus put to flight the army of the Evil
One. Then, whilst the Bo-tree paid him homage, as it were,
by its shoots like sprigs of red coral falling over his robe,
he acquired in the first watch of the night the Knowledge
of the Past, in the middle watch the Knowledge of the
Present, and in the third watch the Knowledge of the
Chain of Causation which leads to the Origin of Evil.^

Now on his thus revolving this way and that way, and
tracing backwards and forwards, and thoroughly realizing
the twelvefold Chain of Causation, the ten thousand
world- systems quaked twelve times even to their ocean
boundaries. And again, when the Great Being, making
the ten thousand world-systems to shout for joy, attained
at break of day to complete Enlightenment, the whole
ten thousand world- systems became glorious as on a festive
day. The streamers of the flags and banners raised
on the edge of the rocky boundary to the East of the world

^ Pubbe-nivasa-fiana, Dibba-cakkbu, and Paticca-samuppuda.

HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE GLAD.

103

readied to the very West ; and so those on the West
and North, and South, reached to the East, and South, and
North ; while in like manner those of flags and banners
on the surface of the earth reached to the highest heaven,
and those of flags and banners in heaven swept down upon
the earth. Throughout the universe flowering trees put
forth their blossoms, and fruit-bearing trees were loaded
with clusters of fruit ; the trunks and branches of trees, and
even the creepers, were covered with bloom ; lotus wreaths
hung from the sky ; and lilies by sevens sprang, one
above another, even from the very rocks. The ten thou-
sand world-systems as they revolved seemed like a mass
of loosened wreaths, or like a nosegay tastefully arranged :
and the great Voids between them, the hells whose dark-
ness the rays of seven suns had never been able to dis-
perse, became filled with light. The waters of the Great
Ocean became sweet, down to its profoundest depths ; and
the rivers were stayed in their course. The blind from
birth received their sight ; the deaf from birth heard
sound; the lame from birth could use their feet; and
chains and bonds were loosed, and fell away.^

It was thus in surpassing glory and honour, and with
many wonders happening around, that he attained Om-
niscience, and gave vent to his emotion in the Hymn of
Triumph, sung by all the Buddhas.

278. Long have I wandered ! long !
Bound by the Chain of Life,

Through many births :
Seeking thus long, in vain,
"Whence comes this Life in man, his Consciousness,
his Pain ! "
And hard to bear is Birth,
When pain and death but lead to Birth again.

^ Compare the Thirty-two Good Omens at the Buddha's Birth, ahove, p. 64.

THE NIDANAKATHA.

Found ! It is found !
0 Cause of Individuality !
No longer shalt thou make a house for me :

Broken are all thy beams.
Thy ridge-pole shattered !
Into Nirvana now my mind has past :

The end of cravings has been reached at last ! ^

^ The train of thought is explained at length in my "Buddhism," pp.
100-112. Shortly, it amounts to this. The Unconscious has no pain: with-
out Consciousness, Individuality, there would be no pain. What gives men
Consciousness ? It is due to a grasping, craving, sinful condition of heart.
The absence of these cravings is Nirvana. Having reached Nirvana, Con-
sciousness endures but for a time (until the body dies), and it will then no
longer be renewed. The beams of sin, the ridge-pole of care, give to the
house of individuality its seeming strength : but in the peace of Nirvana
they have passed away. The Bodisat is now Buddha: he has reached
Nirvana: he has solved the great mystery; the jewel of salvation sought
through so many ages has been found at last ; and the long, long struggle
is over.

The following is Spence Hardy's literal translation given in his " Manual
of Buddhism," p. 180, where similar versions by Gogerly and Turnour will
be found: but they scarcely seem to me to express the inner meaning of
these difficult and beautiful verses : —

Through many different births

I have run (to me not having found),

Seeking the architect of the desire resembling house,

Painful are repeated births !

0 house-builder ! I have seen (thee).
Again a house thou canst not build for me.

1 have broken thy rafters.

Thy central support is destroyed.

To Nirvana my mind has gone.

I have arrived at the extinction of evil-desire.

The figure of the house is found also in Manu (vi. 79-81) ; in the " Lalita
Vistara" (p. 107 of Foucaux's Gya Tcher Rol Pa) ; and in the Adi Granth
(Trumpp, pp. 215, 216, 471). The last passage is as follows : —

A storm of divine knowledge has come !

The shutters of Delusion all are blown away — are there no longer ;

The posts of Double-mindedness are broken down ; the ridge-pole of spiritual

Blindness is shattered ;
The roof of Craving has fallen on the ground ; the vessel of Folly has burst !

GO TAMA AS BUDDHA.

105

THE PROXIMATE OR LAST EPOCH.i

Now whilst lie was still seated there, after he had sung
the Hymn of Triumph, the Blessed One thought, " It is
in order to attain to this throne of triumph that I have
undergone successive births for so long a time,^ that I
severed my crowned head from my neck and gave it
away, that I tore out my darkened eyes and my heart's
flesh and gave them away, that I gave away to serve
others such sons as Jali the Prince, and such daughters
as Kanha Jina the Princess, and such wives as Maddl the
Queen. This seat is a throne of triumph to me, and a
throne of glory; while seated on it my aims have been
fulfilled : I will not leave it yet." And he sat there
absorbed in many thoughts ^ for those seven days referred
to in the text, beginning, " And then the Blessed One
sat motionless for seven days, realizing the bliss of
Nirvana."

Now certain of the angels began to doubt, thinking,
" There must be something more Siddhattha has to do
this day, for he still lingers seated there." The Master,
knowing their thoughts, and to appease their doubts,
rose into the air, and performed the miracle of making
another appearance like unto himself.*

And the Master having thus by this miracle dispelled
the angels' doubts, stood a little to the North-east of the

1 See above, p. 2. A similar explanation is here repeated in a gloss.

2 Literally for four am^kheyyas and a hundred thousand kalpas.
^ Anekakoti-sata-sahassa samapattiyo samapajjanto.

* Yamaka-putihariyag ; literally twin-miracle.' Comp. pp. 88, 193, of the
text, and Mah. p. 107. I am not sure of the meaning of the expression.
Bigandet, p. 93, has 'performed a thousand wonders.' Hardy, p. 181, omits
the clause ; and Beal omits the whole episode. A gloss here adds that the
Buddha performed a similar miracle on three other occasions.

io6 THE NIDANAKATHA.

throne, thinking, " It was on that throne that I attained
omniscience." And he thus spent seven days gazing
steadfastly at the spot where he had gained the result of
the deeds of virtue fulfilled through such countless years.
And that spot became known as the Dagaba of the Stead-
fast Gaze.

Then he created between the throne and the spot where
he had stood a cloistered walk, and he spent seven days
walking up and down in that jewelled cloister which
stretched from East to West. And that spot became
known as the Dagaba of the Jewelled Cloister.

But for the fourth week the angels created to the
North-west of the Bo-tree a house of gems ; and he spent
the week seated there cross-legged, and thinking out the
Abhidhamma Pitaka both book by book and generally
in respect of the origin of all things as therein explained.
(But the Abhidhammikas ^ say that House of Gems here
means either a mansion built of the seven kinds of jewels,
or the place where the seven books were thought out :
and as they give these two explanations of the passage,
both should be accepted as correct.)

Having thus spent four weeks close to the Bo-tree, he
went, in the fifth week, to the Shepherd's Nigrodha-tree :
and sat there meditating on the Truth, and enjoying the
sweetness of Nirvana.^

Now at that time the angel Mara thought to himself,
" So long a time have I followed this man seeking some
fault in him, and find no sin in him ; and now, indeed, he
is beyond my power." And overcome with sorrow he sat
down on the highway, and as he thought of the following
sixteen things he drew sixteen lines on the ground.
Thinking, ** I did not attain, as he did, to the perfection of

^ The monks whose duty it is to learn hy heart, repeat, and commentate
upon the seven hooks in the Ahhidhamma Pitaka. See above, p. 78.

' Vivnitti. Perhaps the clause should be rendered : Realizing the sweet
eense of salvation gained, and the Truth (Dhamma) may be used in contra-
distinction to Abhidharma of the rest of the Scriptures.

THE DAUGHTERS OF EVIL. 107

Charity ; therefore I have not become like him/* he drew
one line. Then thinking, " I did not attain, as he did,
to the Perfections of Goodness, and Self-sacrifice, and
Wisdom, and Exertion, and LongsufFering, and Truth,
and Eesolution, and Kindness, and Equanimity ; ^ therefore
I have not become like him," he drew nine more lines.
Then thinking, " I did not attain the Ten Perfections,
the conditions precedent to the acquisition of the extra-
ordinary knowledge of the objects of sense, and therefore
I have not become like him,'' he drew the eleventh line.
Then thinking, " I did not attain to the Ten Perfections,
the conditions precedent to the acquisition of the extra-
ordinary knowledge of inclinations and dispositions, of
the attainment of compassion, of the double miracle, of
the removal of hindrances, and of omniscience ; therefore
I have not become like him," he drew the five other lines.
And so he sat on the highway, drawing sixteen lines for
these sixteen thoughts.

At that time Craving, Discontent, and Lust,^ the three
daughters of Mara, could not find their father, and were
looking for him, wondering where he could be. And
when they saw him, sad at heart, writing on the ground,
they went up to him, and asked, " Why, dear, are you sad
and sorrowful ? "

And he answered, " Beloved, this illustrious mendicant
is escaping from my power. Long have I watched, but
in vain, to find some fault in him. Therefore it is that I
am sad and sorrowful."

" Be that as it may," replied they, " think not so. We
will subject him to our influence, and come back bringing
him captive with us."

"Beloved," said he, "you cannot by any means bring
him under your influence ; he stands flrm in faith, un-
wavering."

1 On these Ten Perfections, see above, pp. 15-18, and pp. 54-58.

2 Tanhu, AratT, and Kaga.

io8

THE NIDANAKATHA.

" But we are women,"" was the reply ; " this moment
we will bring him bound by the allurements of passion.
Do not you be so grieved."

So they approached the Blessed One, and said, "0,
holy man, upon thee we humbly wait ! "

But the Blessed One neither paid any attention to their
words, nor raised his eyes to look at them. He sat
plunged in the joy of Nirvana, with a mind made free
by the complete extinction of sin.

Then the daughters of Mara considered with them-
selves : " Various are men's tastes. Some fall in love
with virgins, some with young women, some with mature
women, some with older women. We will tempt him
in various forms." So each of them assumed the appear-
ance of a hundred women, — virgins, women who had
never had a child, or only once, or only twice, middle-
aged women, older women, — and six times they went up
to the Blessed One, and professed themselves his humble
handmaidens ; and to that even the Blessed One paid no
attention, since he was made free by the complete extinc-
tion of sin.

Now, some teachers say that when the Blessed One saw
them approaching in the form of elderly women, he com-
manded, saying, " Let these women remain just as they
are, with broken teeth and bald heads." This should not
be believed, for the Master issues not such commands.

But the Blessed One said, *' Depart ye ! Why strive
ye thus ? Such things might be done in the presence of
men who linger in the paths of sin ; but I have put away
lust, have put away ill-will, have put away folly." And
he admonished them in those two verses from the Chapter
on the Buddha in the Scripture Verses :

280. No one can e'er disturb his self-control

Whose inward victories, once gained, are never
lost.

THE BLISS OF HOLINESS. 109

That Sinless One, tlie Wise, whose mind embraces

all-
How — by what guile — what sin — can you allure

him to his fall ?
281. He who has no ensnaring, venomous desire ;
No craving wants to lead him aught astray :
The Sinless One, the Wise, whose mind embraces

all-
How — by what guile — what sin — can you allure

him to his fall ? ^

And thus these women returned to their father, con-
fessing that he had spoken truth when he had said that
the Blessed One was not by any means to be led away
by any unholy desire.

But the Blessed One, when he had spent a week at that
spot, went on to the Mucalinda-tree. There he spent a
week, Mucalinda, the snake-king, when a storm arose,
shielding him with seven folds of his hood, so that the
Blessed One enjoyed the bliss of salvation as if he had
been resting in a pleasant chamber, remote from all dis-
turbance. Thence he went away to a Rajayatana-tree,
and there also sat down enjoying the bliss of salvation.
And so seven weeks passed away, during which he expe-
rienced no bodily wants, but fed on the joy of Meditation,
the joy of the Paths, and the joy of the Fruit thereof
(that is, of Nirviina).^

Now, as he sat there on the last day of the seven weeks
— the forty- ninth day — he felt a desire to bathe his face.
And Sakka, the king of the gods, brought a fruit of the
Myrobolan-tree, and gave him to eat. And Sakka, too,
provided a tooth-cleanser of the thorns of the snake-
creeper, and water to bathe his face. And the Master

1 Dhammapada, verses 179, 180. 2 gee «' Buddhism," pp. 108-110.

no THE NIDANAKATHA.

used the tootli- cleanser, and bathed his face, and sat him
down there at the foot of the tree.

At that time two merchants, Tapassu and Bhalluka by
name, were travelling from Orissa to Central India ^ with
five hundred carts. And an angel, a blood relation of
theirs, stopped their carts, and moved their hearts to offer
food to the Master. And they took a rice cake, and a
honey cake, and went up to the Master, and said, "0,
Blessed One ! have mercy upon us, and accept this
food.^'

Now, on the day when he had received the sweet rice-
milk, his bowl had disappeared;^ so the Blessed One
thought, "The Buddhas never receive food in their hands.
How shall I take it ? " Then the four Guardian Angels
knew his thought, and, coming from the four corners of
heaven, they brought bowls made of sapphire. And the
Blessed One accepted them. Then they brought four
other bowls, made of jet ; and the Blessed One, out of
kindness to the four angels, received the four, and, placing
them one above another, commanded, saying, " Let them
become one." And the four closed up into one of medium
size, becoming visible only as lines round the mouth of it.
The Blessed One received the food into that new-created
bowl, and ate it, and gave thanks.

The two brothers took refuge in the Buddha, the Truth,
and the Order, and became professed disciples. Then,
when they asked him, saying, " Lord, bestow upon us
something to which we may pay reverence," with his own
right hand he tore from his head, and gave to them, the
Hair-relics. And they built a Diigaba in their own city,
and placed the relics within it.^

1 Ukkala to Majjhima-desa. The latter included all the Buddhist Holy
Land, from the modern Patna to Allahabad. See above, p. 61, note.

2 See above, p. 93.

3 We have here an interesting instance of the growth of legend to authen-
ticate and add glory to local relics, of which other instances will be found in
" Buddhism," p. 195. The ancient form of this legend, as found here, must

THE BUDDHA HESITATES. m

But the Perfectly Enliglitened One rose up thence, and
returned to the Shepherd's Nigrodha-tree, and sat down
at its foot. And no sooner was he seated there, consider-
ing the depth of the Truth which he had gained, than
there arose in his mind a doubt (felt by each of the
Buddhas as he became aware of his having arrived at
Truth) that he had not that kind of ability necessary to
explain that Truth to others.

Then the great Ruler of the Brahma heavens, exclaim-
ing, " Alas ! the world is lost ! Alas ! the world will be
altogrether lost ! " brouo'ht with him the rulers and arch-
angels of the heavens in tens of thousands of world -
systems, and went up to the Master, and said, " 0
Blessed Lord, mayst thou proclaim the Truth ! Proclaim
the Truth, 0 Blessed Lord ! " and in other words of
like purport begged from him the preaching of the
Truth.

Then the Master granted his request. And considering
to whom he should first reveal the Truth, thought at first
of Alara, his former teacher, as one who would quickly
comprehend it. But, on further refiection, he perceived
that Alara had been dead seven days. So he fixed on
Uddaka, but perceived that he too had died that very
evening. Then he thought of the five mendicants, how
faithfully they had served him for a time ; and casting
about in his mind where they then might be, he perceived
they were at the Deer-forest in Benares. And he deter-
mined, saying, " There I will go to inaugurate the King-
have arisen when the relics were still in Orissa. Both the Burmese and
Ceylonese now claim to possess them. The former say that the two mer-
chants were Burmese, and that the Dagaba above referred to is the celebrated
sanctuary of Shooay Dagob (Bigandet, p. 101, 2nd ed.). The latter say that
the Dagaba was in Orissa, and that the hair-relics were brought thence to
Ceylon in 490 a.d., in the manner related in the Kesa Dhatu Vagsa, and
referred to in the Maha Vagsa. (See verses 43-56 of my edition of the 39th
chap, of the M. V. in the J. E. A. S. 1875.) The legend in the text is
found in an ancient inscription on the great bell at Rangoon (Hough's
version in the Asiatic Researches, vol. xvi. ; comp. Hardy, M. B. p. 183 ;
Beal, Rom. Leg.) p. 240.

112 THE NIDANAKATHA,

dom of Eighteousness." But he delayed a few days,
begging his daily food in the neighbourhood of the Bo-
tree, with the intention of going to Benares on the full-
moon day of the month of May.

And at dawn of the fourteenth day of the month, wh6n
the night had passed away, he took his robe and his
bowl; and had gone eighteen leagues, just half way,
when he met the Hindu mendicant Upaka. And he
announced to him how he had become a Buddha ; and on
the evening of that day he arrived at the hermitage near
Benares.^

The five mendicants, seeing already from afar the
Buddha coming, said one to another, " Friend, here comes
the mendicant Gotama. He has turned back to a free
use of the necessaries of life, and has recovered roundness
of form, acuteness of sense, and beauty of complexion.
We ought to pay him no reverence ; but as he is, after
all, of a good family, he deserves the honour of a seat. So
we will simply prepare a seat for him."

The Blessed One, casting about in his mind (by the power
that he had of knowing what was going on in the thoughts
of all beings) as to what they were thinking, knew their
thoughts. Then, concentrating that feeling of his love which
was able to pervade generally all beings in earth and
heaven, he directed it specially towards them. And the
sense of his love diffused itself through their hearts ; and
as he came nearer and nearer, unable any longer to adhere to
their resolve, they rose from their seats, and bowed down
before him, and welcomed him with every mark of rever-
ence and respect. But, not knowing that he had become
a Buddha, they addressed him, in everything they said,
either by name, or as " Brother." Then the Blessed One
announced to them his Buddhahood, saying, "0 mendi-
cants, address not a Buddha by his name, or as * brother.'

^ Isipatana, the hermitage in the Deer-forest close to Benares. See above,
p. 91.

THE FIRS T DISCIPLES. i r 3

And I, 0 mendicants, am a Buddha, clear in insight, as
those who have gone before."^

Then, seated on the place prepared for him, and
surrounded by myriads of angels, he addressed the five
attendant elders, just as the moon was passing out of
conjunction with the lunar mansion in June, and taught
them in that discourse which was The Foundation of the
Kingdom of Righteousness.

Of the five Elders, Kondanya the Believer ^ gained in
knowledge as the discourse went on ; and as it concluded,
he, with myriads of angels, had arrived at the Fruit of the
First Path.^ And the Master, who remained there for the
rainy season, sat in the \cihara the next day, when the
other four had gone a-begging, talking to Vappa : and
Yappa that morning attained to the Fruit of the First
Path. And, in a similar manner, Bhaddiya on the next
day, and Maha Nama on the next, and Assaji on the next,
attained to the Fruit of the First Path. And, on the
fifth day, he called all five to his side, and preached to
them the discourse On the Non-existence of the Soul; and at
the end of that discourse all the five elders attained to
Nirvana.

Then the Master perceived that Yasa, a young man of
good family, was capable of entering the Paths. And at
night-time, as he was going away, having left his home in
weariness of the world, the Master called him, saying,
'* Follow me, Yasa ! " and on that very night he attained to
the Fruit of the First Path, and on the next day to Arahat-
ship. And He received also the other fifty-four, his com-
panions, into the order, with the formula, " Follow me ! "
and caused them to attain to Arahatship.

Now when there were thus in the world sixty-one persons
who had become Arahats, the Master, after the rainy season

^ Tathagato Sammasambuddho.

2 So called from his action on this occasion. See above, pp. 72, 73.

3 That is, became free from the delusion of soul, from doubt, and from
belief in the efficacy of rites and ceremonies. "Buddhism," pp. 95, 108.

VOL. I. 8

114 ^-^^ NIDANAKATHA.

and the Feast with which it closes were over, sent out the
sixty in different directions, with the words, " Go forth,
0 mendicants, preaching and teaching." And himself
going towards TJruvela, overcame at the Kappasiya forest,
half way thither, the thirty young Bhadda-vaggiyan
nobles. Of these the least advanced entered the First,
and the most advanced the Third Path : and he received
them all into the Order with the formula, " Follow me ! "
And sending them also forth into the regions round about,
he himself went on to Uruvela.

There he overcame, by performing three thousand five
hundred miracles, the three Hindu ascetics, brothers, —
Uruvela Kassapa and the rest, — who had one thousand
disciples. And he received them into the Order with
the formula, " Follow me ! " and established them in
Arahatship by his discourse, when they were seated on
the Gayii-slsa hill, '' On the Lessons to he drawn from Firey
And attended by these thousand Arahats, he went to ihe
grove called the Palm- grove, hard by Rajagaha, with the
object of redeeming the promise he had made to Bimbl-
sara the king.^

When the king heard from the keeper of the grove the
saying, " The Master is come," he went to the Master,
attended by innumerable priests and nobles, and fell down
at the feet of the Buddha, — those sacred feet, which bore
on their surface the mystic figure of the sacred wheel,
and gave forth a halo of light like a canopy of cloth of
gold. Then he and his retinue respectfully took their
seats on one side.

Now the question occurred to those priests and nobles,
" How is it, then ? has the Great Mendicant entered as a
student in religion under Uruvela Kassapa, or Uruvela
Kassapa under the Great Mendicant ? " And the Blessed
One, becoming aware of their thus doubting within them-
selves, addressed the Elder in the verse —

1 See above p. 89.

THE TRIAL OF KASSAPA.

282. "WTiat hast thou seen, 0 dweller in Uruvela,
That thou hast abandoned the Fire God, counting

thyself poor ?
I ask thee, Kassapa, the meaning of this thing :
How is it thou hast given up the sacrifice of fire ?

And the Elder, perceiving what the Blessed One intended,
replied in the verse —

283. Some men rely on sights, and sounds, and taste,
Others on sensual love, and some on sacrifice ;
But this, I see, is dross so long as sin remains.
Therefore I find no charm in ofierings great or

small.

And (in order to make known his discipleship) he bowed
his head to the Buddha's feet, saying, " The Blessed
Lord is my master, and I am the disciple!" And
seven times he rose into the air up to the height of
one, two, three, and so on, up to the height of seven
palm-trees ; and descending again, he saluted the Buddha,
and respectfully took a seat aside. Seeing that wonder,
the multitude praised the Master, saying, " Ah ! how
great is the power of the Buddhas ! Even so mighty
an infidel as this has thought him worthy ! Even Uruvela
Kassapa has broken through the net of delusion, and has
yielded to the successor of the Buddhas ! "

But the Blessed One said, " Not now only have I
overcome Uruvela Kassapa; in former ages, too, he was
conquered by me." And he uttered in that connexion
the Maha Ndrada Kassapa Jataka, and proclaimed the
Four Truths. And the king of Magadha, with nearly
all his retinue, attained to the Fruit of the First Path,
and the rest became lay disciples (without entering the
Paths).!

^ TJpasakas ; that is, those who have taken the Three Refuges and the vow
to keep the Five Commandments (" Buddhism," pp. 139, 160).

ii6

THE NIDANAKATHA.

And the king still sitting near tlie Master told him of
the five wishes he had had; and then, confessing his faith,
he invited the Blessed One for the next day, and rising
from his side, departed with respectful salutation.

The next day all the men who dwelt in Rajagaha,
eighteen kotk in number, both those who had already seen
the Blessed One, and those who had not, came out early
from Rajagaha to the Grove of Reeds to see the successor
of the Buddhas. The road, six miles long, could not contain
them. The whole of the Grove of Reeds became like a
basket packed quite full. The multitude, beholding the
exceeding beauty of Him whose power is Wisdom, could
not contain their delight. Yannabhu was it called (that is,
the Place of Praise), for at such spots all the greater and
lesser characteristics of a Buddha, and the glorious beauty
of his person, are fated to be sung. There was not room
for even a single mendicant to get out on the road, or in
the grove, so crowded was it with the multitude gazing
at the beautiful form of the Being endowed with the ten-
fold power of Wisdom.

So that day they say the throne of Sakka felt hot, to
warn him that the Blessed One might be deprived of
nourishment, which should not be. And, on considera-
tion, he understood the reason ; and he took the form of
a young Brahman, and descended in front of the Buddha,
and made way for him, singing the praises of the Buddha,
the Truth, and the Order. And he walked in front, mag-
nifying the Master in these verses :

284. He whose passions are subdued has come to Raja-
gaha
Glorious as SingI gold, — the "Blessed One ;
And with him those who once were mere as-
cetics,
Now all subdued in heart and freed from sin.

SAKKA SINGS PRAISES. \ \ 7

285. He wlio is free from sin has come to Rajagaha

Glorious as Singi gold, — the Blessed One ;
And with him those who once were mere as-
cetics,
Now freed from sin and saved.

286. He who has crossed the flood ^ has come to Raja-

gaha

Glorious as Singi gold, — the Blessed One ;

And with him those who once were mere as-
cetics,
But now crossed o'er the flood and freed from sin.

287. He whose dwelling and whose wisdom are ten-

fold ;
He who has seen and gained ten precious

things ; ^
Attended by ten hundred as a retinue, —
The Blessed One, — has come to Rajagaha.

The multitude, seeing the beauty of the young Brahman,
thought, "This young Brahman is exceeding fair, and yet
we have never yet beheld him." And they said, "Whence
comes the young Brahman, or whose son is he ? " And
the young Brahman, hearing what they said, answered in
the verse,

288. He who is wise, and all subdued in heart.
The Buddha, the unequalled among men.
The Arahat, the most happy upon earth ! —

His servant am I.

Then the Master entered upon the path thus made free
by the Archangel, and entered Rajagaha attended by a

^ Tinno, crossed the ocean of transmigration.

2 That is, the Four Paths, the Four Fruits thereof, Nirvana, and the
Scriptures (or the Truth, Dhamma).

Il8 THE NIDANARATHA.

thousand mendicants. The king gave a great donation to
the Order with the Buddha at their head ; and had water
brought, bright as gems, and scented with flowers, in a
golden goblet. And he poured the water over the hand
of the Buddha, in token of the presentation of the Bambu
Grove, saying, "I, my lord, cannot live without the
Three Grems (the Buddha, the Order, and the Faith).
In season and out of season I would visit the Blessed One.
^ow the Grove of Eeeds is far away ; but this Grove of
mine, called the Bambu Grove, is close by, is easy of
resort, and is a fit dwelling-place for a Buddha. Let the
Blessed One accept it of me ! "

At the acceptance of this monastery the broad earth
shook, as if it said, "Now the Religion of Buddha has
taken root ! " For in all India there is no dwelling-
place, save the Bambu Grove, whose acceptance caused
the earth to shake : and in Ceylon there is no dwelling-
place, save the Great Wihara, whose acceptance caused
the earth to shake.

And when the Master had accepted the Bambu Grove
Monastery, and had given thanks for it, he rose from his
seat and went, surrounded by the members of the Order,
to the Bambu Grove.

Now at that time two ascetics, named Sariputta and
Moggallana, were living near Eajagaha, seeking after
salvation. Of these, Sariputta, seeing the Elder Assaji
on his begging round, was pleasurably impressed by
him, and waited on him, and heard from him the verse
beginning, —

"What things soever are produced from causes."^

And he attained to the blessings which result from con-

^ The celebrated verse here referred to has been found inscribed several
times in the ruins of the great Dagaba at Isipatana, and facsimiles are given
in Cunningham's Arch feci ogical Reports, plate xxxiv. vol. i. p. 123. The
text is given by Burnouf in the Lotus de la Bonne Loi, p. 523 ; and in the
40, 41. See also Hardy's Manual, p. 196.

THE FIRST COUNCIL. 1 19

version ; and repeated that verse to his companion
Moggallana the ascetic. And he, too, attained to the
blessings which first result from conversion. And each
of them left Sanjaya,^ and with his attendants took orders
under the Master. Of these two, Moggallana attained
Arahatship in seven days, and Sariputta the Elder in
half a month. And the Master appointed these two to
the office of his Chief Disciples ; and on the day on
which Sariputta the Elder attained Arahatship, he held
the so-called Council of the Disciples. ^

Now whilst the Successor of the Buddhas was dwelling
there in the Bambu Grove, Suddhodana the king heard
that his son, who for six years had devoted himself to
works of self-mortification, had attained to Complete En-
lightenment, had founded the Kingdom of Righteousness,
and was then dwelling at the Bambu Grove near Raja-
gaha. So he said to a certain courtier, " Look you. Sir;
take a thousand men as a retinue, and go to Rajagaha,
and say in my name, * Your father, Suddhodana the king,
desires to see you ; ' and bring my son here."

And he respectfully accepted the king's command with
the reply, " So be it, 0 king ! " and went quickly with a
thousand followers the sixty leagues distance, and sat
down amongst the disciples of the Sage, and at the hour
of instruction entered the Wihara. And thinking, " Let
the king's message stay awhile," he stood just beyond
the disciples and listened to the discourse. And as he so
stood he attained to Arahatship, with his whole retinue,
and asked to be admitted to the Order. And the Blessed
One stretched forth his hand and said, " Come among us,
0 mendicants." And all of them that moment appeared
there, with robes and bowls created by miracle, like
Elders of a hundred years' standing.

1 Their then teacher.

2 Or perhaps. " He formed the Corporation of the Disciples," that is, the
Order of Mendicants.

120

THE NIDANAKAIHA.

I^ow from the time when they attain Arahatship the
Arahats become indijfferent to worldly things : so he did
not deliver the king's message to the Sage. The king,
seeing that neither did his messenger return, nor was any
message received from him, called another courtier in the
same manner as before, and sent him. And he went, and
in the same manner attained Arahatship with his fol-
lowers, and remained silent. Then the king in the same
manner sent nine courtiers each with a retinue of a
thousand men. And they all, neglecting what they had
to do, stayed away there in silence.

And when the king found no one who would come and
bring even a message, he thought, '*Not one of these
brings back, for my sake, even a message : who will then
carry out what I say?" And searching among all his
people he thought of Kala Udayin. For he was in every-
thing serviceable to the king, — intimate with him, and
trustworthy. He was born on the same day as the future
Buddha, and had been his playfellow and companion.

So the king said to him, " Friend Kala Udayin, as I
wanted to see my son, I sent nine times a thousand men ;
but there is not one of them who has either come back
or sent a message. Now the end of my life is not far off,
and I desire to see my son before I die. Can you help
me to see my son ? "

" I can, 0 king ! '' was the reply, " if I am allowed to
become a recluse.''

" My friend," said the king, *' become a recluse or not
as you will, but help me to see my son ! "

*' And he respectfully received the king's message, with
the words, *'So be it, 0 king! " and went to Riijagaha;
and stood at- the edge of the disciples at the time of the
Master's instruction, and heard the gospel, and attained
Arahatship with his followers, and was received into the
Order.

The Master spent the first Lent after he had become

A MESSAGE FROM HOME. 121

Buddha at Isipatana; and when it was over went to
Uruvela and stayed there three months and overcame the
three brothers, ascetics. And on the full-moon day of
the month of January, he went to Kajagaha with a
retinue of a thousand mendicants, and there he dwelt
two months. Thus five months had elapsed since he left
Benares', the cold season was past, and seven or eight days
since the arrival of Udayin, the Elder.

And on the full-moon day of March Udayin thought,
" The cold season is past ; the spring has come ; men raise
their crops and set out on their journeys ; the earth is
covered with fresh grass ; the woods are full of flowers ;
the roads are fit to walk on ; now is the time for the Sage
to show favour to his family." And going to the Blessed
One, he praised travelling in about sixty stanzas, that the
Sage might revisit his native town.

289. Eed are the trees with blossoms bright.

They give no shade to him who seeks for fruit ;

Brilliant they seem as glowing fires.

The very season's full, 0 Great One, of delights.

290. 'Tis not too hot ; 'tis not too cold ;
There's plenty now of all good things ;
The earth is clad with verdure green,
Fit is the time, 0 mighty Sage !

Then the Master said to him, ''But why, Udayin, do
you sing the pleasures of travelling with so sweet a voice ? "

" My lord ! " was the reply, " your father is anxious
to see you once more ; will you not show favour to your
relations ? "

'' 'Tis well said, Udayin ! I will do so. Tell the Order
that they shall fulfil the duty laid on all its members of
journeying from place to place."

Kala Udayin accordingly told the brethren. And the
Blessed One, attended by twenty thousand mendicants free

122 THE NIDANAKATHA,

from sin — ten thousand from tlie upper classes in Magadha
and Anga, and ten thousand from the upper classes in
Kapila-vatthu — started from Rajagaha, and travelled a
league a day ; going slowly with the intention of reach-
ing Kapila-vatthu, sixty leagues from Bajagaha, in two
months.

And the Elder, thinking, " I will let the king know
that the Blessed One has started," rose into the air and
appeared in the king's house. The king was glad to see
the Elder, made him sit down on a splendid couch, filled
a bowl with the delicious food made ready for himself,
and gave to him. Then the Elder rose up, and made as
if he would go away.

" Sit down and eat," said the king.

" I will rejoin the Master, and eat then," said he.

" Where is the Master now ? " asked the king.

" He has set out on his journey, attended by twenty
thousand mendicants, to see you, 0 king ! " said he.

The king, glad at heart, said, "Do you eat this; and
until my son has arrived at this town, provide him with
food from here."

The Elder agreed ; and the king waited on him, and
then had the bowl cleansed with perfumed chunam, and
filled with the best of food, and placed it in the Elder's
hand, saying, " Give it to the Buddha."

And the Elder, in the sight of all, threw the bowl into
the air, and himself rising up into the sky, took the food
again, and placed it in the hand of the Master.

The Master ate it. Every day the Elder brought him
food in the same manner. So the Master himself was fed,
even on the journey, from the king's table. The Elder,
day by day, when he had finished his meal, told the king,
** To-day the Blessed One has come so far, to-day so far."
And by talking of the high character of the Buddha, he
made all the king's family delighted with the Master,
even before they saw him. On that account the Blessed

''HE SAKYAS ARE ^dffjCK

123

One gave him pre-eminence, saying, "Pre-eminent, O
mendicants, among all those of my disciples who gained
over my family, was Kala Udayin."

The Sakyas, as they sat talking of the prospect of
seeing their distinguished relative, considered what place
he could stay in ; and deciding that the Nigrodha Grove
would be a pleasant residence, they made everything
ready there. And with flowers in their hands they went
out to meet him ; and sending in front the little children,
and the boys and girls of the village, and then the young
men and maidens of the royal family; they themselves,
decked of their own accord with sweet- smelling flowers
and chunam, came close behind, conducting the Blessed
One to the Nigrodha Grove. There the Blessed One sat
down on the Buddha's throne prepared for him, sur-
rounded by twenty thousand Arahats.

The Sakyas are proud by nature, and stubborn in their
pride. Thinking, "Siddattha is younger than we are,
standing to us in the relation of younger brother, or
nephew, or son, or grandson,'' they said to the little chil-
dren and the young people, " Do you bow down before
him, we will seat ourselves behind you." The Blessed
One, when they had thus taken their seats, perceived
what they meant ; and thinking, " My relations pay me
no reverence ; come now, I must force them to do so," he
fell into the ecstasy depending on wisdom, and rising into
the air as if shaking off" the dust of his feet upon them, he
performed a miracle like unto that double miracle at the
foot of the Gandamba-tree.^

The king, seeing that miracle, said, '' 0 Blessed One !
"When you were presented to Kala Devala to do obeisance
to him on the day on which you were born, and I saw
your feet turn round and place themselves on the

1 See above, p. 105. The Dhammapada Commentary, p
different account of the miracle performed on this occasion

334, has a
It says he

made a jewelled terrace (ratana-caijkamar)) in the sky, and walking up and

down in it, preached the Faith (Dhammai)).

124

THE NIDANAKATHA.

Braliman's head, I did obeisance to you. That was my
first obeisance. When you were seated on your couch
in the shade of the Jambu-tree on the day of the plough-
ing festival, I saw how the shadow over you did not turn,
and I bowed down at your feet. That was my second
obeisance. Now, seeing this unprecedented miracle, I
bow down at your feet. This is my third obeisance."

Then, when the king did obeisance to him, there was
not a single Sakya who was able to refrain from bowing
down before the Blessed One; and all of them did
obeisance.

So the Blessed One, having compelled his relatives to
bow down before him, descended from the sky, and sat
down on the seat prepared for him. And when the
Blessed One was seated, the assembly of his relatives
yielded him pre-eminence ; and all sat there at peace in
their hearts.

Then a thunder- cloud poured forth a shower of rain,
and the copper-coloured water went away rumbling be-
neath the earth. He who wished to get wet, did get
wet ; but not even a drop fell on the body of him who
did not wish to get wet. And all seeing it became filled
with astonishment, and said one to another, " Lo ! what
miracle ! Lo ! what wonder ! "

But the Teacher said, "Not now only did a shower
of rain fall upon me in the assembly of my relations,
formerly also this happened." And in this connexion
he pronounced the story of his Birth as Wessantara.

When they had heard his discourse they rose up, and
paid reverence to him, and went away. Not one of them,
either the king or any of his ministers, asked him on
leaving, " To-morrow accept your meal of us."

So on the next day the Master, attended by twenty
thousand mendicants, entered Kapilavatthu to beg. Then
also no one came to him or invited him to his house, or
took his bowl. The Blessed One, standing at the gate,

THE BUDDHA BEGS FOR FOOD.

125

considered, "How tlieii did the former Buddhas go on
their begging rounds in their native town ? Did they go
direct to the houses of the kings, or did they beg straight
on from house to house ? '* Then, not finding that any of
the Buddhas had gone direct, he thought, " I, too, must
accept this descent and tradition as my own ; so shall my
disciples in future, learning of me, fulfil the duty of
begging for their daily food/' And beginning at the
first house, he begged straight on.

At the rumour that the young chief Siddhattha was
begging from door to door, the windows in the two-storied
and three- storied houses were thrown open, and the mul-
titude was transfixed at the sight. And the lady, the
mother of Rahula, thought, " My lord, who used to go to
and fro in this very town with gilded palanquin and
every sign of royal pomp, now with a potsherd in his
hand begs his food from door to door, with shaven hair
and beard, and clad in yellow robes. Is this becoming ? "
And she opened the window, and looked at the Blessed
One; and she beheld him glorious with the unequalled
majesty of a Buddha, distinguished with the Thirty- two
characteristic signs and the eighty lesser marks of a Great
Being, and lighting up the street of the city with a halo
resplendent with many colours, proceeding to a fathom's
length all round his person.

And she announced it to the king, saying, " Your son
is begging his bread from door to door ; " and she mag-
nified him with the eight stanzas on " The Lion among
Men," beginning —

291. Glossy and dark and soft and curly is his hair ;
Spotless and fair as the sun is his forehead ;
Well-proportioned and prominent and delicate is

his nose ;
Around him is diffused a network of rays ;—
The Lion among Men !

126 THE NIDANAKATHA.

The king was deeply agitated; and lie departed in-
stantly, gathering up his robe in his hand, and went
quickly and stood before the Blessed One, and said,
"Why, Master, do you put us to shame ? Why do you
go begging for your food ? Do you think it impossible
to provide a meal for so many monks ? ''

*' This is our custom, 0 king ! " was the reply.

" Not so. Master ! our descent is from the royal race of
the Great Elected ; ^ and amongst them all not one chief
has ever begged his daily food."

" This succession of kings is your descent, 0 king ! but
mine is the succession of the prophets (Buddhas), from
Dipagkara and Kondanya and the rest down to Kassapa.
These, and thousands of other Buddhas, have begged their
daily food, and lived on alms." And standing in the
middle of the street he uttered the verse —

292. Rise up, and loiter not !
Follow after a holy life !

Who follows virtue rests in bliss,
Both in this world and in the next."

And when tbe verse was finished the king attained to the
Fruit of the First, and then, on hearing the following
verse, to the Fruit of the Second Path —

293. Follow after a holy life !
Follow not after sin !

Who follows virtue rests in bliss.
Both in this world and in the next.

And when he heard the story of the Birth as the Keeper
of Righteousness,^ he attained to the Fruit of the Third
Path. And just as he was dying, seated on the royal
couch under the white canopy of state, he attained to

* Maha Sammata, the first king among men. ^ Dhammapula Jataka.

GO TAMA'S RETURN' HOME.

ArahatsMp. The king never practised in solitude the
Great Struggle.^

Now as soon as he had realized the Fruit of Conversion,
he took the Buddha's bowl, and conducted the Blessed
One and his retinue to the palace, and served them with
savoury food, both hard and soft. And when the meal
was over, all the women of the household came and did
obeisance to the Blessed One, except only the mother of
Rahula.

But she, though she told her attendants to go and
salute their lord, stayed behind, saying, " If I am of any
value in his eyes, my lord will himself come to me ; and
when he has come I will pay him reverence."

And the Blessed One, giving his bowl to the king to
carry, went with his two chief disciples to the apartments
of the daughter of the king, saying, "The king's daughter
shall in no wise be rebuked, howsoever she may be pleased
to welcome me." And he sat down on the seat prepared
for him.

And she came quickly and held him by his ankles, and
laid her head on his feet, and so did obeisance to him,
even as she had intended. And the king told of the
fullness of her love for the Blessed One, and of her good-
ness of heart, saying, " When my daughter heard, 0
Master, that you had put on the yellow robes, from that
time forth she dressed only in yellow. When she heard
of your taking but one meal a day, she adopted the same
custom. When she heard that you renounced the use of
elevated couches, she slept on a mat spread on the floor.
When she heard you had given up the use of garlands
and unguents, she also used them no more. And when
her relatives sent a message, saying, * Let us take care
of you,' she paid them no attention at all. Such is my
daughter's goodness of heart, 0 Blessed One ! "

1 See above, p. 89.

128 THE NIDANAKATHA.

" 'Tis no wonder, 0 king ! '' was the reply, " that she
should watch over herself now that she has you for a
protector, and that her wisdom is mature ; formerly, even
when wandering among the mountains without a pro-
tector, and when her wisdom was not mature, she watched
over herself." And he told the story of his Birth as the
Moonsprite ; ^ and rose from his seat, and went away.

On the next day the festivals of the coronation, and of
the house warming, and of the marriage of Nanda, the
king's son, were being celebrated all together. But the
Buddha went to his house, and gave him his bowl to
carry ; and with the object of making him abandon the
world, he wished him true happiness; and then, rising
from his seat, departed. And (the bride) Janapada KalyanI,
seeing the young man go away, gazed wonderingly at him,
and cried out, " My Lord, whither go you so quickly ? "
But he, not venturing to say to the Blessed One, " Take
your bowl," followed him even unto the Wihara. And the
Blessed One received him, unwilling though he was, into
the Order.

It was on the third day after he reached Kapilapura
that the Blessed One ordained Nanda. On the second
day the mother of Eahula arrayed the boy in his best,
and sent him to the Blessed One, saying, " Look, dear, at
that monk, attended by twenty thousand monks, and
glorious in appearance as the Archangel Brahma ! That
is your father. He had certain great treasures, which
we have not seen since he abandoned his home. Go now,
and ask for your inheritance, saying, * Father, I am your
son. When I am crowned, I shall become a king over all
the earth. I have need of the treasure. Give me the
treasure ; for a son is heir to his father's property.' "

The boy went up to the Blessed One, and gained the
love of his father, and stood there glad and joyful, saying,

1 Candakiimara Jataka.

THE SPIRITUAL INHERITANCE.

J29

" Happy, 0 monk, is thy shadow ! '' and adding many
other words befitting his position. When the Blessed
One had ended his meal, and had given thanks, he rose
from his seat, and went away. And the child followed
the Blessed One, saying, " 0 monk ! give me my in-
heritance ! give me my inheritance ! "

And the Blessed One prevented him not. And the
disciples, being with the Blessed One, ventured not to
stop him. And so he went with the Blessed One even up
to the grove. Then the Blessed One thought, '* This
wealth, this property of his father's, which he is asking
for, perishes in the using, and brings vexation with it !
I will give him the sevenfold wealth of the Arahats which
I obtained under the Bo-tree, and make him the heir of a
spiritual inheritance ! '^ And he said to Sariputta, " Well,
then, Sariputta, receive E-ahula into the Order.''

But when the child had been taken into the Order the
king grieved exceedingly. And he was unable to bear
his grief, and made it known to the Blessed One, and
asked of him a boon, saying, " If you so please, 0 Master,
let not the Holy One receive a son into the Order without
the leave of his father and mother." And the Blessed
One granted the boon.

And the next day, as he sat in the king's house after
his meal was over, the king, sitting respectfully by him,
said, '' Master ! when you were practising austerities, an
angel came to me, and said, ^ Your son is dead ! ' And I
believed him not, and rejected what he said, answering,
* My son will not die without attaining Buddhahood ! ' "

And he replied, saying, "Why should you now have
believed ? when formerly, though they showed you my
bones and said your son was dead, you did not believe
them." And in that connexion he told the story of his
Birth as the Great Keeper of Righteousness.^ And when
the story was ended, the king attained to the Fruit of the

Mahadhammapala Jataka. See above, p. 126.

VOL. I.

130

THE NIDANAKATHA.

Third Patli. And so tlie Blessed One establislied his
father in the Three Fruits ; and he returned to Rajagaha
attended by the company of the brethren, and resided at
the Grove of Sita.

At that time the householder Anatha Pindika, bringing
merchandise in five hundred carts, went to the house of a
trader in Rajagaha, his intimate friend, and there heard
that a Blessed Buddha had arisen. And very early in
the morning he went to the Teacher, the door being
opened by the power of an angel, and heard the Truth
and became converted. And on the next day he gave a
great donation to the Order, with the Buddha at their
head, and received a promise from the Teacher that he
would come to Savatthi.

