At one time, when Buddha was living in Jetavana monastery, he disclosed this Jātaka. At that time, after the spring retreat of the monks, Buddha descended from heaven to the gate of the town of SamÅkassa. On that day, Venerable Sāriputta very intelligently solved the questions of the monks, which the monks appreciated. With regard to one of the Venerable Sāriputta’s solutions of a question, this story was told. This is the story:
Long ago when King Brahmadatta was ruling the city of Benares, the Enlightenment Being was living in the Himalayan forest as a leader of many ascetics.
At that time, the Enlightenment Being’s first disciple went to a nearby village to observe the spring retreat. In the meantime, the ascetic Enlightenment Being came to the end of his life. His other disciples came to the dying Enlightenment Being and asked, “Revered one, did you gain any kind of religious success from your practices of mental absorption?”
The Enlightenment Being said, “Nothing, it is not anything [akiñcanamÅ, natthi kiñci].” While he was saying this, his consciousness disappeared and he was born in the Brahma world.
The ascetic disciples, on hearing his words, could not understand their meaning. They thought, “Alas. He has been born in a Brahma world where people who have incorrect ideas [micchā-diææhi] are born.” Thinking so, they did not perform for him an elaborate funeral.
After this, the first chief disciple returned and asked the other ascetics, “What did our master say before his death?”
The other ascetics said what they had heard. Then the chief disciple said, “Oh, if it is so, then there is no doubt he has been born among the resplendent Brahma-s [ābhassara-s].” When he said this, the others did not believe him. Then the master who had been born in the Brahma world came down and appeared before them. He said, “My chief disciple has spoken the truth.” He then returned to the Brahma world.
The chief disciple ascetic at that time was the Venerable Sāriputta. And I was the master ascetic who was born among the resplendent Brahma-s and who have obtained full enlightenment at the present time.
The moral: “Understanding is appreciated by everyone.”
At one time, the omniscient one was living in Jetavana monastery in Sāvatthi. This story was delivered in front of a certain monk who had gone to a remote village to observe the spring retreat.
A certain monk went to observe the spring retreat, and the temple in which he was living burnt down in a fire. When the monk asked his supporters to repair it, those villagers said, “Next week we have to plough.” “Next week we have to make a fence.” Similarly, giving such various excuses, they could not repair the building for the whole three months. As there were no facilities, the monk could not develop his mind so as to obtain an aura. He wasted his days. And then at the end of the spring retreat, he went to see the Buddha. He knelt down in the presence of the Buddha, and sat by his side.
The omniscient lord had a chat with him about his life during the spring retreat at the remote village. He asked, “Oh monk, how is your progress in meditation? Were you able to do your meditation successfully?” Then the monk said that he was unable to meditate, as there were no facilities in which to do so. Then the Buddha asked, “Why did you not go to a place where facilities were available? It is necessary for you to meditate to overcome defilement. Even birds in the past went away from where they did not have proper facilities to live.” Then the Buddha was invited to disclose the past story. Buddha disclosed the past story thus:
There was a king called Brahmadatta who was ruling in the city of Benares long ago. At that time, the Enlightenment Being was a bird, and he became the leader of many birds. They lived on a tree beside a certain river.
Many birds roosted overnight on a branch of the tree that overhung the river, and they dropped their dung into the river. A certain divine cobra that was living in the river got angry because of the fouling of his water. He thought that he would burn the tree so that the birds would not live there any more. One day, when all the birds were roosting on the same branch, the divine cobra puffed out a poisonous steam that boiled the water of the river. Then, he puffed out fire. Because of this, a lot of fire and steam rose high up from the water.
On seeing this strange thing, the Enlightenment Being said to his flock of birds, “It is not good to stay here because from the water, fire has arisen. Therefore, let us go away to another place.” Some of the birds did not pay attention to that. Only a few went with him.
The fully enlightened one concluded this story saying, “I, who am now the lord Buddha, was the leader of the birds at that time.”
The moral: “One should leave a place that is inhospitable.”
When the Buddha was living in Jetavana monastery he delivered the discourse of Ajapālanigrodha [The Goatherd’s Banyan Tree]. The monks one day got together in the preaching hall and said, “Brothers, the three daughters of Māra12 were not able to tempt the Buddha when he was under the Bodhi tree.13 They came to tempt the Buddha assuming beautiful bodies, and the Buddha did not even open his eyes to see them. He exercised great self-control.” They lauded this behavior variously. While they were talking, Buddha came there and asked, “Monks, what were you talking about before I came?” The monks mentioned their discussion to the Buddha, and the Buddha said, “Monks, not only today, but even in the past I controlled my cravings for women. Therefore, there is no need to say that this is due to my enlightenment. When I, the Buddha, was not enlightened, even at such a time as the Enlightenment Being I was capable of self-control.” Then the monks requested him to disclose the story of the past. The Buddha preached to them, disclosing the past story:
At one time when King Brahmadatta was ruling in Benares, he had 500 princes. The Enlightenment Being was born the last of them. He asked a solitary Buddha [pacceka- buddha] when he might become king of the country. The Pacceka-Buddha answered, “If you can go to the city of Takkasilā, you can be the king within seven days.14” On hearing this prediction of the Pacceka-Buddha, he took five ministers to help him and set forth to go there. On his way, all five ministers were tempted by a certain demoness and eaten by her. The demoness then chased after the Enlightenment Being, who came to the city of Gandhāra. While he was spending the night in a certain inn, the king of that city passed by riding on an elephant and saw the demoness. Seeing her beauty tempted the king. The Enlightenment Being, seeing the king with her, said, “Do not take her to your palace. She is a demoness.” She said to the king, “No, no. I am his lordship’s wife. He got angry with me, and that is why he is saying this.” Believing her words, the king took her to his palace even after the Enlightenment Being had asked him not to do so. That same night, the demoness went back to her own home while the king was sleeping and came back to the palace with her attendants. They killed and ate everyone in the palace, including the king and queen, leaving behind only the bones. [This story was told previously in the Gandhāra-Jātaka (=Telapatta-Jātaka, Jātaka No. 96).]
When the demoness left, the next morning the officers who were living in the villages came back to the palace and as the doors were not opened for them, they broke down the doors and saw the bones of the king, the queen, and their retinue. They cleaned the whole palace, and decorated it as a palace in the divine world as it had been decorated before. It looked like the Sudhamma Hall of Sakka, the king of the gods. The officers summoned the ministers and discussed how to select a king. They finally came to the decision that they should invite the man who was in the inn and who warned the king not to take home the demoness. They went to him, and told him their decision. Then the Enlightenment Being said, “Does not the king have a son?” And the officers and ministers said, “No.” Then he accepted the invitation, was anointed as the king, and he came to the palace in a grand procession. After that, while he was sitting on the throne, he enjoyed the magnificence around him—his ministers, the officers, Brahmins, the commanders of the army, 16,000 dancing women, and others who were prominent in the kingdom, all dancing, playing music, beating drums, and singing. Because of these things, it was noisy like the roaring of a thunderstorm. They were playing the five-fold musical instruments, making the environment noisy.
While this was taking place, the Enlightenment Being thought, “As the Pacceka-Buddha said I should, just as he had encouraged me to do, I made an effort to come to this place. Therefore, it is my duty to do meritorious deeds.”
Thinking so, from that point on he started to do good deeds by giving alms to the needy, and thereby acquired merit from being a righteous king. Finally, he passed on as the king of Gandhāra.
He was I, who am the Buddha today.
The moral: “Yielding to temptations brings harm. Self- control brings rewards.”
12 The three daughters of Māra are TaÏhā, Arati, and Ragā.
13 See Palobhana Sutta, probably the Dhītaro Sutta of the MārasamÅyutta, SamÅyuttanikāya(C. A. F. Rhys Davids and Sūriyago¯a SumanÄgala Thera, The Book of Kindred Sayings [Saŋyutta-Nikāya] or GroupedSuttas, Part I, Kindred Sayings with Verses [Sagāthā-Vagga], [1917]: 156-59 [IV, 3, §5]). See regarding this G. P. Malalasekhara, Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names, 1937-38: 2, 166 and 1, 1160-61.