Then along the road, forty-five leagues in length, he
built resting-places at every league, at an expenditure of
a hundred thousand for each. And he bought the Grove
called Jetavana for eighteen kotis of gold pieces, laying
them side by side over the ground, and erected there a
new building. In the midst thereof he made a pleasant
room for the Sage, and around it separately constructed
dwellings for the eighty Elders, and other residences with
single and double walls, and long halls and open roofs,
ornamented with ducks and quails ; and ponds also he
made, and terraces to walk on by day and by night.

And so having constructed a delightful residence on a
pleasant spot, at an expense of eighteen kotis, he sent a
message to the Sao^e that he should come.

The Master, hearing the messenger's words, left Eaja-
gaha attended by a great multitude of monks, and in due
course arrived at the city of Savatthi. Then the wealthy
merchant decorated the monastery; and on the day on
which the Buddha should arrive at Jetavana he arrayed
his son in splendour, and sent him on with five hundred
youths in festival attire. And he and his retinue, holding
five hundred flags resplendent with cloth of five different

THE FIRST MONASTERY. 131

colours, appeared before the Sage. And behind him
Maha-Subhadda and Cula-Subhadda, the two daughters
of the merchant, went forth with five hundred damsels
carrying water-pots full of water. And behind them,
decked with all her ornaments, the merchant's wife went
forth, with five hundred matrons carrying vessels full of
food. And behind them all the great merchant himself,
clad in new robes, with five hundred traders also dressed
in new robes, went out to meet the Blessed One.

The Blessed One, sending this retinue of lay disciples
in front, and attended by the great multitude of monks,
entered the Jetavana monastery with the infinite grace
and unequalled majesty of a Buddha, making the spaces
of the grove bright with the halo from his person, as if
they were sprinkled with gold-dust.

Then Anatha Pindika asked him, " How, my Lord,
shall I deal with this Wihara ? "

" O householder,'' was the reply, " give it then to the
Order of Mendicants, whether now present or hereafter to
arrive."

And the great merchant, saying, " So be it, my Lord,"
brought a golden vessel, and poured water over the hand
of the Sage, and dedicated the Wihara, saying, '* I give
this Jetavana Wihara to the Order of Mendicants with
the Buddha at their head, and to all from every direction
now present or hereafter to come." ^

And the Master accepted the Wihara, and giving thanks,
pointed out the advantages of monasteries, saying, —

294. Cold they ward ofi", and heat ;
So also beasts of prey,
And creeping things, and gnats,
And rains in the cold season.
And when the dreaded heat and winds
Arise, they ward them ofi*.

1 This formula has been constantly found in rock inscriptions in India and
Ceylon over the ancient cave-dwellings of Buddhist hermits.

THE NIDANAKATHA.

295. To give to monks a dwelling-place,
Wherein in safety and in peace
To tliink till mysteries grow clear,
The Buddha calls a worthy deed.

296. Let therefore a wise man,
Regarding his own weal,
Have pleasant monasteries built.
And lodge there learned men.

297. Let him with cheerful mien
Give food to them, and drink.
And clothes, and dwelling-places
To the upright in mind.

298. Then they shall preach to him the Truth, —
The Truth, dispelling every grief, —
Which Truth, when here a man receives,
He sins no more, and dies away !

Anatha Pindika began the dedication festival from the
second day. The festival held at the dedication of
Visiikha's building ended in four months, but Anatha
Pindika's dedication festival lasted nine months. At the
festival, too, eighteen kotis were spent ; so on that one
monastery he spent wealth amounting to fifty- four kotis.

Long ago, too, in the time of the Blessed Buddha
Yipassin, a merchant named Punabbasu Mitta bought that
very spot by laying golden bricks over it, and built a
monastery there a league in length. And in the time of
the Blessed Buddha Sikhin, a merchant named Sirivaddha
bought that very spot by standing golden ploughshares
over it, and built there a monastery three-quarters of a
league in length. And in the time of the Blessed Buddha
Vessabhu, a merchant named Sotthiya bought that very
spot by laying golden elephant feet along it, and built a
monastery there half a league in length. And in the

THE JETAVAMA WIHARA.

133

time of the Blessed Buddha Kakusandha, a merchant
named Accuta also bought that very spot by laying
golden bricks over it, and built there a monastery a
quarter of a league in length. And in the time of the
Blessed Buddha Konagamana, a merchant named Ugga
bought that very spot by laying golden tortoises over it,
and built there a monastery half a league in length. And
in the time of the Blessed Buddha Kassapa, a merchant
named Sumaggala bought that very spot by laying golden
bricks over it, and built there a monastery sixty acres in
extent. And in the time of our Blessed One, Anatha
Pindika the merchant bought that very spot by laying
kahapanas over it, and built there a monastery thirty
acres in extent. For that spot is a place which not one
of all the Buddhas has deserted. And so the Blessed
One lived in that spot from the attainment of omniscience
under the Bo-tree till his death. This is the Proximate
Epoch. And now we will tell the stories of all his
Births.

END OF THE ACCOUNT OF THE CAUSES THAT LEAD TO THE
ATTAINMENT OF BUDDHAHOOD.

GLOEY BE TO THE BLESSED, THE HOLY, THE
ALL- WISE ONE.

BOOK I.

No. 1.— Holding to the Truth.^

This discourse on the True (Apannaka), the Blessed
One delivered while at the Jetavana Wihara, near
Savatthi.

What was the circumstance concerning which this tale
arose ? About the five hundred heretics, friends of the
Merchant.

For one day, we are told, Anatha Pindika the merchant
took five hundred heretics, friends of his, and had many
garlands and perfumes and ointments and oil and honey
and molasses and clothes and vestments brought, and
went to Jetavana. And saluting the Blessed One, he
offered him garlands and other things, and bestowed
medicines and clothes on the Order of Mendicants, and sat
down in a respectful and becoming manner on one side of
the Teacher.^ And those followers of wrong belief also
saluted the Blessed One, and sat down close to Anatha
Pindika. And they beheld the coimtenance of the
Teacher like the full moon in glory; and his person

* Apannaka Jataka.

2 Literally, sat down on one side, avoiding the six improper ways of doing so.

HOLDING TO THE TRUTH

endowed with all the greater and lesser marks of honour,
and surrounded to a fathom's length with brightness ;
and also the clustering rays (the peculiar attribute of a
Buddha), which issued from him like halos, and in pairs.
Then, though mighty in voice like a young lion roaring
in his pride in the Red Rock Yalley,^ or like a monsoon
thunder- cloud, he preached to them in a voice like an
archangel's voice, perfect and sweet and pleasant to hear, a
discourse varied with many counsels, — as if he were weaving
a garland of pearls out of the stars in the Milky Way !

When they had heard the Teacher's discourse, they
were pleased at heart ; and rising up, they bowed down
to the One Mighty by Wisdom, and giving up the wrong
belief as their refuge, they took refuge in the Buddha.
And from that time they were in the habit of going with
Anatha Pindika to the Wihara, taking garlands and
perfumes with them, and of hearing the Truth, and of
giving gifts, and of keeping the Precepts, and of making
confession.

!N^ow the Blessed One went back again from Siivatthi to
Riijagaha. And they, as soon as the Successor of the
Prophets was gone, gave up that faith ; and again put their
trust in heresy, and returned to their former condition.

And the Blessed One, after seven or eight months,
returned to Jetavana. And Anatha Pindika again brought
those men with him, and going to the Teacher honoured
him with gifts as before, and bowing down to him, seated
himself respectfully by his side. Then he told the
Blessed One that when the Successor of the Prophets had
left, those men had broken the faith they had taken, had
returned to their trust in heresy, and had resumed their
former condition.

And the Blessed One, by the power of the sweet words
he had continually spoken through countless ages, opened

1 A famous haunt of lions in the Himalaya Mountains.

136 APANNAKA JATAKA.

liis lotus mouth as if he were opening a jewel-casket
scented with heavenly perfume, and full of sweet- smelling
odours ; and sending forth his pleasant tones, he asked
them, saying, " Is it true, then, that you, my disciples,
giving up the Three Refuges,^ have gone for refuge to
another faith ? ''

And they could not conceal it, and said, "It is true, 0
Blessed One ! "

And when they had thus spoken, the Teacher said,
" Not in hell beneath, nor in heaven above, nor beyond in
the countless world- systems of the universe, is there any
one like to a Buddha in goodness and wisdom — much less,
then, a greater." And he described to them the qualities
of the Three Grems as they are laid down in the Scripture
passages beginning, *' Whatever creatures there may be,
etc., the Successor of the Prophets is announced to be
the Chief of all.'* And again, " Whatsoever treasure there
be here or in other worlds," etc. And ^gain, " From the
chief of all pleasant things," etc.

And he said, " Whatever disciples, men or women,
have taken as their refuge the Three Gems endowed with
these glorious qualities, they will never be born in hell ;
but freed from birth in any place of punishment, they
will be reborn in heaven, and enter into exceeding bliss.
You, therefore, by leaving so safe a refuge, and placing
your reliance on other teaching, have done wrong."

And here the following passages should be quoted to
show that those who, for the sake of Perfection and Sal-
vation, have taken refuge in the Three Gems, will not be
reborn in places of punishment : —

Those who have put their trust in Buddha,
They will not go to a world of pain :
Having put oflP this mortal coil.
They will enter some heavenly body !

1 Trust in the Buddha, in the Order, and in the Truth, which are the
' Three Gems.'

HOLDING TO THE TRUTH 137

Those who have put their trust in the Truth,
They will not go to a world of pain :
Having put off this mortal coil,
They will enter some heavenly body !

Those who have put their faith in the Order,
They will not go to a world of pain :
Having put off this mortal coil,
They will enter some heavenly body !

They go to many a refuge — .
To the mountains and the forest ....
(and so on down to)

Having gone to this as their refuge,
They are freed from every pain.^

The above was not all the discourse which the Teacher
uttered to them. He also said, " Disciples ! the medita-
tion on the Buddha, the Truth, and the Order, gives the
Entrance and the Fruit of the First Path, and of the
Second, and of the Third, and of the Fourth." And
having in this way laid down the Truth to them, he
added, " You have done wrong to reject so great
salvation ! "

And here the fact of the gift of the Paths to those who
meditate on the Buddha, the Order, and the Truth, might
be shown from the following and other similar passages :
" There is one thing, 0 mendicants, which, if practised
with increasing intensity, leads to complete weariness of
the vanities of the world, to the end of longings, to the
destruction of excitement, to peace of mind, to higher
knowledge, to complete enlightenment, to Nirvana. What
is that one thing ? The meditation on the Buddhas."

Having thus exhorted the disciples in many ways, the
Blessed One said, " Disciples ! formerly, too, men trusting

1 This last quotation is from Dhamraapada, verses 188-192.

138

APANNAKA JATAKA,

to their own reason foolisUy mistook for a refuge tliat
wliich was no refuge, and becoming the prey of demons
in a wilderness haunted by evil spirits, came to a dis-
astrous end. Whilst those who adhered to the absolute,
the certain, the right belief, found good fortune in that
very desert.'' And when he had thus spoken, he remained
silent.

Then Anatha Pindika, the house-lord, arose from his
seat, and did obeisance to the Blessed One, and exalted
him, and bowed down before him with clasped hands, and
said, " Now, at least, 0 Lord ! the foolishness of these
disciples in breaking with the best refuge is made plain
to us. But how those self-sufficient reasoners were
destroyed in the demon-haunted desert, while those who
held to the truth were saved, is hid from us, though it
is known to you. May it please the Blessed One to make
this matter known to us, as one causing the full moon to
rise in the sky ! ''

Then the Blessed One said, '' 0 householder ! it was
precisely with the object of resolving the doubts of the
world that for countless ages I have practised the Ten
Cardinal Yirtues,^ and have so attained to perfect know-
ledge. Listen, then, and give ear attentively, as if you
were filling up a golden measure with the most costly
essence ! " Having thus excited the merchant's attention,
he made manifest that which had been concealed by
change of birth,-ni-setting free, as it were, the full moon
from the bosom of a dark snow- cloud.

Once upon a time in the country of Kasi and the city
of Benares, there was a king called Brahma-datta. The
Bodisat was at that time born in a merchant's family ;

^ See above, pp. 54-58, for an explanation of this.

HOLDING TO THE TRUTH. 139

and in due course lie grew up, and went about trafficking
with five hundred bullock- carts. Sometimes he travelled
from east to west, and sometimes from west to east. At
Benares too there was another young merchant, stupid,
dull, and unskilful in resource.

Now the Bodisat collected in Benares merchandise of
great value, and loaded it in five hundred bullock- carts,
and made them ready for a journey. And that foolish
merchant likewise loaded five hundred carts, and got
them ready to start.

Then the Bodisat thought, "If this foolish young
merchant should come with me, the road will not suffice
for the thousand carts, all travelling together ; the men
will find it hard to get wood and water, and the bullocks
to get grass. Either he or I ought to go on first.^'

And sending for him he told him as much ; saying,
" We two can't go together. Will you go on in front,
or come on after me ? ''

And that other thought, " It will be much better for
me to go first. I shall travel on a road that is not cut
up, the oxen will eat grass that has not been touched,
and for the men there will be curry- stufis, of which the
best have not been picked ; the water will be undisturbed ;
and I shall sell my goods at what price I like.'' So he
said, " I, friend, will go on first."

But the Bodisat saw that it would be better to go
second : for thus it occurred to him, " Those who go in
front will make the rough places plain, whilst I shall
go over the ground they have traversed : — the old rank
grass will have been eaten by the oxen that have gone
first, whilst my oxen will eat the freshly grown and
tender shoots : — for the men there will be the sweet

140 APANNAKA JATAKA.

curry-stufFs that have grown where the old was picked : —
where there is no water these others will dig and get
supplies, whilst we shall drink from the wells that they
have dug : — and haggling ahout prices too is killing
work ; whereas by going afterwards, I shall sell my goods
at the prices they have established." So seeing all these
advantages, he said, "Well, friend, you may go on first."

The foolish merchant said, " Very well, then ! " yoked
his waggons and started; and in due course passed
beyond the inhabited country, and came to the border
of the wilderness.

Now there are five kinds of wildernesses, those that
have become so by reason of thieves, of wild beasts, of
the want of water, of the presence of demons, and of
insufficiency of food ; and of these this wilderness was
demon-haunted and waterless.^ So the merchant placed
great water-pots on his carts, and filled them with water,
and then entered the desert, which was sixty leagues
across.

But, when he had reached the middle of the desert,
the demon who dwelt there thought, " I will make these
fellows throw away the water they have brought; and
having thus destroyed their power of resistance, I will
eat them every one ! "

So he created a beautiful carriage drawn by milk-white
bulls ; and attended by ten or twelve demons with bows
and arrows, and swords and shields, in their hands, he
went to meet the merchant, seated like a lord in his
carriage, — but adorned with a garland of water-lilies,
with his hair and clothes all wet, and his carriage wheels
begrimed with mud. His attendants too went before
1 A gloss repeats these descriptions at somewhat greater length.

HOLDING TO THE TRUTH

and after him, with their hair and clothes all wet, decked
with garlands of white lotuses, carrying bunches of red
lotuses, eating the edible stalks of water-plants, and with
drops of water and mud trickling from them.

Now the chiefs of trading caravans, whenever a head-
wind blows, ride in their carriage in front, surrounded by
their attendants, and thus escape the dust ; and when it
blows from behind, they, in the same manner, ride behind.
At that time there was a headwind, so the merchant went
in front.

As the demon saw him coming, he turned his carriage
out of the way, and greeted him kindly, saying, " "Where
are you going to ? "

And the merchant hurrying his carriage out of the way,
made room for the carts to pass, and waiting beside him,
said to the demon, "We have come thus far from Benares.
And you I see with lotus wreaths, and water-lilies in
your hands, eating lotus stalks, soiled with dirt, and
dripping with water and mud. Pray, does it rain on the
road you have come by, and are there tanks there covered
with water-plants ? "

No sooner had the demon heard that, than he answered ;
" What is this that you say ? Yonder streak is green
forest ; from thence onwards the whole country abounds
with water, it is always raining, the pools are full, and
here and there are ponds covered with lotuses." And as
the carts passed by one after another, he asked, " Where
are you going with these carts ? "

*' To such and such a country," was the reply.

" And in this cart, and in this, what have you got ? "
said he.

" Such and such things."

142 APANNAKA JATAKA.

" This cart coming last comes along very heavily, what
is there in this one ? "

*' There's water in that."

" You have done right to bring water as far as this ;
but further on there's no need of it. In front of you
there's plenty of water. Break the pots and pour away
the water, and go on at your ease." Then he added,
" Do you go on, we have already delayed too long ! " and
himself went on a little, and as soon as he was out of
sight, went back to the demons' home.

And that foolish merchant, in his folly, accepted the
demon's word, and had his pots broken, and the water
poured away (without saving even a cupful), and sent on
the carts. And before them there was not the least water.
And the men, having nothing to drink, became weary.
And journeying on till sunset, they unyoked the waggons,
and ranged them in a circle, and tied the oxen to the
wheels. And there was neither water for the oxen, nor
could the men cook their rice. And the worn-out men
fell down here and there and slept.

And at the end of the night the demons came up from
their demon city, and slew them all, both men and oxen,
and ate their flesh, and went away leaving their bones
behind. So on account of one foolish young merchant
these all came to destruction, and their bones were scat-
tered to all the points of the compass ! And the five
hundred carts stood there just as they had been loaded !

Now for a month and a half after the foolish merchant
had started, the Bodisat waited ; and then left the city,
and went straight on till he came to the mouth of the
desert. There he filled the vessels, and laid up a plentiful
store of water, and had the drum beaten in the encamp-

HOLDING TO THE TRUTH.

ment to call tlie men together, and addressed them thus :
" Without asking me, let not even a cupful of water be
used ! There are poisonous trees in the wilderness :
without asking me, let not a leaf nor a flower nor a fruit
you have not eaten before, be eaten ! " And when he had
thus exhorted his followers, he entered the desert with his
^NQ hundred waggons.

When he had reached the middle of the desert, that
demon, in the same way as before, showed himself to the
Bodisat as if he were coming from the opposite direction.
The Bodisat knew him as soon as he saw him, thinking
thus : *' There is no water in this wilderness ; its very
name is the arid desert. This fellow is red-eyed and bold,
and throws no shadow. The foolish merchant who went
on before me will doubtless have been persuaded by this
fellow to throw away all his water ; will have been
wearied out ; and, with all his people, have fallen a prey.
But he doesn't know, methinks, how clever I am, and how
fertile in resource."

Then he said to him, " Begone ! We are travelling
merchants, and don't throw away the water we've got till
we see some more ; and as soon as we do see it, we under-
stand quite well how to lighten carts by throwing ours

away

The demon went on a little way, and when he got out
of sight, returned to his demon city. When the demons
were gone, his men said to the Bodisat, " Sir ! those men
told us that yonder was the beginning of the green forest,
and from there onwards it was always raining. They had
all kinds of lotuses with them in garlands and branches,
and were chewing the edible lotus-stalks ; their clothes
and hair were all wet, and they came dripping with water.

144 APANNAKA JATAKA.

Let us throw away tlie water, and go on quickly witli
light carts ! "

And when he heard what they said, the Bodisat made
the waggons halt, and collecting all his men, put the
question to them, "Have you ever heard anybody say
that there was any lake or pond in this desert ? ''

" We never heard so."

" And now some men are saying that it rains on the
other side of that stretch of green forest. How far can a
rain- wind be felt ? "

" About a league, Sir."

" ISTow does the rain- wind reach the body of any one of
you?"

"No, Sir."

" And how far off is the top of a rain-cloud visible ? "

" About a league. Sir."

"Now does any one of you see the top of a single
cloud?"

"No one, Sir."

" How far off can a flash of lightning be seen ? "

" Four or five leagues, Sir."

" Now has the least flash of lightning been seen by any
one of you ? "

"No, Sir."

" How far off can thunder be heard ? "

"A league or two, Sir."

" Now has any of you heard the thunder ? "

"No, Sir."

" These fellows are not men, they are demons ! They
must have come to make us throw away our water with
the hope of destroying us in our weakness. The foolish
young merchant who went on before us had no power of

\.-HOLDING TO THE TRUTH. 145

resource. No doubt lie has let himself be persuaded to
throw away his supply of water, and has fallen a prey to
these fellows. His waggons will be standing there just
as they were loaded. We shall find them to-day. Go on
as quickly as you can, and don't throw away a single
haK-pint of water ! "

"With these words he sent them forward ; and going on
he found the five hundred carts as they had been loaded,
and the bones of men and oxen scattered about. And he
had his waggons unyoked, and ranged in a circle so as to
form a strong encampment; and he had the men and
oxen fed betimes, and the oxen made to lie down in the
midst of the men. And he himself took the overseers of
the company, and stood on guard with a drawn sword
through the three watches of the night, and waited for
the dawn. And quite early the next day he saw that
everything that should be done was done, and the oxen
fed ; and leaving such carts as were weak he took strong
ones, and throwing away goods of little value he loaded
goods of greater value. And arriving at the proposed
mart, he sold his merchandise for two or three times the
cost price, and with all his company returned to his own
city.

And when he had told this story, the Teacher added,
" Thus, 0 householder, long ago those who relied on their
own reason came to destruction, while those who held to
the truth escaped the hands of the demons, went whither
they had wished to go, and got back again to their own
place." And it was when he had become a Buddha that
VOL. I. 10

146 V—APANNAKA JATAKA.

he uttered tlie following verse belonging to this lesson on
Holding to the Truth ; and thus uniting the two stories,
he said —

1. Some speak that which none can question ;
Mere logicians speak not so.
The wise man knows that this is so,
And takes for true what is the truth !

Thus the Blessed One taught those disciples the lesson
regarding truth. " Life according to the Truth confers
the three happy conditions of existence here below, and
the six joys of the Brahmalokas in the heaven of delight,
and finally leads to the attainment of Arahatship; but
life according to the Untrue leads to rebirth in the four
hells and among the five lowest grades of man." He also
proclaimed the Four Truths in sixteen ways. And at the
end of the discourse on the Truths all those five hundred
disciples were established in the Fruit of Conversion.

The Teacher having finished the discourse, and told tlie
double narrative, established the connexion,^ and summed
up the Jataka by concluding, *' The foolish young mer-
chant of that time was Devadatta, his men were Deva-
datta's followers. The wise young merchant's men were
the attendants of the Buddha, and the wise young mer-
chant was I myself."

END OF THE STORY ON HOLDING TO THE TRUTH.

1 That is, I think, between the persons in the story on the one hand, and
the Buddha and his contemporaries on the other : not, as Childers says (under
anusandhi), between the story and the maxim.

No. 2.

YANNUPATHA JATAKA.

The Sandy Eoad.

**The Determined Ones" etc. — This discourse was uttered
by the Blessed One while at Savatthi. About what?
About a mendicant who had no perseverance.

For whilst the Successor of the Prophets, we are told,
was staying at Savatthi, a young man of good family
dwelling there went to Jetavana, and heard a discourse
from the Teacher. And with converted heart he saw the
evil result of lusts, and entered the Order. When he had
passed the five years of noviciate, he learnt two sum-
maries of doctrine, and applied himself to the practice of
meditation. And receiving from the Teacher a suitable
subject as a starting-point for thought, he retired to a
forest. There he proceeded to pass the rainy season ; but
after three months of constant endeavour, he was unable
to obtain even the least hint or presentiment of the at-
tainment of insight.^ Then it occurred to him, "The

1 The Buddhists had no prayer ; their salvation consisting in a self-
produced inward change. This could be brought about in various ways, one
of which was the kind of meditation here referred to {Kammatthana) , leading
to a firm conviction of the impermanence of all finite things. As every road
leads to Rome, so any finite object may be taken as the starting-point from
which thought may be taken, by gradually increasing steps, near to the in-
finite ; and so acquire a sense of the proportion of things, and realize the
insignificance of the individual. The unassisted mind of the ignorant would
naturally find difficulty in doing this ; and certain examples of the way in
which it might be done were accordingly worked out ; and a disciple would
go to his teacher, and ask him to recommend which way he shoidd adopt.
But the disciple must work out his own enlightenment.

148 2.— VANNUPATHA JATAKA.

Teacher said there were four kinds of men; I must
belong to the lowest class. In this birth there will be, I
think, neither Path nor Fruit for me. What is the good
of my dwelling in the forest ? E/cturning to the Teacher,
I will live in the sight of the glorious person of the
Buddha, and within hearing of the sweet sound of the
Law.'* And he returned to Jetavana.

His friends and intimates said to him, " Brother, you
received from the Teacher a subject of meditation, and
left us to devote yourself to religious solitude ; and
now you have come back, and have given yourself up
again to the pleasures of social intercourse. Have you
then really attained the utmost aim of those who have
given up the world ? Have you escaped transmigra-
tion ?"i

" Brethren ! I have gained neither the Path nor the
Fruit thereof. I have come to the conclusion that I am
fated to be a useless creature; and so have come back
and given up the attempt.'*

" You have done wrong, Brother ! after taking vows
according to the religion of the Teacher whose firmness
is so immovable, to have given up the attempt. Come,
let us show this matter to the Buddha." And they took
him to the Teacher.

When the Teacher saw them, he said, " I see, 0
mendicants ! that you have brought this brother here
against his will. What has he done ? "

" Lord ! this brother having taken the vows in so
sanctifying a faith, has abandoned the endeavour to ac-
complish the aim of a member of the Order, and has come
back to us."

Then the Teacher said to him, "Is it true you have
given up trying ? "

^ A successful Kammatthana, a complete realization of the relation of the
individual to the great Sum of all things, will lead to that sense of brother-
hood, of humility, of holy calm, which is the " utmost aim," viz. Nirvana, and
involves, as its result, escape from transmigration.

2,- THE SANDY ROAD.

149

" It is true, 0 Blessed One ! " was the reply.

" How is it, brother, that you, who have now taken the
vows according to such a system, have proved yourself
to be — not a man of few desires, contented, separate from
the world, persevering in effort — ^but so irresolute ! Why,
formerly you were full of determination. By your energy
alone the men and bullocks of five hundred waggons
obtained water in the sandy desert, and were saved.
How is it that you give up trying, now ? "

Then by those few words that brother was established
in resolution !

But the others, hearing that story, besought of the
Blessed One, saying, " Lord ! We know that this brother
has given up trying now ; and yet you tell how formerly
by his energy alone the men and bullocks of five hundred
waggons obtained water in the sandy desert, and were
saved. Tell us how this was."

*' Listen, then, O mendicants !" said the Blessed One :
and having thus excited their attention, he made manifest
a thing concealed through change of birth.

Once upon a time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in
Benares, in the country of Kasi, the future Buddha was
bom in a merchant's family ; and when he grew up, he
went about trafficking with five hundred carts.

One day he arrived at a sandy desert twenty leagues
across. The sand in that desert was so fine, that when
taken in the closed fist, it could not be kept in the hand.
After the sun had risen it became as hot as a mass of
charcoal, so that no man could walk on it. Those, there-
fore, who had to travel over it took wood, and water, and

150 2.— VANNUPATHA JATAKA.

oil, and rice in their carts; and travelled during tlie
night. And at daybreak they formed an encampment,
and spread an awning over it, and taking their meals
early, they passed the day sitting in the shade. At sunset
they supped ; and when the ground had become cool,
they yoked their oxen and went on. The travelling was
like a voyage over the sea : a so-called land- pilot had to
be chosen, and he brought the caravan safe to the other
side by his knowledge of the stars.

On this occasion the merchant of our story traversed
the desert in that way. And when he had passed over
fifty-nine leagues he thought, "Now in one more night
we shall get out of the sand," and after supper he directed
the wood and water to be thrown away, and the waggons
to be yoked; and so set out. The pilot had cushions
arranged on the foremost cart, and lay down looking at
the stars, and directing them where to drive. But worn
out by want of rest during the long march, he fell asleep,
and did not perceive that the oxen had turned round and
taken the same road by which they had come.

The oxen went on the whole night through. Towards
dawn the pilot woke up, and, observing the stars, called
out, "Stop the waggons, stop the waggons!'' The day
broke just as they had stopped, and were drawing up the
carts in a line. Then the men cried out, " Why, this is
the very encampment we left yesterday ! Our wood and
water is all gone ! We are lost ! " And unyoking the
oxen, and spreading the canopy over their heads, they lay
down, in despondency, each one under his waggon.

But the Bodisat, saying to himself, " If I lose heart, all
these will perish," walked about while the morning was
yet cool. And on seeing a tuft of Kusa-grass, he thought^

2.-THE SANDY ROAD.

" This must have grown by attracting some water whicli
there must be beneath it."

And he made them bring a hoe and dig in that spot.
And they dug sixty cubits deep. And when they had got
thus far, the spade of the diggers struck on a rock : and
as soon as it struck, they all gave up in despair.

But the Bodisat thought, " There must be water under
that rock," and descending into the well, he got upon the
stone, and, stooping down, applied his ear to it, and
tested the sound of it. And he heard the sound of water
gurgling beneath. And he got out, and called his page.
" My lad, if you give up now, we shall all be lost. Don't
you lose heart. Take this iron hammer, and go down
into the pit, and give the rock a good blow."

The lad obeyed, and though they all stood by in
despair, he went down full of determination, and struck
at the stone. And the rock split in two, and fell below,
and no longer blocked up the stream. And water rose till
its brim was the height of a palm-tree in the well. And
they all drank of the water, and bathed in it. Then they
split up their extra yokes and axles, and cooked rice, and
ate it, and fed their oxen with it. And when the sun
set, they put up a flag by the well, and went to the place
appointed. There they sold their merchandise at double
and treble profit, and returned to their own home, and
lived to a good old age, and then passed away according
to their deeds. And the Bodisat gave gifts, and did other
virtuous acts, and passed away according to his deeds.

152

2.— VANNUPATHA J ATA K A.

"When the Buddha had told the story, he, as Buddha,
uttered the verse —

2. The men of firm resolve dug on into the sand,
Till in the very road they found whereof to drink.
And so the wise, strong by continuing efibrt.
Finds — if he weary not — Rest for his heart !

When he had thus discoursed, he declared the Four
Truths. And when he had concluded, the despairing
priest was established in the highest Fruit, in Arahatship
(which is Nirvana).

After the Teacher had told the two stories, he formed
the connexion, and summed up the Jataka, by saying,
in conclusion, " The page who at that time despaired not,
but broke the stone, and gave water to the multitude, was
this brother without perseverance : the other men were
the attendants on the Buddha; and the caravan leader was
I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE SANDY ROAD.

No. 3.

SERI-YAIS'IJA JATAKA.

The Merchant of Seri.

^' If you fail here,*^ etc. — This discourse, too, the Blessed
One uttered, while staying at Savatthi, about a monk
who was discouraged in his efforts to obtain spiritual
enlightenment.

For we are told that when he too was brought up by
the brethren in the same manner as before, the Teacher
said, *' Brother ! you who have given up trying, after
taking the vows according to a system so well fitted to
lead you to the Paths and Fruit thereof, will sorrow long,
like the Seriva trader when be had lost the golden vessel
worth a hundred thousand."

The monks asked the Blessed One to explain to them
the matter. The Blessed One made manifest that which
had been hidden by change of birth.

Long ago, in the fifth dispensation before the present
one, the Bodisat was a dealer in tin and brass ware,
named Seriva, in the country of that name. This Seriva,
together with another dealer in tin and brass ware, who
was an avaricious man, crossed the river Tela-vaha, and
entered the town called Andha-pura. And dividing the

154 Z.—SERI-VANIJA JATAKA.

streets of tlie city between them, the Bodisat went round
selling his goods in the street allotted to him, while the
other took the street that fell to him.

Now in that city there was a wealthy family reduced
to abject poverty. All the sons and brothers in the
family had died, and all its property had been lost. Only
one girl and her grandmother were left ; and those two
gained their living by serving others for hire. There
was indeed in the house the vessel of gold out of which
the head of the house used to eat in the days of its
prosperity ; but it was covered with dirt, and had long
lain neglected and unused among the pots and pans. And
they did not even know that it was of gold.

At that time the avaricious hawker, as he was going
along, calling out, " Buy my water-pots ! Buy my water-
pots ! ^' came to the door of their house. When the girl
saw him, she said to her grandmother, " Mother ! do buy
me an ornament."

" But we are poor, dear. What shall we give in ex-
change for it ? "

" This dish of ours is no use to us ; you can give that
away and get one."

The old woman called the hawker, and after asking
him to take a seat, gave him the dish, and said, " Will
you take this. Sir, and give something to your little sister^
for it?"

The hawker took the dish, and thought, " This must be
gold ! " And turning it roimd, he scratched a line on its
back with a needle, and found that it was so. Then
hoping to get the dish without giving them anything, he
said, " What is this worth ? It is not even worth a haK-
1 On this mode of politeness see above, p. 70.

Z.— THE MERCHANT OF SERL 155

penny." And throwing it on the ground, he got up from
his seat, and went away.

Now, it was allowed to either hawker to enter the street
which the other had left. And the Bodisat came into that
street, and calling out, " Buy my water-pots," came up to
the door of that very house. And the girl spoke to her
grandmother as before. But the grandmother said, " My
child, the dealer who came just now threw the dish on
the floor, and went away ; what have I now got to give
him in exchange ? "

" That merchant, mother dear, was a surly man ; but
this one looks pleasant, and has a kind voice : perchance
he may take it."

" Call him, then," said she.

So she called him. And when he had come in and sat
down, they gave him the dish. He saw that it was
gold, and said, " Mother ! this dish is worth a hundred
thousand. All the goods in my possession are not equal
to it in value ! "

" But, Sir, a hawker who came just now threw it on the
ground, and went away, saying it was not worth a half-
penny. It must have been changed into gold by the
power of your virtue, so we make you a present of it.
Give us some trifle for it, and take it."

The Bodisat gave them all the cash he had in hand
(five hundred pieces), and all his stock-in-trade, worth
five hundred more. He asked of them only to let him
keep eight pennies, and the bag and the yoke that
he used to carry his things with. And these he took
and departed.

And going quickly to the river- side, he gave those eight
pennies to a boatman, and got into the boat.

156

Z.-SERI-VANIJA JATAKA.

But that covetous hawker came back to tlie house, and
said : " Bring out that dish, I'll give you something for
it!''

Then she scolded him, and said, " You said our gold
dish, worth a hundred thousand, was not worth a half-
penny. But a just dealer, who seems to be your master,^
gave us a thousand for it, and has taken it away."

When he heard this he called out, "Through this
fellow I have lost a golden pot worth — 0, worth a
hundred thousand ! He has ruined me altogether ! " And
bitter sorrow overcame him, and he was unable to retain
his presence of mind ; and he lost all self-command. And
scattering the money he had, and all the goods, at the
door of the house, he seized as a club the yoke by which
he had carried them, and tore off his clothes, and pursued
after the Bodisat.

When he reached the river- side, he saw the Bodisat
going away, and he cried out, " Hallo, Boatman ! stop
the boat ! "

But the Bodisat said, " Don't stop ! " and so prevented
that. And as the other gazed and gazed at the departing
Bodisat, he was torn with violent grief ; his heart grew
hot, and blood flowed from his mouth until his heart
broke — like tank-mud in the heat of the sun !

Thus harbouring hatred against the Bodisat, he brought
about on that very spot his own destruction. This was
the first time that Devadatta harboured hatred against the
Bodisat.

But the Bodisat gave gifts, and did other good acts,
and passed away according to his deeds.

^ The reader will not take this too seriously. The old lady's scorn turns
as easily here to irony as her gratitude above finds expression in flattery.

Z.— THE MERCHANT OF SERI.

157

It was when the Buddha had finished this discourse,
that he, as Buddha, uttered the following verse —

3. If in this present time of Grace,
You fail to reach the Happy State ; ^
Long will you suffer deep Remorse
Like this trading man of Seriva.

So the Teacher, discoursing in such a manner as to
lead up to the subject of Arahatship, dwelt on the Four
Truths. And at the end of the discourse the monk who
had given up in despondency was established in the
highest Fruit — that is, in Mrvana.

And when the Teacher had told the double story, he
made the connexion, and summed up the Jataka by con-
cluding, ** The then foolish dealer was Devadatta, but the
wise dealer was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE MERCHANT OF SERI.

1 What the Happy State is will perhaps hest be understood from the
enumeration of its six divisions: 1. Faith. 2. Modesty. 3. Fear of
sinning. 4. Learning. 5. Energy. 6. Presence of Mind. This Happy
State can only be reached in a birth as a man. If being born as a man, one
neglects the salvation then within one's reach, one may pass many ages in
other births before a "time of grace" comes round again. It is folly to
expect salvation in some other and future world ; it can only be gained here,
and now.

No. 4.

CULLAKA-SETTHI JATAKA.
The Story of Chullaka the Treasurer.

"The wise, far-seeing man" etc. — This discourse the
Blessed One uttered, while at Jivaka's Mango-grove near
Eajagaha, concerning the Elder whose name was Eoadling
the Younger.

Now here it ought to be explained how Roadling the
Younger came to be born. The daughter of a wealthy
house in E-ajagaha, they say, had contracted an intimacy
with a slave, and being afraid that people would find out
what she had done, she said to him, " "We can't stay here.
If my parents discover this wrongdoing, they will tear us
in pieces. Let us go to some far-off country, and dwell
there." So, taking the few things they had, they went
out privately together to go and dwell in some place, it
did not matter where, where they would not be known.

And settling in a certain place, they lived together
there, and she conceived. And when she was far gone
with child, she consulted with her husband, saying, " I
am far gone with child ; and it will be hard for both of
us if the confinement were to take place where I have no
friends and relations. Let us go home again ! "

But he let the days slip by, saying all the while, " Let
us go to-day ; let us go to-morrow."

^ The introductory story to this Jataka is used in Rogers's Buddhagosha' s
Parables, pp. 61-68, as the introduction to a different Birth Story. Verse 25
of the Bhommapada is said hy the Commentator on that book (Fausboll,
p. 181) to have been spoken of Little Eoadling, and it would lit very aptly
to the present story about him.

^.—CHULLAKA THE TREASURER.

159

Then she thought, "This silly fellow dares not go
home because his offence has been so great. But parents
are, after all, true friends. Whether he goes or not, it
will be better for me to go."

So, as soon as he had gone out, she set her house in
order, and telling her nearest neighbours that she was
going to her own home, she started on her way. The
man returned to the house ; and when he could not find
her, and learned on inquiry from the neighbours that she
had gone home, he followed her quickly, and came up to
her halfway on the road. There the pains of labour had
just seized her. And he accosted her, saying, "Wife,
what is this ? "

" Husband, I have given birth to a son," replied she.

" What shall we do now ? " said he.

" The very thing we were going home for has happened
on the road. What's the use of going there ? Let us
stop ! "

So saying, they both agreed to stop. And as the child
was born on the road, they called him E-oadling. JSTow
not long after she conceived again, and all took place as
before ; and as that child too was born on the road, they
called the firstborn Great Roadling, and the second Little
Roadling. And taking the two babies with them, they
went back to the place where they were living.

And whilst they were Kving there this child of the
road heard other children talking about uncles, and
grandfathers, and grandmothers ; and he asked his
mother, saying, "Mother, the other boys talk of their
uncles, and grandfathers, and grandmothers. Have we
no relations ? "

" Certainly, my dear ! You have no relations here,
but you have a grandfather, a rich gentleman, at Raja-
gaha ; and there you have plenty of relations."

" Then why don't we go there, mother ? " said he.

Then she told him the reason of their not going. But

1 60 ^.—CULLAKA-SETTHI J A TAKA.

when the children spoke to her again and again about
it, she said to her husband, *' These children are con-
tinually troubling me. Can our parents kill us and eat
us when they see us ? Come, let us make the boys ac-
quainted with their relatives on the grandfather's side."

*' Well, I myself daren't meet them face to face, but I
will take you there."

" Yery well, then ; any way you like : the children
ought to be made acquainted with their grandfather's
family."

So they two took the children, and in due course
arrived at Rajagaha, and put up at a chowltrie (a public
resting-place) at the gate of the town. And the mother,
taking the two boys, let her parents know of her arrival.
When they heard the message, they sent her back word
to the following effect : " To be without sons and daughters
is an unheard-of thing among ordinary people ; ^ but these
two have sinned so deeply against us, that they cannot
stand in our sight. Let them take such and such a sum,
and go and dwell wherever they two may like. But the
children they may send here." And their daughter took
the money her parents sent, and handing over her
children to the messengers, let them go.

And the children grew up in their grandfather's house.
Little Roadling was much the younger of the two, but
Great Roadling used to go with his grandfather to hear
the Buddha preach ; and by constantly hearing the Truth
from the mouth of the Teacher himself, his mind turned
towards renunciation of the world. And he said to his
grandfather, " If you would allow it, I should enter the
Order."

'' What are you saying, my child ? " answered the old
man. " Of all persons in the world I would rather have
you enter the Order. Become a monk by all means, if

1 Literally, "those subject to transmigration," that is, those who are
not Arahats, whose natural desires have not given way before intense reli-
gious conviction.

^.—CHULLAKA THE TREASURER. i6i

you feel yourself able to do so.'* So, granting his request,
lie took him to the Teacher.

The Teacher said, " What, Sir, have you then a son ? "

" Yes, my Lord, this lad is my grandson, and he wants
to take the vows under you."

The Teacher called a monk, and told him to ordain the
lad : and the monk, repeating to him the formula of
meditation on the perishable nature of the human body,^
received him as a novice into the Order. After he had
learnt by heart much scripture, and had reached the full
age required, he was received into full membership ; and
applying himself to earnest thought, he attained the state
of an Arahat. And whilst he was thus himself enjoying
the delight which arises from wise and holy thoughts, and

wise and holy life, he considered whether he could not
procure the same bliss for Little Roadling.

So he went to his grandfather, and said : ** If, noble
Sir, you will grant me your consent, I will receive Little
Roadling into the Order ! "

" Ordain him, reverend Sir," was the reply. The Elder
accordingly initiated Little Roadling, and taught him to
live in accordance with the Ten Commandments. But
though he had reached the noviciate. Little Roadling was
dull, and in four months he could not get by heart even
this one verse —

As a sweet-smelling Kokanada lily
Blooming all fragrant in the early dawn.
Behold the Sage, bright with exceeding glory
E'en as the burning sun in the vault of heaven !

For long ago, we are told, in the time of Kassapa the
Buddha, he had been a monk, who, having acquired
learning himself, had laughed to scorn a dull brother as

^ Taca-pancaka-hammatthanaiQ, a formula always repeated at the ordina-
tion of a novice. The words of it will be found in Dickson's Upasampada-
Kammavaca , p. 7. Compare also the note above, p. 147.

VOL. I. 11

1 62 ^.— CULLAKA-SETTHI JATAKA,

lie was learning a recitation. That brother was so over-
whelmed with confusion by his contempt, that he could
neither commit to memory, nor recite the passage. In
consequence of this conduct he now, though initiated,
became dull ; he forgot each line he learnt as soon as he
learnt the next ; and whilst he was trying to learn this
one verse four months had passed away.

Then his elder brother said to him : " Hoadling, you
are not fit for this discipline. In four months you have
not been able to learn a single stanza, how can you hope
to reach the utmost aim of those who have given up the
world ? Go away, out of the monastery ! " And he
expelled him. But Little E-oadling, out of love for the
religion of the Buddhas, did not care for a layman's life.

Now at that time it was the elder Roadling's duty to
regulate the distribution of food to the monks. And the
nobleman Jivaka brought many sweet-scented flowers,
and going to his Mango- grove presented them to the
Teacher, and listened to the discourse. Then, rising
from his seat, he saluted the Buddha, and going up to
Great Boadling, asked him, "How many brethren are
there with the Teacher ? "

" About five hundred," was the reply.

" Will the Buddha and the five hundred brethren come
and take their morning meal to-morrow at our house ? "

" One called Little Eoadling, 0 disciple, is dull, and
makes no progress in the faith ; but I accept the invita-
tion for all excepting him."

Little Roadling overheard this, and thought, " Though
accepting for so many monks, the Elder accepts in such
a manner as to leave me out. Surely my brother's love
for me has been broken. What's the good of this dis-
pline to me now? I must become a layman, and give
alms, and do such good deeds as laymen can." And early
the next day he went away, saying he would re-enter
the world.

^.—CHULLAKA THE TREASURER. 163

Kow tlie Teaclier, very early in tlie morning, when lie
surveyed the world, became aware of this matter.^ And
going out before him, he remained walking up and down
by the gateway on the road along which Little Roadling
would have to pass. And Little Roadling, as he left the
house, saw the Teacher, and going up to him, paid him
reverence. Then the Teacher said to him, "How now,
Little Roadling ! whither are you going at this time in
the morning P "

"Lord! my brother has expelled me, so I am going
away to wander again in the ways of the world ! "

"Little Eoadling! It was under me that your pro-
fession of religion took place. When your brother ex-
pelled you, why did you not come to me ? What will a
layman's life advantage you ? You may stay with me ! "

And he took Little E-oadling, and seated him in front
of his own apartment, and gave him a piece of very white
cloth, created for the purpose, and said, "IN^ow, Little
Roadling, stay here, sitting with your face to the East,
and rub this cloth up and down, repeating to yourself
the words, " The removal of impurity ! The removal of
impurity ! '' And so saying he went, when time was
called, to Jivaka's house, and sat down on the seat pre-
pared for him.^

But Little Roadling did as he was desired : and as he
did so, the cloth became soiled, and he thought, " This
piece of cloth was just now exceeding white ; and now,
through me, it has lost its former condition, and is become
soiled. Changeable indeed are all component things ! "
And he felt the reality of decay and death, and the eyes
of his mind were opened !

1 The Buddha is frequently represented in the later books as bringing the
world before his mind's eye in the morning, and thus perceiving whom he
could benefit during the day.

2 When the daily meal was to be served in the house of some layman, all
the monks invited went there as soon as the time was announced by the " call
of refection " being set up, and sat themselves down in the order of their
seniority.

164

^.—CULLAKA-SETTHI JATAKA.

Then tlie Teacher, knowing that the eyes of his mind
were opened, sent forth a glorious vision of himself, which
appeared as if sitting before him in visible form, and
saying, " Little Roadling ! be not troubled at the thought
that this cloth has become so soiled and stained. Within
thee, too, are the stains of lust and care and sin ; but
these thou must remove ! " And the vision uttered these
stanzas :

It is not dust, but lust, that really is the stain :
This — * stain ' — is the right word for lust.
'Tis the monks who have put away this stain.
Who live up to the Word of the Stainless One !

It is not dust, but anger, that really is the stain :
This — * stain ' — is the right word for anger.
'Tis the monks who have put away this stain.
Who live up to the Word of the Stainless One !

It is not dust, but delusion, that really is the stain:
This — ' stain ' — is the right word for delusion.
'Tis the monks who have put away this stain.
Who live up to the Word of the Stainless One !

And as the stanzas were finished. Little Roadling attained
to Arahatship, and with it to the intellectual gifts of an
Arahat ; and by them he understood all the Scriptures.

Long ago, we are told, he had been a king, who, as he
was once going round the city, and the sweat trickled
down from his forehead, wiped the top of his forehead
with his pure white robe. When the robe became dirty,
he thought, " By this body the pure white robe has lost
its former condition, and has become soiled. Changeable
indeed are all component things ! " And so he realized
the doctrine of impermanency. It was on this account
that the incident of the transfer of impurity brought
about his conversion.

^.—CHULLAKA THE TREASURER. 165

But to return to our story. Jivaka, the nobleman,
brought to the Buddha the so-called water of presentation.
The Teacher covered the vessel with his hand, and said,
" Are there no monks in the monastery, Jivaka ? "

" Nay, my Lord, there are no monks there," said
Great Roadling.

"But there are, Jivaka," said the Master.

Jivaka then sent a man, saying, " Do you go, then, and
find out whether there are any monks or not at the
monastery."

At that moment Little Roadling thought, " My brother
says there are no monks here ; I will show him there
are." And he filled the Mango- grove with priests — a
thousand monks, each unlike the other — some making
robes, some repairing them, and some repeating the
Scriptures.

The man, seeing all these monks at the monastery,
went back, and told Jivaka, " Sir, the whole Mango- grove
is alive with monks."

It was with reference to this that it is said of him,
that

" Roadling, multiplying himself a thousand fold.
Sate in the pleasant Mango-grove till he was bidden
to the feast."

Then the Teacher told the messenger to go again, and
say, " The Teacher sends for him who is called Little
Roadling."

So he went and said so. But from a thousand monks
the answer came, " I am Little Roadling ! I am Little
Eoadling ! "

The man returned, and said, " Why, Sir, they all say
they are called Little Eoadling ! "

" Then go and take by the hand the first who says ' I
am Little E-oadling,' and the rest will disappear."

1 66 ^—CULLAKA-SETTHI JATAKA.

And lie did so. And the otliers disappeared, and the
Elder returned with the messenger.^

And the Teacher, when the meal was over, addressed
Jivaka, and said, *^ Jivaka, take Little Roadling's bowl ;
he will pronounce the benediction." And he did so. And
the Elder, as fearlessly as a young lion utters his chal-
lenge, compressed into a short benedictive discourse the
spirit of all the Scriptures.

Then the Teacher rose from his seat and returned
to the Wihara (monastery), accompanied by the body
of mendicants. And when the monks had completed
their daily duties, the Blessed One arose, and standing
at the door of his apartment, discoursed to them, pro-
pounding a subject of meditation. He then dismissed
the assembly, entered his fragrant chamber, and lay down
to rest.

In the evening the monks collected from diiFerent
places in the hall of instruction, and began uttering the
Teacher's praises, — thus surrounding themselves as it were
with a curtain of sweet kamala flowers ! " Brethren, his
elder brother knew not the capacity of Little Roadling, and
expelled him as a dullard because in four months he could
not learn that one stanza; but the Buddha, by his un-
rivalled mastery over the Truth, gave him Arahatship,
with the intellectual powers thereof, in the space of a
single meal, and by those powers he understood all the
Scriptures ! Ah ! how great is the power of the
Buddhas ! "

And the Blessed One, knowing that this conversation
had arisen in the hall, determined to go there ; and rising
from his couch, he put on his orange-coloured under
garment, girded himself with his belt as it were with
lightning, gathered round him his wide flowing robe red
as kamala flowers, issued from his fragrant chamber, and

1 Little Roadling has now become an Elder, a monk of the higher of the

^.—CHULLAKA THE TREASURER. 167

proceeded to tlie hall with tliat surpassing grace of motion
peculiar to tlie Buddhas, like the majestic tread of a
mighty elephant in the time of his pride. And ascending
the magnificent throne made ready for the Buddha in
the midst of the splendid hall, he seated himself in the
midst of the throne emitting those six-coloured rays
peculiar to the Buddhas, like the young sun when it
rises over the mountains on the horizon, and illumines
the ocean depths !

As soon as the Buddha came in, the assembly of the
mendicants stopped their talking and were silent. The
Teacher looked mildly and kindly round him, and thought,
'* This assembly is most seemly ; not a hand nor foot stirs,
no sound of coughing or sneezing can be heard ! If I
were to sit here my life long without speaking, not one
of all these men — awed by the majesty and blinded by
the glory of a Buddha — would venture to speak first. It
behoves me to begin the conversation, and I myself will
be the first to speak ! " And with sweet angelic voice he
addressed the brethren : "■ What is the subject for which
you have seated yourselves together here, and what is the
talk among you that has been interrupted? "

" Lord ! we are not sitting in this place to talk of any
worldly thing : it is thy praises we are telling ! " And
they told him the subject of their talk. When he heard
it the Teacher said, " Mendicants ! Little Roadling has
now through me become great in religion ; now formerly
through me he became great in riches.'^

The monks asked the Buddha to explain how this was.
Then the Blessed One made manifest that which had
been hidden by change of birth.

1 68 ^. — CULLAKA-SETTHI JATAKA.

Long ago/ when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares,
in the land of Kasi, the Bodisat was born in a treasurer's
family; and when he grew up he received the post of
treasurer, and was called ChuUaka.^ And he was wise
and skilful, and understood all omens. One day as he
was going to attend upon the king he saw a dead mouse
lying on the road; and considering the state of the
stars at the time, he said, *'A young fellow with eyes
in his head might, by picking this thing up, start a trade
and support a wife."

Now a certain young man of good birth, then fallen
into poverty, heard what the official said, and thinking,
" This is a man who wouldn't say such a thing without
good reason," took the mouse, and gave it away in a certain
shop for the use of the cat, and got a farthing for it.

With the farthing he bought molasses, and took water
in a pot. And seeing garland- makers returning from the
forest, he gave them bits of molasses, with water by the
ladle-full.^ They gave him each a bunch of flowers ; and
the next day, with the price of the flowers, he bought
more molasses ; and taking a potful of water, went to the
flower garden. That day the garland-makers gave him,
as they went away, flowering shrubs from which half the
blossoms had been picked. In this way in a little time
he gained eight pennies.

Some time after, on a rainy windy day, a quantity of
dry sticks and branches and leaves were blown down by
the wind in the king's garden, and the gardener saw no
way of getting rid of them. The young man went and

1 With this story compare Katha Sarit Sagara, Book VI. vv. 29 and foil.

2 Pronounce Choollacker with the accent on the first syllable.

' ' Ulugka,' half a cocoa-nut shell, the common form of cup or ladle among
the Indian poor.

^.—CHULLAKA THE TREASURER. 169

said to the gardener, " If you will give me these sticks
and leaves, I will get them out of the way." The gar-
dener agreed to this, and told him to take them.

ChuUaka's pupiP went to the children's playground,
and by giving them molasses had all the leaves and
sticks collected in a twinkling, and placed in a heap at
the garden gate. Just then the king's potter was looking
out for firewood to burn pots for the royal household,
and seeing this heap he bought it from him. That day
Chullaka's pupil got by selling his firewood sixteen pennies
and five vessels — water-pots, and such-like.

Having thus obtained possession of twenty-four pennies,
he thought, " This will be a good scheme for me," and
went to a place not far from the city gate, and placing
there a pot of water, supplied five hundred grass-cutters
with drink.

" Friend ! you have been of great service to us," said
they. " What shall we do for you ? "

" You shall do me a good turn when need arises," said
he. And then, going about this way and that, he struck
up a friendship with a trader by land and a trader by
sea.

And the trader by land told him, " To-morrow a horse-
dealer is coming to the town with five hundred horses."

On hearing this, he said to the grass-cutters, " Give
me to-day, each of you, a bundle of grass, and don't sell
your own grass till I have disposed of mine."

"All right!" cried they in assent, and brought five
hundred bundles, and placed them in his house. The
horse-dealer, not being able to get grass for his horses

^ So called ironically, from the apt way in which he had learnt the lesson
taught him by Chullaka.

lyo ^.-^CULLAKA-SETTHI JATAKA.

througli all the city, bought the young man's grass for a
thousand pence.

A few days afterwards his friend the trader by sea
told him that a large vessel had come to the port. He
thinking, "This will be a good plan," got for eight
pennies a carriage that was for hire, with all its proper
attendants ; and driving to the port with a great show
of respectability, gave his seal-ring as a deposit for the
ship's cargo. Then he had a tent pitched not far oflP,
and taking his seat gave orders to his men that when
merchants came from outside he should be informed of
it with triple ceremony.^

On hearing that a ship had arrived, about a hundred
merchants came from Benares to buy the goods.

They were told, " You can't have the goods : a great
merchant of such and such a place has already paid
deposit for them."

On hearing this, they went to him ; and his footmen
announced their arrival, as had been agreed upon —
three deep. Each of the merchants then gave him a
thousand to become shareholders in the ship, and then
another thousand for him to relinquish hi8 remaining
share : and thus they made themselves owners of the
cargo.

So Chullaka's pupil returned to Benares, taking with
him two hundred thousand.^ And from a feeling of

1 Literally, " with a threefold knock," which I take to mean that the
outside attendant announced them to another attendant, he to a third, and
the third attendant to tbeir master. The latter thus appeared to be a man of
great consequence, as access to him was so difficult, and attended with so
much ceremony.

2 That is, twice a thousand pieces from each of the hundred merchants.
But of course he should have paid out of this sum the price of the cargo. It
can scarcely be intended to suggest that his acuteness led him to go off with-
out paying for the cargo. The omission must be a slip of the story-teller's.

^—CHULLAKA THE TREASURER. 171

gratitude, lie took a hundred thousand and went to
ChuUaka the treasurer. Then the treasurer asked him,
" "What have you been doing, my good man, to get all
this wealth ? "

"It was by adhering to what you said that I have
acquired it within four months," said he : and told him
the whole story, beginning with the dead mouse.

And when ChuUaka the high treasurer heard his tale,
he thought, " It will never do to let such a lad as this
get into any one else's hands." So he gave him his
grown-up daughter in marriage, and made him heir to
all the family estates. And when the treasurer died, he
received the post of city treasurer. But the Bodisat
passed away according to his deeds.

It was when the Buddha had finished his discourse that
he, as Buddha, uttered the following verse :

As one might nurse a tiny flame,
The able and far-seeing man.
E'en with the smallest capital.
Can raise himself to wealth !

It was thus the Blessed One made plain what he had
said, " Mendicants ! Little Roadling has now through me
become great in religion; but formerly through me he
became great in riches."

When he had thus given this lesson, and told the
double story, he made the connexion, and summed up
the Jataka by concluding, " He who was then ChuUaka's
pupil was Little Eoadling, but ChuUaka the high trea-
surer was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF CHULLAKA THE TREASURER.

No. 5.

TANDIJLA-NALI JATAKA.
The Measure of Riee.^

" TThat is the value of a 7neasure of rice^^ etc. — ^This the
Teacher told while sojourning at Jetavana, about a monk
called TJdayin the Simpleton.

At that time the Elder named Dabba, a Mallian by birth,
held the office of steward in the Order.^ When he issued
the food- tickets in the morning, TJdayin sometimes received
a better kind of rice, and sometimes an inferior kind. One
day when he received the inferior kind, he threw the
distribution- hall into confusion, crying out, " Why should
Dabba know better than any other of us how to give out
the tickets ? "

When he thus threw the office into disorder, they gave
him the basket of tickets, saying, " Well, then, do you
give out the tickets to-day ! "

From that day he began to distribute tickets to the
Order ; but when giving them out he did not know which
meant the better rice and which the worse, nor in which

^ Compare Leon Feer in the Journal Asiatique, 1876, vol. viii. pt. ii.
pp. 510-525.

2 The Bhatt' TJddesika, or steward, was a senior monk who had the duty
of seeing that all the hrethren were provided with their daily food. Some-
times a layman offered to provide it {e.ff. above, p. 162) ; sometimes grain, or
other food belonging to the monastery, was distributed to the monks by the
steward giving them tickets to exchange at the storehouse. The necessary
qualifications for the stewardship are said to be: 1. Knowledge of the
customs regulating the distribution. 2. A sense of justice. 3. Freedom
from ignorance. 4. Absence of fear. 6. Good temper.

b.—THE MEASURE OF RICE.

175

storehouse the better was kept and in which the worse.
When fixing the turns, too, he did not distinguish to
what storehouse each monk's turn had come ; but when
the monks had taken their places, he would make a
scratch on the wall or on the floor, to show that the turn
for such and such a kind of rice had come thus far, and
for such and such a kind of rice thus far. But the next
day there were either more or fewer monks in hall. When
they were fewer, the mark was too low down ; when they
were more, the mark was too high up ; but ignoring the
right turns, he gave out the tickets according to the signs
he had made.

So the monks said to him, " Brother Udayin ! the mark
is too high, or too low." And again, " The good rice is
in such a storehouse, the inferior rice in such a store-
house."^

But he repelled them, saying, " If it be so, why is the
mark different ? Why should I trust you ? I will trust
the mark rather ! "

Then the boys and novices cast him out from the hall of
distribution, exclaiming, " When you give tickets. Brother
Udayin, the brethren are deprived of their due. You
are incapable of the ofilce. Leave the place ! "

Thereupon a great tumult arose in the hall of distribu-
tion. The Teacher heard it, and asked of Ananda the
Elder, "There is a great tumult, Ananda, in the hall.
What is the noise about ? "

The Elder told the Successor of the Prophets how it
was.

Then he said, " Not now only, Ananda, does Udayin by
his stupidity bring loss upon others, formerly also he did
the same."

^ I am not sure that I have understood rightly the meaning of vassaffffa,—a.
word of doubtful derivation, which has only been found in this passage.
Possibly we should translate : " The turn for the better rice has come to the
monk whose seniority dates from such and such a year, and the turn for the
inferior kind to the monk whose seniority dates from such and such a year."

1 74 6.— TANDULA-NALI J A TAKA.

The Elder asked the Blessed One to explain that
matter. Then the Blessed One made manifest an occur-
rence hidden by change of birth.

Long ago, Brahma-datta was king in Benares, in the
land of Kasi. At that time our Bodisat was his Yaluer.
He valued both horses, elephants, or things of that kind ;
and jewelry, gold, or things of that kind; and having
done so, he used to have the proper price for the goods
given to the owners thereof.

Now the king was covetous. And in his avarice he
thought, " If this valuer estimates in this way, it will
not be long before all the wealth in my house will come
to an end. I will appoint another valuer."

And opening his window, and looking out into the
palace yard, he saw a stupid miserly peasant crossing the
yard. Him he determined to make his valuer ; and
sending for him, asked if he would undertake the office.
The man said he could ; and the king, with the object of
keeping his treasure safer, established that fool in the
post of valuer.

Thenceforward the dullard used to value the horses
and elephants, paying no regard to their real value, but
deciding just as he chose : and since he had been ap-
pointed to the office, as he decided, so the price was.

ISTow at that time a horse-dealer brought five hundred
horses from the northern prairies. The king sent for that
fellow, and had the horses valued. And he valued the five
hundred horses at a mere measure of rice, and straightway

b.—THE MEASURE OF RICE.

ordered tlie horse-dealer to be given the measure of rice,
and the horses to be lodged in the stable. Then the
horse-dealer went to the former valuer, and told him
what had happened, and asked him what he should do.

" Gfive a bribe to that fellow," said he, " and ask him
thus : ' We know now that so many horses of ours are
worth a measure of rice, but we want to know from you
what a measure of rice is worth. Can you value it for
us, standing in your place by the king ? ' If he says he
can, go with him into the royal presence, and I will be
there too."

The horse-dealer accepted the Bodisat's advice, went
to the valuer, and bribed him, and gave him the hint
suggested. And he took the bribe, and said, " All right !
I can value your measure of rice for you."

"Well, then, let us go to the audience-hall," said he;
and taking him with him, went into the king's presence.
And the Bodisat and many other ministers went there
also.

The horse-dealer bowed down before the king, and said,
"I acknowledge, 0 king, that a measure of rice is the
value of the five hundred horses ; but will the king be
pleased to ask the valuer what the value of the measure of
rice may be ? "

The king, not knowing what had happened, asked,
" How now, valuer, what are five hundred horses worth ? ''

" A measure of rice, 0 king ! " said he.

" Yery good, then ! If five hundred horses are worth
only a measure of rice, what is that measure of rice
worth ? "

" The measure of rice is worth all Benares, both within
and without the walls," replied that foolish feUow.

1-76 b.— TANDULA-NALI JATAKA.

For the story goes tliat lie first valued tlie horses at a
measure of rice just to please the king ; and then, when
he had taken the dealer's bribe, valued that measure of
rice at the whole of Benares. Now at that time the
circumference of the rampart of Benares was twelve
leagues, and the land in its suburbs was three hundred
leagues in extent. Yet the foolish fellow estimated that
so-great city of Benares, together with all its suburbs, at
a measure of rice !

Hearing this the ministers clapped their hands, laugh-
ing, and saying, " We used to think the broad earth, and
the king's realm, were alike beyond price ; but this great
and famous royal city is worth, by his account, just a
measure of rice ! 0 the depth of the wisdom of the
valuer ! How can he have stayed so long in office ?
Truly he is just suited to our king ! " Thus they laughed
him to scorn.

Then the Bodisat uttered this stanza :

What is a measure of rice worth ?

All Benares and its environs !

And what are five hundred horses worth ?

That same measure of rice ! ^

Then the king was ashamed, and drove out that fool,
and appointed the Bodisat to the office of Yaluer. And
in course of time the Bodisat passed away according to
his deeds.

^ These lines are not in the printed text. But see the Corrigenda ; and
Leon Feer, in the Journal Asiatique for 1876, p. 620.

b.—THE MEASURE OF RICE.

177

"WTien tlie Teacher had finislied preaching this discourse,
and had told the double story, he made the connexion,
and summed up the Jataka by concluding, " He who was
then the foolish peasant valuer was Udayin the Simpleton,
but the wise valuer was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE MEASURE OF RICE.

VOL. I. 12

No. 6.

DEYA-DHAMMA JATAKA.

On Trne Divinity.^

" Those who fear to sin/* etc» — This the Blessed One
told while at Jetavana, concerning a monk of much
property.

For a landed proprietor who dwelt at Savatthi became
a monk, we are told, after the death of his wife. And
when he was going to be ordained, he had a hermitage
and a kitchen and a storehouse erected for his own use,
and the store filled with ghee and rice, and so was re-
ceived into the Order. And even after he was ordained
he used to call his slaves and have what he liked cooked,
and ate it. And he was well furnished with all things
allowed to the fraternity ; he had one upper garment to
wear at night and one to wear by day, and his rooms
were detached from the rest of the monastery.

One day, when he had taken out his robes and coverlets,
and spread them in the cell to dry, a number of brethren
from the country, who were seeking for a lodging, came to
his cell, and seeing the robes and other things, asked
him, " Whose are these ? "

" Mine, brother," said he.

" But, brother, this robe, and this robe, and this under

^ It was on the occasion related in the Introductory Story of this Jataka,
and after he had told the Birth Story, that the Buddha, according to the
commentator on that work (Fausholl, pp. 302-305), uttered the 141st verse
of the Dhamma-padag. The Introductory Story to No. 32, translated helow
in this volume, is really only another version of this tale of the luxurious
monk.

Q.-ON TRUE DIVINITY. 179

garment, and this under garment, and this coverlet — are
they all yours ? "

" Yes ; mine indeed," said he.

" Brother, the Buddha has allowed only three sets of
robes ; yet, though you have entered the Order of the
self-denying Buddha, you have furnished yourself thus
grandly/* And saying, "Come, let us bring him before
the Sage," they took him, and went to the Teacher.

When the Teacher saw them, he said, " How is it, men-
dicants, that you bring this brother here against his will?"
" Lord ! this mendicant has much property and a large
wardrobe."

"Is this true then, brother, that you have so many
things?"

" It is true, 0 Blessed One ! "

" How is it, brother, that you have become thus luxu-
rious ? Have not I inculcated being content with little,
simplicity, seclusion, and self-control ? "

On hearing what the Teacher said, he called out
angrily, " Then I will go about in this way ! " and
throwing off his robe, he stood in the midst of the people
there with only a cloth round his loins !

Then the Teacher, giving him support in temptation,
said, " But, brother, you had formerly a sense of shame,
and lived for twelve years a conscientious life when you
were a watersprite. How then, now, having entered the
so honourable Order of the Buddhas, can you stand there
throwing off your robes in the presence of all the brethren,
and lost to all sense of shame ? "

And when he heard the Teacher's saying, he recovered
his sense of propriety, and robed himself again, and
bowing to the Teacher stood respectfully aside.

But the monks asked the Teacher to explain how that
was. Then the Teacher made manifest the matter which
had been hidden by change of birth.

i8o Q.—DEVA-DHAMMA JAIAKA.

Long ago Bralima-datta was king in Benares, in the
country of Kasi. And tlie Bodisat of that time assumed
re-existence in the womb of his chief queen ; and on the
day on which they chose a name for him, they gave him
the name of Prince Mahigsasa. And when he could run
to and fro, and get about by himself, another son was
born, whom they called the Moon Prince.

When he could run to and fro, and get about by him-
self, the mother of the Bodisat died. The king appointed
another lady to the dignity of chief queen. She became
very near and dear to the king, and in due course she
brought forth a son, and they called his name the Sun
Prince.

When the king saw his son, he said in his joy, " My
love ! I promise to give you, for the boy, whatever you
ask ! "

But the queen kept the promise in reserve, to be used
at some time when she should want it. And when her
son was grown up, she said to the king, " Your majesty,
when my son was born, granted me a boon. Now give
me the kingdom for my son ! "

The king said, " My two sons are glorious as flames of
fire ! I can't give the kingdom to your child alone ! "
And he refused her.

But when she besought him again and again, he
thought to himself, *' This woman will surely be plotting
some evil against the lads ! '* And he sent for them, and
said, " My boys ! when the Sun Prince was born, I
granted a boon. And now his mother demands the
kingdom for him ! I have no intention of giving it to
him. But the very name of womankind is cruelty!
She will be plotting some evil against you. Do you get

6.— ON TRUE DIVINITY.

l8i

away into tlie forest ; and wlien I am dead, come back
and reign in tlie city that is yours by right ! '' So,
weeping and lamenting, lie kissed them on their fore-
heads, and sent them forth.

As they were going down out of the palace, after
taking leave of their father, the Sun Prince himself,
who was playing there in the courtyard, caught sight of
them. And when he learnt how the matter stood, he
thought to himself, "I, too, will go away with my
brothers ! " And he departed with them accordingly.

They went on till they entered the mountain region
of Himalaya. There the Bodisat, leaving the path, sat
down at the foot of a tree, and said to the Sun
Prince :

" Sun Prince, dear ! do you go to yonder pond ; and
after bathing and drinking yourself, bring us, too, some
water in the leaves of the lotus plants."

Now that pond had been delivered over to a water- sprite
by Yessavana (the King of the Fairies), who had said to
him:

" Thou art hereby granted as thy prey all those who go
down into the water, save only those who know what is
true divinity. But over such as go not down thou hast no
power,"

So from that time forth, the water- sprite used to ask
all those who went down into the water, what were the
characteristic signs of divine beings, and if they did not
know, he used to eat them up alive.

]^ow Sun Prince went to the pond, and stepped down
into it without any hesitation. Then the demon seized
him, and demanded of him :

" Do you know what is of divine nature ? "

Q.—DEVA-DHAMMA JATAKA.

" Oh, yes ! They call the Sun, and the Moon, Gods,"
was the reply.

" You don't know what is of divine nature," said he,
and carrying him off down into the water, he put him fast
in his cave.

But the Bodisat, when he found that he was so long in
coming, sent the Moon Prince. Him, too, the demon
seized and asked him as before :

'^ Do you know what is of divine nature ? "

" Yes, I do. The far-spreading sky is called divine." ^

" You then don't know what is divine," said he ; and
he took him, too, and put him in the same place.

When he too delayed, the Bodisat thought to himself,
*' Some accident must have happened." He himself,
therefore, went to the place, and saw the marks of the foot-
steps where both the boys had gone down into the water.
Then he knew that the pond must be haunted by a water-
sprite ; and he stood fast, with his sword girded on, and
his bow in his hand.

But when the demon saw that the Bodisat was not
going down into the water, he took to himself the form of
a woodman, and said to the Bodisat :

^' Hallo, my friend ! you seem tired with your journey.
Why don't you get down into the lake there ; and have
a bath, and drink, and eat the edible stalks of the lotus
plants, and pick the flowers, and so go on your way at
your ease ? "

And as soon as the Bodisat saw him, he knew that he
was the demon, and he said,

" It is you who have seized my brothers ! "

*' Yes, it is I," said he.

^ The elder brother is more advanced in his theology.

t.-^ON TRUE DIVINITY.

"What for, then?"

" I have been granted all those who go down into this
pond."

"What? All!"

" Well ; all save those who know what beings are
divine. The rest are my prey."

" But have you then any need of divine beings ? "

"Yes, certainly."

" If it be so, I will tell you who are divine."

" Speak on then ; and I shall get to know who have the
attributes which are divine."

Then the Bodisat said, " I would teach you regarding
this matter; but I am all unclean with my journey."
And the water- sprite bathed the Bodisat, and provided
him with food, and brought him water, and decked him
with flowers, and anointed him with perfumes, and spread
out for him a couch in a beautiful arbour.

And the Bodisat seated himself there, and made the
water- sprite sit at his feet, and said, "Give ear then
attentively, and listen what divine nature is." And he
uttered the verse —

The pure in heart who fear to sin,
The good, kindly in word and deed —
These are the beings in the world.
Whose nature should be called divine.

And when the water- sprite heard that, his heart was
touched, and he said to the Bodisat —

" 0, Wise Teacher, in you I place my trust. I will give
you up one of your brothers. Which shall I bring ? "

" Bring me the younger of the two."

i84

Q.—DEVA-DHAMMA JATAKA.

"But, Teacher; you wlio know so well all about the,
divine nature, do you not act in accordance with, it ? "

" What do you mean ? "

"That neglecting the elder, and telling me to bring!
the younger of the two, you pay not the honour that
due to seniority."

" I both know, 0 Demon, what divinity is, and I walk
according to it. It is on that boy's account that we came
to this forest : for it was for him that his mother begged
the kingdom from our father, and our father being un-
willing to grant that, sent us away to live in the forest,
that we might be safe from danger. The lad himself
came all the way along with us. Were I to say, *An
ogre has eaten him in the wilderness,' no one would beKeve
it. Therefore it is that I, to avoid all blame, have told
you to bring him,^^

" Yerily thou hast spoken well, 0 Teacher. Thou not
only knowest what divinity is, but hast acted as a divinity
would."

And when he had thus magnified the Bodisat with
believing heart, he brought forth both the brothers and
gave them back to him.

Then said the Bodisat to him, " Friend, it is by reason
of evil deeds committed by you in some former birth,
that you have been born as an ogre, living on the flesh
of other beings. And now you still go on sinning. This
thine iniquity will prevent thine ever escaping from re-
birth in evil states. From henceforth, therefore, put
away evil, and do good ! "

With these words he succeeded in converting him. And
the ogre being converted, the Bodisat continued to live
there under his protection. And one day he saw by the

^.—ON TRUE DIVINITY.

I8S

conjunction of the stars that his father was dead. So he
took the water- sprite with him and returned to Benares,
and took upon himself the kingdom. And he made Moon
Prince his heir-apparent, and Sun Prince his commander-
in-chief. And for the water-sprite he made a dwelling-
place in a pleasant spot, and took care that he should he
constantly provided with the best of garlands and flowers
and food. And he himself ruled his kingdom in righteous-
ness, until he passed away according to his deeds.

The Teacher having finished this discourse spoke on
the Four Truths. And when he had done, that monk
entered the First Stage of the Path leading to Nirvana.
And the Buddha having told the double story, made the
connexion and summed up the Jataka by concluding,
"The then water-sprite was the luxurious monk; the
Sun Prince was Ananda ; the Moon Prince was Sariputta ;
but the elder brother, the Prince Mahigsasa, was I
myself." i

^ The whole of this story, including the introduction, is found also, word
for word, in the commentary on the ' Scripture Yerses' (Fausholl, pp. 302-
305) ; and the commentator adds that the Buddha then further uttered the
141st verse of that collection:

Not nakedness, not plaited hair, not dirt,
Not fasting oft, nor lying on the ground ;
Not dust and ashes, nor vigils hard and stem,
Can purify that man who still is tossed
Upon the waves of doubt !

The same verse occurs in the Chinese work translated by Mr. Beal (The
'Dhammapada, etc.,' p. 96). Another verse of similar purport has been
quoted above (p. 69), and a third will be found in Amagandha Sutta (Sutta
Nipata, p. 168, verse 11). The same sentiment occurs in the Maha-Bhorata,
iii. 13445, translated in Muir's ' Metrical Translations from Sanskrit Writers,'
p. 75, and in the Northern Buddhist work Dwi/avadana (Burnouf, Introduc-
tion a I'Histoire du Bouddhisme Indien, p. 313).

END OF THE STORY ABOUT TRUE DIVINITY.

No. 9.^

MAKHA-DEYA JATAKA.^

Tlie Story of Makha Deva.

" These grey hairs,^^ etc. — This the Teacher told when
at Jetavana, in reference to the Great Renunciation. The
latter has been related above in the Mdana Katha.^

Now at that time the priests as they sat were magnify-
ing the Renunciation of the One Mighty by Wisdom.
Then the Teacher entered the assembly, and sat down in
his place, and addressed the brethren, saying, '^ What is
the subject on which you are talking as you sit here ? "

" On no other subject, Lord ! but on your Renuncia-
tion," said they.

"Mendicants, not then only did the Successor of the
Prophets renounce the world; formerly also he did the
same."

The monks asked him to explain how that was. Then
the Blessed One made manifest an occurrence hidden by
change of birth.

Long ago, in Mithila, in the land of Yideha, there was
a king named Makha Deva, a righteous man, and ruHng

1 For Nos. 7 and 8, see respectively Bhaddasala Jataka, Book xii., and
Sagvara Jataka, Book xi.

2 Corap. the Makha-deva Sutta, No. 83 in the Majjhima Mkaya.

3 See above, pp. 81-83.

^.— THE STORY OF MAKHA DEVA. 187

in righteousness.^ Eighty-four thousand years he was a
prince, as many he shared in the government, and as
many he was sovereign. As such he had lived a long,
long time, when one day he said to his barber, "My
good barber, whenever you find grey hairs on my head,
let me know."

And after a long, long time had passed away, the
barber one day found among the jet-black locks one grey
hair ; and he told the king of it, saying, " There is a grey
hair to be seen on your head, 0 king ! "

"Pull it out, then, friend, and put it in my hand ! "
said he.

So he tore it out with golden pincers, and placed it in
the hand of the king. There were then eighty-four
thousand years of the lifetime allotted to the king still
to elapse. But, nevertheless, as he looked upon the grey
hair he was deeply agitated, as if the King of Death had
come nigh unto him, or as if he found himself inside a
house on fire.^ And he thought, " 0 foolish Makha
Deva ! though grey hairs have come upon you, you yet
have not been able to get rid of the frailties and passions
which deprave men's hearts ! "^

As he thus meditated and meditated on the appearance
of the grey hair, his heart burned within him, drops of
perspiration rolled down from his body, and his very
robes oppressed him and became unbearable. And he
thought, "This very day I must leave the world and
devote myself to a religious life ! "

^ He is mentioned in the Maliavar)sa, p. 8, in a Kst of the legendary kings
of old.

2 At p. 81, above, the same idea is put into the mouth of Gotama himself.

3 Ime kilese. The use of the determinative pronoun implies that the king
is meant to refer to the particular imperfections known as kilesa. They are
acquisitiveness, ill-temper, dullness of perception, vanity, wrong views, doubt,
sloth, arrogance, want of self-respect, and want of respect for public opinion.

l88 9.—MAICHA-DEVA JATAKA,

Then lie gave to tlie barber a grant of a village whose
revenue amounted to a hundred thousand. And he sent
for his eldest son, and said to him, " My son ! grey hairs
have appeared on my head. I am become an old man.
I have done with all human hopes ; now I will seek
heavenly things. It is time for me to abandon the world.
Do you assume the sovereignty. I will embrace the
religious life, and, dwelling in the garden called Makha
Deva^s Mango-park, I will train myself in the character-
istics of those who are subdued in heart."

His ministers, when he formed this intention, came to
him and said, " What is the reason, 0 king ! of your
giving up the world ? "

Then the king, taking the grey hair in his hand,
uttered this verse —

These grey hairs that have come upon my head
Are angel messengers appearing to me,
Laying stern hands upon the evening of my life !
'Tis time I should devote myself to holy thought !

Having thus spoken, he laid down his sovranty that
very day, and became a hermit; and living in the
Mango-grove of Makha Deva, of which he had spoken, he
spent eighty-four thousand years in practising perfect
goodwill towards all beings, and in constant devotion to
meditation. And after he died he was bom again in the
Brahma heaven ; and when his allotted time there was
exhausted, he became in Mithila a king called Mmi, and
reunited his scattered family.^ And after that he became a

1 The whole story is given below, in the Nimi Jataka, Book xii.

2.— THE STORY OF MAKHA DEVA,

189

hermit in that same Mango-grove, and practised perfect
goodwill towards all beings, and again returned to the
Brahma heaven.

The Teacher, having thus discoursed on the subject
that not then only, but formerly too, the Successor of the
Buddhas had abandoned the world, proclaimed the Four
Truths. Some entered the First Stage of the Path to
Mrvana, some the Second, some the Third. And when
the Blessed One had thus told the double story, he estab-
lished the connexion, and summed up the Jataka as
follows : " The barber of that time was Ananda, the
prince was Eahula, but Makha Deva the king was I
myself."

END OF THE STORY OF MAKHA DEVA.

No. 10.

SUKHAYIHAEI JATAKA.

The Happy Life

"Se whom others guard not^^ etc. — TMs the Teaclier
told while at the Anupiya Mango-grove, near the town of
that name, about the Elder named Bhaddiya the Happy-
minded. Bhaddiya the Happy-minded took the vows when
the six young noblemen did so together with IJpali.^ Of
these, Bhaddiya and Kimbila and Bhagu and Upali became
Arahats, Ananda entered the First Stage of the Koad to
Nirvana, Anuruddha attained to the Knowledge of the
Past and the Present and the Future, and Devadatta
acquired the power of Deep Meditation. The story of
the six young noblemen, up to the events at Anupiya,
will be related in the Khandahala Jataka.

Now one day the venerable Bhaddiya called to mind
how full of anxiety he had been when, as a king, caring
for himself like a guardian angel, and surrounding him-
self with every protection, he had lolled in his upper
chamber on his royal couch : and now how free from
anxiety he was, when, as an Arahat, he was wandering,
here and there, in forests and waste places. And realizing
this change, he uttered an exclamation of joy, " Oh,
Happiness ! Happiness ! "

^ See the Translator's * Buddhism,' p. 65, and the authorities there quoted,
to which add CuUa Vagga, VII. i. 1-4. The name Bhaddiya means the Happy
One, and the story has very prohahly arisen in explanation of the name.

Id.— THE HAPPY LIFE. igi

This tlie monks told the Blessed One, saying, " Bhad-
diya is prophesying about Arahatship ! " ^

The Blessed One replied, " Mendicants ! not now only
is Bhaddiya full of joy; he was so also in a former
birth."

The monks requested the Blessed One to explain how
that was. Then the Blessed One made manifest an
event hidden through change of birth.

Long ago, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares,
the Bodisat became a wealthy Brahman of the north-west
country. And perceiving the evils of worldly lusts, and
the advantages of the religious life, he abandoned the
world, and went to the Himalaya region, and adopted the
life of a hermit, and practised the Eight Attainments.
And the number of his disciples increased greatly, until
he was attended by five hundred ascetics.

In the rainy season he left the Himalayas, and attended
by the body of ascetics, journeyed through the towns and
villages till he came to Benares, and there took up his
dwelling-place under the patronage of the king in the
royal park. When he had there passed the four rainy
months, he took leave of the king. But the king asked
him to stop, saying, " You are old, Sir. Why go to the
Himalayas ? Send your disciples there, but dwell here
yourself ! "

So the Bodisat gave the five hundred ascetics in charge

^ The word translated " Happiness " is also a name of Arahatship or
Nirvana (that is, perfect peace, goodness, and wisdom).

1 92 IQ.-^SUKJIA VIHARI JA TAKA,

to his senior pupil, and sent Mni away, saying, "You
shall go and live with these men in the Himalayas. I
will stay here."

Now the senior pupil was a royal devotee who had
abandoned a mighty kingdom for the religious life ; and
having gone through the course of meditation preparatory
thereto, had acquired the eight kinds of spiritual insight.

As he was living in the Himalaya region with the
ascetics, he one day conceived a desire to see his teacher,
and said to the ascetics, " Do you live on quietly here ; I
am just going to pay my respects to our teacher, and shall
be back soon."

Then he went to the place where his teacher was,
saluted him, and offered him friendly greeting ; and
spreading a mat on the floor, lay down by his side.

Just then the king also went to the park to see the
teacher, and saluting him, took his seat respectfully on
one side. Though the disciple saw the king, he did not
get up, but lying there just as he was broke forth into a
chant of joy, " Oh, Happiness ! Oh, Happiness ! "

The king, displeased that the ascetic, on seeing him, had
not arisen, said to the Bodisat, "Sir, this ascetic must
have enjoyed himself to his heart's content. He lies
there, quite at his ease, singing a song ! "

" Great king ! This ascetic was once a king like you.
He is thinking, ' Formerly, as a layman, even when en-
joying royal splendour, and guarded by many men with
arms in their hands, I had no such joy as this,' and he
utters this exclamation of joy in reference to the joys of
meditation, and to the happiness of the religious life."

And having thus spoken, the Bodisat further uttered
this verse in order to instruct the king in righteousness —

10.— THE HAPPY LIFE, 193

He who needs no others to defend him,
He who has not others to defend, —
He it is who lives at ease, 0 king !
Untroubled he with yearnings or with lusts.

When the king had listened to this discourse, he was
satisfied again ; and taking leave, he returned to the
palace. And the disciple, too, took his leave, and re-
turned to the Himalaya region. But the Bodisat dwelt
there in continued meditation till he died, and he was
then reborn in the Brahma heaven.

When the Teacher had preached this discourse, and told
the two stories, he established the connexion, and summed
up the Jataka as follows : " The pupil of that time was
Bhaddiya the Elder, but the Master of the company of
disciples was I myself."^

END OF THE STORY ON A HAPPY LIFE.

^ This story is founded on the similar story told of Bhaddhiya (the same
Bhaddiya as the one mentioned in the Introductory Story) in the Culla Va^ga,
yil. i. 5, 6. The next story but one (the Banyan Deer) is one of those
illustrated in the Bharhut sculptures. Both must therefore belong to the
very earliest period in Buddhist history.

CHAPTEE 11. STLAYAGGA.

.No. 11.

LAKKHANA JATAKA.

The Story of * Beauty.'

^*The advantage is to the good." — This tlie Master told
while at the Bambu- grove near Rajagaha, about Deva-
datta.^ For on one occasion, when Deva-datta asked for
the Five Rules,^ and could not get what he wanted, he
made a schism in the Order, and taking four hundred of
the mendicants with him, went and dwelt at the rock
called Gaya-slsa.

Afterwards the minds of these mendicants became open
to conviction. And the Master, knowing it, said to his
two chief disciples, " Sariputta ! those five hundred pupils
of yours adopted the heresy of Deva-datta, and went away
with him, but now their minds have become open to con-
viction. Do you go there with a number of the brethren,
and preach to them, and instruct them in the Fruits of
the Path of Holiness, and bring them back with you ! "

^ " The story of Deva-datta," adds a gloss, " as far as his appointment as
Abhimara, will be related in the Khandahala Jataka, as far as his rejection as
Treasurer, in the CuUa-hagsa Jataka, and as far as his sinking into the earth,
in the Saraudda-vanija Jataka in the 12th Book."

2 See the translator's ' Buddhism,' p. 76.

11. — THE STORY OF 'BEAUTY: 195

They went, and preached to them, and instructed them
in the Fruits, and the next day at dawn returned to the
Bambu Grove, bringing those mendicants with them.
And as Sariputta on his return was standing by, after
paying his respects to the Blessed One, the mendicants
exalted him, saying to the Blessed One, " Lord ! how
excellent appears our elder brother, the Minister of
Righteousness, returning with five hundred disciples as his
retinue, whereas Deva-datta is now without any followers
at all ! ''

" Not only now, 0 mendicants ! has Sariputta come in
glory, surrounded by the assembly of his brethren ;
in a former birth, also, he did the same. And not now
only has Deva-datta been deprived of his following ; in
a former birth also he was the same."

The monks requested the Blessed One to explain how
that was. Then the Blessed One made manifest a thing
hidden by the interval of existence.

Long ago, in the city E-ajagaha, in the land of Magadha,
there ruled a certain king of Magadha. At that time the
Bodisat came to life as a deer, and when he grew up he
lived in the forest at the head of a herd of a thousand
deer. He had two young ones, named Lakkhana (the
Beautifully-marked One, * Beauty') and Kala (the Dark
One, * Brownie').

When he had become old, he called them, and said,
" My beloved ! I am old. Do you now lead the herd
about." And he placed five hundred of the deer under
the charge of each of his sons.

Now in the land of Magadha at crop time, when the

196 1\.—LAKKHANA JATAKA,

corn is ripening in the fields, there is danger brewing for
tlie deer in the adjoining forest. Some in one place, and
some in another, the sons of men dig pit-falls, fix stakes,
set traps with stones in them, and lay snares to kill the
creatures that would eat the crops. And many are the
deer that come to destruction.

So when the Bodisat saw that crop time was at hand,
» he sent for his sons, and said, " My children ! the time
of growing crops has come ; many deer will come to
destruction. We are old, and will get along by some
means or another without stirring much abroad. But do
you lead your herds away to the mountainous part of the
forest, and return when the crops are cut ! "

"Very well," said they; and departed with their
attendant herds.

Now the men who live on the route they have to follow
know quite well, " At such and such a time the deer are
wont to come up into the mountains ; at such and such
a time they will come down again." And lurking here
and there in ambush, they wound and kill many deer.

But Brownie, in his dullness, knew not that there were
times when he ought to travel and times when he ought
not ; and he led his herd of deer early and late alike —
at dawn, or in evening twilight — past the village gates.
The men in difierent places — some in the open, some in
ambush — destroyed, as usual, a number of the deer. So
he, by his stupidity, brought many of his herd to destruc-
tion, and re-entered the forest with diminished numbers.

Beauty, on the other hand, was learned and clever,
and fertile in resource ; and he knew when to go on, and
when to stay. He approached no village gates ; he
travelled not by day, nor even at dawn or by evening

\\.—THE STORY OF 'BEAUTY: 197

twilight ; but lie travelled at midniglit, and so he readied
tlie forest without losing a single animal.

There they stayed four months ; and when the crops
were cut they came down from the mountain- side.
Brownie, going back as he had come, brought the rest of
the herd to destruction, and arrived alone. But Beauty,
without losing even one of his herd, came up to his parent
attended by all the five hundred of his deer.

And when the Bodisat saw his sons approaching, he
held a consultation with the herd of deer, and put together
this stanza, —

The righteous man hath profit, and the courteous in

speech.
Look there at Beauty coming back with all his troop

of kindred,
Then look at this poor Brownie, deprived of all he had ! ^

When he had thus welcomed his son, the Bodisat lived
to a good old age, and passed away according to his
deeds.

Thus the Master gave them this lesson in virtue in illus-
tration of what he had said, "I^ot only now, 0 mendicants !
has Sariputta come in glory, surrounded by the assembly
of his brethren ; in a former birth, also, he did the same.
And not now only has Deva-datta been deprived of his

1 This verse is quoted by the Dhammapada Commentator, p. 146, where the
Introductory Story is substantially the same, though differing in some details.
The first line of the verse is curious, as there is nothing in the fable about
righteousness or courtesy. It either belonged originally to some other tale,
or is made purposely in discord with the facts to hint still more strongly at
ithe absurdity of the worthy deer attempting to make human poetry.

198 \\—LAKKHANA JATAKA.

following ; in a former birth also lie was the same." And
lie united tlie two stories, and made the connexion, and
summed up the Jataka as follows : " Then ' Brownie '
was Deva-datta, and his attendants Deva-datta's attend-
ants. 'Beauty* was Sariputta, and his attendants the
followers of the Buddha. The mother was the mother of
Euhula, but the father was I myself."

EXD OF THE STORY ABOUT * BEAUTY.'

No. 12.

NiaEODHA-MiaA JATAKA.

The Banyan Deer.