14 Takkasilā was the capital of the kingdom of Gandhāra. In the Buddha’s time, like Benares it was a center of learning.
When the Buddha was living in the Bamboo Grove monastery [VeÀuvanārāma] of Rājagaha this story was delivered one day to the monks who assembled in the preaching hall. They were talking about Devadatta’s lack of gratitude.
The Buddha entered the preaching hall and asked, “Monks, what were you talking about before I came here?” They answered, “Your lordship, we were talking about Devadatta’s ungrateful nature.” Then the Buddha said, “Oh monks, not only today, but in ancient times as well he also was ungrateful.” The monks requested the Buddha to disclose the past story. The Buddha disclosed the story as follows:
At one time there was a king called Magadha in the city of Rājagaha of the Magadha kingdom. The Enlightenment Being was born in the city to a wealthy family which had 800 million crores, and he was named SanÄkha the Millionaire.
At the same time, there was another very wealthy millionaire in Benares, known as Piliya. They were friends, and kept in contact with one another.
At one point, the millionaire Piliya of Benares went bankrupt. Being in such a situation, he thought, “It is now a good time to go to see my friend SanÄkha. I can perhaps get some wealth from him to help maintain my position.” Thinking so, he left only with his wife. Leaving Benares on foot without even a vehicle, he came to the city of Rājagaha. He came to SanÄkha’s palace, and appeared before SanÄkha. SanÄkha welcomed him and asked him the reason for his coming. Piliya said, “I have become bankrupt and there is no where for me to live now. That is why I came to see you.” The millionaire SanÄkha said, “It is very good that you have come. Do not worry.” Saying so, he divided his wealth into two equal halves and gave Piliya 400 million crores from his wealth, together with servants and other necessities such as bullocks, cows, horses, elephants, chariots, and so forth. Treating him in this fashion, SanÄkha bade him to return home.
After a long time, SanÄkha fell into the same condition.
“I am now suffering because of my downfall. There is, though, my good friend Piliya to whom I have given half of my wealth. Therefore, now it is time to go to see my friend Piliya. He will help me at this time.” Thinking so, he went with his wife to Benares. He asked his wife to stay in an inn on the outskirts of the city while he went alone to see Piliya at Piliya’s house. Piliya, hearing of SanÄkha’s coming to his home, did not receive him well. When he came, he did not treat him with respect and did not even offer him a seat or chat with him in a friendly manner. He only asked the reason for his coming.
SanÄkha said, “I came to see you.” Piliya then asked, “Where are you staying?” SanÄkha said, “I have no place to stay.” On that very same day, there had arrived at Piliya’s home a thousand cartfuls of red rice. Not knowing the nature of gratitude, Piliya summoned a slave boy and said, “It is not good to send this man away empty handed. Therefore, measure him one measure of unhusked red rice and give it to this man.” He said to the millionaire SanÄkha, “Take this, cook it, and eat it anywhere you like. Do not come back to see me again.”
Hearing these words of Piliya, SanÄkha thought, “Do I take this or not?” Again he thought, “As I came here, it is not good to violate our friendship. Let whatever happens be. I will take it.” And he took the measure of unhusked red rice and went back to where his wife was. On seeing this, his wife said, “You have given him 400 million crores. Why did you take this measure of rice?” He said, “If I did not take this, there is no doubt I would have violated our friendship. Therefore, I brought it so as not to violate our friendship. Do not worry.” But SanÄkha’s wife started to cry. Meanwhile, one of SanÄkha’s former servants was passing nearby. He recognized the voices of the millionaire SanÄkha and of his wife who was crying. Recognizing them, he entered the inn and asked why SanÄkha’s wife was crying. She said, “We have given Piliya 400 million crores of wealth together with retinue. But when we are having a hard time, this man has given us a measure of unhusked red rice.” Then the former servant said, “Do not worry, your lordships. Come with me to my home.” He took them to his home. And after giving them baths, he gave them food and entertained them very well. Introducing them to his friends, he requested them to honor SanÄkha and his wife. He went together with all of them to the royal palace, and made a clamor on account of this matter. Then the king of Benares, on hearing this noise, inquired as to its cause. He summoned both the millionaires of Rājagaha and of Benares and questioned them. Listening to them both, first he asked SanÄkha, “What did you give Piliya in his hard time?” SanÄkha said, “400 million crores of wealth.” Then he asked Piliya, “Is it true?” Piliya said, “Yes.” Then he asked, “When he came to you, what did you give?” Piliya remained silent. Then the king said, “I heard that you have given one measure of unhusked rice. Is it true?” Again, Piliya remained silent.