"Follow the Banyan deer^*^ etc. — TMs tlie Master told
while at Jetavana, about the mother of the Elder named
Kumara Kassapa.^ She, we are told, was the daughter
of a rich merchant of the city of Eajagaha ; she was
deeply rooted in virtue, and despised all transient things ;
she had reached her last birth, and in her heart the
destiny of future Arahatship shone like a lamp within a
translucent pitcher. From the time when she knew her
own mind she had no pleasure in a lay life, but was
desirous to take the vows. And she said to her parents, —

" Mother, dear ! my heart finds no pleasure in house-
hold life. I want to take the vows according to that
teaching of the Buddha which leads to Nirvana. Let
me be ordained ! "

" What is it you are saying, dear ? This family is of
great wealth, and you are our only daughter. You
cannot be allowed to take the vows.'*

When, after repeated asking, she was unable to obtain
her parents' permission, she thought, "Let it be so.
When I get to another family, I will make favour with
my husband, and take the vows."

And when she grew up, she entered another family as

' This Introductory Story is given also as the occasion on which v. 160 of
the Dhammapada was spoken (Fausboll, pp. 327 and foil.)

200

JDHA-MIGA JATAKA.

wife, and lived a houseliold life as a virtuous and attrac-
tive woman. And in due time she conceived, but she
knew it not.

Now in that city they proclaimed a feast. All the
dwellers in the city kept the feast, and the city was
decked like a city of the gods. But she, up to the time
when the feast was at its height, neither anointed her-
self nor dressed, but went about in her every-day clothes.
Then her husband said to her, —

" My dear ! all the city is devoted to the feast ; yet you
adorn yourself not."

" The body, Sir, is but filled with its thirty-two con-
stituent parts. "What profit can there be in adorning it ?
For this body has no divine, no angelic attributes : it is
not made of gold, or gems, or yellow sandal- wood ; it
springs not from the womb of lotus-fiowcrs, white or red ;
it is not filled with the nectar-balm of holiness. But
verily it is born in corruption : it springs from father
and mother: its attributes are the decomposition, the
wearing away, the dissolution, the destruction, of that
which is impermanent ! It is produced by excitement ;
it is the cause of pains, the subject of mournings, a
lodging-place for all diseases. It is the receptacle for
the action of Karma; foul within, without it is ever
discharging : its end is death : and its goal is the charnel-
house, — there, in the sight of all the world, to be the
dwelling-place of worms and creeping things ! '' ^

^ The thirty-two constituent parts will be found enumerated in the Khuddaka
Putha, p. 3, and most of them are mentioned in the following verses, which
are not attributed to the ' attractive ' younff wife, and which sound wooden
enougli after her spirited outburst. Tossildy they are a quotation by this
commentator of some monkish rhymes he thinks appropriate to the occasion.
The whole of the conversation is omitted in the Dhamraapada commentary.

Bound together by bones and sinews,
O'erspread with flesh and integument,
The body is hidden 'neath its skin, —
It seems not as it really is !

12.— THE BANYAN DEER. 201

"Dear Lord! what should I gain by adorning this
body ? "Would not putting ornaments on it be like
painting the outside of a sepulcbre ? "

" My dear ! " replied the young nobleman, " if you
think this body so sinful, why don't you become a nun ? "

" If you grant me leave, dear husband, I will take the
vows this day ! "

" Very well, then ; I will get you ordained,'* said he.
And giving a donation at a great cost, he took her, with

It is filled inside — the trunk is filled —

"With liver, and with abdomen ;

"With heart and lungs, kidney and spleen ;

"With mucus, matter, sweat, and fat ;

"With blood, and grease, and bile, and marrow.

And from each of its nine orifices
Impurity flows ever down :
Rheum from the eye, wax from the ear.
From the nose mucus, vomit from the mouth ;
And bile and phlegm do both come out
From the perspiring, dirty frame.

Its hollow head, too, is but filled
With the nerve-substance of the brain.
Yet the fool, whom dullness never leaves,
lie thinks it beautiful and bright.

The body causes endless ills; —
Resembles just a upas-tree ;
The dwelling-place of all disease,
Is but a mass of misery.

"Were the inside of this body

Only visible without,

One would have to take a stick in hand

To save oneself from crows and dogs !

Evil-smelling and impure,
The body's like a filthy corpse;
Despis(3d by those who've eyes to see,
It 's only praised by those who' re fools !

202 \2.—NIGR0DHA-MIGA JATAKA.

a numerous retinue, to the nunnery, and had. her ad-
mitted into the Order of Nuns — ^but among those who
sided with Deva-datta. And she was overjoyed that
her wish had been fulfilled, and that she had become a
nun.

Now, as she became far gone with child, the nuns
noticed the alteration in her person, — the swelling of her
hands and feet and back, and the increase in her girth ;
and they asked her, " Lady, you seem to be with child.
How is this?"

" I don't know how it is, ladies ; but I have kept the
vows."

Then the nuns led her to Deva-datta, and asked him,
" Sir ! this young lady, after with difficulty gaining her
husband's consent, was received into the Order. But now
it is evident that she is with child; and we know not
whether she became so when she was a laywoman or
when she was a nun. What shall we do now ? "

Deva-datta, not being a Buddha, and having no for-
bearance, kindness, or compassion, thought thus: "If
people can say, * A nun of Deva-datta's side is carrying
about a child in her womb, and Deva-datta condones it,' I
shall be disgraced. I must unfrock this woman ! " And
without any inquiry, he answered with eagerness, " Go
and expel this woman from the Order ! " — just as if he
were rushing forwards to roll away a mere piece of stone !

When they heard his decision, they arose, and bowed
to him, and returned to the nunnery. But the young
girl said to the nuns, " Ladies ! the Elder, Deva-datta, is
not the Buddha. Not under him did I enter the religious
life, but under the Buddha himself, who is supreme
among men. What I obtained with such difficulty, 0,
deprive me not of that ! Take me, I pray you, and go
to the Master himself at Jetavana ! "

And they took her; and passing over the forty-five
leagues of road which stretched from Eajagaha to that

12.— THE BANYAN DEER. 203

place, they arrived in due course at Jetavana, and saluting
the Master, told him the whole matter.

The Teacher thought, "Although the child was con-
ceived when she was still in the world, yet the heretics
will have an opportunity of saying, 'The mendicant
Gautama has accepted a nun expelled by Deva-datta ! *
Therefore, to prevent such talk, this case ought to be
heard in the presence of the king and his ministers."

So the next day he sent for Pasenadi the king of
Kosala, Anatha Pindika the Elder, Anatha Pindika the
Younger, the Lady Yisakha the influential disciple, and
other well-known persons of distinction. And in the
evening, when all classes of disciples had assembled, he
said to Upali the Elder, " Go and examine into this afiair
of the young nun in the presence of the church ! "

The Elder accordingly went to the assembly; and
when he had seated himself in his place, called the Lady
Visakha before the king, and gave in charge to her the
following investigation : " Do you go, Yisakha, and find
out exactly on what day of what month this poor child
was received into the Order, and then conclude whether
she conceived before or after that day."

The Lady agreed; and having had a curtain hung,
made a private examination behind it of the young nun ;
and comparing the days and months, found out that in
truth she had conceived while she was yet living in the
world. And she went to the Elder, and told him so ; and
the Elder, in the midst of the assembly, declared the nun
to be innocent.

Thus was her innocence established. And she bowed
down in grateful adoration to the assembly, and to the
Master; and she returned with the other nuns to the
nunnery.

Now, when her time was come, she brought forth a son
strong in spirit — the result of a wish she had uttered at
the feet of Padumuttara the Buddha. And one day, as

204 Vi.—NIGRODHA-MIGA J ATA K A.

tlie king was passing near the nunnery, lie heard the cry
of a child, and asked his ministers the reason. They
knew of the matter, and said, " 0 king ! that young nun
has had a son, and the cry comes from it."

" To take care of a child. Sirs, is said to be a hindrance
to nuns in their religious life. Let us undertake the care
of it," said he.

And he had the child given to the women of his harem,
and brought it up as a prince. And on the naming-day
they called him Kassapa ; but as he was brought up in
royal state, he became known as Kassapa the Prince.

When he was seven years old, he was entered in the
noviciate under the Buddha ; and when he attained the
necessary age, received full orders ; and, as time went on,
he became the most eloquent among the preachers. And
the Master gave him the pre-eminence, saying, " Mendi-
cants ! the chief of my disciples in eloquence is Kassapa
the Prince." Afterwards, through the Yammlka Sutta, he
attained to Arahatship. His mother, the nun, too, ob-
tained spiritual insight, and reached Nirvana.^ And
Kassapa the Prince became as distinguished in the reli-
gion of the Buddhas as the full moon in the midst of the
vault of heaven.

Now one day the Successor of the Buddhas, when
he had returned from his rounds and taken his meal,
exhorted the brethren, and entered his apartment. The
brethren, after hearing the exhortation, spent the day
either in their day- rooms or night-rooms, and then met
together at eventide for religious conversation. And, as
they sat there, they exalted the character of the Buddha,
saying, *' Brethren, the Elder Prince Kassapa, and the

1 Literally reached the chief Fruit ; the benefit resulting from the com-
pletion of the last stage of the path leading to Nirvana ; that is, Nirvana
itself. It is a striking proof of the estimation in which women were held
among the early Buddhists, that they are several times declared to have
reached this highest result of intellectual activity and earnest ^zeal. Compsire
the Introductory Story to Jataka No. 234.

12.— THE BANYAN BEER. 205

Lady his mother, were nearly ruined by Deva-datta,
through his not being a Buddha, and having no forbear-
ance or kindness; but the Supreme Buddha, being the
King of Righteousness, and being perfect in kindness
and forbearance and compassion, became the means of
salvation to them both ! "

Then the Master entered the hall with the dignity pecu-
liar to a Buddha, and seating himself, asked them, " What
are you sitting here talking about, 0 mendicants ? "

"Lord/* said they, "concerning your excellences!**
And they told him the whole matter.

" Not now only, 0 mendicants ! ** said he, " has the
Successor of the Buddhas been a source of salvation and
a refuge to these two ; formerly also he was the same.**

Then the monks asked the Blessed One to explain how
that was ; and the Blessed One made manifest that which
had been hidden by change of birth.

Long ago, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares,
the Bodisat came to life as a deer. When he was born
he was of a golden colour; his eyes were like round
jewels, his horns were white as silver, his mouth was red
as a cluster of kamala flowers, his hoofs were bright
and hard as lacquer-work, his tail as fine as the tail
of a Tibetan ox,^ and his body as large in size as a
foal's.

He lived in the forest with an attendant herd of ^yq
hundred deer, under the name of the King of the Banyan
Deer; and not far from him there dwelt another deer,

1 Bos Grunniens.

2o6 \2.-NIGR0DHA-MIGA JATAKA,

golden as he, under the name of the Monkey Deer, with
a like attendant herd.

The king of Benares at that time was devoted to
hunting, never ate without meat, and used to summon
all the townspeople to go hunting every day, to the de-
struction of their ordinary work.

The people thought, '* This king puts an end to all our
work. Suppose now in the park we were to sow food and
provide water for the deer, and drive a number of deer
into it, and close the entrance, and deliver them over to
the king.''

So they planted in the park grass for the deer to eat,
and provided water, and tied up the gate; and calling
the citizens, they entered the forest, with clubs and all
kinds of weapons in their hands, to look for the deer.
And thinking, "We shall best catch the deer by sur-
rounding them," they encircled a part of the forest about
a league across. And in so doing they surrounded the
very place where the Banyan Deer and the Monkey Deer
were living.

Then striking the trees and bushes, and beating on the
ground, with their clubs, they drove the herd of deer out
of the place where they were ; and making a great noise
by rattling their swords and javelins and bows, they made
the herd enter the park, and shut the gate. And then
they went to the king, and said to him :

"0 king! by your constant going to the chase, you
put a stop to our work. We have now brought deer
from the forest, and filled your park with them. Hence-
forth feed on them!^' And so saying, they took their
leave, and departed.

When the king heard that, he went to the park ; and

12.— THE BANYAN DEER.

207

seeing there two golden- coloured deer, lie granted them
their lives. But thenceforth he would sometimes go him-
self to shoot a deer, and bring it home ; sometimes his
cook would go and shoot one. The deer, as soon as they
saw the bow, would quake with the fear of death, and
take to their heels ; but when they had been hit once or
twice, they became weary or wounded, and were killed.

And the herd of deer told all this to the Bodisat. He
sent for the Monkey Deer, and said :

"Friend, almost all the deer are being destroyed.
Now, though they certainly must die, yet henceforth let
them not be wounded with the arrows. Let the deer
take it by turns to go to the place of execution. One day
let the lot fall upon my herd, and the next day on yours.
Let the deer whose turn it is go to the place of execution,
put his head on the block, and lie down. If this be done,
the deer will at least escape laceration."

He agreed : and thenceforth the deer whose turn it was
used to go and lie down, after placing his neck on the
block of execution. And the cook used to come and
carry off the one he found lying there.

But one day the lot fell upon a roe in the herd of the
Monkey Deer who was with young. She went to the
Monkey Deer, and said, " Lord ! I am with young.
When I have brought forth my son, we will both take
our turn. Order the turn to pass me by."

" I cannot make your lot," said he, " fall upon the
others. You know well enough it has fallen upon you.
Go away ! "

Receiving no help from him, she went to the Bodisat,
and told him the matter. He listened to her, and said,
** Be it so ! Do you go back. I will relieve you of your

2o8 l9.—mGR0DHA-MIGA JATAKA.

turn." And lie went himself, and put his neck upon tlie
block of execution, and lay down.

The cook, seeing him, exclaimed, "The King of the
Deer, whose life was promised to him, is lying in the
place of execution. What does this mean?" And he
went hastily, and told the king.

The king no sooner heard it than he mounted his
chariot, and proceeded with a great retinue to the place,
and beholding the Bodisat, said, " My friend the King of
the Deer ! did I not grant you your life ? Why are you
lying here ? "

" 0 great king ! a roe with young came and told me
that the lot had fallen upon her. Now it was impossible
for me to transfer her miserable fate to any one else.
So I, giving my life to her, and accepting death in her
place, have lain down. Harbour no further suspicion, 0
great king ! "

"My Lord the golden- coloured King of the Deer! I
never yet saw, even among men, one so full of forbear-
ance, kindness, and compassion. I am pleased with thee
in this matter. Rise up ! I grant your lives, both to
you and to her ! "

"But though two be safe, what shall the rest do, 0
king of men ? "

" Then I grant their lives to the rest, my Lord."

" Thus, then, great king, the deer in the park will have
gained security, but what will the others do ? "

" They also shall not be molested."

" Great king ! even though the deer dwell secure, what
shall the rest of the four-footed creatures do ? "

" They also shall be free from fear."

" Great king ! even though the quadrupeds are in
safety, what shall the flocks of birds do ?"

\2. — THE BANYAN DEER. 209

" Well, I grant the same boon to them."

" Great king ! the birds then will obtain peace, but
what of the fish who dwell in the water ? "

" They shall have peace as well."

And so the Great Being, having interceded with the king
for all creatures, rose up and established the king in the
Five Precepts,^ and said, " Walk in righteousness, 0 great
king ! Doing justice and mercy to fathers and mothers,
to sons and daughters, to townsmen and landsmen, you
shall enter, when your body is dissolved, the happy world
of heaven ! "

Thus, with the grace of a Buddha, he preached the
Truth to the king ; and when he had dwelt a few days
in the park to exhort the king, he went away to the forest
with his attendant herd.

And the roe gave birth to a son as beautiful as buds of
flowers ; and he went playing about with the Monkey
Deer*s herd. But when its mother saw that, she said, " My
son, henceforth go not in his company ; you may keep to
the Banyan Deer's herd ! " And thus exhorting him, she
uttered the verse —

Follow the Banyan Deer :
Dwell not with the Monkey Deer.
Better death with the Banyan Deer,
Than life with the Monkey Deer.^

Now after that the deer, secure of their lives, began to
eat men's crops. And the men dared not strike them or
drive them away, recollecting how it had been granted to
them that they should dwell secure. So they met together
in front of the king's palace, and told the matter to the king.

^ See ' Buddhism,' pp. 139, 140.

2 Quoted by the Dhammapada commentator, p. 329.

210 12.— NIGRODHA-MIGA JATAKA.

" When I was well pleased, I granted to tlie leader of
the Banyan Deer a boon," said he. " I may give up my
kingdom, but not my oath ! Begone with you ! Not a
man in my kingdom shall be allowed to hurt the deer."

When the Banyan Deer heard that, he assembled the
herds, and said, " Henceforth you are not allowed to eat
other people's crops." And so forbidding them, he sent a
message to the men : '* Henceforth let the husbandmen
put up no fence to guard their crops; but let them tie
leaves round the edge of the field as a sign."

From that time, they say, the sign of the tying of leaves
was seen in the fields, and from that time not a single
deer trespassed beyond it ; for such was the instruction
they received from the Bodisat.

And the Bodisat continued thus his life long to instruct
the deer, and passed away with his herd according to his
deeds.

The king, too, hearkened to the exhortations of the
Bodisat, and then, in due time, passed away, according to
his deeds.

The Master, having finished the discourse in illustra-
tion of his saying, *' Not only now was I the protector of
the nun and of Kassapa the Prince ; in a former birth I
was the same," he fully expounded the Four Truths.
And when he had told the double story, he made the
connexion, and summed up the Jataka by saying, "He
who was then the Monkey Deer was Deva-datta, his herd
was Deva-datta' s following, the roe was the nun, her son
was Kassapa the Prince, the king was Ananda, but the
royal Banyan Deer was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE BANYAN DEER.

No. 13.

KANDINA JATAKA.

The Dart of Love.

[The Introductory Story is the same as that of the
Indriya Jataka in Book YIII.]

Long ago a king of Magadha was reigning in Rajagaha,
in the country of Magadha. At the season of harvest the
deer suffered much at the hands of the people of Magadha.
So they were wont to go away to the forest at the foot of
the mountains.

Now a certain mountain stag, who lived in that jungle,
made friends with a roe from the inhabited country.
And when those deer came down from the mountain- side
to return home, he, being caught in the snares of love,
went down with them.

Then she said to him, " You, Sir, are but a simple
deer of the mountains, and the inhabited country is
beset with danger and difficulty. Pray don't go down
with us ! "

But he, being fallen deep into love for her, would not
turn back, and went along with her.

Now when the people of Magadha saw that the time
was come for the deer to return from the hills, they used
to lie waiting in ambush all along the road. And just

212 IZ.—KANDINA JATAKA,

where those two were coming on, there stood a certain
hunter hehind a thicket.

The young roe smelt the smell of a man, and imme-
diately thought, " There'll be some hunter behind there."
And she let the foolish stag go on first, and kept back
herself. The hunter with one shot from his bow felled the
stag there on the spot ; but the roe, as soon as she saw
he was hit, fled away like the wind.

Then the hunter came out of his ambush, skinned that
deer, made a fire, cooked the sweet flesh in the glowing
charcoal, ate and drank, and carried ofi" the rest all drop-
ping with blood and gore, and went home to give his
children a treat.

Now the Bodisat of that time was a tree fairy, dwelling
in that wood. When he saw what had happened, he said
to himself,

" Not through father, not through mother, but through
lust, has this poor fool of a deer come to his death. In
the dawn of passion creatures think themselves in bliss,
but they end in losing their limbs in misery, or tasting
the grief of all kinds of bonds and blows. What more
shameful in this world than that which brings sorrow and
death to others ? What more despicable than the country
where women administer and teach, a land under harem
rule ? What more wretched than the men who give
themselves up to women's control ?" And then, whilst all
the fairies of the wood cast bouquets before him and cheered
him on, he brought the three rebukes into one verse, and
made the whole wood ring as he uttered the stanza —

O dreadful barbed dart of love, that tears men's hearts !

O foolish land, where woman bears the rule !

0 stupid men, who fall 'neath woman's power !

n. — THE DART OF LOVE. 213

^ When tlie Master had taught them this story, he pro-
claimed the Four Truths. And at the conclusion thereof
that love-sick monk was converted. And the Master made
the connexion, and summed up the Jataka by saying,
*'The mountain-deer of that time was the love-sick
brother, the roe was his former wife, and the tree fairy,
who preached the sermon showing the evil of passion, was
I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE DART OF LOVE.

1 The two previous lines should belong, I think, to the explanatory
comment.

No. 14.

YATA-MIGA JATAKA.

The Greedy Antelope.

" There is nothing worse than greed j they sayT — This tlie
Master told when lie was living at Jetavana about the
Elder named Tissa the younger, the keeper of the law
concerning food.

For when the Master, we are told, was residing at the
Bambu- grove, near Rajagaha, a young man of a very
wealthy family of distinction, by name Prince Tissa,
went one day to the Bambu- grove, and when he had
heard the Teacher's discourse, he became desirous to devote
himself to a religious life. And when, on his asking
leave to enter the Order, his parents refused their consent,
he compelled them to grant it, in the same manner as
Eattha-pala had done, by refusing to eat for seven days.^
And he then took the vows under the Master.

The Master remained at the Bambu- grove about half a
month after receiving him into the Order, and then went
to Jetavana. There this young man of family passed his
life, begging his daily food in Savatthi, and observing all
the Thirteen Practices by which the passions are quelled.
So under the name of '' The Young Tissa who keeps the

^ The story of Eatthapala is given in the Sutta of that name, translated
by Gogerly, J. C. A. S., 1847-1848, p. 95. The same plan was followed by
Sudinna as related in the Parajikar), and translated by Coles, J. C. A. S.,
1876-1877, p. 187.

l^.— THE GREEDY ANTELOPE. 215

law concerning food," ^ lie became as distinguished and
famous in Buddhadom as the moon in the vault of
heaven.

At that time they were holding festival in Rajagaha,
and the parents of the monk put away all the jewelry
which had belonged to him in the days of his laymanship
into a silver casket ; and took the matter to heart, weeping,
and saying, " At other festivals our boy used to keep the
feast wearing this ornament or this. And now Gotama
the Mendicant has taken him, him our only son, away to
Savatthi ! And we know not what fate is falling to him
there."

Now a slave- girl coming to the house, and seeing the
wife of the lord weeping, asked her, " Why, Lady ! do you
weep ?" And she told her what had happened.

" Well, Lady, what dish was your son most fond of ? "
said she.

" Such and such a one," was the reply.

" If you grant me full authority in this house, I will
bring your son back ! " said she.

The Lady agreed, gave her wherewith to pay all her
expenses, and sent her forth with a great retinue, saying,
" Go now, and by your power bring back my son."

So the girl then went to Savatthi in a palankeen, and
took up her abode in the street in which the monk was wont
to beg. And without letting him see the people who had
come from the lord's house, but surrounding herself with
servants of her own, she from the very first provided the
Elder when he came there with food and drink. Having
thus bound him with the lust of taste, she in due course
got him to sit down in her house ; and when she saw that
by giving him to eat she had brought him into her
power, she shammed sickness, and lay down in her inner
chamber.

Then the monk, when his begging time had come,
1 This is the third of the Thirteen just alluded to.

2l6 l^.— VATA-MIGA JATAKA.

arrived on his rounds at the door of the house. An
attendant took his bowl, and made him sit down in the
house. No sooner had he done so, than he asked, " How
is the lady devotee ? "

" She is sick, reverend Sir, and wishes to see you," was
the reply. And he, bound by the lust of taste, broke his
observance and his vow, and went to the place where she
was lying. Then she told him why she had come, and
alluring him, so bound him by the lust of taste, that she
persuaded him to leave the Order. And having brought
him into her power, she seated him in her palankeen, and
returned to Rajagaha with all her retinue.

And this news became the common talk. And the
monks, assembled in the hall of instruction, began to say
one to another, "A slave-girl has brought back Young
Tissa, the keeper of the law concerning food, having
bound him with the lust of taste."

Then the Master, entering the chapel, sat down on his
throne, and said, ** On what subject are you seated here
talking?"

And they told him the news.

" Not now only, 0 mendicants ! " said he, " has this
monk, caught by the lust of taste, fallen into her power ;
formerly also he did the same." And he told a story.

Once upon a time Brahma-datta, the king of Benares,
had a gardener named Sanjaya. Now a swift antelope
who had come to the garden took to flight as soon as it
saw Sanjaya. But Sanjaya did not frighten it away ; and
when it had come again and again it began to walk about
in the garden. And day by day the gardener used to
pluck the various fruits and flowers in the garden, and
take them away to the king.

1^,— THE GREEDY ANTELOPE.

Now one day tlie king asked Mm, " I say, friend
gardener, is there anything strange in the garden so far
as you've noticed ? "

" I\e noticed nothing, 0 king ! save that an antelope
is in the habit of coming and wandering about there.
That I often see.''

" But could you catch it ? "

" If I had a little honey, I could bring it right inside
the palace here ! "

The king gave him the honey ; and he took it, went to
the garden, smeared it on the grass at the spot the ante-
lope frequented, and hid himself. When the deer came,
and had eaten the honey-smeared grass, it was bound
with the lust of taste ; and from that time went nowhere
else, but came exclusively to the garden. And as
the gardener saw that it was allured by the honey- smeared
grass, he in due course showed himself. For a few days
the antelope took to flight on seeing him. But after
seeing him again and again, it acquired confidence, and
gradually came to eat grass from the gardener's hand.
And when the gardener saw that its confidence was
gained, he strewed the path right up to the palace as
thick with branches as if he were covering it with mats,
hung a gourdful of honey over his shoulder, carried a
bundle of grass at his waist, and then kept sprinkling
honey- smeared grass in front of the antelope till he led
him within the palace.

As soon as the deer had got inside, they shut the door.
The antelope, seeing men, began to tremble and quake
with the fear of death, and ran hither and thither about
the hall. The king came down from his upper chamber,
and seeing that trembling creature, said, "Such is the

2l8

U.— VATA-M/GA JATAKA.

nature of an antelope, that it will not go for a week after-
wards to a place where it has seen men, nor its life long
to a place where it has been frightened. Yet this one,
with just such a disposition, and accustomed only to the
jungle, has now, bound by the lust of taste, come to just
such a place. Verily there is nothing worse in the world
than this lust of taste ! " And he summed up the lesson
in this stanza :

" There's nothing worse than greed, they say,
Whether at home, or with one's friends.
Through taste the deer, the wild one of the woods.
Fell under Sanjaya's control."

And when in other words he had shown the danger of
greed, he let the antelope go back to the forest.

When the Master had finished this discourse in illustra-
tion of what he had said ('* Not now only 0 mendicants !
has this monk, caught by the lust of taste, fallen into her
power ; formerly also he did the same "), he made the
connexion, and summed up the Jataka as follows : " He
who was then San jay a was this slave- girl, the antelope
was the monk, but the king of Benares was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE SWIFT ANTELOPE.

No. 15.

KHAHADIYA JATAKA.

The Deer who would not learn.

^^ Though a deer he most swift, 0 Kharddiyd." — This the
Master told when at Jetavana, concerning a certain foul-
mouthed monk. For that monk, we are told, was abusive,
and would take no admonition.

Now the Master asked him, "Is it true what they say,
0 mendicant ! that you are abusive, and will take no
admonition ? "

" It is true, 0 Blessed One ! " said he.

The Master said, " Formerly also, by your surliness
and your refusing to accept the admonition of the wise,
you were caught in a snare and came to destruction."
And he told a story.

Once upon a time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in
Benares, the Bodisat became a stag, and lived in the
forest, with a herd for his retinue.

Now his sister- roe (Kharadiya) pointed out to him her
son, and gave him in charge to him, saying, " Brother !
this is your nephew. Teach him the devices of the deer."

And he said to his nephew, " Come at such and such a
time to learn."

220

Ib.—KHARADIYA JATAKA.

At the appointed time lie did not go. And one day as
lie was wandering about, disregarding seven admonitions
given on as many days, and not learning the devices of
the deer, he was caught in a snare.

Then his mother went to her brother, and asked, " How
now, brother ! was your nephew instructed in the devices
of the deer?"

" Think no more of that incorrigible fellow ! " said the
Bodisat. " Your son did not learn the devices of the
deer.''

And then, to explain his own unwillingness to have
anything further to do with him, he uttered this stanza :

" Though a deer be most swift, ^ 0 Kharadiya !
And have antlers rising point o'er point,
If he transgress the seventh time,
I would not try to teach him more ! "

But the hunter killed that wilful deer caught in the
snare, and, taking his flesh, departed.

The Master having finished this discourse, in illustra-
tion of what he had said (" Formerly also, by your
surliness and your refusing to accept the admonition of
the wise, you were caught in a snare, and came to destruc-
tion"), made the connexion, and summed up the Jataka :
"The nephew deer of that time was the abusive monk,
the sister was Uppala-vanna, but the admonishing deer
was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE DEER WHO WOULD NOT LEARN.

1 <<< Eight-hoofed,' two hoofs on each foot," explains the commentator.
See note on p. 223.

No. 16.

TIPALLATTHA-MiaA JATAKA.

The Cunning Deer.

**rve taught the deer in posture sldlled.^^ — This the
Master told when at the Badarika monastery in Kosambi,
about his son E-ahula, who was over-anxious to observe
the Rules of the Order.^

Once upon a time there was a king of Magadha reign-
ing in Rajagaha. At that time the Bodisat came to life
as a stag, and lived in the forest, attended by a herd of
deer.

Now his sister brought her son to him, saying,
" Brother ! instruct this thy nephew in the devices of
the deer."

" Yery well," said the Bodisat, in assent, and directed
his nephew, " Go away now, dear, and on your return at
such and such a time you may receive instruction."

And he failed not at the time appointed by his uncle,
but went to him and received instruction.

One day as he was wandering about in the wood, he
was caught in a snare. And he uttered a cry — the cry
1 This amusing Introductory Story will scarcely bear translating.

2 22 IQ.— TIPALLATTHA-MIGA JATAKA.

of a captive. Then the herd took to flight, and let the
mother know that her son had been caught in a snare.
She went to her brother, and asked him, —

" Brother ! was your nephew instructed in the devices
of the deer?"

" Suspect not your son of any fault,'* said the Bodisat.
" He has well learnt the devices of the deer. Even now
he will come back to us and make you laugh for joy."
And he uttered this stanza :

I've trained the deer to be most swift,

To drink at midnight only, and, abounding in disguise.

To keep in any posture that he likes.

Breathing through one nostril hid upon the ground,

My nephew, by six tricks at his command

Will yet outdo the foe !

Thus the Bodisat, pointing out how thoroughly his
nephew had learnt the devices of the deer, comforted his
sister.

But the young stag, when he was caught in the trap,
struggled not at all. He lay down on the ground as
best he could ; stretched out his legs ; struck the ground
near his feet with his hoofs, so as to throw up earth
and grass ; let fall his head ; put out his tongue ; made
his body wet with spittle ; swelled out his belly by
drawing in his breath ; breathed through the lower nostril
only, holding his breath with the upper ; made his whole
frame stiff and stark, and presented the appearance of
a corpse. Even the bluebottles flew round him, and here
and there crows settled !

When the hunter came up, he gave him a blow on the
stomach ; and saying to himself, " He must have been

IQ.— THE CUNNING DEER. 223

caught early in tlie morning, lie is already putrid," he
loosed the bands which tied him. And apprehending
nothing, he began to collect leaves and branches, saying
to himself, " I will dress him at once, here on the spot,
and carry off the flesh."

But the young stag arose, stood on his feet, shook
himself, stretched out his neck, and, swiftly as a cloud
driven by a mighty wind, returned to his mother !

The Teacher having finished this discourse, in illustra-
tion of his words (" Not now only, mendicants, was
Rahula devoted to instruction ; formerly also he was so,"
etc.), made the connexion, and summed up the Jiitaka :
" At that time the nephew, the young stag, was Rahula,
the mother was Uppala-vanna, but the uncle was I
myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE CUNNING DEER.^

^ The verse is very obscure, and the long commentary does not make it
clearer. *' To keep in any posture that he likes" is literally "having three
postures — master of three postures." " Most swift" is in the original "eight-
hoofed." If "eight-hoofed" means " with two hoofs on each foot," as the
commentator thinks, where would be the peculiarity so creditable to the
obedient learner ? The last line in the text is so corrupt that the commen-
tator can only suggest three contradictory and improbable explanations. If one
could venture to read chavarj kalahati bhoti, one might render, " My nephew,
lady, can counterfeit a corpse." Mr. Trenckner has been good enough to
send me the following suggested translation, "The deer, the threefold
cunning (?) fertile in expedients, the cloven-footed, who goes to drink at
midnight (! ?) (don't fear for him), lying on one ear, panting on the ground,
ray nephew, by the six tricks he knows will dodge (the hunter)."

No. 17.

MALUTA JATAKA.

The Wind.

"Whenever the wind blows," etc. — This the Master told
when at Jetavana, about two Buddhist monks. They, we
are told, were living a forest life in the country of
Kosala ; and one was called Dark and the other called
Light. Now one day Light asked Dark, " Brother ! at
what time does the cold, as some people call it, come on ? "

" In the dark half of the month ! " said he.

But one day Dark asked Light, " Brother Light ! at
what time does the so-called cold come on ? "

" In the light half of the month ! " said he.

And neither of the two being able to solve the knotty
point, they went to the Master, and after paying him
reverence, asked him, " At what time. Sir, is the cold ? '*

When the Master had heard their story, he said,
" Formerly also, 0 mendicants ! I solved this question for
you ; but the confusion arising from change of birth has
driven it out of your minds." And he told a tale.

Once upon a time two friends, a lion and a tiger, were
living in a certain cave at the foot of a hill. At that
time the Bodisat, who had devoted himself to the reli-

Vt. — THE WIND.

225

gious life of a hermit, was living at the foot of that same
mountain.

Now one day a dispute arose between the friends about
the cold. The tiger said it was cold in the dark half of
the month, the Hon said it was cold in the light half.
And as neither of them could solve the difficulty, they
asked the Bodisat, and he uttered this stanza :

" It is whenever the wind blows.
In the dark half or in the light.
For cold is caused by wind : and so
You both are right."

Thus the Bodisat pacified the two friends.

"When the Master had finished this discourse ("Formerly
also," etc.), he proclaimed the Truths. And at the close
thereof the two brethren were established in the Fruit
of Conversion. The Master made the connexion, and
summed up the Jataka : " He who was then the tiger was
Dark, the lion Light, but the ascetic who answered the
question was I myself.

END OF THE STORY ABOUT THE WIND.^
1 Compare the Fable of the Two sides of the Shield.

No. 18.

MATAKA-BHATTA JATAKA.

On Offering Food to the Dead.

"jy people would hut understand.^' — ^This tlie Teacher
told when at Jetavana, about food oflPered to the dead.

For at that time people used to kill sheep and goats in
large numbers in order to offer what is called " The Feast
of the Dead " in honour of their deceased relatives. When
the monks saw men doing so, they asked the Teacher,
saying, "Lord! the people here bring destruction on
many living creatures in order to provide the so-called
'Feast of the Dead.' Can there possibly. Sir, be any
advantage in that ? "

The Teacher said, " Let not us, 0 mendicants ! provide
the Feast of the Dead : for what advantage is there in
destroying life ? Formerly sages seated in the sky
preached a discourse showing the evils of it, and made all
the dwellers in Jambu-dlpa give up this practice. But
now since change of birth has set in, it has arisen again."
And he told a tale.

Once upon a time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in
Benares, a Brahman, a world-famous teacher, accom-
plished in the Three Yedas, had a goat brought, with the

18.— ON OFFERING FOOD TO THE DEAD. 227

intention of giving the Feast of the Dead, and said to his
pupils :

"My lads! take this goat to the river, and bathe it, and
hang a garland round its neck, and give it a measure of
corn, and deck it out, and then bring it back."

" Yery well," said they, and accordingly took it to the
river ; and when they had bathed it and decorated it, let
it stand on the bank.

The goat, seeing in this the effect of his former bad
conduct, thought to himself, " To-day I shall be free from
that great misery ; " and, glad at heart, he laughed a
mighty laugh, in sound like the crashing of a jar. Then,
thinking to himself, " This Brahman, by killing me, will
take upon himself like misery to that which I had earned,"
he felt compassion for the Brahman, and wept with a
loud voice.

Then the young Brahman asked him, " Friend goat !
you have both laughed heartily and heartily cried. Pray,
what is it makes you laugh, and what is it makes you
cry?"

"Ask me about it in your teacher's presence," said
he.

They took him back, and told their teacher of this
matter. And when he had heard their story, he asked
the goat, " Why did you laugh, goat, and why did you
cry?"

Then the goat, by his power of remembering former
births, called to mind the deeds he had done, and said to
the Brahman, " Formerly, 0 Brahman, I had become
just such another Brahman, — a student of the mystic
verses of the Yedas ; and determining to provide a Feast
of the Dead, I killed a goat, and gave the Feast. By

228 IZ.—MATAKA-BHATTA JATAKA.

having killed that one goat, I have had my head cut off
in five hundred births, less one. This is my five hun-
dredth birth, the last of the series; and it was at the
thought, ' To-day I shall be free from that great misery,'
that I became glad at heart, and laughed in the manner
you have heard. Then, again, I wept, thinking, * I who
just by having killed a goat incurred the misery of having
five hundred times my head cut off, shall be released to-
day from the misery ; but this Brahman, by killing me,
will, like me, incur the misery of having his head cut off
^NQ hundred times ; ' and so I wept."

" Fear not, 0 goat ! I will not kill you," said he.

" Brahman ! what are you saying ? Whether you kill
me or not, I cannot to-day escape from death."

" But don't be afraid ! I will take you under my pro-
tection, and walk about close to you."

'* Brahman ! of little worth is your protection ; while
the evil I have done is great and powerful ! "

The Brahman released the goat ; and saying, " Let us
allow no one to kill this goat," he took his disciples, and
walked about with it. No sooner was the goat at liberty,
than, stretching out its neck, it began to eat the leaves of
a bush growing near the ridge of a rock. That very
moment a thunderbolt fell on the top of the rock, and a
piece of the rock split off, and hit the goat on his out-
stretched neck, and tore off his head. And people crowded
round.

At that time the Bodisat had been born as the Genius
of a tree growing on that spot. By his supernatural
power he now seated himself cross-legged in the sky in
the sight of the multitude ; and thinking, " Would that
these people, seeing thus the fruit of sin, would abstain

IB.—OJV OFFERING FOOD TO THE DEAD. 229

from such destruction of life/' he in a sweet voice taught
them, uttering this stanza :

" If people would but understand
That this would cause a birth in woe,
The living would not slay the living ;
For he who taketh life shall surely grieve ! ''

Thus the Great Being preached to them the Truth,
terrifying them with the fear of hell. And when the
people had heard his discourse, they trembled with the
fear of death, and left off taking life. And the Bodisat,
preaching to the people, and establishing them in the
Precepts, passed away according to his deeds. The people,
too, attending upon the exhortations of the Bodisat, gave
gifts, and did other good deeds, and so filled the city of
the gods.^

The Teacher having finished this discourse, made the
connexion, and summed up the Jataka : "I at that time
was the Genius of the tree.'*

END OF THE STORY ON FOOD OFFERED TO THE DEAD.

^ That is, by the production at their death of angels as the result of their
Karma.

No. 19.

AYACITA-BHATTA JATAKA.

On Offerings given under a Vow.

" Would you he saved.,^^ etc. — This the Teacher told while
at Jetavana, about making offerings under a vow to the
gods.

At that time, we are told, men about to go on a trading
journey used to kill animals, and lay an offering before
the gods, and make a vow, saying, " When we have re-
turned in safety and success, we will make an offering to
you,*' and so depart. Then when they returned safe and
successful, thinking, " This has happened by the power of
the God, they killed animals, and made the offering to
release themselves from the vow.

On seeing this, the mendicants asked the Blessed One,
" Lord ! is there now any advantage in this ? " And he
told a tale.

Once upon a time, in the land of Kasi, a landed pro-
prietor in a certain village promised an offering to the
Genius of a Banyan-tree standing by the gate of the
village. And when he had returned safely, he slew a
number of animals ; and saying to himself, " I will make
myself free from my vow," he went to the foot of the
tree.

19.— ON OFFERINGS GIVEN UNDER A VOW. 231

But the tree-god, standing in a fork of the tree, uttered
this stanza :

Would you be free, you first must die !
Seeking for freedom thus, is being bound !
Not by such deeds as these are the wise made free :
Salvation is the bond of fools ! "^

Thenceforward men refrained from such life- destroying
deeds, and living a life of righteousness filled the city of
the gods.

The Teacher, having finished this discourse, made the
connexion, and summed up the Jataka : "I at that time
was the Genius of the Tree."

END OF THE STORY ON OFFERINGS GIVEN UNDER
A vow.

^ That is, in seeking after what they think is salvation (safety from the
wrath of a god), fools practise rites and harbour delusions which become
spiritual bonds. Death to oneself, and spiritual rebirth, is the only true
salvation. The whole parable is a play on the word " Mutti" which means
both salvation, and the performance of, the being delivered from, a vow.

No. 20.

NALAPANA JATAKA.

The Monkeys and the Demon.

'^He saw the marks of feet, ^^ etc. — This the Teacher told
about the Nala-canes, when he was living at the Ketaka
wood, hard by the Lake of Nalaka-pana, after he had
come to the village of that name on his tour through
Kosala.

At that time the monks, after they had bathed in the
Nalaka-pana lake, had the canes of the Nala-plant brought
to them by the novices, for needle-cases. And finding
them hollow throughout, they went to the Teacher, and
asked him, " Lord ! we had Nala-canes brought for
needle-cases. They are hollow throughout, from root to
point. How is this ? "

" This, mendicants," said he, " is a former command of
mine." And he told a tale.

This was formerly, they say, a densely- wooded forest.
And in its lake there was a water-demon, who used to eat
whomsoever went down into the water. At that time the
Bodisat was a monkey-king, in size like the fawn of a red
deer ; and attended by a troop of monkeys about eighty
thousand in number, he lived in that forest, preserving
them from harm.

2Q.—THE MONKEYS AND THE DEMON. 233

Now he exhorted the troop of monkeys, saying, " My
children ! in this forest there are poisonous trees, and
pools haunted by demons. When you are going to eat
fruits of any kind you have not eaten before, or to drink
water you have not drunk before, ask me about it."

" Yery well," said they. And one day they went to a
place they had not been to before. There they wandered
about the greater part of the day ; and when, in searching
about for water, they found a pond, they sat down with-
out even drinking, and looked forward to the arrival of
their king.^

When the Bodisat had come, he asked them, "Why,
my children, do you take no water ? "

" We awaited your arrival," said they.

" It is well, my children ! " said the Bodisat ; and
fixing his attention on the foot-marks close round the edge
of the pond, he saw that they went down, but never came
up. Then he knew that it was assuredly haunted by
demons, and said, " You have done well, my children, not
to have drunk the water. This pond is haunted ! "

But when the demon of the water saw that they were
not going down into it, he assumed the horrible shape of
a blue-bellied, pale-faced, red-handed, red-footed creature,
and came splashing out through the water, and cried out,
"Why do you sit still here? Go down and drink the
water ! "

But the Bodisat asked him, "Are you the water-demon
who haunts this spot ? "

" Yes ! I am he ! " was the reply.

* Any one who has seen the restlessness of monkeys in the safe precincts of
a Buddhist monastery (or even in the monkey-nouse at the Zoological
Gardens) will appreciate the humour of this description. The Bharhut
sculptor, too, has some capital monkeys sitting, like good little boys, and
listening to the Bodisat.

234

.—NALAPANA JATAKA.

" Have you received power over all who go down into
the pool?"

" Yes, indeed ! I carry off even a bird when it comes
down, and I let no one off. You too I will devour, one
and all ! "

" "We shall not allow you to eat us."

'' Well, then ! drink away ! "

" Yes ! we shall drink the water too, but we shall not
fall into your hands."

" How, then, will you get at the water ? "

"You imagine, I suppose, that we must go down to
drink. But you are wrong ! Each one of us eighty
thousand shall take a Nala-cane and drink the water of
your pond without ever entering it, as easily as one would
drink from the hollow stem of a water-plant. And so you
will have no power to eat U8 ! "

It was when the Teacher as Buddha had recalled this
circumstance that he uttered the first half of the following
stanza :

" I saw the marks of feet that had gone down,
I saw no marks of feet that had returned."

(But then he said to the monkeys) —

" We'll drink the water through a reed,"

(And turning to the demon, he added) —

" And yet I'll not become your prey ! "

So saying, the Bodisat had a Nala-cane brought to him,
and appealing in great solemnity to the Ten Great
Perfections (generosity, morality, self-denial, wisdom,
perseverance, patience, truth, resolution, kindness, and
resignation) exercised by him in this and previous births,

TXi.-THE MONKEYS AND THE DEMON 235

he blew into tlie cane.^ And the cane became hollow
throughout, not a single knot being left in it. In this
manner he had another, and then another, brought, and
blew into it.^ Then the Bodisat walked round the pond,
and commanded, saying, " Let all the canes growing here
be perforated throughout." And thenceforward, since
through the greatness of the goodness of the Bodisats
their commands are fulfilled, all the canes which grew
in that pond became perforated throughout.

There are four miracles in this Kalpa (the period which
elapses between the commencement of the formation of
the world and its final destruction) which endure through-
out a Kalpa — the sign of the hare in the moon will last
the whole Kalpa : ^ the place where the fire was extin-
guished in the Quail-birth will not take fire again
through all the Kalpa : * the place where the potter lived
will remain arid through all the Kalpa : the canes grow-
ing round this pond will be hollow through all the Kalpa.
These four are called the Kalpa-lasting Wonders.

After giving this command, the Bodisat took a cane
and seated himself. So, too, those eighty thousand mon-
keys took, each of them, a cane, and seated themselves
round the pond. And at the same moment as he drew

^ This solemn appeal to a former good action, if it be true, is often
represented as working a miracle, and is called saccakiriya, i.e. " truth-act."
Childers properly compares 2 Kings i. 10 : " If I be a man of God, then
let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there
came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his fifty." But the
miracle, said in the Buddhist scriptures to follow on an appeal of this kind, is
usually, as in this case, an assistance to some one in distress. On the Perfec-
tions, see above, pp. 54 to 08.