Then the king and his ministers censured Piliya. The king said to the millionaire SanÄkha, “You can take all of his wealth.” The millionaire SanÄkha said, “Your majesty, I do not wish to take another’s wealth. The 400 million crores that I have given him before is enough for me. I do not need another’s wealth.” So he took his wealth, and the people whom he had given to Piliya, and went to the city of Rājagaha. There in Rājagaha he put his affairs in order, and he did many meritorious deeds such as charity and so forth for the benefit of others. At the end of his life, he passed on happily.
At that time, Devadatta was Piliya. And I who have attained Buddhahood was the millionaire SanÄkha.
When the Buddha was living in the monastery of Jeta Grove, one Brahmin who had become a follower of the Buddha had very pious feelings toward the Buddha, the law [dhamma] and the community of monks [sanÄgha]. At that time, he had a wife who was living in his home, but as an adulterous woman. She would get up in the middle of the night and go out. During the daytime, without doing any work at home, she would recline on the bed and sleep.
The Brahmin would come home and ask, “Why are you sleeping?” The Brahmin woman would say, “I am sick.” He asked, “What is the sickness?” She would say, “I have an upset stomach.” The Brahmin asked, “What can I do for that?” She said, “I need sweet, delicious food.” Because of that, the Brahmin daily would go out and beg alms for her. But, the sickness remained, without her recovering, for days on end. Therefore, the Brahmin thought of going to the Buddha to ask for a treatment for her. As he had not gone to see the Buddha for several days, he took some fragrances, flowers and lights in both hands, and went to the monastery. Paying his respects to the Buddha, he sat by his side.
Lord Buddha saw the Brahmin and asked, “You have not come to see me for so long. Why so?” The Brahmin said, “Your lordship, my wife was suffering with pain, and I was searching for treatment for her and so could not come. That is why I was away.” And he continued his explanation, “Sir, even though she is sick for days, she is not weak, not lean or thin, and not of bad complexion. I have been giving her nourishing food as much as I can. Yet she does not seem to get well. Now I do not know what to do.”
Then the Buddha said, “Because it is covered by re- births in the ocean of existence, you cannot understand it. Even in the past, I was the person who prescribed medicine for this sickness of hers.” Then the Brahmin requested the Buddha to disclose the past.
The Buddha said the past story thus:
At one time when King Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Enlightenment Being was born as the head teacher of the princes of a hundred and one cities. He taught both princes and Brahmin youths. One Brahmin learned completely the three Veda-s, writing, mathematics, logic, grammar, and the eighteen such subjects from the Enlightenment Being. This Brahmin would visit the teacher to serve him three times each day, and at the same time would clarify any doubts he had in his mind about the teachings. At the same time, the Brahmin’s wife was unrighteous as mentioned in the above story. The disclosure of that situation was also similar to that mentioned in the above story.
The teacher said, “It is not necessary to give her nourishment and delicious foods. Instead of that, take cow’s urine and boil in it five kinds of medicinal leaves, making a decoction. In that, place the three kinds of condiments and the three kinds of nuts [which are hard to swallow], making a decoction out of this. Put it in a copper pot and ferment it for several days so that it takes on the flavor of the copper. Then the smell becomes like cheese. Take that decoction to her, and taking with you a rope, creeper and bundle of sticks, tell her to drink this medicine to get rid of her sickness. Warn her, if she does not do so you will seize her by her hair and beat her with the rope, the creeper or the bundle of sticks. When you do so, she will recover from her sickness.
The Brahmin went home and did as the head teacher instructed. Then the woman asked, “Who prescribed this?” The Brahmin said, “This was told me by my master who has educated me.” Then she understood there was no doubt that the teacher knew her behavior. She thought, “Why should I suffer drinking this distasteful decoction and undergoing other punishments?” She repented and determined to give up her bad behavior. She got up from her bed, and began to clean the house and do her other wifely duties.
Since then, she maintained her chastity and lived happily.
In the story of the present also, the pious Brahmin’s wife heard that the Buddha asked about her sickness and she thought, “There is no doubt that the Buddha knows the unrighteousness that I have done.” And she gave up her bad behavior as well.
“At that time, the Brahmin husband and wife were the same as today.” And the Buddha said further, “I who am the Buddha today was born as the head teacher then.”
The moral: “Truth will never be defeated by hypocrisy.”
When Buddha was living in Jetavanārāma in Sāvatthi, this story was delivered about a monk who knew many deceptions and trickeries:
Long ago in ancient times King Brahmadatta was ruling in Benares. At the time he was ruling, the Enlightenment Being was born as a rat. In the meantime, a certain jackal was burned by fire and only the hair on the top of his head remained. Then, the jackal whose hair on the top of his head had been preserved saw himself in a reflection. He thought, “How can I live now only with hair on the top of my head?” Seeing the Enlightenment Being and his retinue of rats, he thought, “There is now one way that I can live.” Thinking so, he went to those rats and became friendly with them. As was mentioned in the previous Jātaka story, he paid obeisance to the Enlightenment Being and the Enlightenment Being asked, “Who are you?” He said, “I am Bharadvāja, Worshipper of Fire.” The Enlightenment Being asked, “Why did you come here?” He said, “I came to look after you and your retinue.” Then the Enlightenment Being again asked, “How can you protect us?” The jackal said, “When you go out in the morning for food, and come back in the evening, I will count your numbers and make sure as many return as left. That is how I can look after you.” The Enlightenment Being said, “That is very good, uncle. Do so.” Since then the jackal, as he pretended to count them in the morning and evening, would eat one of them each time they went and came back. Meanwhile, the rats began to notice that their ranks were dwindling.
The Enlightenment Being heard this and the next day he came out at the end of the pack. The jackal jumped up on the Enlightenment Being who was now last, as he had done previously on other rats. The Enlightenment Being who had been mindful about this, jumped out of the way suddenly. He said, “Now I understand your promising to protect us. You have killed numbers of us. That is what you have done to us.” Saying so, he jumped up onto the throat of the jackal and bit it, and killed him.
The jackal at that time was this hypocritical monk of today. And I was the king of rats, who has become the fully enlightened one today.
Saying so, the Buddha completed this story of the past.
The moral: “Hypocrisy will not serve one’s ends for a long time.”
At one time, Buddha was living in Jetavanārāma in Sāvatthi. While he was there, a certain cunning, deceptive and hypocritical monk was brought to his attention. Buddha, on seeing him, said, “Monks, this man is not only cunning, deceptive and hypocritical today. He also was so in the past.” Then the monks requested the Buddha to disclose this monk’s past. Buddha thus related his past story:
Long ago in ancient times, there was a king called Brahmadatta in Benares. While he was ruling Benares, the Enlightenment Being was born as a rat. He was wise, and his physical appearance was fat like that of a boar. Thousands of rats lived with him in a big anthill in the forest. They respected him as their leader.
Meanwhile, a certain jackal that was searching for prey, wandering here and there, saw this large group of rats. He thought, “By some sort of stratagem, I will be able to eat those rats.” Thinking so, one day he stood on the path the Enlightenment Being was to travel on, with one foot raised, his mouth open, and facing the sun. The Enlightenment Being who was searching for food, on seeing him asked, “Who are you?” Then the jackal said, “I am the righteous one.” Then he asked, “Why are you standing on one leg?” He replied, “If I stand on all four legs, the earth would not bear my weight.” Then he asked, “Why do you keep your mouth open?” He replied, “I am eating the wind.” Then he asked, “Why are you facing east?” He replied, “I am worshipping the rising sun.” Then the Enlightenment Being thought, “This jackal is not a liar. No doubt he is saying the truth. There is a wholesome quality in his heart.” Thinking so, he came two times a day to respect him. He came attended by other rats. When they were returning, the jackal every time caught the last rat and ate it. He wiped away the blood on this mouth, and then stood as he had been doing.