2 This seems to be a gloss, as the writer adds, " He could not have stopped
at that point ; so it should not thus be understood."

3 On this story, see the translator's " Buddhism," pp. 196-198.
* On this story, see below, Jiitaka No. 35.

236 20.— JVA LA PA JVA JA7AKA,

the water up into his cane and drank, so, too, they all sat
safe on the bank, and drank.

Thus the water-demon got not one of them into his
power on their drinking the water, and he returned in
sorrow to his own place. But the Bodisat and his troop
went back again to the forest.

When the Teacher, haying finished this discourse in
illustration of his words (" The hoUowness of these canes,
mendicants, is a former command of mine "), he made the
connexion, and summed up the Jataka, saying : '' He who
was then the water-demon was Devadatta; the eighty
thousand monkeys were the Buddha's retinue ; but the
monkey king, clever in resource, was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF NALA-PANA.

No. 21.

KUEUisraA-MiaA jataka.

The Wily Antelope.

" The Kurunga knows full well^^^ etc. — This the teacher
told while at Jetavana about Devadatta.

For once when the monks had assembled in the lecture
hall, they sat talking of Devadatta's wickedness, saying,
"Brother Devadatta has suborned archers, and hurled
down a rock, and sent forth Dhanapalaka the elephant ;
in every possible way he goes about to slay the Sage."

The Teacher came, and sat down on the seat reserved
for him, and asked, " What is it, then, Mendicants, you
are sitting here talking about ? "

" Lord ! we were talking about the wickedness of
Devadatta in going about to slay you."

The Teacher answered, " Not now only, 0 mendicants,
has Devadatta gone about to slay me ; formerly, too, he
did the same, and was unsuccessful in his endeavour."
And he told a tale.

Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was reigning in
Benares, the Bodisat became a kurunga antelope and
lived in his forest home, feeding on fruits. And at one

238

21.— KURUNGA-MIGA JATAKA.

time lie was eating the Sepanni fruit on a heavily-laden
Sepanni-tree.

Now, a deerstalker of that village used to note the
tracks of the deer at the foot of the fruit-trees, build him-
self a platform on the tree above, and seating himself there,
wound with a javelin the deer who came to eat the fruit,
and make a living by selling their flesh.

On seeing, one day, the foot-marks of the Bodisat at the
foot of the Sepanni-tree, he made himself a platform
upon it, and having breakfasted early> he took his javelin
with him, went to the wood, climbed up the tree, and took
his seat on the platform.

The Bodisat, too, left his lair early in the morning, and
came up to eat the Sepanni-fruits ; but without going too
hastily to the foot of the tree, he thought to himself^
" Those platform-hunters sometimes make their platforms
on the trees. I wonder can there be any danger of that
kind." And he stopped at a distance to reconnoitre.

But the hunter, when he saw that the Bodisat was not
coming on, kept himself quiet, and threw down fruit so
that it fell in front of him.

The Bodisat said to himself, " Why, these fruits are
coming this way, and falling before me. There must be
a hunter up there ! " And looking up again and again, he
discerned the hunter. Then pretending not to have seen
him, he called out, " Hallo, 0 tree ! You have been wont
to let your fruit fall straight down, as if you were putting
forth a hanging root : but to-day you have given up
your tree-nature. So as you have surrendered the cha-
racteristics of tree-nature, I shall go and seek my food at
the foot of some other tree." So saying, he uttered this
stanza :

21. - THE WIL V ANTELOPE.

239

" The Kurunga knows full well, Sepanni,
What kind of fruit you thus throw down.
Elsewhere I shall betake myself :
Your fruit, my friend, belikes me not." ^

Then the hunter, seated as he was on the platform, hurled
his javelin at him, calling out, '^Away with you! I've lost
you this time ! "

The Bodisat turned round, and stopped to cry out, " I
tell you, 0 man, however much you may have lost me this
time, the eight Great Hells and the sixteen Ussada Hells,
and fivefold bondage and torment — the result of your
conduct — these you have not lost ! " And so saying, he
escaped whither he desired. And the hunter, too, got
down, and went whithersoever he pleased.

"When the Teacher had finished this discourse in illus-
tration of what he had said (" Not now only, 0 mendi-
cants, does Devadatta go about to slay me ; formerly, also,
he did the same "), he made the connexion, and summed
up the Jataka as follows : " He who was then the hunter
was Devadatta, but the Kurunga Antelope was I myself." ^

END OF THE STORY OF THE KURUNGA ANTELOPE.

1 This verse is quoted by the Dharamapada Commentator, Fausboll, p. 147.

2 The Commentator on the " Scripture Verses" (p. 331), says that it was
at the end of this story that the Buddha uttered the 162nd verse of that
Collection — " He who exceeds in wickedness makes himself such as his
enemy might desire, (dragging himself down) as the creeper the tree which it
has covered."

No. 22.

KUKKUEA JATAKA.

The Dog who turned Preacher.

" The dogs brought up in the king's hotise," etc. — This the
Teacher told, while at Jetavana, about benefiting one's
relations. This will be explained in the Bhadda-sala
Jataka in the Twelfth Book. In confirmation of what is
there related, he told a tale.

Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was reigning in
Benares, the Bodisat, in consequence of an act which
would have that effect, came to life as a dog, and lived in
a great cemetery attended by a troop of several hundred
dogs.

Now, one day the king mounted his state- chariot, drawn
by milk-white steeds, went to his park, amused himself
there the rest of the day, and after sunset returned to the
city. And they put the carriage harness, just as it had
been used, in the courtyard.

There was rain in the night, and the harness got wet.
The royal dogs, too, came down from the flat roof of the
palace, and gnawed at the leather work and straps. The

22.— TlfE DOG WHO TURNED PREACHER. 241

next day tlie servants told the king, *-'Dogs have got
in, 0 king, through the sliding door, and have eaten the
leather work and the straps."

The king, enraged at the dogs, gave orders that dogs
should be killed wherever they were seen. So there en-
sued a wholesale destruction of dogs : and finding there
was no safety for them anywhere else, they escaped to
the cemetery, and joined themselves to the Bodisat.

The Bodisat asked them the reason of their coming in
such numbers together. " People say," was the answer,
" that the leather work and the straps of a carriage in the
harem have been gnawed by dogs. The king in his anger
has commanded all dogs to be destroyed. Extreme is the
danger we are in ! "

The Bodisat said to himself, "There's no opportunity
for dogs from outside to get into a place so guarded. It
must be the royal dogs from within the palace that have
done this thing. And now nothing happens to the
thieves, and the innocent are punished with death. What
if I were to make the king see who the real culprits are,
and so save the lives of my kinsfolk ? "

And he comforted his relations with the words, " Don't
you be afraid ! I will restore you to safety. Wait here
whilst I go and see the king."

Then guiding himself by thoughts of love, he called to
mind his Perfections, and uttered a command; saying,
" Let none dare to throw a club or a clod at me ! " and
so unattended he entered the city. And when they saw
him, not a creature grew angry at the sight of him.

Now the king, after issuing the order for the destruc-
tion of the dogs, sat himself down in the seat of judgment.
The Bodisat went straight up to the place, and rushing

VOL. I. 16

242 ^ 22.—KUKKURA JATAKA,

forwards, ran underneatli the king's throne. Thereupon
the king's attendants were about to drive him away, but
the king stopped them.

After he had rested awhile, he came out from under
the throne, and made obeisance to the king, and asked
him, " Is it you who are having the dogs slain ? "

" Yes ; it is I," was the reply.

" What is their fault, 0 king of men ? "

" They have eaten the leathern coverings and straps of
my chariot."

" Do you know which ones did it ? "

*' That we don't know."

*' To have all killed wherever they may be found, with-
out knowing for certain who are the culprits that gnawed
the leather, is not just, 0 king ! "

" I gave orders for the destruction of the dogs, saying,
' Kill them all wherever they may be found,' because dogs
had eaten the carriage leather."

" What then ! Do your men kill all dogs, or are there
some not punished with death ? "

"There are some. The royal dogs in our house are
exempt."

" Great king ! only just now you were saying you had
given orders to kill all dogs, wherever found, because
dogs had eaten the carriage-leather ; and now you say
that the well-bred dogs in your own house have been
exempted. Now this being so, you become guilty of
partiality and the other shortcomings of a judge.^ Now,
to be guilty of such thing is neither right, nor kingly.

1 Literally, of the Agatis (things of which a judge, and especially a king,
sitting as judge, ought not to be guilty) ; they are four in number, partiality,
ill-will, ignorance, and fear.

.-THE DOG WHO TURNED PREACHER.

243

It behoves him who bears the name of king to try motives
as with a balance. Since the royal dogs are not punished
with death, whilst the poor dogs are, this is no sentence
of death on all dogs, but slaughter of the weak."

Then the Great Being further lifted up his pleasant
voice, and said, '' Great king ! That which you are doing
is not justice \ " and he taught the king the Truth in this
stanza :

" The dogs brought up in the king's house.
The thoroughbreds in birth and strength —
Not these, but we, are to be killed.
This is no righteous vengeance ; this is slaughter
of the weak ! ''

"When the king heard what the Bodisat said, he asked,
" 0 Wise One, do you then know who it is has eaten the
carriage leather?'^

" Yes ; I know it," said he.

^^ Who are they then? *'

" It is the thoroughbreds living in your own house."

" But how can we know they are the guilty ones ? "

'* I will prove it to you."

" Prove it then, 0 sage ! "

" Send for the thoroughbreds, and have a little butter-
milk and Dabba grass brought in."

The king did so ; and the Great Being said, " Have the
grass crushed in the buttermilk, and give the dogs to
drink."

The king did so ; and each of the dogs, as they drank it,
vomited it up, — and bits of leather with it.

Then the king was delighted as with a decision by the
all- wise Buddha himself ; and gave up his sceptre to the

244 22.—KUKKURA JATAKA.

Bodisat. But the Bodisat preaclied tlie law to tlie king
in the ten verses on righteousness, from the story of the
Three Birds, beginning —

Walk righteously, 0 great king ! . . . .

And confirming the king in the Five Commandments,
and exhorting him thenceforward to be unweary (in well
doing), he returned to the king his sceptre.

And the king listened to his exhortation, and granted
security to all living creatures; and commanded a con-
stant supply of food, like the royal food, for all the dogs
from the Bodisat downwards. And he remained firm in
the teaching of the Bodisat, and did works of charity and
other good deeds his life long, and after death was reborn
in the world of the gods.

Now the Exhortation of the Dog flourished for tens of
thousands of years. But the Bodisat lived to a good old
age and passed away according to his deeds.

When the Teacher had concluded this discourse, in
illustration of his saying (" Not now only, 0 mendicants,
did the Tathagata act for the benefit of his relatives,
formerly also he did so"), he made the connexion, and
summed up the Jataka by saying, "He who was then the
king was Ananda, the others were the Buddha's attend-
ants, but the Dog was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE DOG.

No. 23.

BHOJAJANIYA JATAKA.

The Bhoja Thoroughbred.

"Though fallen on his sidey'* etc. — This the Teacher told
when at Jetavana, concerning a monk who had lost heart
in the struggle after holiness. For the Master then
addressed the monk, and said, " Formerly, 0 mendicants,
the wise were wont to exert themselves unremittingly,
and did not give up when they received a check.*' And
he told a tale.

Long ago, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares,
the Bodisat was born into the family of a thoroughbred
Bhoja horse, and became the state charger of the king of
Benares. He fed out of a priceless golden dish on the
most delicious fine old rice; and he stood in a fragrant
perfumed stall, hung round with curtains embroidered
with flowers, covered with a canopy painted with golden
stars, decked with garlands of sweet- smelling flowers, and
furnished with a lamp of fragrant oil that was never
extinguished.

Now there was no king who did not covet the kingdom
of Benares. On one occasion seven kings surrounded the

246 2Z.—BH0yAjANIYA JATAKA.

city, and sent a letter to the king of Benares, saying,
" Either give us up the kingdom, or give us battle ! "

The king called a council of his ministers, and told
them this, and asked them what was to be done.

" You ought not yourself, 0 king, to go out to battle at
once," was the reply. " Send such and such a knight to
give battle ; and if he fails, we shall know what to do
afterwards."

The king sent for him, and said, *' Can you give battle,
well beloved, to these seven kings ? "

" 0 king," said he, " if I may have the thoroughbred
Bhoja charger, I shall be able to fight, not only the seven
kings, but the kings of all the continent of India."

" Take the Bhoja or any other charger you like, my
trusty friend, and give them battle," said the king.

"Yery good, my lord," said he, and took his leave,
and went down from the palace, and had the Bhoja
brought, and carefully clad in mail. And himseK put on
all his armour, girt on his sword, mounted the horse,
issued from the city, charged like lightning against the
first entrenchment, broke through it, took one king alive,
galloped back, and delivered him over to the city guard.

Then he started again, broke through the second, then
the third, and so took five kings alive ; and had broken
through the sixth, and had just taken the sixth king
prisoner, when the Bhoja thoroughbred received a wound,
and blood gushed forth, and he began to be in severe
pain.

When the horseman saw the Bhoja was wounded, he
made him lie down at the king's gate, loosened his mail,
and began to harness another horse.

Whilst the Bodisat lay there as best he could, he

2Z.^THE BHOJA THOROUGHBRED. 247

opened his eyes, and saw the knight, and said to himself,
" He is harnessing another horse. That horse won't be
able to break through the seventh line, or take the
seventh king. What I have already done will be lost.
The knight, too, who has no equal, will be killed; and
the king, too, will fall into the enemy's power. No other
horse, save I alone, can break through that remaining
line and take the seventh king." And lying there as he
was, he sent for the knight, and said —

" 0 friend ! 0 knight ! no other horse, save I alone,
will be able to break through the remaining line and take
that last king. And I will not myself destroy the deeds
I have already done. Have me helped up, and put the
armour on to me." And so saying, he uttered this
stanza :

" Though fallen on his side,
And wounded sore with darts.
The Bhoja's better than a hack !
So harness me^ 0 charioteer ! "

Then the knight helped the Bodisat up, bound up his
wound, put on all his harness, seated himself on his back,
broke through the seventh line, took the seventh king
alive, and delivered him over to the king's guard.

They led the Bodisat, too, to the king's gate, and the
king went out to see him. Then the Great Being said to
the king —

" 0 Great King ! slay not those seven kings. Take an
oath from them, and let them go. Let the honour due to
me and to the knight be all given to him alone. It is not
right to let a warrior come to ruin when he has taken
seven kings prisoners and delivered them over to you.

248

\.—BHOJAjANIYA JATAKA.

And do you give gifts, and keep the commandments, and
rule your kingdom in righteousness and equity ! "

And when the Bodisat had thus exhorted the king, they
took off his harness. And as they were taking it off,
piece by piece, he breathed his last.

Then the king had a funeral performed for him, and
gave the knight great honour, and took an oath from the
seven kings that they would not rebel against him, and
sent them away each to his own place. And he ruled his
kingdom in righteousness and equity, and so at the end of
his life passed away according to his deeds.

The Teacher added, "Thus, 0 mendicants, the wise,
even in former times, exerted themselves unremittingly,
and did not give in when they received a check. How
then can you lose heart, after being ordained according to
a system of religion so adapted to lead you to salvation !
And he then explained the Truths.

When his exhortation was concluded, the monk who
had lost heart was established in the Fruit of Arahatship.
Then the Teacher made the connexion, and summed up
the Jataka by saying, "The king of that time was Ananda,
the knight was Sariputta, but the Bhoja thoroughbred
was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE BHOJA THOROUGHBRED.

No. 24.

AJANNA JATAKA.

The Thoroughbred War Horse.

"At every timey in every place" — This also the Master
told, while at Jetavana, about that monk who lost heart. ^
But when he had addressed the monk with the words,
"The wise in former times, 0 monk, continued their
exertion, even though in the struggle they received a
blow," he told this tale.

Long ago, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares,
seven kings, as before, surrounded the city. Then a
warrior who fought from a chariot harnessed two Sindh
horses, who were brothers, to his chariot, issued from
the city, broke through six lines and took six kings
prisoners.

At that moment the eldest of the horses received a
wound. The charioteer drove on till he came to the
king's gate, took the elder horse out, loosened his harness,
made him lie down on his side, and began to harness
another horse.

* See the last Introductory Story.

250

Z^-AJANNA JATAKA.

When the Bodisat saw this, he thought as before, sent
for the charioteer, and lying as he was, uttered this
stanza :

" At every time, in every place.
Whatever may chance, whate'er mischance,
The thoroughbred's still full of fire !
'Tis a hack horse who then gives in ! "

The charioteer helped the Bodisat up, harnessed him,
broke through the seventh line, and bringing the seventh
king with him, drove up to the king's gate and took out
the horse.

The Bodisat, lying there on his side, exhorted the king
as before, and then breathed his last. The king performed
'funeral rites over his body, did honour to the charioteer,
ruled his kingdom with righteousness, and passed away
according to his deeds.

When the Teacher had finished the discourse, he pro-
claimed the Truths, and summed up the Jataka (that
monk having obtained Arahatship after the Truths) by
saying, " The king of that time was Ananda, the- horse
the Supreme Buddha."

EJ^D OF THE STORY OF THE THOROUGHBRED.

No. 25.

TITTHA JATAKA.

The Horse at the Ford.)

" Feed the horse, then, charioteer," etc. — This the Master
told wliile at Jetavana about a monk wlio at that time was
a CO- resident junior under the Minister of Righteousness,
but who had formerly been a goldsmith.

For the knowledge of hearts and motives belongs to the
Buddhas only, and to no one else ; and hence it was that
even the Minister of Righteousness ^ prescribed corruption
as a subject of meditation for the monk under his rule,
through ignorance of his true character.

]N"ow the monk derived no benefit from that religious
exercise — for the following reason. He had come to life
in five hundred successive births in a goldsmith's house.
From the continual sight through so long a period of the
purest gold, the idea of impurity was difficult for him to
grasp. Four months he spent without being able to get
the faintest notion of it.

As the Minister of Righteousness was unable to bestow
salvation (Arahatship) on his co- resident junior, he said
to himself, "He must be one of those whom only a
Buddha can lead to the Truth ! We will take him to the
Tathiigata." And he led him to the Master.

The Master inquired of Sariputta why he brought the

1 A title of honour given to Sariputta.

252

2^.— TITTHA JATAKA.

monk before Mm. "Lord! I prescribed a subject of
meditation for this brother, but in four months be bas
failed to get tbe most elementary notion of it ; so I pre-
sumed be was one of tbose men wbom only a Buddba can
lead to tbe Trutb, and I bave brought him to you."

" What was tbe particular exercise you prescribed for
bim, Sariputta?"

"The Meditation on Impurity, 0 Blessed One ! "

" 0 Sariputta ! you don't understand the hearts and
motives of men. Do you go now; but return in the
evening, and you shall take your co-resident with you."

Thus dismissing Sariputta, the Teacher bad the monk
provided with a better suit of robes, kept him near him-
self on tbe begging-round, and had pleasant food given to
him. On bis return with tbe monks he spent the rest of
the day in his apartment, and in the evening took that
brother with him on his walk round the monastery.
There, in a mango-grove, he created a pond, and in it a
large cluster of lotuses, and among them one flower of
surpassing size and beauty. And telling the monk to sit
down there and watch that flower, he returned to his
apartment.

Tbe monk gazed at tbe flower again and again. Tbe
Blessed One made that very flower decay; and even as
tbe monk was watching it, it faded away and lost its
colour. Then tbe petals began to fall ofi", beginning with
the outermost, and in a minute they had all dropped on
the ground. At last the heart fell to pieces, and tbe
centre knob only remained.

As tbe monk saw this, he thought, "But now this
lotus-flower was exquisitely beautiful! Now its colour
bas gone ; its petals and filaments bave fallen away,
and only the centre knob is left ! If such a flower can so
decay, what may not happen to this body of mine !
Verily nothing that is composite is enduring ! " And the
eyes of his mind were opened.

25.— THE HORSE AT THE FORD.

253

Then the Master knew that he had attained to spiritual
insight ; and without leaving his apartment, sent out an
appearance as of himself, saying :

" Root out the love of self.
As you might the autumn lotus with your hand.
Devote yourself to the Way of Peace alone —
To the Nirvana which the Blessed One has preached ! '^ ^

As the stanza was over the monk reached to Arahat-
ship ; and at the thought of now being delivered from
every kind of future life, he gave utterance to his joy in
the hymn of praise beginning —

He who has lived his Kfe, whose heart is fixed,

Whose evil inclinations are destroyed ;

He who is wearing his last body now.

Whose life is pure, whose senses well controlled —

He has gained freedom ! — as the moon set free,

When an eclipse has passed, from Eahu's jaws.

The utter darkness of delusion,
Which reached to every cranny of his mind.
He has dispelled ; and with it every sin —
Just as the thousand-ray'd and mighty sun
Sheds glorious lustre over all the earth.
And dissipates the clouds !

And he returned to the Blessed One, and paid him
reverence. The Elder also came ; and when he took leave
of the Teacher, he took his co-resident junior back with
him.

And the news of this was noised abroad among the

brethren. And they sat together in the evening in the

Lecture Hall, extolling the virtues of the Sage, and

^ This is verse No. 285 of the ' Scripture Verses,' apropos of which the
commentator tells the same story as is told here.

254

26.— TITTHA JATAKA.

saying, "Brethren, Sariputta tlie Venerable, not pos-
sessing tlie knowledge of hearts and motives, ignored
the disposition of the monk under his charge ; but the
Master, having that knowledge, procured in one day for
that very man the blessing of Arahatship, with all its
powers ! Ah ! how great is the might of the Buddhas ! "

When the Teacher had come there and had taken his
seat, he asked them what they were talking about. And
they told him.

" It is not so very wonderful, 0 monks," said he, " that
I now, as the Buddha, should know this man's disposi-
tion ; formerly also I knew it."

And he told a tale.

Once upon a time Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares,
and the Bodisat was his adviser in things spiritual and
temporal.

Now somebody took a common hack to be rubbed down
at the ford where the king's state charger used to be
bathed. The charger was offended at being led down
into the water where a hack had been rubbed down, and
refused to step into it.

The horsekeeper went and said to the king, " Your
majesty ! the state charger won't enter the water."

The king sent^or the Bodisat, and said, "Do you go,
Pandit, and find out why the horse won't go into the
water when he is led down to the ford."

" Yery well, my Lord ! " said he ; and went to the
ford, and examined the horse, and found there was
nothing the matter with it. Then, reflecting what might
be the reason, he thought, " Some other horse must have

25.— THE HORSE AT THE FORD. 255

been watered here just before bim ; and offended at tbat,
be must bave refused to enter tbe water."

So be asked tbe borsekeepers wbetber anytbing bad
been watered at tbe ford just before.

" A certain back, my Lord ! " said tbey.

Tben tbe Bodisat saw it was bis vanity tbat made bim
wisb not to be batbed tbere, and tbat be ougbt to be
taken to some otber pond. So be said, " Look you,
borsekeeper, even if a man gets tbe finest milky rice witb
tbe most delicious curry to eat, be will tire of it sooner or
later. Tbis borse bas been batbed often enougb at tbe
ford bere, take bim to some otber ford to rub bim down
and feed bim." And so saying, be uttered tbe verse —

" Feed tbe borse, tben, 0 cbarioteer,
Now at one ford, now at anotber.
If one but eat it oft enougb,
Tbe finest rice surfeits a man ! "

Wben tbey beard wbat be said, tbey took tbe borse to
anotber ford, and tbere batbed and fed bim. And as
tbey were rubbing down tbe borse after watering bim,
tbe Bodisat went back to tbe king.

Tbe king said, " Well, friend ! bas tbe borse bad bis
batb and bis drink ? "

" It bas, my Lord ! "

" Wby, tben, did it refuse at first ? "

*' Just in tbis way," said be ; and told bim all.

Tbe king gave tbe Bodisat mucb bonour, saying, ** He
understands tbe motives even of sucb an animal as tbis.
How wise be is ! " And at tbe end of tbis life be passed
away according to bis deeds. And tbe Bodisat too passed
away according to his deeds.

2s6

2b.—TITTHA JATAKA.

When the Master had finished this discourse in illus-
tration of his saying ("Not now only, 0 mendicants,
have I known this man's motive ; formerly also I did so "),
he made the connexion, and summed up the Jataka, by
saying, " The state charger of that time was this monk,
the King was Ananda, but the wise minister was I
myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE FORD.

No. 26.

MAHILA-MUKHA JATAKA.

Evil communicatioiis corrupt good manners.

** By listening first to robbers* talk,* etc} — This the
Master told when at Jetavana, about Devadatta. Deva-
datta became well-pleasing to Prince Ajata-sattu, and
had great gain and honour. The Prince had a monastery
built for him at Gaya-sisa, and five hundred vessels-full
of food made of the finest old fragment-rice provided for
him daily. Through this patronage Devadatta's following
increased greatly, and he lived with his disciples in that
monastery.

At that time there were two friends living at Eajagaha ;
and one of them took the vows under the Teacher, the
other under Devadatta. And they used to meet in
difierent places, or go to the monasteries to see one
another.

Now one day Devadatta' s adherent said to the other,
" Brother ! why do you go daily with toil and trouble to
beg your food ? Ever since Devadatta was settled at the
Gaya-sisa Monastery he is provided with the best of
things to eat. That's the best way to manage. Why do
you make labour for yourself? Wouldn't it be much

1 This Introductory Story is also told as the introduction to Jatakas
Nos. 141 and 184.

VOL. I. 17

258

2^.—MAHILA-MUKHA JATAKA.

better for you to come in the morning to Gaya-sTsa and
enjoy really good food — drinking our excellent gruel, and
eating from the eighteen kinds of dishes we get ? "

When he had been pressed again and again, he became
willing to go ; and thenceforward he used to go to Gaya-
sisa and take his meal, and return early to the Bambu
Grove. But it was impossible to keep it secret for ever ;
and before long it was noised abroad that he went to
Gaya-sTsa and partook of the food provided for Devadatta.

So his friends asked him if that were true.

" Who has said such a thing ? " said he.

" Such and such a one," was the reply.

"Well, it is true, brethren, that I go and take my
meals at Gaya-slsa ; but it is not Devadatta, it is the
others who give me to eat."

" Brother ! Devadatta is a bitter enemy of the Buddhas.
The wicked fellow has curried favour with Ajata-sattu,
and won over his patronage by his wickedness. Yet you,
who took the vows under a system so well able to lead
you to Nirvana, now partake of food procured for Deva-
datta by his wickedness. Come ! we must take you
before the Master ! " So saying, they brought him to
the Lecture Hall.

The Master saw them, and asked, "What, then! are
you come here, 0 mendicants ! bringing this brother with
you against his will ? "

" Yes, Lord," said they. " This brother took the vows
under you, and yet he partakes of the food which Deva-
datta's wickedness has earned for him."

The Teacher asked him whether this was true what
tliey said.

" Lord ! " replied he, " it is not Devadatta, but the
others who give me food : that I do eat."

Then said the Teacher, " 0 monk, make no excuse for
it. Devadatta is a sinful, wicked man. How then can
you, who took the vows here, eat Devadatta's bread, even

26.— ^r/Z COMMUNICATIONS, 259

while devoting yourself to my religion ? Yet you always,
even when right in those whom you honoured, used to
follow also any one you met." And he told a tale.

Long ago, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares,
the Bodisat became his minister. At that time the king
had a state elephant, named * Girly-face,' who was good
and gentle, and would hurt nobody.

]N^ow one day, robbers came at night-time to a place
near his stall, and sat down not far from him, and con-
sulted about their plans, saying, " Thus should a tunnel
be broken through ; thus should housebreaking be carried
out ; goods should be carried off only after the tunnel or
the breach has been made clear and open as a road or
a ford ; the taker should carry off the things, even with
murder, thus no one will be able to stand up against him ;
robbery must never be united with scruples of conduct,
but with harshness, violence, and cruelty." Thus advising
and instructing one another, they separated.

And the next day likewise, and so for many days they
assembled there, and consulted together. When the
elephant heard what they said, he thought, "It is me
they are teaching. I am in future to be harsh, violent,
and cruel." And he really became so.

Early in the morning an elephant keeper came there.
Him he seized with his trunk, dashed to the ground, and
slew. So, likewise, he treated a second and a third,
slaying every one who came near him.

So they told the king that * Girly-f ace ' had gone mad,
and killed every one he caught sight of. The King sent

26o

2^.—MAHILA'MUKHA JA TAKA.

the Bodisat, saying, " Do you go, Pandit, and find out
what's the reason of his having become a Rogue ! " ^

The Bodisat went there, and finding he had no bodily
ailment, thought over what the reason could be; and
came to the conclusion that he must have become a Rogue
after overhearing some conversation or other, and thinking
it was meant as a lesson for him. So he asked the elephant
keepers, " Has there been any talking going on at night
time, near the stable ? "

" 0 yes, sir ! Some thieves used to come and talk
together," was the reply.

The Bodisat went away, and told the king, " There
is nothing bodily the matter with the elephant, your
Majesty ; it is simply from hearing robbers talk that he
has become a Rogue."

"Well ; what ought we to do now ? *'

" Let holy devotees, venerable by the saintliness of
their lives,^ be seated in the elephant stable and talk of
righteousness."

* A " Eogue elephant " is a well-known technical term for a male who
has been driven out of the herd, and away from the females, by a stronger
than himself ; or for a male, who, in the rutting season, has lost his self-
command. Such elephants, however gentle before, become exceedingly
vicious and wanton.

2 Literally Samana-Brahmans, the Samanas, or Self-conquering Ones, being
those who have given up the world, and devoted themselves to lives of self-
renunciation and of peace. Eeal superiority of caste — true Brahmanship — is
the result, not of birth, but of self-culture and self-control. The Samanas
are therefore the true Brahmans, * Brahmans by saintliness of life.' The
Samanas were not necessarily Buddhists, though they disregarded the rites
and ceremonies inculcated by the Brahmans. It would not have answered
the king's purpose to send Brahmans : who are distinguished throughout the
Jatakas, not by holiness of life, but by birth ; and who would be represented
as likely to talk, not of righteousness, but of ritual. I cannot render the
compound, therefore, by ' Samanas and Brahmans,' and I very much doubt
whether it ever has that meaning (but see Childers contra^ under Samana).
It certainly never has the sense of * Samanas or Brahmans.' It was an early
Buddhist idea that the only true Samanas were those members of the Order
who had entered the Noble Path, and the only true Brahmans those who had
reached to the goal of the Noble Path, that is, to Nirvana. See Maha
Parinibbana Sutta, p. 58.

26.-E F/L COMMUNICATIONS, 261

"Then do so, my friend," said the king. And the
Bodisat got holy men to sit near the elephant's stall,
telling them to talk of holy things.

So, seated not far from the elephant, they began : " No
one should be struck, no one killed. The man of upright
conduct ought to be patient, loving, and merciful."

On hearing this, he thought, " It is me these men are
teaching ; from this time forth I am to be good ! " And
so he became tame and quiet.

The king asked the Bodisat, "How is it, my friend?
Is he quieted ? "

"Yes, my Lord! The elephant, bad as he was, has,
because of the wise men, been re-established in his former
character." And so saying, he uttered the stanza :

By Kstening first to robbers* talk,

* Girly-face ' went about to kill.

By listening to men with hearts well trained,

The stately elephant stood firm once more

In all the goodness he had lost.

Then the king gave great honour to the Bodisat for
understanding the motives even of one born as an animal.
And he lived to a good old age, and, with the Bodisat,
passed away according to his deeds.

The Teacher having finished this discourse, in illustra-
tion of what he had said (" Formerly also, 0 monk, you
used to follow any one you met. When you heard what
thieves said, you followed thieves ; when you heard what

262 2Q.—MAHILA-MUKHA JATAKA.

the righteous said, you followed them"), lie made the
connexion, and summed up the Jataka by saying, "He
who at that time was ' Girly-face ' was the traitor-monk,
the king was Ananda, and the minister was I myself.'^

END OF THE STORY ABOUT ' GIRLY-FACE.' ^

1 Perhaps ' "Woman-face ' would be a more literal rendering of the word

Mahila-mukha. But as the allusion is evidently to the elephant's naturally

gentle character, I have rendered the expression by * Girly-face.' The ex-
aggeration in this story is somewhat too absurd for Western tastes.

No. 27.

ABHINHA JATAKA.

The Elephant and the Dog.

"No longer can he take a morsel even" etc. — This the
Master told when at Jetavana about an old monk and a
lay convert.

At Savatthi, the story goes, there were two friends.
One of them entered the Order, and went every day to
get his meal at the house of the other. The other gave
him to eat, and ate himself; and went back with him
to the monastery, sat there chatting and talking with him
till sunset, and then returned to the city. The other,
again, used to accompany him to the city gate, and then
turn back. And the close friendship between them be-
came common talk among the brethren.

Now one day the monks sat talking in the Lecture Hall
about their intimacy. When the Teacher came, he asked
them what they were talking about, and they told him.
Then he said, " Not now only, 0 mendicants, have these
been close allies ; they were so also in a former birth."
And he told a tale.

Long ago, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares,
the Bodisat became his minister.

At that time a dog used to go to the state elephant's

264

2n.—ABHINHA JATAKA,

stable, and feed on the lumps of rice which fell where the
elephant fed. Being attracted there by the food, he soon
became great friends with the elephant, and used to eat
close by him. At last neither of them was happy without
the other ; and the dog used to amuse himself by catching
hold of the elephant's trunk, and swinging to and fro.

But one day there came a peasant who gave the
elephant-keeper money for the dog, and took it back with
him to his village. From that time the elephant, missing
the dog, would neither eat nor drink nor bathe. And they
let the king know about it.

He sent the Bodisat, saying, " Do you go. Pandit, and
find out what's the cause of the elephant's behaviour."^

So he went to the stable, and seeing how sad the ele-
phant looked, said to himself, " There seems to be nothing
bodily the matter with him. He must be so overwhelmed
with grief by missing some one, I should think, who had
become near and dear to him." And he asked the ele-
phant-keepers, " Is there any one with whom he is
particularly intimate ? "

" Certainly, Sir ! There was a dog of whom he was
very fond indeed ! "

** Where is it now ? "

" Some man or other took it away."

" Do you know where the man lives ? "

"No, Sir!"

Then the Bodisat went and told the king, " There's

nothing the matter with the elephant, your majesty ; but

^ So at p. 121 of the Mahavagsa the king sends Mahinda to find out why
the state elephant refused his food. Mahinda finds the motive to be that
the elephant wants a Lag aha to be built ; and the king, *' who always grati-
fied the desires of his subjects," had the temple built at once ! The author
of the Mahilvagsa must often have heard the Jataka stories told, and this
among the number.

21.— THE ELEPHANT AND THE DOG. 265

he was great friends with a dog, and I fancy it's through,
missing it that he refuses his food."
And so saying, he uttered the stanza :

No longer can he take a morsel even
Of rice or grass ; the bath delights him not !
Because, methinks, through constant intercourse,
The elephant had come to love the dog.

When the king heard what he said, he asked what was
now to be done.

"Have a proclamation made, 0 king, to this effect:
' A man is said to have taken away a dog of whom our
state elephant was fond. In whose house soever that dog
shall be found, he shall be fined so much ! ' "

The king did so ; and as soon as he heard of it, the
man turned the dog loose. The dog hastened back, and
went close up to the elephant. The elephant took him up
in his trunk, and placed him on his forehead, and wept
and cried, and took him down again, and watched him
as he fed. And then he took his own food.

Then the king paid great honour to the Bodisat for
knowing the motives even of animals.

"When the Teacher had finished this discourse, and had
enlarged upon the Four Truths,^ he made the connexion
and summed up the Jataka, " He who at that time was
the dog was the lay convert, the elephant was the old
monk, but the minister pandit was I myself."

END OF THE STORY ON CONSTANCY.

1 Note by the Commentator. " This so-called enforcing (or illustrating) the
story hy a discourse on the Four Truths is to he understood at the end of
every Jataka ; hut we only mention it when it appears that it was hlessed (to
the conversion of some character in the Introductory Story)."

No. 28.

IS^AISTDI-YISALA JATAKA.

The Bull who Won the Bet.

"Speak kindly.'' ^Thi^ the Master told when at Jeta-
vana concerning the abusive language of the Six.^

For on one occasion the Six made a disturbance by
scorning, snubbing, and annoying peaceable monks, and
overwhelming them with the ten kinds of abuse. The
monks told the Blessed One about it. He sent for the
Six, and asked them whether it was true. And on their
acknowledging it, he reproved them, saying, " Harsh
speaking, 0 mendicants, is unpleasant, even to animals.
An animal once made a man who addressed him harshly
lose a thousand." And he told a tale.

Long ago a king of Gandhara was reigning in Takka-
sila, in the land of Gandhara. The Bodisat came to life
then as a bull.

Now, when he was yet a young calf, a certain Brahman,
after attending upon some devotees who were wont to

1 These "Six" are noted characters in Buddhist legend. They are six
had monks, whose evil deeds and words are said to have given occasion to
many a *' bye-law," if one may so say, enacted in the Vinaya Pitaka for the
guidance of the members of the BudcUiist Order of Mendicants.

2B.— THE BULL WHO WON THE BET. 267

give oxen to priests, received the bull. And lie called it
Nandi Yisala, and grew very fond of it ; treating it like a
son, and feeding it on gruel and rice.

When the Bodisat grew up, he said to himself, " This
Brahman has brought me up with great care ; and there's
no other ox in all the continent of India can drag the
weight I can. What if I were to let the Brahman know
about my strength, and so in my turn provide sustenance
for him ! "

And he said one day to the Brahman, " Do you go now.
Brahman, to some squire rich in cattle, and offer to bet
him a thousand that your ox will move a hundred laden
carts."

The Brahman went to a rich farmer, and started a con-
versation thus :

"Whose bullocks hereabout do you think the strongest ? "

" Such and such a man's," said the farmer ; and then
added, " but of course there are none in the whole country-
side to touch my own ! "

" I have one ox," said the Brahman, " who is good to
move a hundred carts, loads and all ! "

" Tush ! " said the squire. " Where in the world is
such an ox ? "

" Just in my house ! " said the Brahman.

" Then make a bet about it ! "

" All right ! I bet you a thousand he can."

So the bet was made. And he filled a hundred carts
(small waggons made for two bullocks) with sand and
gravel and stones, ranged them all in a row, and tied
them all firmly together, cross-bar to axle-tree.

Then he bathed Nandi Yisala, gave him a measure of
scented rice, hung a garland round his neck, and yoked

268

2%.—NANDI- VISALA JA TAKA.

him by himself to tlie front cart. Then he took his seat
on the pole, raised his goad aloft, and called out, " Gee
up ! you brute ! ! Drag 'em along ! you wretch ! ! "

The Bodisat said to himself, "He addresses me as a
wretch. I am no wretch ! " And keeping his four legs as
firm as so many posts, he stood perfectly still.

Then the squire that moment claimed his bet, and
made the Brahman hand over the thousand pieces. And
the Brahman, minus his thousand, took out his ox, went
home to his house, and lay down overwhelmed with
grief.

Presently Kanda Yisala, who was roaming about the
place, came up and saw the Brahman grieving there, and
said to him,

" What, Brahman ! are you asleep ? "

" Sleep ! How can I sleep after losing the thousand
pieces ? "

" Brahman ! IVe lived so long in your house, and
have I ever broken any pots, or rubbed up against the
walls, or made messes about ? "

" Never, my dear ! "

" Then why did you call me a wretch ? It's your fault.
It's not my fault. Go now, and bet him two thousand,
and never call me a wretch again — I, who am no wretch
at all!"

When the Brahman heard what he said, he made the
bet two thousand, tied the carts together as before, decked
out Nandi Yisala, and yoked him to the foremost cart.

He managed this in the following way: he tied the
pole and the cross-piece fast together ; yoked Nandi
Yisala on one side ; on the other he fixed a smooth piece
of timber from the point of the yoke to the axle-end, and

29. — THE BULL WHO WON THE BET. 269

wrapping it round witli the fastenings of the cross-piece,
tied it fast ; so that when this was done, the yoke could
not move this way and that way, and it was possible for
one ox to drag forwards the double bullock-cart.

Then the Brahman seated himself on the pole, stroked
Nandi Yisala on the back, and called out, " Gee up ! my
beauty ! ! Drag it along, my beauty ! ! "

And the Bodisat, with one mighty effort, dragged for-
wards the hundred heavily-laden carts, and brought the
hindmost one up to the place where the foremost one had
stood !

Then the cattle-owner acknowledged himself beaten,
and handed over to the Brahman the two thousand ; the
bystanders, too, presented the Bodisat with a large sum ;
and the whole became the property of the Brahman.
Thus, by means of the Bodisat, great was the wealth he
acquired.

So the Teacher reproved the Six, saying, "Harsh
words, 0 mendicants, are pleasant to no one ; " and
uttered, as Buddha, the following stanza, laying down
a rule of moral conduct :

Speak kindly ; never speak in words unkind !

He moved a heavy weight for him who kindly spake.

He gained him wealth ; he was delighted with him !

When the Teacher had given them this lesson in virtue
(" Speak kindly," etc.), he summed up the Jataka, " The
Brahman of that time was Ananda, but Nandi Yisala was
I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE BULL W^HO WON THE BET.

No. 29.

KANHA JATAKA.

The Old Woman's Black Bull.

" Whene'er the load he heavy. ^' — This the Master told
while at Jetavana, about the Double Miracle. That and
the Descent from Heaven will be explained in the Birth
Story of the Sarabha Antelope, in the Thirteenth Book.

The Supreme Buddha performed on that occasion the
Double Miracle, remained some time in heaven, and on
the Great Day of the Pavarana FestivaP descended at the
city of Sagkassa, and entered Jetavana with a great
retinue.

When the monks were seated in the Lecture Hall, they
began to extol the virtue of the Teacher, saying, " Truly,
Brethren ! unequalled is the power of the Tathagata. The
yoke the Tathagata bears none else is able to bear.
Though the Six Teachers kept on saying, * We will work
wonders ! We will work wonders ! ' they could not do
even one. Ah ! how unequalled is the power of the
TathSgata ! ''

^ This was a December festival, held to celebrate the close of the season
of "WAS, the four (or, according to some authorities, three) months of rainy
weather, during wliich the members of the Order had to stay in one place.
The Buddha had spent WAS among the angels— not, of course, that he cared
to go to heaven for his own sake, but to give the ignorantly happy and
deluded angels an opportunity of learning how to forsake the error of their
ways. In a subsequent form of this curious legend, whose origin is at present
unknown, he is said to have descended into hell with a similar object. See
Professor Cowell in the Indian Antiquary for 1879.

THE OLD WOMAN'S BLACK BULL.

271

When the Teacher came there, he asked them what
they were discussing, and they told him. Then he said,
*' 0 mendicants ! who should now bear the yoke that I
can bear ? For even when an animal in a former birth I
could find no one to drag the weight I dragged.'* And
he told a tale.

Long ago, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares,
the Bodisat returned to life as a bull.

Now, when it was still a young calf, its owners stopped
a while in an old woman's house, and gave him to her
when they settled their account for their lodging. And
she brought him up, treating him like a son, and feeding
him on gruel and rice.

He soon became known as " The old woman's Blackie."
When he grew up, he roamed about, as black as collyrium,
with the village cattle, and was very good-tempered and
quiet. The village children used to catch hold of his
horns, or ears, or dewlaps, and hang on to him ; or amuse
themselves by pulling his tail, or riding about on his
back.

One day he said to himself, " My mother is wretchedly
poor. She's taken so much pains, too, in bringing me up,
and has treated me like a son. What if I were to work
for hire, and so relieve her distress ! " And from that
day he was always on the look out for a job.

Now one day a young caravan owner arrived at a
neighbouring ford with five hundred bullock- waggons.
And his bullocks were not only unable to drag the carts
across, but even when he yoked the five hundred pair in
a row they could not move one cart by itself.

272

2^.— KAN HA JATAKA.

The Bodisat was grazing with the village cattle close
to the ford. The young caravan owner was a famous
judge of cattle, and began looking about to see whether
there were among them any thoroughbred bull able to
drag over the carts. Seeing the Bodisat, he thought he
would do ; and asked the herdsmen —

" Who may be the owners, my men, of this fellow ? I
should like to yoke him to the cart, and am willing to
give a reward for having the carts dragged over."

" Catch him and yoke him then ! " said they. " He
has no owner hereabouts."

But when he began to put a string through his nose
and drag him along, he could not get him to come. For
the Bodisat, it is said, wouldn't go till he was promised a
reward.

The young caravan owner, seeing what his object was,
said to him, " Sir ! if you'll drag over these five hundred
carts for me, I'll pay you wages at the rate of two pence
for each cart — a thousand pieces in all."

Then the Bodisat went along of his own accord. And the
men yoked him to the cart. And with a mighty effort he
dragged it up and landed it safe on the high ground.
And in the same manner he dragged up all the carts.

So the caravan owner then put five hundred pennies in
a bundle, one for each cart, and tied it round his neck.
The bull said to himself, " This fellow is not giving me
wages according to the rate agreed upon. I shan't let
him go on now ! " And so he went and stood in the way
of the front cart, and they tried in vain to get him away.

The caravan owner thought, "He knows, I suppose,
that the pay is too little ; " and wrapping a thousand
pieces in a cloth, tied them up in a bundle, and hung that

29.— TJ7E OLD WOMAN'S BLACK BULL. 273

round his neck. And as soon as lie had got the bundle
with a thousand inside he went off to his * mother.'

Then the village children called out, " See ! what's
that round the neck of the old woman's Blackie ? " and
began to run up to him. But he chased after them, so
that they took to their heels before they got near him ;
and he went straight to his mother. And he appeared
with eyes all bloodshot, utterly exhausted from dragging
over so many carts.

" How did you get this, dear ? " said the good old
woman, when she saw the bag round his neck. And
when she heard, on inquiry from the herdsmen, what had
happened, she exclaimed, " Am I so anxious, then, to live
on the fruit of your toil, my darling ! Why do you put
yourself to all this pain ? "

And she bathed him in warm water, and rubbed him all
over with oil, and gave him to drink, and fed him up
with good food. And at the end of her life she passed
away according to her deeds, and the Bodisat with her.

When the Teacher had finished this lesson in virtue,
in illustration of that saying of his (" Not now only, O
mendicants, has the Bodisat been excellent in power ; he
was so also in a former birth "), he made the connexion,
and, as Buddha, uttered the following stanza :

Whene'er the load be heavy,
Where'er the ruts be deep.
Let them yoke * Blackie ' then.
And he will drag the load !

\0L. I. 18

274 2^.— KAN HA JATAKA.

Then the Blessed One told them, "At that time, 0
mendicants, only the Black Bull conld drag the load."
And he then made the connexion and summed up the
Jiitaka : " The old woman of that time was Uppala-vannii,
but * the old woman's Blackie ' was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE OLD WOMAn's BLACK BULL.^

* It will be observed that the old wornan's 'Blackie' could understand
what was said to him, and make his own meaning understood; but he could
not speak.

No. 30.

MUNIKA JATAKA.

The Ox who Envied the Pis:.

-Q'

^' Envy not Munika." — This the Master told while at
Jetavana, about being attracted by a fat girl. That will
be explained in the Birth Story of Narada-Kassapa the
Younger, in the Thirteenth Book.

On that occasion the Teacher asked the monk, *' Is it
true what they say, that you are love- sick ? "

" It is true. Lord ! " said he.

"What about?"

" My Lord ! 'tis the allurement of that fat girl ! "

Then the Master said, " 0 monk ! she will bring evil
upon you. In a former birth already you lost your life
on the day of her marriage, and were turned into food for
the multitude." And he told a tale.

Long ago, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares,
the Bodisat came to life in the house of a landed pro-
prietor in a certain village as an ox, with the name of
' Big-red.' And he had a younger brother called ' Little-
red.' And all the carting work in the household was
carried on by means of the two brothers.

Now there was an only daughter in that family, and
she was asked in marriage for the son of a man of rank in

276

ZQ.-MUNIKA JATAKA.

a neighbouring city. Then her parents thinking, "It
will do for a feast of delicacies for the guests who come
to the girl's wedding," fattened up a pig with boiled rice.
And his name was * Sausages.'

When Little-red saw this, he asked his brother, " All
the carting work in the household falls to our lot. Yet
these people give us mere grass and straw to eat ; while
they bring up that pig on boiled rice ! What can be the
reason of that fellow getting that ? "

Then his brother said to him, " Dear Little-red, don't
envy the creature his food ! This poor pig is eating the
food of death ! These people are fattening the pig to
provide a feast for the guests at their daughter's wedding.
But a few days more, and you shall see how these men
will come and seize the pig by his legs, and drag him off
out of his sty, and deprive him of his life, and make
curry for the guests ! " And so saying, he uttered the
following stanza :

" Envy not 'Sausages ! '
'Tis deadly food he eats !
Eat your chaff, and be content ;
'Tis the sign of length of life ! "

And, not long after, those men came there ; and they
killed * Sausages,' and cooked him up in various ways.

Then the Bodisat said to Little-red, "Have you seen
* Sausages,' my dear ? "

" I have seen, brother," said he, " what has come of the
food poor Sausages ate. Better a hundred, a thousand
times, than his rice, is our food of only grass and straw
and chaff; for it works no harm, and is evidence that our
lives will last."

30.-7^^ OX WHO ENVIED THE PIG. 277

Then the Teacher said, "Thus then, 0 monk, you
have already in a former birth lost your life through
her, and become food for the multitude." And when he
had concluded this lesson in virtue, he proclaimed the
Truths. When the Truths were over, that love- sick
monk stood fast in the Fruit of Conversion. But the
Teacher made the connexion, and summed up the Jataka,
by saying, " He who at that time was ' Sausages ' the pig
was the love- sick monk, the fat girl was as she is now,
Little-red was Ananda, but Big-red was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE OX V7H0 ENVIED THE PIG,

^ If Munika, the name of the Pig, is derived from the root MAR (B. E.
No. 2) — as I think it must be, in spite of the single n— it is a verbal noun
derived from a past participle, meaning ' cut into small pieces.' The idea is
doubtless of the small pieces of meat used for curry, as the Indians had no
sausages. I could not dare to coin such a word as ' Curry-bit-ling,' and
have therefore preserved the joke by using a word which will make it intel-
ligible to European readers.

This well-told story is peculiarly interesting as being one of those Indian
stories which have reached Europe independently of both the ' Kalilag and
Dimnag ' and the ' Barlaam and Josaphat ' literature. Professor Benfey
(pp. 228-229 of his Introduction to the Pafica Tantra) has traced stories
somewhat analogous throughout European literature ; but our story itself is,
he says, found almost word for word in an unpublished Hebrew book by
Berachia ben Natronai, only that two donkeys take the place of the two oxen.
Berachia lived in the twelfth or thirteenth century, in Provence.

One of the analogous stories is where a falcon complains to a cock, that,
while he (the falcon) is so grateful to men for the little they give him that
he comes and hunts for them at their beck and call, the cock, though fed up
to his eyes, tries to escape when they catch him. " Ah ! " replies the cock,
" I never yet saw a falcon brought to table, or frying in a pan ! " (Anvar i
Suhaili, p. 144; Livre des Lumieres, p. 112; Cabinet des Fees, xvii. 277;
Bidpai et Lokman, ii. 59 ; La Fontaine, viii. 21). Among the so-called
^sop's Fables is also one where a calf laughs at a draught ox for bearing
his drudgery so patiently. The ox says nothing. Soon after there is a feast,
and the ox gets a holiday, while the calf is led off to the sacrifice (James's
^sop. No. 150).

Jataka No. 286 is the same story in almost the same words, save (1) that
the pig's name is there Saluha, which means the edible root of the water-lily,
and might be freely rendered ' Turnips ' ; and (2) that there are three verses
instead of one. As special stress is there laid on the fact that ' Turnips ' was
allowed to lie on the hettha-manca, which I have above translated * sty,' it is
possible that the word means the platform or seat in front of the hut, and
under the shade of the overhanging eaves, — a favourite resort of the people
of the house.

CHAPTER lY. KULAYAKAYAGGA.

No. 31.

KULAYAKA JATAKA.

On Mercy to Animals.

^'Let the Nestlings in the wood." — This the Master told
while at Jetavana, about a monk who drank water with-
out straining it.

Two young monks who were friends, it is said, went
into the country from Savatthi ; and after stopping as long
as it suited them in a certain pleasant spot, set out again
towards Jetavana, with the intention of joining the
Supreme Buddha.

One of them had a strainer, the other had not ; so
they used to strain water enough at one time for both to
drink.

One day they had a dispute; and the owner of the
strainer would not lend it to the other, but strained water
himself, and drank it. When the other could not get the
strainer, and was unable to bear up any longer against his
thirst, he drank without straining. And in due course
they both arrived at Jetavana ; and after saluting the
Teacher, took their seats.

The Teacher bade them welcome, saying, '* Where are
you come from ? "

279

" Lord ! we have been staying in a village in tlie land
of Kosala ; and we left it to come here and visit you."

" I hope, then, you are come in concord."

The one without a strainer replied, ^' Lord ! this monk
quarrelled with me on the way, and wouldn't lend me his
strainer ! "

But the other one said, " Lord ! this monk knowingly
drank water with living things in it without straining
it!"

" Is it true, 0 monk, as he says, that you knowingly
drank water with living creatures in it ? "

" Yes, Lord ! I drank the water as it was."

Then the Teacher said, " There were wise men once, O
monk, ruling in heaven, who, when defeated and in full
flight along the mighty deep, stopped their car, saying,
' Let us not, for the sake of supremacy, put living things
to pain ; ' and made sacrifice of all their glory, and even
of their life, for the sake of the young of the Supannas."

And he told a tale.^

Long ago a king of Magadha was reigning in Raja-
gaha, in the land of Magadha.

At that time the Bodisat (just as he who is now Sakka
was once born in the village of Macala in Magadha) was
born in that very village as a nobleman's son. On the
naming- day they gave him the name of Prince Magha,
and when he grew up he was known as * Magha the young
Brahman.'

His parents procured him a wife from a family of equal

1 The following tale is told, with some variations, in the course of the
commentary on verse 30 of the Dhammapada (pp. 186 and foil.) ; but the
Introductory Story is there different.

28o Zl.—KULAVAK'A JATAKA.

rank ; and increasing in sons and daughters, lie became a
great giver of gifts, and kept the Five Commandments.

In that village there were as many as thirty families ;
and one day the men of those families stopped in the
middle of the village to transact some village business.
The Bodisat removed with his feet the lumps of soil on
the place where he stood, and made the spot convenient
to stand on ; but another came up and stood there. Then
he smoothed out another spot, and took his stand there ;
but another man came and stood upon it. Still the
Bodisat tried again and again with the same result, until
he had made convenient standing-room for all the thirty.

The next time he had an open-roofed shed put up
there ; and then pulled that down, and built a hall, and
had benches spread in it, and a water-pot placed there.
On another occasion those thirty men were reconciled by
the Bodisat, who confirmed them in the Five Command-
ments ; and thenceforward he continued with them in
works of piety.

Whilst they were so living they used to rise up early,
go out with bill- hooks and crowbars in their hands, tear
up with the crowbars the stones in the four high roads and
village paths, and roll them away, take away the trees which
would be in the way of vehicles, make the rough places
plain, form causeways, dig ponds, build public halls, give
gifts, and keep the Commandments — thus, in many ways,
all the dwellers in the village listened to the exhortations
of the Bodisat, and kept the Commandments.

Now the village headman said to himself, ''I used to
have great gain from fines, and taxes, and pot-money,
when these fellows drank strong drink, or took life, or
broke the other Commandments. But now Magha the

Zl.— OJV MERCY TO ANIMALS,

281

young Brahmaii has determined to have tlie Command-
ments kept, and permits none to take life or to do any-
thing else that is wrong. I'll make them keep the
Commandments with a vengeance ! '*

And he went in a rage to the king, and said, " 0 king !
there are a number of robbers going about sacking the
villages ! '*

" Go, and bring them up ! " said the king in reply.

And he went, and brought back all those men as
prisoners, and had it announced to the king that the
robbers were brought up. And the king, without in-
quiring what they had done, gave orders to have them
all trampled to death by elephants !

Then they made them all lie down in the court-yard,
and fetched the elephant. And the Bodisat exhorted
them, saying, ^' Keep the Commandments in mind.
Eegard them all — the slanderer, and the king, and the
elephant — with feelings as kind as you harbour towards
yourselves ! "

And they did so.

Then men led up the elephant ; but though they brought
him to the spot, he would not begin his work, but trumpeted
forth a mighty cry, and took to flight. And they brought
up another and another, but they all ran away.

" There must be some drug in their possession," said
the king ; and gave orders to have them searched. So
they searched, but found nothing, and told the king so.

" Then they must be repeating some spell. Ask them
if they have any spell to utter.''

The officials asked them, and the Bodisat said there
was. And they told the king, and he had them all called
before him, and said, " Tell me that spell you know ! "

282

Zl.—JCULAVAKA JATAKA.

Then tlie Bodlsat spoke, and said, " 0 king ! we have
no other spell but this — that we destroy no life, not even
of grass ; that we take nothing which is not given to us ;
that we are never guilty of unchastity, nor speak false-
hood, nor drink intoxicants ; that we exercise ourselves in
love, and give gifts ; that we make rough places plain,
dig ponds, and put up rest-houses — this is our spell, this
is our defence, this is our strength ! "

Then the king had confidence in them, and gave them
all the property in the house of the slanderer, and made
him their slave; and bestowed too the elephant upon
them, and made them a grant of the village.

Thenceforward they were left in peace to carry on their
works of charity ; and they sent for a builder and had a
large rest-house put up at the place where the four roads
met. But as they no longer took delight in womankind,
they allowed no woman to share in the good work.

Now at that time there were four women in the
Bodisat's household, named Piety, Thoughtful, Pleasing,
and Well-born. Piety took an opportunity of meeting
the builder alone, and gave him a bribe, and said to him,
" Brother ! manage somehow to give me a share in this
rest-house."

This he promised to do, and before doing the other
work he had a piece of timber dried and planed; and
bored it through ready for the pinnacle. And when it was
finished he wrapped it up in a cloth and laid it aside.
Then when the hall was finished, and the time had come
for putting up the pinnacle, he said, —

31.— OAT MERCY TO ANIMALS.

283

'' Dear me! there's one thing we haven't provided for ! "

" What's that ?" said they.

" We ought to have got a pinnacle."

" Yery well ! let's have one brought." '

*^ But it can't be made out of timber just cut ; we
ought to have had a pinnacle cut and planed, and bored
some time ago, and laid aside for use."

" What's to be done now then ?" said they.

" You must look about and see if there be such a thing
as a finished pinnacle for sale put aside in any one's
house."

And when they began to search, they found one on
Piety's premises ; but it could not be bought for money.

" If you let me be partaker in the building of the hall,
I will give it you ?" said she.

" No ! " replied they, " it was settled that women should
have no share in it."

Then the builder said, " Sirs ! what is this you are
saying ? Save the heavenly world of the Brahma- angels,
there is no place where womankind is not. Accept
the pinnacle ; and so will our work be accomplished !"

Then they agreed ; and took the pinnacle and completed
their hall with it.^ They fixed benches in the hall, and
set up pots of water in it, and provided for it a constant
supply of boiled rice. They surrounded the hall with a
wall, furnished it with a gate, spread it over with sand
inside the wall, and planted a row of palmyra-trees out-
side, it.

And Thoughtful made a pleasure ground there ; and so

* The commentator on the " Scripture Verses" adds an interesting point —
that there was an inscription on the pinnacle, and that the Bodisat put up a
stone seat under a tree outside, that all who went in might read the letters,
and say, " This hall is called the Hall of Piety."

284

Zl.—JircrLAVAJirA JATAKA.

perfect was it that it could never be said of any particular
fruit-bearing or flowering tree tbat it was not there !

And Pleasing made a pond there, covered with the five
kinds of water-lilies, and beautiful to see !

Well-born did nothing at all.^

And the Bodisat fulfilled the seven religious duties —
that is, to support one's mother, to support one's father,
to pay honour to age, to speak truth, not to speak harshly,
not to abuse others, and to avoid a selfish, envious,
niggardly disposition.

That person who his parents doth support,
Pays honour to the seniors in the house.
Is gentle, friendly-speaking, slanders not ;
The man unselfish, true, and self-controlled,
Him do the angels of the Great Thirty Three
Proclaim a righteous man !

Such praise did he receive ; and at the end of his life
he was born again in the heaven of the Great Thirty
Three, as Sakka, the king of the Gods, and there, too, his
friends were born again.

At that time there were Titans dwelling in the heaven
of the Great Thirty Three.

And Sakka said, " What is the good to us of a kingdom
shared by others?"

And he had ambrosia given to the Titans to drink, and

1 The "Scripture Verses" commentator (p. 189) avoids tlie curious
abruptness of this rather unkind remark by adding that the reason for this
was that Well-bom's being the Bodisat's niece and servant, she thought she
would share in the merit of his part in the work.

Zl. — OJV MERCY TO ANIMALS.

285

when they became like drunken men, he had them seized
by the feet and thrown headlong upon the precipices of
Mount Sineru.

They fell just upon " The abode of the Titans ; " a place
so called, upon the lowest level of Sineru, equal in size to
the Tava-tir)sa heaven. In it there is a tree, like the
coral- tree in Sakka's heaven, which stands during a kalpa,
and is called "■ The variegated Trumpet-Flower Tree."

When they saw the Trumpet-Flower Tree in bloom,
they knew, " This is not our heaven, for in heaven the
Coral- Tree blossoms.''

Then they said, '' That old Sakka has made us drunk,
and thrown us into the great deep, and taken our heavenly
city!"

Then they made resolve, " We'll war against him, and
win our heavenly city back again ! "

And they swarmed up the perpendicular sides of
Sineru like so many ants !

When Sakka heard the cry, " The Titans are up ! " he
went down the great deep to meet them, and fought with
them from the sky. But he was worsted in the fight, and
began to flee away along the summit of the southern vault
of heaven in his famous Chariot of Glory a hundred and
fifty leagues in length.^

Now as his chariot went rapidly down the great deep, it
passed along the Silk Cotton Tree Forest, and along its
route the silk cotton trees were cut down one after
another like mere palmyra palms, and fell into the great
deep. And as the young ones of the Winged Creatures
tumbled over and over into the great deep, they burst

1 Vejayanta.
Giri-mekhala.

Compare what is said above, p. 97, of Mara's vahana,

286 3l.—Jir[/LAFAirA JATAKA.

forth into miglity cries. And Sakka asked Hs charioteer,
Matali—

" What noise is this, friend Matali ? How pathetic is
that cry ! "

" 0 Lord ! as the Silk Cotton Tree Forest falls, torn up
by the swiftness of your car, the young of the "Winged
Creatures, quaking with the fear of death, are shrieking
all at once together ! ''

Then answered the Great Being, " 0 my good Matali !
let not these creatures suflPer on our account. Let us not,
for the sake of supremacy, put the living to pain. E-ather
will I, for their sake, give my life as a sacrifice to the
Titans. Stop the car ! "

And so saying, he uttered the stanza —

" Let the Nestlings in the Silk Cotton Wood
Escape, 0 Matali, our chariot pole.
Most gladly let me offer up my life :
Let not these birds, then, be bereft of offspring ! "

Then Matali, the charioteer, on hearing what he said,
stopped the car, and returned towards heaven by another
way. But as soon as they saw him stopping, the Titans
thought, "Assuredly the Archangels of other world-
systems must be coming ; he must have stopped his car
because he has received reinforcements ! " And terrified
with the fear of death, they took to flight, and returned to
the Abode of the Titans.

And Sakka re-entered his heavenly city, and stood in
the midst thereof, surrounded by the hosts of angels from
both the heavens.^ And that moment the Palace of Glory
burst through the earth and rose up a thousand leagues

1 That is, his own angels and those of the archangel Brahma.

Zl.— ON- MERCY TO ANIMALS.

287

in height. And it was because it arose at the end of this
glorious victory that it received the name of the Palace of
Griory.

Then Sakka placed guards in five places, to prevent the
Titans coming up again, — in respect of which it has been
said —

Between the two unconquerable cities
A fivefold line of guards stands firmly placed
Of Snakes, of Winged Creatures, and of Dwarfs,
Of Ogres, and of the Four Mighty Kings.

When Sakka had thus placed the guards, and was
enjoying the happiness of heaven as king of the angels.
Piety changed her form of existence, and was re-born as
one of his attendants. And in consequence of her gift of
the pinnacle there arose for her a jewelled hall of state
under the name of * Piety,' where Sakka sat as king of
the angels, on a throne of gold under a white canopy of
state, and performed his duties towards the angels and
towards men.

And Thoughtful also changed her form of existence,
and was re-born as one of his attendants. And in con-
sequence of her gift of the pleasure-ground, there arose
for her a pleasure-ground under the name of * Thought-
ful's Creeper Grove.'

And Pleasing also changed her form of existence, and
was re-born as one of his attendants. And in consequence
of her gift of the pond, there arose for her a pond under
the name of * Pleasing.'

But since Well-born had done no act of virtue, she was

288

Zl.—KULAVAKA JATAKA,

re-born as a female crane in a pool in a certain forest.
And Sakka said to himself, " There's no sign of Well-born.
I wonder where she can have got to ! " And he considered
the matter till he discovered her.

Then he went to the place, and brought her back with
him to heaven, and showed her the delightful city with
the Hall of Piety, and Though tfuFs Creeper Grove, and
the Pond of Pleasing. And he then exhorted her, and
said —

" These did works of charity, and have been born again
as my attendants ; but you, having done no such works,
have been re-born as an animal. Henceforward live a
life of righteousness ! "

And thus confirming her in the Five Commandments,
he took her back, and then dismissed her. And from
that time forth she lived in righteousness.

A few days afterwards, Sakka went to see whether she
was able to keep good, and he lay on his back before her
in the form of a fish. Thinking it was dead, the crane
seized it by the head. The fish wagged its tail.

"It's alive, I think ! " exclaimed she, and let it go.

" Good ! Good ! " said Sakka, " You are well able to
keep the Commandments." And he went away.

When she again changed her form of existence, she was
born in a potter's household in Benares. Sakka, as
before, found out where she was, and filled a cart with
golden cucumbers, and seated himself in the middle of
the village in the form of an old woman, calling out,
" Buy my cucumbers ! Buy my cucumbers ! "

The people came up and asked for them.

"I sell," said she, "only to those who live a life of
righteousness. Do you live such a life ? "

31.— OAT MERCY TO ANIMALS. 289

" We don't know anything about righteousness. Hand
them over for money ! " said they.

" I want no money ; I will only give to the righteous,"
was her reply.

" This must be some mad woman ! '* said they, and left
her.

But when Well-born heard what had happened, she
thought, " This must be meant for me ! " and went and
asked for some cucumbers.

"Do you live a righteous life, lady?" was the question.

" Certainly, I do," said she.

"It's for your sake that I brought these here," replied
the old woman; and leaving all the golden cucumbers,
and the cart too, at the door of the house, she departed.

And Well-born still continued in righteousness to the
end of that life ; and when she changed her existence, she
became the daughter of a Titan named *The Son of
Misunderstanding ; ' but in consequence of her virtue she
became exceeding beautiful.

When she was grown up, her father assembled the
Titans together that his daughter might choose for a
husband the one she liked best. Sakka was looking about
as before to find out where she was ; and when he dis-
covered it, he took the form of a Titan, and went to the
place, — thinking that when choosing a husband, she
might take him.

Then they led Well-born in fine array to the meeting
place, and told her to choose whomsoever she liked as her
husband. And when she began to look at them, she saw

VOL. I. 19

290

Zl.-Jir[/LAVAA^A JATAKA.

Sakka, and by reason of her love to him in the former
birth, she was moved to say, " This one is my husband,"
and so chose him.

And he led her away to the heavenly city, and gave
her the post of honour among great multitudes of houris ;
and at the end of his allotted time, he passed away
according to his deeds.

When the Teacher had finished this discourse, he
reproved the monk, saying, " Thus, 0 monk, formerly wise
men, though they held rule in heaven, oflPered up their
lives rather than destroy life ; but you, though you have
taken the vows according to so saving a faith, have
drunk unstrained water with living creatures in it ! "
And he make the connexion, and summed up the Jataka,
by saying, "He who at that time was Matali the
charioteer was Ananda, but Sakka was I myself."

END OF THE STORY ON MERCY TO ANIMALS.^

^ In this story we have a good example of the way in which the current
legends, when adopted by the Buddhists, were often so modified as to teach
lessons of an effect exactly contrary to those they had taught before. It is
with a touch of irony that Sakka is made to conquer the Titans, not by might,
but through his kindness to animals.

No. 32.

IN'ACCA JATAKA.

The Dancing Peacock.

" Pleasant is your cry.''^ — This the Master told when at
Jetavana, about the luxurious monk. The occasion is as
above in the Story on True Divinity.^

The Teacher asked him, "Is this true, 0 monk, what
they say, that you are luxurious ?"

" It is true, Lord,^' said he.

"How is it you have become luxurious?" began the
Teacher.

But without waiting to hear more, he flew into a rage,
tore ofi" his robe and his lower garment, and calling out,
"Then I'll go about in this way!" stood there naked
before the Teacher !

The bystanders exclaimed, " Shame ! shame ! " and he
ran ofi", and returned to the lower state (of a layman).

"When the monks were assembled in the Lecture Hall,
they began talking of his misconduct. "To think that
one should behave so in the very presence of the Master ! "
The Teacher then came up, and asked them what they
were talking about, as they sat there together.

"Lord! we were talking of the misconduct of that
monk, who, in your presence, and in the midst of the
disciples, stood there as naked as a village child, without

^ See above, p. 178.

292

Z2.—JVACCA JATAJCA.

caring one bit; and when the bystanders cried shame
upon him, returned to the lower state, and lost the
faith ! "

Then said the Teacher, " Not only, 0 monks, has this
brother now lost the jewel of the faith by immodesty ; in
a former birth he lost a jewel of a wife from the same
cause/' And he told a tale.

Long ago, in the first age of the world, the quadrupeds
chose the Lion as their king, the fishes the Leviathan, and
the birds the Golden Goose. ^

Now the royal Golden Goose had a daughter, a young
goose most beautiful to see ; and he gave her her choice
of a husband. And she chose the one she liked the best.

For, having given her the right to choose, he called
together all the birds in the Himalaya region. And
crowds of geese, and peacocks, and other birds of various
kinds, met together on a great flat piece of rock.

The king sent for his daughter, saying, "Come and
choose the husband you like best ! "

On looking over the assembly of the birds, she caught
sight of the peacock, with a neck as bright as gems, and
a many-coloured tail ; and she made the choice with the
words, " Let this one be my husband ! ''

So the assembly of the birds went up to the peacock,
and said, " Friend Peacock ! this king's daughter having
to choose her husband from amongst so many birds, has
fixed her choice upon you ! "

^ How this was done, and the lasting feud which the election gave rise to
between the owl and the crow, is told at length in Jataka No. 270. The
main story in Book III. of the Pafica Tantra is founded on this feud.

Z2.— THE DANCING PEACOCK. 293

" Up to to-day you would not see my greatness," said
tlie peacock, so overflowing with delight that in breach of
all modesty he began to spread his wings and dance in
the midst of the vast assembly, — and in dancing he exposed
himself.

Then the royal Grolden Goose was shocked !

And he said, " This fellow has neither modesty in his
heart, nor decency in his outward behaviour ! I shall
not give my daughter to him. He has broken loose from
all sense of shame ! " And he uttered this verse to all the
assembly —

" Pleasant is your cry, brilliant is your back.
Almost like the opal in its colour is your neck.
The feathers in your tail reach about a fathom*s length.
But to such a dancer I can give no daughter, sir, of
mine ! "

Then the king in the midst of the whole assembly be-
stowed his daughter on a young goose, his nephew. And
the peacock was covered with shame at not getting the
fair gosling, and rose straight up from the place and
flew away.

But the king of the Gfolden Geese went back to the
place where he dwelt.

When the Teacher had finished this lesson in virtue, in
illustration of what he had said (" Not only, 0 monks, has
this brother now lost the jewel of the faith by immodesty,

294 Z2.-'JVACCA JATAKA.

formerly also lie lost a jewel of a wife by the same cause "),
lie made the connexion, and summed up the Jataka, by
saying, "The peacock of that time was the luxurious
monk, but the King of the Geese was I myself/'

END OF THE STORY ABOUT THE DANCING PEACOCK.^

1 This fable forms one of those illustrations of which were carved in has
relief round the Great Tope at Bharhut. There the fair gosling is repre-
sented just choosing the peacock for her husband ; so this tale must be at
least sixteen hundred years old. The story has not reached Europe ; but it is
referred to in a stanza occurring in, according to Benfey, the oldest recension
of the Pafica Tantra contained in the Berlin MS. See Benfey, i. § 98,
p. 280 ; and Kahn, ' Sagwissenschaftliche Studien,' p. 69.

The word IfaT}sa, which I have here translated Goose, means more
exactly a wild duck ; and the epithet * Golden ' is descriptive of its beauty of
colour. But the word Marjsa is etymologically the same as our word Goose
(compare the German Gans) ; and the epithet ' golden,' when applied to a
goose, being meaningless as descriptive of outward appearance, gave rise to
the fable of the Goose with the Golden Eggs. The latter is therefore a true
' myth,' born of a word-puzzle, invented to explain an expression which had
lost its meaning through the progress of linguistic growth.

No. 33.

SAMMODAMANA JATAKA.

The sad Quarrel of the Quails.

" So long as the birds hut agreeJ^ — This the Master told
while at the Banyan Grove, near Kapilavatthu, concerning
a quarrel about a chumhat (a circular roll of cloth placed
on the head when carrying a vessel or other weight).

This will be explained in the Kuniila Jataka. At that
time, namely, the Master admonishing his relations, said,
^ *' My lords ! for relatives to quarrel one against another
is verily most unbecoming ! Even animals once, who had
conquered their enemies so long as they agreed, came to
great destruction when they fell out with one another."
And at the request of his relatives he told the tale.

Long ago, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares,
the Bodisat came to life as a quail ; and lived in a forest
at the head of a flock many thousands in number.

At that time there was a quail-catcher who used to go
to the place where they dwelt, and imitate the cry of a
quail ; and when he saw that they had assembled together,
he would throw his net over them, get them all into a

296

\.-SAMMODAMANA JATAKA.

heap by crushing them together in the sides of the net,
and stuff them into his basket ; and then going home, he
used to sell them, and make a living out of the proceeds.

Now one day the Bodisat said to the quails, " This
fowler is bringing our kith and kin to destruction ! Now
I know a stratagem to prevent his catching us. In
future, as soon as he has thrown the net over you, let
each one put his head through a mesh of the net, then all
lift it up together^ so as to carry it off to any place we like,
and then let it down on to a thorn bush. "When that is
done, we shall each be able to escape from his place under
the net ! "

To this they all agreed ; and the next day, as soon as
the net was thrown, they lifted it up just in the way the
Bodisat had told them, threw it on a thorn bush, and got
away themselves from underneath. And whilst the fowler
was disentangling his net from the bush, darkness had
come on. And he had to go empty-handed away.

From the next day the quails always acted in the same
manner : and he used to be disentangling his net till
sundown, catching nothing, and going home empty-
handed.

At last his wife said to him in a rage, " Day after day
you come here empty-handed ! I suppose you've got
another establishment to keep up somewhere else ! "

" My dear ! " said the fowler, " I have no other estab-
lishment to keep up. But I'll tell you what it is. Those
quails are living in harmony together ; and as soon as I
cast my net, they carry it away, and throw it on a thorn-
bush. But they can't be of one mind for ever ! Don't
you be troubled about it. As soon as they fall out, I'll
come back with every single one of them, and that'll

ZZ.—THE SAD QUARREL OF THE QUAILS. 297

bring a smile into your face!'* And so saying, lie
uttered this stanza to his wife :

" So long as^the birds but agree,
They can get away with the net ;
But when once they begin to dispute,
Then into my clutches they fall ! "

And when only a few days had gone by, one of the
quails, in alighting on the ground where they fed, trod
unawares on another one's head.

" Who trod on my head ? " asked the other in a passion.

"I didn't mean to tread upon you; don't be angry,"
said the other ; but he was angry still. And as they
went on vociferating, they got to disputing with one
another in such words as these : " Ah ! it was you then,
I suppose, who did the lifting up of the net ! "

When they were so quarrelling, the Bodisat thought,
"There is no depending for safety upon a quarrelsome
man ! No longer will these fellows lift up the net ; so
they will come to great destruction, and the fowler will
get his chance again. I dare not stay here any more ! "
And he went off with his more immediate followers to
some other place.

And the fowler came a few days after, and imitated the
cry of a quail, and cast his net over those who came
together. Then the one quail cried out :

" The talk was that the very hairs of your head fell off
when you heaved up the net. Lift away, then, now ! "

The other cried out, "The talk was that the very
feathers of your wings fell out when you heaved up the
net. Lift away, then, now ! '*

But as they were each calling on the other to lift away,

298

ZZ.—SAMMODAMAN-A JA TAKA.

the hunter himself lifted up the net, bundled them all in
in a heap together, crammed them into his basket, and
went home, and made his wife to smile.

"When the Master had finished this lesson in virtue, in
illustration of what he had said (*'Thus, 0 king, there
ought to be no such thing as quarrelling among relatives ;
for quarrels are the root of misfortune"), he made the
connexion, and summed up the Jataka, " He who at that
time was the foolish quail was Deva-datta, but the wise
quail was I myseK."

END OF THE STORY OF THE SAD QUARREL OF THE

QUAILS.

1 Professor Benfey, in the Introduction to his Pafica Tantra (vol. i. p. 304),
and Professor Fausboll in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1870,
have dealt with the history of this story. It has not been found in Europe,
but occurs in somewhat altered form in the Maha-bharata (Book V. vv. 2455
and foil.), in the first Book of the Hitopadesa, and in the second Book of the
Pafica Tantra. The Buddhist story is evidently the origin of the others.

No. 34.

MACCHA JATAKA.

The Fish and his Wife.

*^*Tis not the heat^ His not the cold.^* — This the Master
told when at Jetavana, about being tempted back by one's
former wife.

For on that occasion the Master asked the monk, " Is it
true, then, that you are love- sick ? "

" It is true. Lord ! " was the reply.

" What has made you sad ? "

" Sweet is the touch of the hand, Lord ! of her who was
formerly my wife. I cannot forsake her ! "

Then the Master said, " 0 Brother ! this woman does
you harm. In a former birth also you were just being
killed through her when I came up and saved you." And
he told a tale.

Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was reigning in
Benares, the Bodisat became his private chaplain.

At that time certain fishermen were casting their nets
into the river. Now a big fish came swimming along
playing lustily with his wife. She still in front of him
smelt the smell of a net, and made a circuit, and escaped

300

Z^.—MACCHA JATAKA.

it. But the greedy amorous fish went right into the
mouth of the net.

When the fishermen felt his coming in they pulled up
the net, seized the fish, and threw it alive on the sand,
and began to prepare a fire and a spit, intending to cook
and eat it.

Then the fish lamented, saying to himself ;

" The heat of the fire would not hurt me, nor the torture
of the spit, nor any other pain of that sort ; but that my
wife should sorrow over me, thinking I must have deserted
her for another, that is indeed a dire affliction ! "

And he uttered this stanza —

" 'Tis not the heat, His not the cold,
'Tis not the torture of the net ;
Eut that my wife should think of me,
* He's gone now to another for delight.' *'

Now just then the chaplain came down, attended by his
slaves, to bathe at the ford. And he understood the
language of all animals. So on hearing the fish's lament,
he thought to himself :

" This fish is lamenting the lament of sin. Should he
die in this unhealthy state of mind, he will assuredly be
reborn in hell. I will save him."

And he went to the fishermen, and said —

" My good men ! don't you furnish a fish for us every
day for our curry ? "

" What is this you are saying, sir ? " answered the
fishermen. " Take away any fish you like ! "

" We want no other : only give us this one."

" Take it, then, sir."

The Bodisat took it up in his hands, seated himself at

Z^.—THE FISH AND HIS WIFE.

301

the river-side, and said to it, '^ My good fish ! Had I not
caught sight of you this day, you would have lost your
life. Now henceforth sin no more ! "

And so exhorting it, he threw it into the water, and
returned to the city.

When the Teacher had finished this discourse, he pro-
claimed the Truths. At the end of the Truths the de-
pressed monk was established in the fruit of conversion.
Then the Teacher made the connexion, and summed up
the Jataka : " She who at that time was the female fish
was the former wife, the fish was the depressed monk, but
the chaplain was I myself."

EI^D OF THE STORY OF THE FISH AND HIS WIFE.^

^ This story has several points of aflBnity with the one ahove, No. 13
(pp. 211-213), on the stag who came to his death through his thoughtless
love for the roe.

No. 35.

YATTAKA JATAKA.

The Holy Cluail.

" Wings I hare that loill not flyT — This tlie Master told
when journeying through Magadha about the going out
of a Jungle Fire.

For once, when the Master was journeying through
Magadha, he begged his food in a certain village in that
land; and after he had returned from his rounds and
had finished his meal, he started forth again, attended by
the disciples. Just then a great fire arose in the jungle.
Many of the monks were in front, many of them behind.
And the fire came spreading on towards them, one mass of
smoke and flame. Some of the monks being unconverted
were terrified with the fear of death ; and called out —

"Let's make a counter-fire, so that the conflagration
shall not spread beyond the space burnt out by that.'*

And taking out their fire-sticks they began to get a
light.

But the others said, " Brethren, what is this you are
doing ? 'Tis like failing to see the moon when it has
reached the topmost sky, or the sun as it rises with its
thousand rays from the eastern quarter of the world ; 'tis
like people standing on the beachy shore and perceiving
not the ocean, or standing close to Sineru and seeing not
that mighty mountain, for you — when journeying along

Z5.—TIl£ HOLY QUAIL. 303

in company with the greatest Being in earth or heaven —
to call out, * Let ws make a counter fire/ and to take no
notice of the supreme, the Buddha ! You know not the
power of the Buddhas ! Come, let us go to the Master ! "

And they all crowded together from in front, and from
behind, and went up in a body near to the Mighty by
Wisdom.

There the Master stopped, surrounded by the whole
body of disciples.

The jungle fire came on roaring as if to overwhelm
them. It came right up to the place where the Great
Mortal stood, and then — as it came within about sixteen
rods of that spot — it went out, like a torch thrust down
into water, leaving a space of about thirty-two rods in
breadth over which it could not pass !

Then the monks began to magnify the Teacher, saying ;

" Oh ! how marvellous are the qualities of the Buddhas !
The very fire, unconscious though it be, cannot pass over
the place where the Buddhas stand. Oh ! how great is
the might of the Buddhas ! ''

On hearing this the Teacher said —

"It is not, monks, through any power I have now that
the fire goes out on reaching this plot of ground. It is
through the power of a former act of mine. And in all
this spot no fire will burn through the whole kalpa, for
that was a miracle enduring through a kalpa." ^

Then the venerable Ananda folded a robe in four, and
spread it as a seat for the Teacher. The Teacher seated
himself ; and when he had settled himseK cross-legged, the
body of disciples seated themselves reverently round him,
and requested him, saying —

"What has now occurred, 0 Lord, is known to us.
The past is hidden from us. Make it known to us."

And the Teacher told the tale.

1 See above, p. 235.

304 Zb.— VATTAICA JATAKA.

Long ago tlie Bodisat entered upon a new existence as
a quail in this very spot, in the land of Magadha ; and
after having been born in the q^^, and having got out of
the shell, he became a young quail, in size like a big
partridge.^ And his parents made him lie still in the
nest, and fed him with food they brought in their beaks.
And he had no power either to stretch out his wings and
fly through the air, nor to put out his legs and walk on
the earth.

Now that place was consumed year after year by a
jungle fire. And just at that time the jungle fire came
on with a mighty roar and seized upon it. The flocks of
birds rose up, each from his nest, and flew away shrieking.
And the Bodisat' s parents too, terrified with the fear of
death, forsook the Bodisat, and fled.

When the Bodisat, lying there as he was, stretched
forth his neck, and saw the conflagration spreading to-
wards him, he thought : " If I had the power of stretching
my wings and flying in the air, or of putting out my legs,
and walking on the ground, I could get away to some
other place. But I can't ! And my parents too, terri-
fied with the fear of death, have left me all alone, and
flown away to save themselves. No other help can I
expect from others, and in myself I find no help. What
in the world shall I do now ! "

But then it occurred to him, " In this world there is
such a thing as the efficacy of virtue ; there is such a
thing as the efficacy of truth. There are men known as
omniscient Buddhas, who become Buddhas when seated
under the Bo-tree through having fulfilled the Great
Virtues in the long ages of the past ; who have gained

1 Bhenduka.

35.-7^7-^ HOLY QUAIL. 305

salvation by the wisdom arising from good deeds and
earnest thought, and have gained too the power of show-
ing to others the knowledge of that salvation ; who are
full of truth, and compassion, and mercy, and long-
suffering ; and whose hearts reach out in equal love to all
beings that have life. To me, too, the Truth is one, there
seems to be but one eternal and true Faith. It behoves
me, therefore — meditating on the Buddhas of the past
and on the attributes that they have gained, and relying
on the one true faith there is in me — to perform an Act of
Truth; and thus to drive back the fire, and procure
safety both for myself, and for the other birds."
Therefore it is said (in the Scriptures) —

" There's power in virtue in the world —
In truth, and purity, and love !
In that truth's name I'll now perform
A mystic Act of Truth sublime.

Then thinking on the power of the Faith,
And on the Conquerors in ages past,
Relying on the power of the Truth,
I then performed the Miracle ! "

Then the Bodisat called to mind the attributes of the
Buddhas who had long since passed away ; and, making
a solemn asseveration of the true faith existing in himself,
he performed the Act of Truth, uttering the verse —

" Wings I have that will not fly,
Feet I have that will not walk ;
My parents, too, are fled away !
0 All-embracing Fire — go back ! " ^

^ It is difficult to convey the impression of the mystic epithet here used
of fire. Jdtaveda must mean *' he who possesses (or perhaps possesses the

VOL. I. 20

3o6

Zb.— VATTAKA JATAKA.

Then before him and his Act of Truth the Element
went back a space of sixteen rods ; but in receding it did
not return to consume the forest; it went out imme-
diately it came to the spot, like a torch plunged into
water.

Therefore it is said —

" For me and for my Act of Truth
The great and burning fire went out,
Leaving a space of sixteen rods,
As fire, with water mixed, goes out."

And as that spot has escaped being overwhelmed by
fire through all this kalpa^ this is said to be 'a kalpa-
enduring miracle.' The Bodisat having thus performed
the Act of Truth, passed away, at the end of his life,
according to his deeds.

When the Teacher had finished this discourse, in illus-
tration of what he had said (" That this wood is not passed
over by the fire is not a result, 0 monks, of my present
power ; but of the power of the Act of Truth I exercised as
anew-born quail"), he proclaimed the Truths. At the
conclusion of the Truths some were Converted, some
reached the Second Path, some the Third, some the Fourth.
And the Teacher made the connexion, and summed up the
Jataka, " My parents at that time were my present parents,
but the King of the Quails was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE HOLY QUAIL. ^

knowledge of) all that is produced." It is used not infrequently in the Vedic
literature as a peculiarly holy and mystical epithet of Agni, the personification
of the mysterious element of fire, and seems to refer to its far-reaching, all-
emhracing power.

^ This story is referred to as one of the ' kalpa-enduring miracles ' in
Jataka No. 20 above, p. 235.

No. 36.

SAKUNA JATAKA.

The Wise Bird and the Fools.

^' The earth-horn tree.'' — This the Master told when at
Jetavana, about a monk whose hut was burned.

A certain monk, says the tradition, received from the
Teacher a subject for meditation, and leaving Jetavana,
took up his abode in a dwelling in a forest near a border
village, belonging to the people of Kosala.

Now in the very first month his hut was burned down ;
and he told the people, saying, " My hut is burnt down,
and I live in discomfort."

" Our fields are all dried up now," said they ; " we
must first irrigate the lands." When they were well
muddy, " We must sow the seed," said they. When the
seed was sown, " We must put up the fences," was the
excuse. When the fences were up, they declared, ''There
will be cutting, and reaping, and treading-out to do."*
And thus, telling first of one thing to be done and then
of another, they let three months slip by.

The monk passed the three months in discomfort in the
open air, and concluded his meditation, but could not
bring the rest of his religious exercise to completion. So
when Lent was over he returned to the Teacher, and
saluting him, took his seat respectfully on one side.

The Teacher bade him welcome, and then asked him,

sol

ZQ.—SAA^C/JVA JATAKA.

''Well, brother, have you spent Lent in comfort? Hav(
you brouglit your meditation to its conclusion ? "

He told him what had happened, and said, " As I had
no suitable lodging, I did not fully complete the medi-
tation/'

" Formerly, 0 monk," said the Teacher, " even animals
were aware what was suitable for them, and what was
not. Why did not you know it ? ''

And he told a tale.

Long ago, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares,
the Bodisat came to life again as a bird, and lived a forest
life, attended by a flock of birds, near a lofty tree, with
branches forking out on every side.

Now one day dust began to fall as the branches of the
tree rubbed one against another. Then smoke began to
rise. The Bodisat thought, on seeing this, —

" If these two branches go on rubbing like that they
will send out sparks of fire, and the fire will fall down
and seize on the withered leaves ; and the tree itself will
soon after be consumed. We can't stop here ; we ought
to get away at once to some other place." And he ad-
dressed the flock in this verse :

" The earth-born tree, on which
We children of the air depend.
It, even it, is now emitting fire.
Seek then the skies, ye birds !
Behold ! our very home and refuge
Itself has brought forth danger ! "

Then such of the birds as were wise, and hearkened to

,—THE WISE BIRD AND THE FOOLS.

309

the voice of tlie Bodisat, flew up at once with him into
the air, and went elsewhere. But such as were foolish
said one to another, " Just so ! Just so ! He's always
seeing crocodiles in a drop of water ! " And paying no
attention to what he said, they stopped there.

And not long afterwards fire was produced precisely in
the way the Bodisat had foreseen, and the tree caught
fire. And smoke and flames rising aloft, the birds were
blinded by the smoke ; they could not get away, and one
after another they fell into the fire, and were burnt to
death !

When the Teacher had finished this discourse with the
words, " Thus formerly, 0 monk, even the birds dwelling
on the tree- tops knew which place would suit them and
which would not. How is it that you knew it not?'*
he proclaimed the Truths. At the conclusion of the
Truths the monk was established in Conversion. And the
Teacher made the connexion, and summed up the Jataka,
" The birds who at that time listened to the voice of the
Bodisat were the followers of the Buddha, but the Wise
Bird was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE WISE BIRD AND THE FOOLS.

No. 37.

TITTIEA JATAKA.

The Partridge, Monkey, and Elephant.

"^Tis those who reverence the agecV — This the Master
told on the road to Savatthi about Sariputta being kept
out of a night's lodging.

For when Anatha Pindika had finished his monastery,
and sent word to the Teacher, the latter left Eajagaha and
arrived at Yesali ; and after resting there a short time,
he set out again on the road to Savatthi. ^

On that occasion the pupils of the Six went on in front,
and before lodgings had been taken for the Elders, occu-
pied all the places to be had, sa3dng, —

*'This is for our superior, this for our instructor, and
these for us."