After he had been engaged in this hypocrisy daily, the number of rats in the troop started to decline noticeably. On seeing their numbers decline, the other rats approached the Enlightenment Being and said, “Your lordship, long ago when we were inside the anthill, we were so crowded we kept touching each other. But now, our numbers are sparse. We do not know why this is so. Please be kind enough to explain the situation to us.”
The Enlightenment Being, hearing the news, thought, “There is no doubt, this must be the doing of the jackal.”
And on that day, when he went with the other rats to pay respect to the jackal, he stayed in the rear, sending all the other rats before him. When the jackal saw the Enlightenment Being in the rear, he jumped on him as he had done to the other rats previously. The Enlightenment Being jumped out of the way and was thus saved. He thought, “This jackal’s penance is similar to the penance of a cat.11” Thinking so, he came to the determination that the jackal’s penance was only a deception to get his food. He jumped up onto the neck of the jackal and bit at his windpipe, and killed him.
Those rats that saw this incident came there and ate all the flesh of the jackal. The latecomers among those rats got little flesh. After that, those rats lived happily.
Thus the Buddha ended the story, disclosing that he, the Buddha, had been the king of the rats.
The moral: “It is difficult to deceive others every day.”
10 Though the story here is about a jackal, the corresponding story in the Mahābhārata is about cat. See Mahābhārata 5.160.15-43 in the Bombay edition, Mahābhārata 5421-49 in the Calcutta edition. The corresponding passage is deleted from Mahābhārata 5.157 in the Critical Edition (Poona edition), but it is referred to in the critical apparatus for Mahābhārata 5.157.5d and 16, and is given in full in Appendix I, no. 9 (vol. 6, pp. 667b-669a). The story is not included in either Pratap Chandra Roy’s translation of the Mahābhārata (1883-96; rpt. 1952- 62), or in J. A. B. van Buitenen’s uncompleted translation of the Critical Edition of the Mahābhārata (Books 1-5, 1973-78). The jackal in the story here acts like a cat.
11 A pretender to virtue is called “one who acts like a cat” according to the ‘Laws of Manu’ (Mānavadharmaśāstra) 4.195. Also, see the Tamil book of proverbs ‘The Hand Which Holds the Spear of Victory’ (Verri Vērkai) 42: “There is not for a cat either penance or compassion.” A cat is a hypocrite.
At one time Buddha was living in Jetavanārāma and delivered this story of Kalaϯuka on a certain occasion because of a boastful monk. This monk was boastful as was the monk in the story of the present regarding Kaæāhaka [No. 125].
Just as its present story is similar to the story of Kaæāhaka, so here also in the same way our Kalaϯuka studied as a young boy with the son of the millionaire of Benares. The reader will have to understand that Kalaϯuka also acted in the very same capacity in the millionaire’s palace looking after the property of the millionaire of Benares. He as well wrote a bogus letter to the millionaire of a remote village introducing himself as the son of the Benares millionaire, and signed it with the millionaire’s signet ring. All other incidents are also similar to the aforementioned story of Kaæāhaka.
The only difference in this story is that one day after living together with the daughter of the millionaire of the remote village, the boastful boy who married the young woman scorned her on one occasion when they went to take a bath together.
The story is as follows:
At one point the millionaire of Benares did not see Kalaϯuka in the palace for a period of time. As he did not see the young lad, he asked his parrot to find him. The parrot said, “Yes.” And he left the palace to see where Kalaϯuka had gone. Luckily, he came to the place where Kalaϯuka and his wife had come to take a bath in the river. The parrot, on seeing him, hid in the middle of some branches of a rose apple tree so as to observe them. While Kalaϯuka was lying in the water, the millionaire’s daughter, his wife, gave him a decoction of perfumed milk to drink. Kalaϯuka took the cup into his hands, rinsed his mouth with the perfumed milk and spit it out over her head. The parrot saw this. The parrot could not tolerate such an insult to a noble woman by the slave Kalaϯuka. He came out of his hiding place and said, “Hey, Kalaϯuka. Even though I am a forest bird, you and I both lived together in the palace. Do you not understand your position? Is it right to scorn such a noble woman by spitting over her head? The milk that you took into your mouth ought to have been drunk, not spit out.”