The Elders who came up afterwards found no place to
sleep in. Even Sariputta' s pupils sought in vain for a
lodging-place for the Elder. So the Elder having no
lodging passed the night either walking up and down, or
sitting at the foot of a tree, not far from the place where
the Teacher was lodged.

In the early morning the Teacher came out and coughed.
The Elder coughed too.

" Who's there ? " said the Teacher.

" 'Tis I, Lord ; Sariputta," was the reply.

1 See above, p. 130.

Vt.—THE PARTRIDGE, MONKEY, AND ELEPHANT. 311

" What are you doing here, so early, Sariputta ?" asked
he.

Then he told him what had happened ; and on hearing
what the Elder said, the Teacher thought, —

" If the monks even now, while I am yet living, show
so little respect and courtesy to one another, what will
they do when I am dead ? " And he was filled with anxiety
for the welfare of the Truth.

As soon as it was light he called all the priests together,
and asked them —

" Is it true, priests, as I have been told, that the Six
went on in front, and occupied all the lodging-places to
the exclusion of the Elders ? "

"It is true, 0 Blessed One ! " said they.

Then he reproved the Six, and addressing the monks,
taught them a lesson, saying, —

" Who is it, then, 0 monks, who deserves the best seat,
and the best water, and the best rice ? "

Some said, "A nobleman who has become a monk."
Some said, " A Brahman, or the head of a family who has
become a monk." Others said, '* The man versed in the
Rules of the Order ; an Expounder of the Law ; one who
has attained to the First Jhana, or the Second, or the
Third, or the Fourth." Others again said, " The Con-
verted man; or one in the Second or the Third Stage
of the Path to Nirvana ; or an Arahat ; or one who knows
the Three Truths ; or one who has the Sixfold Wisdom." ^

When the monks had thus declared whom they each
thought worthy of the best seat, and so on, the Teacher
said:

*' In my religion, 0 monks, it is not the being ordained
from a noble, or a priestly, or a wealthy family ; it is not
being versed in the Rules of the Order, or in the general
or the metaphysical books of the Scriptures ; it is not the
attainment of the Jhanas, or progress in the Path of

1 See the translator's 'Buddhism,' pp. 108 and 174-177 (2nd edition).

312 Z1. — TITTIRA JATAKA.

Nirvana, that is the standard by which the right to the
best seat, and so on, is to be judged. But in my religion,
0 monks, reverence, and service, and respect, and civility,
are to be paid according to age ; and for the aged the best
seat, and the best water, and the best rice are to be re-
served. This is the right standard; and therefore the
senior monk is entitled to these things. And now, monks,
Sariputta is my chief disciple ; he is a second founder of
the Kingdom of Righteousness, and deserves to receive
a lodging immediately after myself. He has had to pass
the night without a lodging at the foot of a tree. If you
have even now so little respect and courtesy, what will
you not do as time goes on ? *'

And for their further instruction he said :
" Formerly, 0 monks, even animals used to say, ' It
would not be proper for us to be disrespectful and wanting
in courtesy to one another, and not to live on proper
terms with one another. We should find out who is
eldest, and pay him honour.' So they carefully inves-
tigated the matter, and having discovered the senior
among them, they paid him honour ; and so when they
passed away, they entered the abode of the gods."
And he told a tale.

Long ago there were three friends living near a great
Banyan-tree, on the slope of the Himalaya range of
mountains — a Partridge, a Monkey, and an Elephant.
And they were wanting in respect and courtesy for one
another, and did not live together on befitting terms.

But it occurred to them, " It is not right for us to live
in this manner. What if we were to cultivate respect
towards whichever of us is the eldest ? ''

" But which is the eldest ? " was then the question ;

fr—THE PARTRIDGE, MONKEY, AND ELEPHANT. 313

until one day they thought, " This will be a good way for
finding it out ; '* and the Monkey and the Partridge asked
the Elephant, as they were all sitting together at the foot
of the Banyan-tree —

" Elephant dear ! How big was this Banyan Tree at
the time you first knew it ? "

" Friends ! " said he, " When I was little I used to
walk over this Banyan, then a mere bush, keeping it be-
tween my thighs ; and when I stood with it between my
legs, its highest branches touched my navel. So I have
known it since it was a shrub."

Then they both asked the Monkey in the same way.
And he said, "Friends ! when I was quite a little monkey
I used to sit on the ground and eat the topmost shoots of
this Banyan, then quite young, by merely stretching out
my neck. So that I have known it from its earliest
infancy."

Then agrain the two others asked the Partrido^e as before.
And he said —

" Friends ! There was formerly a lofty Banyan-tree
in such and such a place, whose fruit I ate and voided
the seeds here. From that this tree grew up : so that I
have known it even from before the time when it was
born, and am older than either of you ! "

Thereupon the Elephant and the Monkey said to the
clever Partridge —

" You, friend, are the oldest of us all. Henceforth we
will do all manner of service for you, and pay you rever-
ence, and make salutations before you, and treat you with
every respect and courtesy, and abide by your counsels.
Do you in future give us whatever counsel and instruction
we require."

314 Zt.—TITTIRA JATAKA.

Thenceforth the Partridge gave them counsel, and kept
them np to their duty, and himself observed his own. So
they three kept the Five Commandments ; and since they
were courteous and respectful to one another, and lived
on befitting terms one with another, they became destined
for heaven when their lives should end.

" The holy life of these three became known as ' The
Holiness of the Partridge.' For they, 0 monks, lived in
courtesy and respect towards one another. How then can
you, who have taken the vows in so well-taught a religion,
live without courtesy and respect towards one another?
Henceforth, 0 monks, I enjoin upon you reverence, and
service, and respect, according to age ; the giving of the best
seats, the best water, and the best food according to age ;
and that the senior shall never be kept out of a night's
lodging by a junior. Whoever so keeps out his senior
shall be guilty of an ofience."

It was when the Teacher had thus concluded his dis-
course that he, as Buddha, uttered the verse —
*' 'Tis those who reverence the old

That are the men versed in the Faith.

"Worthy of praise while in this life.

And happy in the life to come."

When the Teacher had thus spoken on the virtue of
paying reverence to the old, he established the connexion,
and summed up the Jataka, by saying, " The elephant of
that time was Moggallana, the monkey Sariputta, but the
partridge was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE PARTRIDGE, THE MONKEY,

1 This Birth Story, with the same Introductory Story, is found, in nearly
identical terms, in the Culla Vagga (vi. 6). The story, therefore, is at least
as old as the fourth century b.c. Jataka No. 117 is also called the Tittira
Jataka.

No. 38.

BAKA JATAKA.

The Cruel Crane Outwitted.

" The villain though exceeding clever J^ — This the Master
told when at Jetavana about a monk who was a tailor.

There was a monk, says the tradition, living at Jeta-
vana, who was exceeding skilful at all kinds of things that
can be done to a robe, whether cutting out, or piecing
together, or valuing, or sewing it. Through this clever-
ness of his he was always engaged in making robes, until
he became known as ' The robe-maker.'

Now what used he to do but exercise his handicraft on
some old pieces of cloth, so as to make out of them a robe
soft and pleasant to the touch ; and when he had dyed it,
he would steep it in mealy water, and rub it with a chank-
shell so as to make it bright and attractive, and then lay
it carefully by. And monks who did not understand robe
work, would come to him with new cloths, and say —

" We don't understand how to make robes. Be so kind
as to make this into a robe for us."

Then he would say, " It takes a long time, Brother,
before a robe can be made. But I have a robe ready
made. You had better leave these cloths here and take
that away with you."

And he would take it out and show it to them.

And they, seeing of how fine a colour it was, and not
noticing any diflPerence, would give their new cloths to

3i6

ZB.—BAICA JATAKA.

the tailor-monk, and take tlie robe away with them,
thinking it would last. But when it grew a little dirty,
and they washed it in warm water, it would appear as it
really was, and the worn-out places would show themselves
here and there upon it. Then, too late, they would repent.

And that monk became notorious, as one who passed off
old rags upon anybody who came to him.

Now there was another robe-maker in a country village
who used to cheat everybody just like the man at Jeta-
vana. And some monks who knew him very well told
him about the other, and said to him —

" Sir ! there is a monk at Jetavana who, they say,
cheats all the world in such and such a manner."

" Ah ! " thought he, " ^twould be a capital thing if I
could outwit that city fellow ! "

And he made a fine robe out of old clothes, dyed it a
beautiful red, put it on, and went to Jetavana. As soon
as the other saw it, he began to covet it, and asked him —

" Is this robe one of your own making, sir ? "

" Certainly, Brother," was the reply.

" Sir ! let me have the robe. You can take another for
it," said he.

"But, Brother, we village monks are but badly pro-
vided. If I give you this, what shall I have to put on ? "

" I have some new cloths, sir, by me. Do you take
those and make a robe for yourself."

" Well, Brother ! this is my own handiwork ; but if
you talk like that, what can I do ? You may have it,"
said the other ; and giving him the robe made of old rags,
he took away the new cloths in triumph.

And the man of Jetavana put on the robe ; but when a
few days after he discovered, on washing it, that it was
made of rags, he was covered with confusion. And it
became noised abroad in the order, " That Jetavana robe-
maker has been outwitted, they say, by a man from the
country ! "

\.'-THE CRi

outwit:

317

And one day the monks sat talking about this in the
Lecture Hall, when the Teacher came up and asked them
what they were talking about, and they told him the
whole matter.

Then the Teacher said, "Not now only has the Jeta-
vana robe-maker taken other people in in this way, in a
former birth he did the same. And not now only has he
been outwitted by the countryman, in a former birth he
was outwitted too.'' And he told a tale.

Long ago the Bodisat was born to a forest life as the
Genius of a tree standing near a certain lotus pond.

Now at that time the water used to run short at the
dry season in a certain pond, not over large, in which
there were a good many fish. And a crane thought, on
seeing the fish —

" I must outwit these fish somehow or other and make
a prey of them."

And he went and sat down at the edge of the water,
thinking how he should do it.

When the fish saw him, they asked him, " What are
you sitting there for, lost in thought ? "

" I am sitting thinking about you," said he.

" Oh, sir ! what are you thinking about us ? " said they.

" Why," he replied ; " there is very little water in this
pond, and but little for you to eat; and the heat is so
great ! So I was thinking, * What in the world will
these fish do now ? ' "

" Yes, indeed, sir ! what are we to do ? " said they.

" If you will only do as I bid you, I will take you in

3i8

Z%.-BAKA JATAKA.

my beak to a fine large pond, covered with all tlie kinds
of lotuses, and put you into it," answered the crane.

" That a crane should take thought for the fishes is a
thing unheard of. Sir, since the world began. It^s eating
us, one after the other, that you're aiming at ! "

" Not I ! So long as you trust me, I won't eat you.
But if you don't believe me that there is such a pond,
send one of you with me to go and see it."

Then they trusted him, and handed over to him one of
their number — a big fellow, blind of one eye, whom they
thought sharp enough in any emergency, afloat or ashore.

Him the crane took with him, let him go in the pond,
showed him the whole of it, brought him back, and let
him go again close to the other fish. And he told them
all the glories of the pond.

And when they heard what he said, they exclaimed,
" All right. Sir ! You may take us with you."

Then the crane took the old purblind fish first to the
bank of the other pond, and alighted in a Yarana-tree
growing on the bank there. But he threw it into a fork
of the tree, struck it with his beak, and killed it; and
then ate its flesh, and threw its bones away at the foot of
the tree. Then he went back and called out —

" I've thrown that fish in ; let another come ! "

And in that manner he took all the fish, one by one,
and ate them, till he came back and found no more !

But there was still a crab left behind there ; and the
crane thought he would eat him too, and called out —

"I say, good crab, I've taken all the fish away, and
put them into a fine large pond. Come along. I'll take
you too ! "

"But how will you take hold of me to carry me
along ? "

Z%.—TffE CRUEL CRANE OUTWITTED.

3^9

' I'll bite hold of you with my beak."

" You'll let me fall if you carry me like that. I won't
go with you ! "

"Don't be afraid! I'll hold you quite tight all the
way."

Then said the crab to himself, " If this fellow once got
hold of fish, he would never let them go in a pond ! Now
if he should really put me into the pond, it would be
capital ; but if he doesn't — then I'll cut his throat, and
kill him ! " So he said to him —

" Look here, friend, you won't be able to hold me tight
enough ; but we crabs have a famous grip. If you let me
catch hold of you round the neck with my claws, I shall
be glad to go with you."

And the other did not see that he was trying to outwit
him, and agreed. So the crab caught hold of his neck
with his claws as securely as with a pair of blacksmith's
pincers, and called out, " Ofi" with you, now ! "

And the crane took him and showed him the pond, and
then turned off towards the Yarana-tree.

" Uncle ! " cried the crab, " the pond lies that way, but
you are taking me this way ! "

" Oh, that's it, is it ! " answered the crane. " Your
dear little uncle, your very sweet nephew, you call me !
You mean me to understand, I suppose, that I am your
slave, who has to lift you up and carry you about with
him ! Now cast your eye upon the heap of fish-bones
lying at the root of yonder Yarana-tree. Just as I have
eaten those fish, every one of them, just so I will devour
you as well ! "

" Ah ! those fishes got eaten through their own
stupidity," answered the crab ; " but I'm not going to

320 ZB.—BAJirA J AT A K A.

let you eat me. On the contrary, it is you that I am
going to destroy. For you in your folly have not seen
that I was outwitting you. If we die, we die both to-
gether ; for I will cut off this head of yours, and cast it
to the ground ! " And so saying, he gave the crane's
neck a grip with his claws, as with a vice.

Then gasping, and with tears trickling from his eyes,
and trembling with the fear of death, the crane beseeched
him, saying, " 0 my Lord ! Indeed I did not intend to
eat you. Grant me my life ! "

" Well, well ! step down into the pond, and put me in
there."

And he turned round and stepped down into the pond,
and placed the crab on the mud at its edge. But the
crab cut through its neck as clean as one would cut a
lotus-stalk with a hunting-knife, and then only entered
the water !

"When the Genius who lived in the Yarana-tree saw
this strange affair, he made the wood resound with his
plaudits, uttering in a pleasant voice the verse —

" The villain, though exceeding clever.
Shall prosper not by his villany.
He may win indeed, sharp-witted in deceit.
But only as the Crane here from the Crab ! "

When the Teacher had finished this discourse, showing
that " Not now only, 0 mendicants, has this man been
outwitted by the country robe-maker, long ago he was
outwitted in the same way," he established the connexion,

Z%. — THE CRUEL CRANE OUTWITTED.

321

and summed up the Jiitaka, by saying, " At that time he
was the Jetavana robe-maker, the crab was the country
robe-maker, but the Genius of the Tree was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE CRUEL CRANE OUTWITTED.^

1 This fable is a great favourite. It was among those translated into the
Syriac and Arabic, and has been retained in all the versions of the Kalila
and Dimiia series, while it occurs in the Arabian Nights, and in the story-
books of the ^'orthern Buddhists and of the Hindus. It has been already-
traced through all the following story-books (whose full titles, and historical
connexion, are given in the Tables appended to the Introduction to this
volume).

Kalilag und Dimnag, pp. 12, 13.

Sylvestre de Sacy, chapter v.

Wolf, vol. i. p. 41.

Anvar i Suhaili, p. 117.

Knatchbull, pp. 113-115.

Symeon Seth (Athens edition), p. 16.

John of Capua, c. 4 b.

' Ulm ' German text, D. V. b.

The Spanish version, xiii. 6.

Firenzuola, p. 39.

Doni, p. 59.

Livre des Lumieres, p. 92.

Cabinet des Fees, xvii. p. 221.

Livre des Merveilles (du iMeril in a note to Batalo, p. 238).

Contes et Fables Indiennes de Bidpai et de Lokman, i. p. 357.

La Fontaine, x. 4.

Arabian Nights (Weil, iv. 915).

Panca Tantra, i. 7 (comp. ii. 58).

Hitopadesa, iv. 7 (Max Miiller, p. 118).

Katha Sarit Sagara Tar. Ix. 79-90.

Dhammapada, p. 155.
Professor Benfey has devoted a long note to the history of the story (Intro-
duction to the Panca Tantra, i. 174, § 60), and I have only succeeded in
adding, in a few details, to his results. The tale is told very lamely, as
compared with the Pali original, in all those vei-sions I have been able to
consult. It is strange that so popular a tale was not included by Planudes or
his successors in their collections of so-called -Esop's Fables.

VOL. 1. 21

No. 39.

NAI^DA JATAKA.

Nanda on the Buried Gold.

^' The golden heap, methinks'* — This the Master told
while at Jetavana, about a monk living under Sariputta.

He, they say, was meek, and mild of speech, and served
the Elder with great devotion. Now on one occasion the
Elder had taken leave of the Master, started on a tour,
and gone to the mountain country in the south of
Magadha. When they had arrived there, the monk
became proud, followed no longer the word of the Elder ;
and when he was asked to do a thing, would even become
angry with the Elder.

The Elder could not understand what it all meant.
"When his tour was over, he returned again to Jetavana ;
and from the moment he arrived at the monastery, the
monk became as before. This the Elder told the Master,
saying,—

" Lord ! there is a mendicant in my division of the
Order, who in one place is like a slave bought for a hun-
dred, and in another becomes proud, and refuses with
anger to do what he is asked."

Then the Teacher said, " Not only now, Sariputta, has
the monk behaved like that ; in a former birth also, when
in one place he was like a slave bought for a hundred, and
in another was angrily independent."

And at the Elder's request he told the story.

Z^.—NANDA ON THE BURIED GOLD. 323

Long ago, when Brahma- datta was reigning in Benares,
the Bodisat came to life again as a landowner. He had a
friend, also a landowner, who was old himself, but whose
wife was young. She had a son by him ; and he said to
himself, —

'* As this woman is young, she will, after my death, be
taking some husband to herself, and squandering the
money I have saved. What, now, if I were to make
away with the money under the earth ? "

And he took a slave in the house named Nanda, went
into the forest, buried the treasure in a certain spot of
which he informed the slave, and instructed him, saying,
" My good Nanda ! when I am gone, do you let my son
know where the treasure is ; and be careful the wood is
not sold ! ''

Very soon after he died; and in due course his son
became of age. And his mother said to him, " My dear !
your father took Nanda the slave with him, and buried
his money. You should have it brought back, and put
the family estates into order.''

And one day he accordingly said to Nanda, " Uncle !
is there any money which my father buried ? '*

" Yes, Sir ! " said he.

*' Where is it buried?"

" In the forest. Sir."

" Then come along there." And taking a spade and
a bag, he went to the place whereabouts the treasure was,
and said, " Now, uncle, where is the money ? "

But when Nanda had got up on to the spot above the
treasure, he became so proud of it, that he abused his young
master roundly, saying, ''You servant ! You son of a slave-
girl ! Where, then, did you get treasure from here ? "

324

Z9.—NANDA JATAKA.

The young master made as tliougli he had not heard
the abuse ; and simply saying, " Come along, then,'' took
him back again. But two or three days after he went to
the spot again ; when Nanda, however, abused him as before.

The young man gave him no harsh word in reply, but
turned back, saying to himself, —

" This slave goes to the place fully intending to point
out the treasure ; but as soon as he gets there, he begins
to be insolent. I don't understand the reason of this.
But there's that squire, my father's friend. I'll ask him
about it, and find out what it is."

So he went to the Bodisat, told him the whole matter,
and asked him the reason of it.

Then said the Bodisat, *' On the very spot, my young
friend, where Nanda stands when he is insolent, there
must your father's treasure be. So as soon as Nanda
begins to abuse you, you should answer, * Come now,
slave, who is it you're talking too?' drag him down,
take the spade, dig into that spot, take out the treasure,
and then make the slave lift it up and carry it home ! "
And so saying he uttered this verse —

" The golden heap, methinks, the jewelled gold,
Is just where Nanda, the base-born, the slave.
Thunders out swelling words of vanity ! "

Then the young squire took leave of the Bodisat, went
home, took Nanda with him to the place where the
treasure was, acted exactly as he had been told, brought
back the treasure, put the family estates into order ; and
following the exhortations of the Bodisat, gave gifts, and
did other good works, and at the end of his life passed
away according to his deeds.

ZQ.—ATAJVDA ON THE BURIED GOLD. 325

"WTien the Teacher had finished this discourse, showing
how formerly also he had behaved the same, he established
the connexion, and summed up the Jataka, "At that
time Nanda was the monk under Sariputta, but the wise
squire was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF NANDA ON THE BURIED GOLD.^

1 In the so-called ^sop's Fables are several on the text that a haughty
spirit goeth before a fall ; for instance, ' The Charger and the Ass,' ' The
Bull and the Frog,' and * The Oats and the Reeds ' ; but this is the only story
I know directed against the pride arising from the temporary possession of
wealth.

No. 40.

KHADIEANGARA JATAKA.

The Fiery Furnace.

^^ Far rather will I fall into this hell^ — This the Master
told while at Jetavana, about Anatha Pindika.

For Aniitha Pindika having squandered fifty-four thou-
sands of thousands in money on the Buddhist Faith about
the Monastery, and holding nothing elsewhere in the
light of a treasure, save only the Three Treasures (the
Buddha, the Truth, and the Order), used to go day after
day to take part in the Three Great Services, once in the
morning, once after breakfast, and once in the evening.

There are intermediate services too. And he never
went empty-handed, lest the lads, and the younger
brethren, should look to see what he might have brought.
When he went in the morning he would take porridge ;
after breakfast ghee, butter, honey, molasses, and so on ;
in the evening perfumes, garlands, and robes. Thus
offering day after day, the sum of his gifts was beyond
all measure. Traders, too, left writings with him, and
took money on loan from him up to eighteen thousands of
thousands, and the great merchant asked it not again of
them. Other eighteen thousands of thousands, the pro-
perty of his family, was put away and buried in the river
bank ; and when the bank was broken in by a storm they
were washed away to the sea, and the brazen pots rolled
just as they were — closed and sealed — to the bottom of

^O. — THE FIERY FURNACE.

327

the ocean. In his house again a constant supply of rice
was ordered to be kept in readiness for five hundred
members of the Order, so that the Merchant's house was
to the Order like a public pool dug where four high roads
meet ; and he stood to them in the place of father and
mother. On that account even the Supreme Buddha
himself used to go to his residence ; and the Eighty Chief
Elders also ; and the number of other monks coming and
going was beyond measure.

Now his mansion was seven stories high, and there
were seven great gates to it, with battlemented turrets
over them ; and in the fourth turret there dwelt a fairy
who was a heretic. When the Supreme Buddha entered
the house, she was unable to stop up above in the turret,
but used to bring her children downstairs and stand on
the ground floor ; and so she did when the Eighty Chief
Elders, or the other monks were coming in or going
out.i

And she thought, " So long as this mendicant Gotama
and his disciples come to the house, there is no peace for
me. I can't be eternally going downstairs again and again,
to stand on the ground floor ; I must manage so that they
come no more to the house."

So one day, as soon as the chief business manager had
retired to rest, she went to him, and stood before him in
visible shape.

" Who's there ? " said he.

" It's I ; the Fairy who dwells in the turret over the
fourth gate."

" What are you come for ? "

"You are not looking after the Merchant's affairs.
Paying no thought to his last days, he takes out all his
money, and makes the mendicant Gotama full of it. He
undertakes no business, and sets no work on foot. Do

1 It is a great breach of etiquette for an inferior to remain in any place
above that where his superior is.

328 ^.—KHADIR ANGARA JATAKA. .

you speak to tlie Merchant so that lie may attend to his
business ; and make arrangements so that that mendicant
Gotama and his disciples shall no longer come to the
place."

But the other said to her, " 0 foolish Fairy ! the Mer-
chant in spending his money spends it on the religion of
the Buddhas, which leadeth to salvation. Though I
should be seized by the hair, and sold for a slave, I will
say no such thing. Begone with you ! "

Another day the Fairy went to the Merchant's eldest
son, and persuaded him in the same manner. But he re-
fused her as before. And to the Merchant himself she did
not dare to speak.

Now by constantly giving gifts, and doing no business,
the Merchant's income grew less and less, and his wealth
went to ruin. And as he sank more and more into poverty,
his property, and his dress, and his furniture, and his
food were no longer as they had been. He nevertheless
still used to give gifts to the Order ; but he was no longer
able to give of the best.

One day when he had taken his seat, after saluting the
Teacher, he said to him, " Well, householder ! are gifts
still given at your house ? "

" They are still being given. Lord," said he, " but only
a mere trifle of stale second day's porridge."

Then said the Master to him, " Don't let your heart be
troubled, householder, that you give only what is un-
pleasant to the taste. For if the heart be only right, a
gift given to Buddhas, or Pacceka Buddhas,^ or their
disciples, can never be otherwise than right. And why ?
Through the greatness of the result. For that he who
can cleanse his heart can never give unclean gifts is de-
clared in the passage —

1 One who has the power of gaining salvation for himself; but not of
giving others the knowledge of it. The Birth Story to which this is an In-
troduction is about a gift to a Pacceka Buddha.

AQ.—THE FIERY FURNACE. 329

If only there be a believing heart,

There is no such thing as a trifling gift

To the Mortal One, Buddha, or his disciples.

There is no such thing as a trifling service

To the Buddhas, to the Illustrious Ones ;

If you only can see the fruit that may follow.

E'en a gift of stale gruel, dried up, without salt !

And again he said to him, " Householder ! although
the gift you are giving is but poor, you are giving it to
the Eight Noble Beings.^ Now when I was Yelama,
and gave away the Seven Treasures, ransacking the whole
continent of India to find them, and kept up a great
donation, as if I had turned the five great rivers into one
great mass of water, yet I attained not even to taking
refuge in the Three Gems, or to keeping the Eive
Precepts, so unfit were they who received the gifts. Let
not your heart be troubled, therefore, because your gifts
are trifling." And so saying, he preached to him the
Velamika Sutta.

Now the Fairy^ who before had not cared to speak to
the Merchant, thinking, " Now that this man has come to
poverty, he will listen to what I say," went at midnight
to his chamber, and appeared in visible shape before him.

" Who's there ? " said the Merchant on seeing her.

" 'Tis I, great Merchant ; the Fairy who dwells in the
turret over the fourth gate."

" What are you come for ? "

" Because I wish to give you some advice."

" Speak, then."

" 0 great Merchant ! you take no thought of your last
days. You regard not your sons and daughters. You
have squandered much wealth on the religion of Gotama

1 Ariya-puggalas, the persons who, by self-culture and self-control, have
entered respectively on the Four Stages, and have reached the Four Fruits of
the Noble Eightfold Path.

330 ^O.—KHADIR ANGARA JATAKA.

the mendicant. By spending your money for so long a
time, and by undertaking no fresh business, you have
become poor for the sake of the mendicant Gotama. Even
so you are not rid of the mendicant Gotama. Up to this
very day the mendicants swarm into your house. What
you have lost you can never restore again ; but hence-
forth neither go yourself to the mendicant Gotama, nor
allow his disciples to enter your house. Turn not back
even to behold the mendicant Gotama, but attend to your
own business, and to your own merchandize, and so re-
establish the family estates."

Then said he to her, " Is this the advice you have to
offer me?"

"Yes; this is it.''

" He whose power is Wisdom has made me immovable
by a hundred, or thousand, or even a hundred thousand
supernatural beings such as you. For my faith is firm
and established like the great mountain Sineru. I have
spent my wealth on the Treasure of the Religion that
leads to Salvation. What you say is wrong ; it is a blow
that is given to the Religion of the Buddhas by so wicked
a hag as you are, devoid of affection. It is impossible for
me to live in the same house with you. Depart quickly
from my house, and begone elsewhere ! "

When she heard the words of the converted, saintly
disciple, she dared not stay ; and going to the place where
she dwelt, she took her children by the hand, and went
away. But though she went, she determined, if she
could get no other place of abode, to obtain the Merchant's
forgiveness, and return and dwell even there. So she
went to the guardian god of the city, and saluted him,
and stood respectfully before him.

" What are you come here for ? " said he.

" Sir ! I have been speaking thoughtlessly to Anatha
Pindika; and he, enraged with me, has driven me out
from the place where I dwelt. Take me to him, and

^.-THE FIERY FURNACE.

331

persuade him to forgive me, and give me back
dwelling-place.''

" What is it yon said to him ? '*

" * Henceforth give no support to the Buddha, or to the
Order of Mendicants, and forbid the mendicant Gotama
the entry into your house/ This, Sir, is what I said."

" You said wrong. It was a blow aimed at religion.
I can't undertake to go with you to the Merchant ! "

Getting no help from him, she went to the four Arch-
angels, the guardians of the world. And when she was
refused by them in the same manner, she went to Sakka,
the King of the Gods, and telling him the whole matter,
besought him urgently, saying, "0 God! deprived of
my dwelling-place, I wander about without a shelter,
leading my children by the hand. Let me in your
graciousness be given some place where I may dwell ! "

And he, too, said to her, " You have done wrong ! You
have aimed a blow at the religion of the Conqueror. It
is impossible for me to speak on your behalf to the
Merchant. But I can tell you one means by which the
Merchant may pardon you."

" It is well, O God. Tell me what that may be ! "

" People have had eighteen thousands of thousands of
money from the Merchant on giving him writings. Now
take the form of his manager, and without telling any-
body, take those writings, surround yourself with so
many young ogres, go to their houses with the writings
in one hand, and a receipt in the other, and stand in the
centre of the house and frighten them with your demon
power, and say, * This is the record of your debt. Our
Merchant said nothing to you in byegone days ; but now
he is fallen into poverty. Pay back the moneys which
you had from him.' Thus, by displaying your demon
power, recover all those thousands of gold, and pour them
into the Merchant's empty treasury. There was other
wealth of his buried in the bank of the river AciravatI,

332 m.—I^HADIRANGARA JATAKA.

which, wlien tlie river-bank was broken, was waslied away
to the sea. Bring tbat back by your power, and pour it
into bis treasury. In sucb and sucb a place, too, there is
another treasure of the sum of eighteen thousands of
thousands, which has no owner. That too bring, and
pour it into his empty treasury. When you have under-
gone this punishment of refilling his empty treasury with
these fifty-four thousands of thousands, you may ask the
Merchant to forgive you.'*

" Yery well, my Lord ! " said she ; and agreed to what
he said, and brought back all the money in the way she
was told ; and at midnight entered the Merchant's bed-
chamber, and stood before him in visible shape.

" Who's there ? " said he.

" It is I, great Merchant ! the blind and foolish Fairy
who used to dwell in the turret over your fourth gate.
In my great and dense stupidity, and knowing not the
merits of the Buddha, I formerly said something to you ;
and that fault I beg you to pardon. For according to
the word of Sakka, the King of the Gods, I have per-
formed the punishment of filling your empty treasury
with fifty-four thousands of thousands I have brought —
the eighteen thousands of thousands owing to you which
I have recovered, the eighteen thousands of thousands lost
in the sea, and eighteen thousands of thousands of owner-
less money in such and such a place. The money you
spent on the monastery at Jetavana is now all restored.
I am in misery so long as I am allowed no place to dwell
in. Keep not in your mind the thing I did in my igno-
rance, but pardon me, 0 great Merchant ! "

When he heard what she said, Anatha Pindika thought,
" She is a goddess, and she says she has undergone her
punishment, and she confesses her sin. The Master shall
consider this, and make his goodness known. I will take
her before the Supreme Buddha." And he said to her,
*' Dear Fairy ! if you wish to ask me to pardon you, ask
it in the presence of the Buddha ! "

^(i.-THE FIERY FURNACE.

333

" Yery well. I will do so," said she. " Take me with
you to the Master ! "

To this he agreed. And when the night was just pass-
ing away, he took her, very early in the morning, to the
presence of the Master; and told him all that she had
done.

When the Master heard it, he said, " You see, 0 house-
holder, how the sinful man looks upon sin as pleasant, so
long as it bears no fruit ; but when its fruit ripens, then
he looks upon it as sin. And so the good man looks upon
his goodness as sin so long as it bears no fruit ; but when
its fruit ripens, then he sees its goodness." And so saying,
he uttered the two stanzas in the Scripture Yerses :

The sinner thinks the sin is good.
So long as it hath ripened not ;
But when the sin has ripened, then
The sinner sees that it was sin !

The good think goodness is but sin,
So long as it hath ripened not ;
But when the good has ripened, then
The good man sees that it was good !

And at the conclusion of the verses the Fairy was estab-
lished in the Fruit of Conversion. And she fell at the
wheel-marked feet of the Teacher, and said, " My Lord !
lustful, and infidel, and blind as I was, I spake wicked
words in my ignorance of your character. Grant me thy
pardon ! "

Then she obtained pardon both from the Teacher and
from the Merchant.

On that occasion Anatha Pindika began to extol his
own merit in the Teacher's presence, saying, " My Lord !
though this Fairy forbad me to support the Buddha, she
could not stop me; and though she forbad me to give

334 ^^.—KHADIRANGARA JATAKA.

gifts, I gave them still. Shall not this be counted to my
merit, 0 my Lord ? "

But the Teacher said, ^' You, 0 householder, are a Con-
verted person, and one of the Elect disciples. Your faith
is firm, you have the clear insight of those who are walk-
ing in the First Path. It is no wonder that you were
not turned back at the bidding of this weak Fairy. But
that formerly the wise who lived at a time when a Buddha
had not appeared, and when knowledge was not matured,
should still have given gifts, though Mara, the Lord of
the angels of the Realms of Lust, stood in the sky, and
told them to give no gifts ; and showing them a pit full
of live coals eighty cubits deep, called out to them, * If
you give the gift, you shall be burnt in this hell ' — that
was a wonder ! "

And at the request of Aniitha Pin4ika, he told the
tale.

Long ago, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares,
the Bodisat came to life in the family of the Treasurer of
Benares, and was brought up in much luxury, like a
prince. And he arrived in due course at years of dis-
cretion ; and even when he was but sixteen years old he
had gained the mastery over all branches of knowledge.

At the death of his father he was appointed to the
office of Treasurer, and had six Gift-halls built, — four at
the four gates, and one in the midst of the city, and one
at the entrance to his mansion. And he gave Gifts, and
kept the Precepts, and observed the Sabbath-days.

Now one day when pleasant food of all sweet tastes was
being taken in for the Bodisat at breakfast-time, a Pac-
ceka Buddha, who had risen from a seven days' trance,
saw that the time had come for him to seek for food.

4:0.— THE FIERY FURNACE.

335

And thinking lie ought to go that day to the door of the
Benares Treasurer's house, he washed his face with water
from the Anotatta lake, and used a toothpick made from
the betel- creeper, put on his lower robe as he stood on the
table- land of Mount Manosila, fastened on his girdle,
robed himself, took a begging-bowl he created for the
purpose, went through the sky, and stood at the door of
the house just as the breakfast was being taken in to the
Bodisat.

As soon as the Bodisat saw him, he rose from his seat,
and looked at a servant who was making the preparations.

" What shall I do, Sir ?" said he.

" Bring the gentleman's bowl," said his master.

That moment Mara the Wicked One was greatly agi-
tated, and rose up, saying, "It is seven days since this
Pacceka Buddha received food. If he gets none to-day,
he will perish. I must destroy this fellow, and put a stop
to the Treasurer's gift."

And he went at once and caused a pit of live coals,
eighty fathoms deep, to appear in the midst of the house.
And it was full of charcoal of Acacia- wood ; and appeared
burning and flaming, like the great hell of Avici. And
after creating it, he himself remained in the sky.

When the man, who was coming to fetch the bowl, saw
this, he was exceeding terrified, and stopped still.

" What are you stopping for, my good man ? " asked
the Bodisat.

" There is a great pit of live coals burning and blazing
in the very middle of the house. Sir ! " said he. And as
people came up one after another, they were each over-
come with fear, and fled hastily away.

Then thought the Bodisat, " Yasavatti Mara must be

336 ^^.—KHADIRANGARA JATAKA.

exerting himself with tlie hope of putting an obstacle in
the way of my almsgiving. But I am not aware that I
can be shaken by a hundred or even a thousand Maras.
This day I will find out whether my power or Mara's —
whether my might or Mara's — is the greater."

And he himself took the dish of rice just as it stood
there ready, and went out, and stood on the edge of the
pit of fire ; and looking up to the sky, saw Mara, and
said —

" Who are you ? "

" I am Mara,'' was the reply.

*' Is it you who created this pit of fire ? "

*' Certainly, I did it."

"And what for?"

" Simply to put a stop to your almsgiving, and destroy
the life of that Pacceka Buddha ! "

"And I'll allow you to do neither the one nor the
other. Let us see this day whether your power or mine
is the greater ! " And still standing on the edge of the
pit of fire, he exclaimed —

"My Lord, the Pacceka Buddha! I will not turn
back from this pit of coal, though I should fall into it
headlong. Take now at my hands the food I have be-
stowed, even the whole of it." And so saying, he uttered
the stanza :

" Far rather will I fall into this hell
Head downwards, and heels upwards, of my own
Accord, than do a deed that is unworthy !
Keceive then, Master, at my hands, this alms ! "

And as he so said, he held the dish of rice with a firm
grasp, and walked right on into the fiery furnace !

^Q.— THE FIERY FURNACE.

337

And that instant there arose a beautiful large lotus-
flower, up and up, from tlie bottom of the depth of the
fiery pit, and received the feet of the Bodisat. And from
it there came up about a peck of pollen, and fell on the
Great Being's head, and covered his whole body with a
sprinkling of golden dust. Then standing in the midst
of the lotus-flower, he poured the food into the Pacceka
Buddha's bowl.

And he took it, and gave thanks, 'and threw the bowl
aloft ; then rose himself into the sky, in the sight of all
the people ; and treading as it were on the clouds whose
various shapes formed a belt across the heavens, he passed
away to the mountain regions of Himalaya.

Mara too, sorrowing over his defeat, went away to the
place where he dwelt.

But the Bodisat, still standing on the lotus, preached
the Law to the people in praise of charity and righteous-
ness ; and then returned to his house, surrounded by the
multitude. And he gave gifts, and did other good works
his life long, and then passed away according to his
deeds.

The Teacher then concluded this discourse in illustra-
tion of his words, " This is no wonder, 0 householder, that
you, having the insight of those who are walking in the
First Path, should now have been unmoved by the Fairy;
but what was done by the wise in former times, that was
the wonder." And he established the connexion, and
summed up the Jataka, by saying, " There the then
Pacceka Buddha died, and on his death no new being
VOL. I. 22

338 ^.—KHADIRANGARA JATAKA.

was formed to inlierit his Karma ; but lie wlio gave alms
to the Pacceka Buddha, standing on the lotus after de-
feating the Tempter, was I myself."

END OF THE STORY OF THE FIERY FURNACE.^

^ This story is quoted in ' Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio,' trans-
lated by Herbert A. Giles, vol. i. p. 396.

END OF BOOK I. CHAPTER IV.

INDEX.

The names mentioned in the Tables following the Introduction
are not included in this Index, as the Table in which any
name should occur can easily be found from the Table of
Contents. The names of the Jatakas as far as published in
Mr. Fausboll's text are included in this Index, the refer-
ence being to the number of the story; all the other
references are to the pages in this volume.

In Pali pronounce vowels as in Italian, consonants as in English
(except c = ^A, n = ny, i) = ng), and place the accent on
the long syllable. This is a rough rule for practical use.
Details and qualifications may be seen in my manual

'Buddhism,' pp. 1, 2.

No. 281

No. 156

No.

Abbhantara Jataka .
Abhidhamraa, Ixiv, 106
Abhinha Jutaka . . No.
Abhisambuddha-j^athii, Ixxvi
Adiccupatthana jataka . No. 175
^sop, vii, xi, xxxi-xxxv
Afghanistan, xliii

Age, virtue of reverence to, 310, 320
Aggika Jataka . . No. 129

AjafiSa Jataka . . No. 24

Ajita, Brahman and Bodisat, 39
Akalaravi Jataka . . No. 119
Akatafifiu Jataka . . No. 90
Alara Kalama, 111, 89
Ahna-citta Jataka .
Amaravati, a city, 23
Amba Jataka . . . No. 124
Anabhirati Jatakas . Nos. 65, 185
Anatha-pindika, 130, 326-330
Andabhuta Jataka . . No. 62
Andhapura, a city, 153
Angels open the gate for Gotama, 83 ;
the four guardian (Loka pala) ,110,
92 ; foolishly doubt regarding the
Buddha, 90, 105
Anoma, a river, 85
Antelope, the greedy, 212
Antelope, the wily, 237
Anupiya, a grove, 87
Anusasika Jataka .
Apadana, Ixxiv
Apannaka Jataka
Arabian Nights, xlii
Arabian story-books, xxix, xxx
Araka Jataka . . . No. 169

No. 115

No. 1

Arahats, outward signs of, 87 ; un-
consciousness, a supposed condition
of, 9U ; indifferent to worldly
_ things, 120

Arama-dusa Jataka . Nos. 46, 268
Archery, 76

Arindama, King and Bodisat, 69
Asadisa Jataka . . No. 187

Asampadana Jataka . . No. 131
Asar)kheyya, an aeon, 105
Asaijkiya Jataka . . No. 76
Asatamanta Jataka . . No. 61
Asatarupa Jataka . . No. 100
Asi-lakkhana Jataka . No. 126
Asitabhu Jataka . . No. 'J 34
Ass in the Lion's Skin, v
Assaji, the fifth convert, 113, 118
Assaka Jataka . . No. 207

Astrology, 168, 185
Astronomy, 150

Atideva, Brahman and Bodisat, 39
Atita-vatthu = Birth Story, Ixxiv
Atthadassin, a monk in Ceylon, 1 ;

see Buddha, No. 17
Atthassa-dvara Jutaka . No. 84
Atula, Naga- , King and Bodisat, 38,48
Avadanas, see Apadana

Babbu Jataka . . No. 137

Babrius, the Greek fabulist, xxxiii
Bahiya Jataka . . No. 108

Baka Jataka . . .No. 38
Bandhana-mokkha Jataka No. 120
Bandhanagara Jataka . No. 201
Baptism, 71

340

INDEX.

Bark, clothes of, 8
Earlaam and Josaphat, xxxvi-xli
Baronius, martyrologist, xxxix
Beal, the Rev. S., quoted, 111
Begging for food, 125
Bells, 91, 111
Benares muslin, 86
Benfey, Professor, see Pancha Tantra
Berachia, author of a Hebrew story-
book, 277
Betting, 267, 268
Bhaddasala Jataka, 186
Bhaddiya the third convert, 113
Bhaddiya the happy-minded, 190
Bhadra-ghata Jutaka . No. 291
Bhalluka, a merchant, 110
Bharhut sculptures, lix, 193, 233
Bharu Jutaka . . .No. 213
Bhavas, the three, 81
Bherivuda Jataka . . No. 59
BhTmasena Jataka . . No. 80
Bhojajaniya Jataka . No. 23

Bhoja, a Brahman, 72
Bhoja horses, 245
Bidpai, the Bactrian fabulist, xliv,

Ixxi
Bigandet, 111

Big-red, name of an ox, 275
Bijara Jutaka . . . No. 128
Bimbisara, king of Rajagaha, 114
Bird-catching, 296
Birds and the burning tree, 308
Birds, see Quail, Partridge, etc.
Blackie, the old woman's bull, 271
Bodisat = Josaphat, xxxvii
Bodisats, 53

Body, contempt of the, 200
Bowl, the Buddha's begging-, 87,

93, 94, 110
Brahma subservient to Gotama, 66,

92, 97, 102
Brahman and goat, 266
]}ruhman and his bet, 267, 268

rahm

260

Bruhmans and Buddhists, xxviii
Brass, ornaments and water- pots of,

154, 5, 6
Buddha, a. Former Buddhas, 52
1-3. Tanharjkara Medhagkara
Saranagkara, 52

4. DTparjkara, 8-31, 126

5. Kondafina, 31, 32, 33, 126

6. Maggala, 34

7. Sumana, 38

8. Revata, 39

9. Sobhita, 39

10. Anomadassin, 40

11. Paduma, 41

12. Nurada, 41

13. Padumuttara, 42

14. Sumedha, 43

15. Sujata, 43

16. Piyadassin, 44

17. Atthadassin, 45

18. Dhammadassin, 46

19. Siddhattha, 46

20. Tissa, 47

21. Phussa, 47

22. Vipassin, 48

23. Sikhin, 49

24. Yessabhu, 49

25. Kakusandha, 50

26. Konagamana, 51

27. Kas'sapa, 86, 51

h. Gotama the Buddha, life of,
60-130 ; date of death of, Ivi
Buddhadeva, a monk in Ceylon, 2
Buddhaghosa, Ixiii-lxv
Buddhamitta, a monk in Ceylon, 2
Buddhavagsa, liv, Ivi, 3-54, 29
Bull who lost a bet, 266
Bull who earned wages, 271

Candabha Jutaka . . No. 135

Canda-kinnara Jataka . No. 128

Canonization, xxxviii

Caravans, Jatakas Nos. 1 and 2

Cariya Pitaka, liii

Caste, 61 "

Catumatta Jataka . . No. 187

Channa, 81-87

Charity, power of, 101

City cheats and country fools, 316

Council of the Disciples (Savaka-

sanniputa), 119
Crab, the, with the famous grip, 319
Crane, the cruel, outwitted, 317
Crane, the good, and the live fish,

288
Credulity, sin of, 80
Crocodiles in a drop of water, 309
Crow and fox, viii
Crow and jackal, xii
Crows and owls, feud between, 291
Cucumbers, the golden, 288
Cullaka-setthi Jataka . No. 4
Cup, the wishing, xxi

Dabba, the Mallian, 172

INDEX.

341

Daddara Jataka . . No. 172
Dadhivahana Jataka . No, 186
Dagaba of the Diadem, 86 ; of Kan-
thaka's Staying, 84; of the Stead-
fast Gaze, 106 ; of the Jewelled
Cloister, 106 ; of the Hair-relics,
110
Dancing women, 81
Davids, the Eev. T. W., xl
Dead, feast in honour of, 226
Deer, loses his herd by foolishness
(Jataka No. 11), 195; saves his
herd by self-sacrifice (Jataka No.
12), 205; who would not learn,
219 ; the cunning, 221
Deer forest, the, near Benares, 111
Delusion, one of the three great sins,

80, 164
Demons, red-eyed, and bold, and

shadowless, 143
Demon of water, 181, 233
Dennys, Dr., 'Folklore of China,'

xlv
Desert demons, see Jataka No. 1
Devadaha, a village, 65
Devadatta, 156, 194, 257
Deva-dhamma Jataka . No, 6
Dhaja, a Brahman, 72
Dhammadhaja Jataka . No. 220
Dhammaka, a mountain, 7
Dhammapada, see Pitaka
Dhammapada Commentary, 123
Dhammapala Jataka, 126, 129
Dhanapalaka, 88
Digha Nikaya, repeaters of, 78
Diptychs in the early Christian

church, xxxviii
Divyavadana quoted, 185
Dog and elephant, 263
Dog who turned preacher, 240
Double miracle (by the Buddha), 105,
123, 164; (by Little Roadling),
165
Dubbaca Jataka . . No. 116
Dubbala-kattha Jataka . No. 105
Duddada Jataka . . No. 180
Dummedha Jataka . Nos. 50, 122
Durajana Jataka . . No. 64
Duta Jataka . . . No. 260

Earthquakes, miraculous, 33, 58, 118
East, facing towards the, 67, 96
Eclipse, 253

Ekapada Jataka . . No. 238
Ekapanna Jataka . . No. 149

Elephant, Mara's mystic, 97, 99,

101
Elephant's feet, of gold, 182
Elephant, the gentle, 259-262
Elephant and dog, 263
Elephant, monkey, and partridge, 312
Emetic, 243
Erasmus quoted, vii
Evil communications, etc., xxi, 257-

262
Evil to be overcome with good, xxv,

xxviii
Execution by elephants, 281

Fairy, story about a, 216

Fetish worship, xxi

Fiery furnace, story of the, 316

Fire-god conquered by a quail, 304

Fire restrained in presence of the

Buddha, 303
Fire worshippers, 114, 115
Fire, origin of jungle-, 308
Fish and his wife (No. 34), 299
Fish choose the Leviathan as their

king, 291
Fish and the good crane, 288
Fish and the cruel crane, 317
Flying, accomplishment of Arahats,

122
Flying of Pacceka Buddhas, 335 ; by

means of a gem, xix
Fowler and the quails, 296-298
Fox and crow, xiii

Gagga Jataka . . No. 155

Gahapati Jataka , . No. 199
Gamani-canda Jataka . No. 257
Gaijgeyya Jataka . . No. 205
Garahita Jataka . . No. 219
Gaya-sisa hill near Rajagaha, 114

257
Gesta Romanorum, xlvi
Ghatasana Jataka . . No. 133
Ghatikara, an archangel, 86, 93
Giftlhalls, 334

Gifts, trifling, of great value, 329
Gijjha Jataka . . No. 164

Gilchrist, J., translator of ^sop,

XXXV

Giridanta Jataka . . No. 1 84
Girly-face, an elephant so called, '269
Goat and Brahman, 226
Godha Jataka. . Nos. 138, 141
Gods, Brahman and Buddhist, 180-
184

342

INDEX.

Godpole's ^sop in Sanskrit, xxxv

Gold of Ophir, xlvii

Gold, buried, 323, 326

Gold dishes, 156

Golden Hill, 63, 71

Goldsmith, 251

Goose, the Golden, ix, 292, 294

Gotama, name of the Buddha, 1 1 2

Greediness, story against, 214-218

Greek and Buddhist fables, xliii

Guna Jataka . . . No. 157

Gunadhya, poet, Ixxiii

Guthapana Jataka . . No. 227

Guttila Jktaka . . No. 243

Hair, unkempt, a sign of holiness,

69; the Buddha's, 86; Dagaba of

the Hair-relic, 110
Halo from the Buddha's person, 114,

125, 135
Hagsas, ix, 292
Hardy, 111

Haritamata Jataka . . No. 239
Hawkers, 153-157
Heaven, war in, 284 ; the glories of,

shown to a sinner, 288
Hell becomes filled with light, 103
Hire of boats, 155; carriages, 170
Hitopadesa, Ixxii
Horse, see Sindh, Bhoja ; the mythic

horse, 82-87 ; horse-dealers, 174;

stories of the noble, 244-250 ;

story of the proud, 251
House, figuratively of the individual,

104
Hungarian tales, xlii
Hunters, stories against, 238
Hunting, evils of, 206
Hymn of triumph, the Buddha's, 103-

105

IllTsa Jataka . . .No. 78

Inda-samana-gotta Jataka No. 161

Individuality, 104

Indra, 85

Inherited qualities, liv, Ixxxv, 251

Isipatana, suburb of Benares, 91

Jackal and crow, xii

Jali, a prince, 105

Jambu-khadaka Jataka . No. 294

Janaka Jataka . . No. 52

Janapada KalyanT, 128

Jarudapana Jataka . . No. 256

Jasmine, the Arabian, 82

Jataka Mala (in Sanskrit), liy
Jataka Commentary, the old one, 82
Jataveda the god of fire, 305
Jatila, a Bodisat, 62
Jerome quoted, vii
Jetavana, a monastery, gift of, 1 30
Jews and Moslems, xxx
Jewish translators, xxxi
Jhana-sodhana Jataka . No. 134
John, St., of Damascus, xxxvi, xl
Jotipala, Brahman and Bodisat, 51
Jungle -fire stopping before the
Buddha, 303

Kacchapa Jataka . Nos. 178, 215

273
Kacchapa Jataka, No. 215, trans-
lated, ix
Kaka Jataka . . Nos. 140, 146
Kakantaka Jataka . . No. 170
Kakkara Jataka . . No. 209
Kakkata Jataka . . No. 267
Kala Devala, 69
Kaia Nagaraja, 94, 97
Kaia Udayin, 120

Kaiakanni Jataka . Nos. 83, 192
Kaiuma, 89, 111

Kalanduka Jataka . . No. 127
Kalaya-mutthi Jataka . No. 176
Kalyana-dhamma Jataka . No. 171
Kalilag and Damnag literature, xxxix
Kalpa-lasting miracle, 235
KamanTta Jataka . . No. 228
Kamanita-viliipa Jataka . No. 297
Kammatthana, 127
Kancanaickhandha Jataka No. 56
Kandagalaka Jataka . No. 210
Kandina Jataka . . No. 13
Kanha Jataka. . . No. 29
Kanha Jina, a princess, 105
Kanthaka, the mythic horse, 82-87
Kanthaka Nivattana Cetiya, 84
Kapi Jataka . . .No. 250
Kapota Jataka . . No. 42

Karma, instances of action of, 161,

164
Kasava Jataka . . No. 221

Kassapa of Uruvela, the sixty-second

convert, 114
Kassapa Brahman and Bodisat, 44
Kassapa Buddha, see Buddha
Kassapa Kumara, the Elder, 199,

204
Kassapa Maha Narada, 115
Katahaka Jataka . . No. 125

INDEX.

343

293
102

Katha-sarit-Sagara, Ixxii, 168
Kaya-vicchinda Jataka . No.
Keli-sTla Jataka . . No.
Kesa-dhatu-vagsa, 111
Khadiraijgara Jataka . No. 40
Khandahala Jataka, 190
Khandhavatta Jataka . No. 203
Khanti-vannana Jataka . No. 225
Khara-dhatika, a demon, 33
Kharadiya Jataka . . No. 16
Kharassara Jataka . . No. 79
Khema, king and Bodisat, 50
Khurappa Jataka . . No. 265
Kimpakka Jataka . . No. 85
Kingdom of Righteousness, 112
Kings chosen by the animals, 292
Kings, a lesson for, xxii
Kigsukopama Jataka . No. 248
Kinnara Jataka, 128
Kisa GotomT, 79, 80
Komaya-putta Jataka . No. 299
Kondanya, a Brahman, 72, 73 ; be-
comes the first disciple, 112
Kosala, a country near Benares, xxiii
Kosiya Jataka . . Nos. 130, 226
Kshemendra, Kashmirian poet, Ixxiii

Kuddala Jataka

. No.

Kuhaka Jataka

. No.

Kukkura Jataka

. No.

Kulavaka Jataka

. No.

Kumbhila Jataka .

. No.

224

Kunala Jataka, 295

Kundaka-puva Jataka

. No.

109

Kusanali Jataka

. No.

121

Kurudhamma Jataka

. No.

276

Kurur)ga-miga Jataka

Nos. 21,

206

Kuta-vanija Jataka

. No.

218

Labha-garaha Jataka . No. 287
La Fontaine's fables, vii, xi, xlii
Lakkhana, a Brahman, 72
Lakkhana Jataka . . No. 11
Lalita Vistara, 104, 87
Lamp, the wonderful, xxi
Latthivanuyyana (grove of reeds), 116
Leviathan, king of the fish, 292
Life like living in a house on fire, 81
Lion of the vermilion plain, 11
Lion as Bodisat, 40
Lion, the Buddha walks like a, 93
Lion, the Buddha mighty in voice

as a, 135
Lion and tiger, 214
Lion chosen king of the beasts, 292
Litta Jataka . . . No. 91

Little-red, name of an ox, 275
Lola Jataka . . . No. 274
Lomahagsa Jataka . . No. 94
Losaka Jataka. . . No. 41
Lotus stalks, edible, 140, 143
Love, the dart of, 212
Lumbini grove, where the Buddha
was born, 66

Macala, a village in Magadha, 279
Maccha Jataka Nos. 34, 75, 216
Macchudana Jataka. . No. 288
MaddT, queen, 105
Magadha, land of, 195
Magha, a Brahman, 279
Maha-bharata quoted, xxvii, 185
Maha Maya, mother of the Buddha,

61 and foil.
Maha-nama, the fourth convert, 113
Mahapadana, 77

Maha-panada Jataka . No. 264
Maha-pir)gala Jataka . No. 240
Maha-sara Jataka . . No. 92
Maha-sllava Jataka . No. 51

Maha-sudassana Jataka . No. 95
Maha-supina Jataka . No. 77
Maha Vagsa quoted. 111, 264
Mahila-mukha Jataka . No. 26
Mahigsasa, Prince, 180
Mahigsiisaka, race of, 2
Mahisa Jataka . . No. 278

Mahosadha Jataka, xiv
Majjhima Desa, the Buddhist Holy

Land, 110
Makasa Jataka . . No. 44
Makha Deva Jataka . No. 9

Makkata Jataka . Nos. 173, 174
Maluta Jataka . . No. 17

Mallika, king of Kosala, xxiii
Mandhatu Jataka . . No. 258
Maggala, ascetic and Bodisat, 46
Maijgala Jataka . . No. 87
Mafijerika, palaceof theNagaking, 97
Mani-cora Jataka . . No. 194
Mani-cora-kantha Jataka No. 253
Mani-sukara jataka . No. 285
Mantin, a Brahman, 72
Mara, the Buddhist Satan, tempts
Gotama with sovereignty, 84 ; con-
flict between the Buddha and, 96-
101 ; the daughters of, 106-108;
as tempter, 335
Marriage feast, 276
Marriage custom, choice by the
woman, 289-292

344

INDEX.

Marks on a child's body signs of its

future, 70, 72, 125
Martyrologies, xxxix
Mataka-bhatta Jataka . No. 18
Mutali, Sakka's charioteer, 286
Migadaya, a deer forest near Benares,

111
Milk, legend of 'working in and in,'

91
Milky Way, the, 135
Mirage, 141

Mittacinti Jtitaka . . No. 114
Mittamitta Jataka . . No. 197
Mittavinda Jataka . Nos. 82, 104,
369, 439
Moggallana, the chief disciple, 118
Monastery, gift of , 118, 130-132
Monk, the eight things allowed to a,

87
Monkey, partridge, and elephant, 312
Monkeys and demon, 232
Moon Prince, 180i

Mora Jataka . . . No. 159
Mucalinda, the king of the cobras, 109
Mudulakkhana Jataka . No. 66
Mudupuni Jataka . . No. 262
Mula-pariyaya Jataka . No. 245
Munika Jataka . . No. 30
Muslin of Benares, 36
Myth, tale of the Golden Goose a

true, 294

Nacca Jataka < . . No. 32
Nrigas, mystic snakes, 85, 88, 94 ;

king of, sings the Bodisat's praise,

97
Nakkhatta Jataka . . No. 49
Nakula Jataka . . No. 165

Nalakapana, a village and lake, 233
Naiaka, 70

Nalapana Jataka . . No. 20
Namasiddhi Jataka . . No. 97
Nanacchanda Jataka . No. 289
Nanda Jataka . . . No. 39
Nanda, the Buddha's half brother,

128
Nandi-visala Jataka . No. 28

Nandiya Jataka . . No. 222
NaggalTsa Jataka . . No. 123
Nariguttha Jataka . . No. 144
Narada Kassapa, 275
Narada Kassapa Jataka (the Maha),

115
Nautch girls, 81
Nerafijara, a river near Uruvela, 94

Nigrodha tree, 91-93
Nigrodha-miga Jataka . No. 12
Nimi Jataka, 181
Nipata, division of the Jataka Book,

Nirvana, 80, 104, 105, 106, 137, 204
Numbers, sacred or lucky, 71, 74
Nun, leave of relatives required to
become a, 199 ; charge against a,
202, 203 ; attains Nirvana, 204

Offerings, uselessness of, 115

Old woman and her black bull,

273
Old woman and her golden cucumbers,

288
Omens, the thirty-two good, 64, 68,

103- ; the four, 73, 78
Ophir, probably in India, xlvi ; gold

of, xlvii
Overland route in ancient times, xlvii
Owls and the crows, 291
Ox who envied the pig, 275

Pabbajja Sutta, 82
Pabbata king and Bodisat, 50
Pabbatupatthara Jataka . No. 195
Paccuppanna-vatthu — Introductory

Story, Ixxiv
Pada-^gata-sannaya, Ixxvii
Padai.jali Jataka . . No. 247
Paduma Jataka . Nos. 193, 261
Pahlavi, ancient Persian, xxix
Palayi Jataka . . Nos. 229, 230
Palmyra fruits, single seeded, 94
Palobhana Jataka . . No. 263
Panada Jataka . . No, 264

Pancavudha Jataka . . No. 55
Paficagaru Jataka . . No. 132
Pancha Tantra, vii, xi, xxix, Ixx
Pandava, a rock near Eajagaha, 88
Pannika Jataka . . No. 103
Paramitas, the Ten Perfections, 18

and foil. , 54 and foil.
Paricchataka flowers (of heaven), 85
Parosahassa Jataka . . No. 99
Parosata Jataka . . No. 101
Partridge, monkey, and elephant, 312
Peacock, the dancing . No. 32
Penance not the way to wisdom, 91
Petrus de Natalibus, martyrologist,

xxxix
Phaedrus, the Latin fabulist, xxxiii
Phala Jataka . . .No. 64
Piety, name of a woman, 282

INDEX.

345

Pig and ox, 276

Pitakas quoted or referred to : —

Apadanag, Ixxiv

Pabbajja Sutta, 89

Maha-padhana Sutta, 77, 89

Samafifia-pliala Sutta, 7

Dhammapada, xxvii, 109, 137, 158,
178, 185, 197, 199, 209, 239, 253

Jataka, see separate titles.

Sutta Nipata, 185

CuUa Vagga, Hi, 314, 193, 177, 190

Sagyutta Mkiiya, xiii. Hi

Agguttara Nikaya, Ixii

Abhidhamma, Ixiv, 106

Cariya. Pitaka, Hii

Buddhavagsa, Hv, Ixvi

Maha Vagga, 61

Vammlka Sutta, 204

Eatthapala Sutta, 212

Sudinna Sutta, 212

Parajikai), 212

Maha Saniaya Sutta, 136

Planudes, author of -S]sop, xxxii
Plato quoted, vi

Pleasing, name of a woman, 282
Ploughing festival, 74, 75
Punna-nadi Jataka . . No. 214
Punnapati Jataka . . No. 53
Punna, slave girl of Sujata, 92
Puppharatta Jataka . ' . No. 147
Puta-bhatta Jataka . . No. 223
Puta-dusaka Jataka . No. 280

Quail, the Holy . . No. 35
Quails, Sad Quarrel of the No. 33

Eadha Jataka . . Nos. 145, 198
Rahu, head without a body, 253
Rahula, Gotama's son, 79, 82, 128,

221
Rajagaha, 87
Raj ayatana- tree, 109
Rajovada Jataka . . No. 151
Rama, a Brahman, 72 ; father of

Buddha's teacher Uddaka, 89
Ramma, a city, 9, 26, 27
Rammavati, a city, 31
Rangoon, 111
Rays of light stream from a Buddha,

33
Ready-made clothes not to be trusted,

315
Renunciation, the Great, 81-84 186;

garb of, 87; power of, 100

Repeaters of the Scriptures {Bhan-

aka), 78
Rest-houses for travellers, 282
Roadling, story of Great RoadHng

and Little Roadling, 158-165
Robbers' talk, effect of, 259-261
RohinI Jataka . . No. 45

Romaka Jataka . . No. 277
Rucira Jataka . . . No. 275
Ruhaka Jataka . . No. 191
Rukkha-dhamma Jataka . No. 74

Sabbadatha Jataka . . No. 241
Saccakiriya, solemn appeal made in

truth, 235, 241
Saccagkira Jataka . . No. 73
Sacrifices, folly of, 226-231
Sadhu-sTla Jataka . . No. 200
Sahajata, or Connatal Ones, 68
Saketa Jataka . . Nos. 68, 237
Sakka as Bodisat, 46 ; his character
in Buddhist tales, xvii ; places the
Buddha's hair in a dagaba in
heaven, 86 ; serves the Buddha,
66, 92, 102, 109, 116, 117; legend
of his throne feeling hot, 116;
former birth of the present, 279 ;
the Bodisat bom as, 284 ; tempts
a mortal, 288 ; his presents, xvii
Sakuna Jataka . . No. 36

Sakunagghi Jataka . . No. 168
Sakyas, the, 123

Salaka Jataka . . No. 249

Salitta Jataka . . . No. 107
Saluka Jataka . . Nos. 30, 286
SamaSna-phala Sutta quoted, 7
Samapatti, 89

Samiddhi Jataka . . No. 167
Sammappathana, 89
Sammodamana Jataka . No. 33
Samuddha Jataka . . No. 295
Sanchi Tope, sculptures at, Hx
Saggamavacara Jataka . No. 182
Safijaya, a gardener so called, 217
Safijiva Jataka . . No. 150
Sagkappa Jataka . . No. 251
Sagkha-dhamana Jataka . No. 60
Sag vara Jataka . . No. 186
Santhava Jataka . . No. 162
Sap of Hfe, curious legend concern-
ing, 90, 92
Sarambha Jataka . . No. 88
Sariputta, the chief disciple, 118, 129,

194, 251, 316, 322
Satadhamma Jataka . No. 179

346

INDEX.

Satapatta Jiltaka . . No. 279

' Sausages,' 276

Savatthi, 130

Seal-ring, as pledge, 1 70

Seggu Jataka . . . No. 217

Senani, a landowner, father of Sujata,
91

Seriva, a country, and a trader, 153

Serivanija Jataka . . No. 3

Seven allied kings, 246-249

Seyya Jataka . . .No. 282

Shadow, men without, are demons,
143

Shakespeare, vii, xlii

Shield of virtue, 98

Siddhattha, name of the Buddha,
73, 89, 96, 105

Sigala Jataka . . Nos. 113, 142,
148, 152, 157

Signs, the thirty-two hodily, of a
Great Being, 70, 72, 91

Siha-camma Jataka, No. 189, trans-
lated, V

Sihakotthuka Jataka . No. 188

Silanisaijsa Jataka . . No. 190

STlava-naga Jataka . . No. 72

Silavimai)sana Jataka Nos. 8b", 290
330, 362

Simpson, W., xliii

Sinbad the Sailor, xli

Sindh horses, 76, 78

Sindhava Jataka . Nos. 254, 266

Singi gold, 117

Sinhalese version of the Birth
Stories, xiii

Sirens in Buddhist stories, xiv

Siri Jataka . . .No. 284

Six, the, 310

Slave on the buried gold, 322

Slaves addressed as 'uncle,' 323, 319

Slavonic tales, xlii

Snakes, see Naga and Mucalinda

Solomon's Judgment, xiv, xliv-xlvii

Somadatta Jataka . . No. 211

Somadeva, Ixii

Sotthiya, a merchant, 132

Sotthiya, the grasscutter, 95

Soul, sermon on, 113

Spell, how righteousness was the
• Bodisat's, 281

Spring, beauties of, 121

St. Barlaam, xxxix

St. John of Damascus, xxxvi

St. Josaphat, xxxix

Stag and roe, 211-213

Strainer used by monks, 278
Struggle, the Great, against sin, 89,

91
Suhanu Jataka . . No. 158
Suka Jataka . . . No. 255
Sukara Jataka . . No. 153

Sudassana (Belle Vue) monastery, 9 ;

city, 42
Sudassana, Sujata -Buddha's chief

disciple, 43; king and Bodisat, 49
Sudatta, a Brahman, 72
Suddodhana, the husband of the

Buddha's mother, 61, 65 and foil.,

90, 119, 126
Sujata Jataka . . . No. 269
Sujata, a Bodisat, 46
Sujata, legend of her offering to the

Buddha, 91-94
Sumedha, the Bodisat in the time of

Dlparjkara, xliii, 2-28
Sunakha Jataka . . No. 242
Suijsumara Jataka . . No. 208
Sun Prince, 180
Supannas, winged creatures, 287,

285, 85, 88
Supatta Jataka . . No. 292
Siu-apana Jataka . . No. 81
Suruci Jataka, Ixxx
Suruci, a Brahman, 34
Susima ascetic and Bodisat, 45
Susima Jataka . . No. 163

Suvanna-hai)sa Jataka . No. 136
Suyama, a Brahman, 72 ; an arch-
angel, 67

Tailor, the crafty monk who was a,

315
Takka Jataka . . . No. 63
Takkasila = Taxila, a university town,

xxii
Tandula-na]i Jataka . No. 5
Tapassu, a merchant, 110
Tavatigsa heaven, 86, 87
Tayodhamma Jataka . No. 58
Telapatta Jataka . . No. 96
Telavaha river, 153
Telovada Jataka . . No. 246
Thoughtful, name of a woman, 252
Tiger, 214

Tilamutthi Jataka . . No. 252
Tin, 154

Tinduka Jataka . . No. 177
Tiritavaccha Jataka . . No. 259
Tissa, an Elder so named, 214-216
Titans war against the gods, 285

INDEX.

347

Tittha Jataka . . . No. 25
Tittira Jataka . . Nos. 37, 117
Tortoise, of gold, 133 ; the talkative,

viii
Trade customs : —

Caravans, Jatakas Nos. 1, 2

Hawkers, Jataka No. 3

Close of contract by deposit of
seal-ring, 170

Kings fix their own prices, 174-6

Dodges of a ready-made clothier,
315

Business manager, 317

Loans on bond, 326, 331

Receipts on payment, 331
Transmigration of souls, Ixxv
Treasure trove, 332
Treasurer of Benares, 334
Trees pay homage to Maha Maya, 66 ;

to the Buddha, 75, 102
Tree-god, the Buddha mistaken for

a, 93 ; prayer to, 91
Tree of Wisdom (Bo- or Bodhi-tree),

95
Tree -god, or genius, or fairy, the

Bodisat as, 212, 238, 230, 317
Truth-act, curious belief of, 235

Ubhatobhattha Jataka . No. 139
TJcchar)ga Jataka . . No, 67
Ucchittha-bhatta Jataka . No. 212
Udaficani Jataka . . No. 106
Udapana-dusa Jataka . No. 271
Udayin (Kala), 120, 121
Udayin the Simpleton, 172, 173
Uddaka, the Buddha's teacher, 89,

111
TJdumbara Jataka . . No. 298
Ugga, a merchant, 133
TJkkala, Orissa, 110
Uluka Jataka . . . No. 270
Ummagga Jataka, Ixxx
Upahana Jataka . . No. 231
Upaka, a Hindu mendicant, 112
TJpasalha Jataka . . No. 166
TJpasampada-kammavaca quoted, 161
Uppala-vanna, 220, 223
Uraga Jataka . . . No. 154
Uruvela, 73, 89, 91
Uttara, Brahman and Bodisat, 43

Vacchanakha Jataka . No. 235
Vaddhaki-sukara Jataka . No. 283
Vaka Jataka . . .No. 300
Valahakassa Jataka . . No. 196

Valodaka Jataka . . No. 183
Yanarinda Jataka . . No. 57
Vannabhumi (Place of Praise), 116
Vannupatha Jataka . . No. 2
Vappa, the second convert, 113
Varana Jataka . . No. 71

Varro quoted, vii

Varuni Jataka . . No. 47

Vatamiga Jataka . . No. 14
Vattaka Jataka . Nos. 35, 118
Vedabbha Jataka . . No. 48
Vedas, the three, 4, 71
Veluka Jataka . . No. 44

Veiuvana (the Bambu-grove)', 118
Veri Jataka . . . No. 103
Verses in the Jatakas, Ixxviii
Vesali, Council of, Ivi
Vessantara Jataka, 33, 101, 124
Vessavana, king of the goblins, 181
Vetala-panca-vir)sati, Ixxiii
Vijayuttara, Sakka's trumpet, 97
VijitavT, Bodisat, 47

No. 233
. No. 232
. No. 160
. No. 204
. No. 143
Cardinal, 15-18,

. No. 69

No. 93
No. 244

Vikannaka Jataka
Vinatliuna Jataka
Viailaka Jataka
Viraka Jataka
Virocana Jataka
Virtues, the Ten

54-58, 107
Visavanta Jataka
Vissakamma, 78
Vissasabhojana Jataka
Viticcha Jataka
Vow, folly of offerings given under

a, 230
Vrihat-katha, Ixxiii
Vyaggha Jataka . . No. 272

"Water of presentation, 131, 165
Water goblin, 180-184
Well-born, name of a woman, 282
Wessantara, Buddha's birth as, re-
ferred to, 101, 124
Wheel, the sacred, 114
Wind, story about, 224
Winged creatures, see Supannas
Women, 180, 204, n. ; none in the
Brahma heaven, 282

Yakkhas, xiv, 95
Yakshas, see Yakkhas
YakshinT, see Yakkhas
Yasa, the sixth convert, 113
Yasodhara, 127
Yojana (seven miles), 87

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TEXTS FROM THE BUDDHIST CANON

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oe, rose garden of shekm mushliu'd-din sadi of shiraz.

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BUDDHIST BIRTH STORIES; or, Jataka Tales.

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A TALMUDIC MISCELLANY;

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THE CLASSICAL POETRY OF THE JAPANESE.

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THE HISTORY OF ESARHADDON (Son of Sennacherib),
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Translated from the Cuneiform Inscriptions upon Cylinders and Tablets in
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Br ERNEST A. BUDGE, B.A., M.R.A.S.,
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THE MESNEVI

(Usually known as The Mesneviyi Sherif, or Huly Mesnevi)

MEVLANA (OUR LORD) JELALU 'D-DIN MUHAMMED ER-RUML

Book the First.

Together with some Account of the Life and Acts of the Author,

of his Ancestors, and of his Descendants.

Illustrated by a Selection of Characteristic Anecdotes, as Collected

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Mevlana Shemsu-'D-Din Ahmed, el Eflaki, el *Aeifi.

Translated, and the Poetry Versified, in English,

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EASTERN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS

Illustrating Old Truths.

By Rev. J. LONG,

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INDIAN POETRY;

Containing a New Edition of the "Indian Song of Songs," from the Sanscrit
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India" (Mahabharata), "Proverbial Wisdom " from the Shlokas of the
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' Beautiful Radha, jasmine-bosomed Radha,'
from the allurements of the forest nymphs, in whom the five senses are typified."—
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THE MIND OF MENCIUS ;

Or, POLITICAL ECONOMY FOUNDED UPON MORAL

PHILOSOPHY.

A Systematic Digest op the Doctrines of the Chinese Philosopher

Mencius.

Translated from the Original Text and Classified, with
Comments and Explanations,

By the Rev. ERNST FABER, Rhenish Mission Society.

Translated from the German, with Additional Notes,

By the Rev. A. B. HUTCHINSON, C.M.S., Church Mission, Hong Kong.

" Mr. Faber is already well known in the field of Chinese stuiiies by his digest of
the doctrines of Confucius. The value of this work will be perceived when it is
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THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

By a. BARTH.

Translated from the French with the authority and assistance of the Author.

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the work for the translator, and has added the literature of the subject to
date ; tiie translation may, therefore, be looked upon as an equivalent of a
new and improved edition of the original.

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HINDU PHILOSOPHY.

The SANKHYA KARIKA of IS'WARA KRISHNA.

An Exposition of the System of Kapila, with an Appendix on the
Nyaya and Vais'eshika Systems.

By JOHN DAVIES, M.A. (Cantab.), M.R.A.S.

The system of Kapila contains nearly all that India has produced in the
department of pure philosophy.

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Kapila is the 'earliest attempt on record to give an answer, from reason alone,
to the mysterious questions which arise in every thoughtful mind about the origin of
the world, the nature and relations of man and his future destiny,' and in his learned
and able notes he exhibits 'the connection of the Sankhya system with the philo-
sophy of Spinoza,' and ' tlie connection of the system of Kapila with that of Schopen-
hauer and Von Hartinann.' " — Foi-eign Church Chronicle.

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A MANUAL OF HINDU PANTHEISM. VEDANTASARA.

Translated, with copious Annotations,

By ]VIajor G. A. JACOB,

Bombay Staff Corps ; Inspector of Army Schools.

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vast amount of research embodied in Lis notes to the text of the Vedantasara. So
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adequate view of Hindu philosophy generally. His work ... is one of the best of
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TSUNI— I I GOAM :

The Supkeme Being of the Khoi-Khoi.

By THEOPHILUS HAHN, Ph.D.,

Custodian of the Grey Collection, Cape Town ; Corresponding Member

of the Geogr. Society, Dresden ; Corresponding Member of the

Anthropological Society, Vienna, &c. , &c.

•'The first instalment of Dr. Hahn's labours will be of interest, not at the Cape
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lected by Dr. Hahn and printed in his second chapter, enriched and improved by
what he has been able to collect himself." — Prof. Max Miiller in the Nineteenth
Century.

" It is full of good tilings. "—5^«. James's Gazette.

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A COMPREHENSIVE COMMENTARY TO THE QURAN.

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Together with a Complete Index to the Text, Preliminary
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THE BHAGAVAD-GITA.

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THE QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM.

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THE QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM.

The Persian Text, with an English Verse Translation.
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS AND
ANCIENT INDIAN METAPHYSICS.

As exhibited in a series of Articles contributed to the Calcutta Review.

By ARCHIBALD EDWARD GOUGH, M.A., Lincoln College, Oxford ;
Principal of the Calcutta Madrasa.

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A COMPARATIVE HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIAN AND
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS.

By Dr. C. P. TIELE.

VoL I.— History op the Egyptian Religion.

Translated from the Dutch with the Assistance of the Author.

By JAMES BALLINGAL.

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YUSUF AND ZULAIKHA.

A Poem by JAMI.

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LINGUISTIC ESSAYS.

By carl ABEL.

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THE SARV A - DARSAN A - SAMGR AHA ;

Or, review of THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF HINDQ

PHILOSOPHY.

By MADHAVA ACHARYA.

Translated by E. B. CO WELL, M. A., Professor of Sanskrit in the University

of Cambridge, and A. E. GOUGH, M.A., Professor of Philosophy

in tlie Presidency College, Calcutta.

This work is an interesting specimen of Hindu critical ability. The

author successively passes in review the sixteen philosophical systems

current in tlie fourteenth century in the South of India ; and he gives what

appears to liim to be their most important tenets.

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thought."— Athenceum.

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TIBETAN TALES DERIVED FROM INDIAN SOURCES.

Translated from the Tibetan of the Kah-Gyur.

By F. ANTON VON SCHIEFNER.

Done into English from the German, with an Introduction,

By W. R. S. RALSTON, M.A.

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divisions of the Tibetan sacred books." — Academy.

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UDANAVARGA.

A Collection op Verses from the Buddhist Canon.

Compiled by DHAKMATRATA.

Being the NORTHERN BUDDHIST VERSION of DHAMMAPADA.

" - Translated from the Tibetan of Bkah-hgyur, with Notes, and
Extracts from the Commentary of Pradjuavarman,

By W. WOODVILLE ROCKHILL.

" Mr. Rockhill's present work is the first from which assist<ance will be gained
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In Two Volumes, post 8vo, pp. xxiv. — 566, cloth, accomjianied by a
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A SKETCH OF THE MODERN LANGUAGES OF AFRICA.

By ROBERT NEEDHAM CUST,
Barrister-at-Law, and late of Her Majesty's Indian Civil Service.

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OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF RELIGION TO THE

SPREAD OF THE UNIVERSAL RELIGIONS.

By C. p. TIELE,

Doctor of Theology, Professor of the History of Religions in the
University of Leyden.

Translated from the Dutch by J. EsTLiN Carpenter, M.A.

" Few books of its size contain the result of so much wide thinking, able and labo-
rious study, or enable the reader to gain a better bird's-eye view of the latest results
of investigations into the reli<^ious history of nations. As Professor Tiele modestly
says, ' In this little book are outlines— pencil sketches, I might say— nothing more.'
But there are some men whose sketches from a thumb-nail are of far more worth
tiian an enormous canvas covered with the crude painting of others, and it is easy to
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short and clear, condense the fruits of long and thorough research. "—Scotsman.

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A HISTORY OF BURMA.

Including Burma Proper, Pegu, Taungu, Tenasserim, and Arakan, From

the Earliest Time to the End of the First War with British India.

By Lieut.-Gen. Sir ARTHUR P. PHAYRE, G.C.M.G., K.C.S.I., and C.B.,

Membre Correspondant de la Societe Academique Indo-Chinoise

de France.

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RELIGION IN CHINA.

By JOSEPH EDKINS, D.D., Peking.

Containing a Brief Account of the Three Religions of the Chinese, with
Observations on the Prospects of Christian Conversion amongst that
People.

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an intimate knowledge of them as they at present exist." — Saturday Review.

" Dr. Edkins' valuable work, of which this is a second and revised edition, has.
from the time that it was published, been the standard authority upon the subject
of which it treats." — Nonconformist.

" Dr. Edkins . . . may now be fairly regarded as among the first authorities on
Chinese religion and lan-^uage."— .BritisA Quarterly Revie^o.

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THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA AND THE EARLY
HISTORY OF HIS ORDER.

Derived from Tibetan Works in the Bkah-hgyur and Bstan-hgyur.

Followed by notices on the Early History of Tibet and Khoten.

Translated by W. W. ROCKHILL, Second Secretary U. S. Legation in China.

••The volume bears testimony to the diligence and fulness with w'nich the author
has consulted and tested the ancient document's bearing upon his remarkable sub-
ject."— Times.

•' Will be appreciated by those who devote themselves to those Buddhist studies
which have of late years taken in these Western regions so remarkable a develop-
ment. Its matter possesses a special interest as being derived from ancient Tibetan
works, some portions of which, here analysed and translated, have not yet attracted
the attention of scholars. The volume is rich in ancient stories bearing upon the
world's renovation and the origin of castes, as recorded in these venerable autho>
rities." — Daily News.

Third Edition. Post 8vo, pp. viii.-464, cloth, price i6s.

THE SANKHYA APHORISMS OF KAPILA,

With Illustrative Extracts from the Commentaries.
Translated by J. R. BALL ANT YNE, LL.D., late Principal of the Benares

College.
Edited by FITZEDWARD HALL.
The work displays a vast expenditure of labour and scholarship, for which
students of Hindoo philosophy have evexy reason to be grateful to Dr. Hall and the
publishers." — Calcutta Review.

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BUDDHIST RECORDS OF THE WESTERN WORLD,

Translated from the Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang (a.d. 629).

By SAMUEL BEAL, B.A.,

(Trin.ColL, Camb.); K.N. (Retired Chaplain and N. I. ); Professor of Chinese,
University College, London ; Rector of Wark, Northumberland, &c.

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THE ORDINANCES OF MANU.

Translated from the Sanskrit, with an Introduction.

By the late A. C. BURNELL, Ph.D., CLE.

Completed and Edited by E. "W. HOPKINS, Ph.D.,
of Columbia College. N.Y.

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of religion it is full of importance. Ir is a great boon to get so notable a work in so
accessible a form, admirably edited, and competently translated." — Scotsman.

" Few men were more competent than Burnell to give us a really good translation
of this well-known -law book, first rindered into English by (Sir William Jones.
Burnell was not only an independent Sanskrit scholar, but an experienced lawyer,
and he joined to tliese two important qualifications the rare faculty of being able to
express his thoughts in clear and trenchant English. . . . We ought to feel very
grateful to Dr. Hopkins for having given us all tliat could be published of the trans-
lation left by Burnell." — F. Max MUlleii in the Academy.

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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ALEXANDER
CSOMA DE KOROS,

Between 1819 and 1842. With a Short Notice of all his Published and Un-
published^Works and Essays. From Original and for most part Unpub-
lished Documents.

By THEODORE DUKA, M.D., F.R.C.S. (Eng.), Surgeon-Major
H.M.'s Bengal Medical Service, Retired, &c.

"Not too soon have Messrs. Trubner added to their valuable Oriental Series a
history of the life and works of one of the most gifted and devoted of Oriental
students, Alexander Csoma de Koros. It is forty-three years since his death, and
though an account of his career was demanded soon after his decease, it has only
now appeared in the important memoir of his compatriot, Dr. Duka." — Bookseller.

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MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO
INDOCHINA.

Reprinted from "Dalrymple's Oriental Repertory," "Asiatic Researches,"
and the "Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal."

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

I.— Some Accounts of Quedah. By ^licbael Topping'.

TI. — Keport made to the Chipf and Council of Balambangan, by Lieut. James
Barton, of his several Surveys.

III. —Substance of a Letter to the Court of Directors from Mr. Julm' Jesse, dated
July 20, 1775, at Borneo Proper.

IV. — Formation of the Establishment of Poolo Peenang.

V. — The Gold of Limong. By John Macdonald.

VI. — On Three Natural Productions of Sumatra. By John Macdonald.

VII.— On the Traces of the Hindu Language and Literature extant amongst the
Malays. By William Marsden.

VIII. — Some Account of the Elastic Gum Vine of Prince-Wales Island. By James
Howison.

IX.— A Botanical Description of Urceola Elastica, or Caoutchouc Vine of Sumatra
and Pulo-Pinang. By William Roxburgh, M.D.

X.— An Account of the Inhabitants of the Poggy, or Nassau Islands, lying off
Sumatra. By John Crisp.

XL— Remarks on the Species of Pepper which are found on Prince-Wales Island.
By William Hunter, M.D.

XII.— On the Languages and Literature of tlie Indo-Chinese Nations. By J.
Levden, M.D.

XIII. — Some Account of an Orang-Outang of remarkable height found on the Island
of Sumatra. By Clarke Abel, M.D.

XIV.— Observations on the Geological Appearances and Geneml Features of Por-
tions of tlie Malayan Peninsula. By Captain James Low.

XV.— Short Sketch of the Geology of Pulo-Pinang and the Neiglibouriug Islands.
By T. Wave.

XVI.— Climate of Singapore.

XVII. —Inscription on the Jetty at Singapore.

XVIII.— Extract of a Letter from Colonel J. Low.

XIX.— Inscription at Singapore.

XX.— An Account of Several Inscriptions found in Province Wellesley. By Lieut. -
Col. James Low.

XXL— Note on the Inscriptions from Singapore and Province Wellesley. By J. W.
Laid lay.

XXIL— On an Inscription from Keddah. By Lieut.-Col. Low.

XXIII. — A Notice of the Alphabets of the Pliilippine Islands.

XXIV.— Succinct Review of the Observations of tiie Tides in the Indian Archipelago.

XXV.— Report on the Tin of the Province of Mergui. By Capt. G. B Tremenheere.

XXVL— Report on the Manganese of Mergui Province. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere.

XXVIL— Paragraphs to be added to Capt. G. B. Tremenheere's Report.

XXVIII.--Second Report on the Tin of Mergui. By Capt. G. B. Tremenheere.

XXIX.— Aiialysis of Iron Ores from Tavoy and Mergui, and of Limestone from
Mergui. ' By Dr. A, Ure.

XXX.— Report of a Visit to the Pakchan River, and of some Tin Localities in the
Soutiiern Portion of the Tenasserim Provinces. By Capt. G. B. Tremenlieere.

XXXI.— Report on a Route from the Mouth of the Pakchan to Krau, and thence
across the Isthmus of Knm to the Gulf of Sinm. By Capt. Al. Eraser and Capt. J. G.
Forlong.

XXXIL— Report, &c. , from Capt. G. B. Tremenheere on the Price of Mergui Tin Ore.

XXXIIL— Remarks on the Different Species of Orang-utan. By E. Blyth.

XXXIV.— Further Remarks. By E. Blyth.

TRUBNER'S ORIENTAL SERIES.

MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO INDO-CHINA—
continued.

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

XXXV. — C italo^ue of Mammalia inhabiting the Malayan Peninsula and Islands.
By Theodore Cantor, M.D.

XXXVI.— On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore. By J. R. Logan.

XXXVI [.—Catalogue of Reptiles inhabiting the Malayan Peninsula and Islands.
By Tlieodore Cantor, M.D.

XXXVIII.— Some Account of the Botanical Collection brought from the Eastward,
in 184 1, by Dr. Cantor. By the late W. Griffith.

XXXIX.— On the Flat-Horned Taurine Cattle of S.E. Asia. By E. Blyth.

XL. — Note, by Major-General G. B. Trcmenheere.

General Index.

Indt!x of Vernacular Terms.

Index of Zoological Genera and Sub-Genera occurring in Vol. II.

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THE SATAKAS OF BHARTRIHARI.

Translated from the Sanskrit
By the Rev. B. HALE WORTHAM, M.R.A.S.,

Rector of Eggesford,. North Devon.

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ANCIENT PROVERBS AND MAXIMS FROM BURMESE
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Or, the NITI LITERATURE OF BURMA.

By JAMES GRAY,

Author of "Elements of Pali Grammar," "Translation of the
Dhammapada," &c.

The Sanscrit-Pali word Niti is equivalent to "conduct" in its abstract,
and "guide" in its concrete signification. As applied to hooks, it is a
general term for a treatise which includes maxims, pithy sayings, and
didactic stories, intended as a guide to such matters of every-day life as
form the character of an individual and influence him in his relations to his
fellow-men. Treatises of this kind have been popular in all ages, and have
served as a most effective medium of instruction.

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MASNAVI I MA' NAVI:

THE SPIRITUAL COUPLETS OF MAULANA JALALU-'D-DIN
MUHAMMAD I RUMI.

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MANAVA-DHARMA-CASTRA:
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Original Sanskkit Text, with Critical Notes.
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Professor of Sanskrit in the University of "Wurzburg ; late Tagore Professor
of Law in the University of Calcutta,

The date assigned by Sir William Jones to this Code — the well-known
Great Law Book of the Hindus — is 1250-500 B.C., although the rules and
precepts contained in it had probably existed aa tradition for countless ages
before. There has been no reliable edition of the Text for Students for
many years past, and it is believed, therefore, that Prof. Jolly's work will
supply a want long felt.

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LEAVES FROM MY CHINESE SCRAP-BOOK.

By FREDERIC HENRY BALFOUR.

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LINGUISTIC AND ORIENTAL ESSAYS.

Written from the Year 1847 to 1887. Second Series.

By ROBERT NEEDHAM OUST, LL.D.,

Barrister-at-Law ; Honorary Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society ;
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MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO
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Second Series.

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FOLK-TALES OF KASHMIR.

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(C.M.S.) Missionary to the Kashmiris.

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MEDIJEVAL RESEARCHES FROM EASTERN ASIATIC

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Fragments Towards the Knowledge of the Geography and History
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ALBERUNI'S INDIA:

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AND ASTROLOGY (about a.d. 1031).

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With Notes and Indices by Prof. EDWARD SACHAU,

University of Berlin.

*»* The Arabic Original, with an Index of the Sanskrit Words, Edited by

Professor SACHAU, is in the press.

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THE LIFE OF HIUEN TSIANG.

By the shamans HWUI LI and YEN-TSUNG.

With a Preface containing an account of the Works of I-Tsing.

By SAMUEL BEAL, B.A.

(Trin. Coll., Camb.); Professor of Chinese, University College, London;

Rector of Wark, Northumberland, &c.
Author of " Buddhist Records of the AVestern World," " The Romantic

Legend of Sakya Budda," &c.
When the Pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang returned from his travels in India, he
took up his abode in the Temple of "Great Benevolence ; " this convent had
been constructed by the Emperor in honour of the Empress, Wen-te-hau.
After Hiuen Tsiang's death, his disciple, Hwui Li, composed a work which
gave an account of his illustrious Master's travels ; this work when he com-
pleted he buried, and refused to discover its place of concealment. But
previous to his death he revealed its whereabouts to Yen-tsung, by whom it
was finally revised and published. This is "The Life of Hiuen Tsiang." It
is a valuaiale sequel to the Si-yu-ki, correcting and illustrating it in many
particulars. ^

IN PREPARATION:—

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A SKETCH OF THE MODERN LANGUAGES OF
OCEANIA.

By R. N. oust, LL.D.

Author of " Modern Languages of the East," " Modern Languages of

Africa," &c.

LONDON : TRUBNER & CO., 57 and 59 LUDGATE PULL.

500— 1 1/3/89.

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Full text of "Buddhist birth-stories; Jataka tales. The commentarial introd. entitled Nidanakatha; the story of the lineage. Translated from V. Fausböll's ed. of the Pali text by T.W. Rhys Davids. New and rev. ed. by Mrs. Rhys Davids"

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