Kalaϯuka heard this. [The millionaire’s daughter also heard this.] Kalaϯuka thought, “If this parrot discloses my situation to others, it will not be good.” Addressing the parrot, he said, “O honorable parrot, please come and talk to me. How are you?” Then the parrot, hearing these words, thought, “As I disclosed his position, there is no doubt that if I go to his hand and perch on it, he will kill me, strangling me by the neck.” Thinking so, he rose up to the sky and went back to Benares. He described what he had seen to the millionaire of Benares.
The millionaire of Benares, on hearing the story, decided to bring back Kalaϯuka to Benares as his slave.
The Buddha finalized the story saying, “Kalaϯuka at that time was the present boastful monk. And I, who have become the Buddha, was the millionaire of Benares.”
The moral: “Do not overstep one’s bounds, and respect the positions of others.”
At one time Buddha was living in Jetavanārāma. At that time the king of Kosala had a Brahmin who could tell whether a sword was lucky by smelling it. When smiths would bring their swords, if they had given bribes, he said, “It is good.” To those who did not give bribes, he said to them, “It is bad.” All in the course of time knew the deceptive nature of this man. Knowing his nature, one smith made a sword and making it very sharp, put it in a sheath filled with hot chili powder. He brought it to the king. The king summoned the Brahmin and requested him to tell them the goodness or badness of the sword.
The Brahmin, in accord with the order of the king, took the sword out from the sheath and placing it near his nose tried to smell it. Immediately, before he could say anything, the chili powder smelled by him caused him to sneeze. He could not remove the sword from his nose quickly enough, so when he sneezed, the sword cut off the tip of his nose. This story spread everywhere and eventually it reached even the monks in the preaching hall.
One day in the preaching hall of Jetavanārāma the assembled monks were speaking about this. When the Buddha visited there, the monks paid respect to the Buddha.
The Buddha asked, “Oh monks, what were you discussing before I came here?” Then the monks related the story of the Brahmin who smelled swords for the king of Kosala. Buddha said, “Not only today this man faced this mishap, but also in the past he faced the same fate.” The monks requested the Buddha to disclose the past story. The Buddha spoke then the past story:
At one time, a king called Brahmadatta ruled in Benares. He had a fortune-telling Brahmin who by smelling swords could tell their goodness or badness. He took bribes from the sword smiths. He condemned the work of those smiths who had not given bribes because they had not given him bribes.
Once a certain trickster smith made a good sword and made it well sharpened. He applied hot chili powder to it and took it to the king. The king summoned the Brahmin to examine the sword. As it was covered with hot chili powder, when he smelled it, he sneezed before he was able to remove the sword from his nose. The tip of his nose was cut off, and he was ashamed because of this. The king became very sad because of this and requested his craftsmen to make a fake tip for the Brahmin’s nose with wax. And the Brahmin again asked to work for the king.
At this time the king had a nephew at his palace, and also his daughter. The two of them since they were very young, had grown up together. When they got older, they fell in love with each other. The king did not know this secret love. The king and his ministers one day discussed the marriage of the princess. The king said, “I will give my daughter to a prince of another kingdom. If I do so, I will gain two new supporters, the prince and his father, to defend my kingdom.” Since then, the princess was not allowed to see the nephew with whom she had grown up so as to try to prevent them from falling in love. This strengthened their love for one another. And the nephew wanted to marry the princess as they both were now grown up.
The nephew therefore made a stratagem to marry the princess. He met the servant woman of the princess and gave her a bribe of a thousand gold coins. He requested her to keep the princess away for one day from the palace so that he could get to her. The woman said, “Do not worry. I will do it. I will take responsibility for that.”
Thinking of a stratagem, she went to the king and said, “Your lordship, your daughter is under the influence of an evil spirit. She is becoming unlucky and emaciated. Therefore, we will have to remove the evil spirit from her body.” The king asked, “What can we do for that?” The woman said, “In such-and-such a place there is a certain cemetery. There you need to make a stage. Keep a corpse on top of it, and cover it placing a bed over the dead body. We will place the princess on the bed and bathe her. Then the evil spirit will leave her.”
Hearing this, the king ordered her to do all these things and gave her all she had requested. She then undertook the task. She also tied some dried chili powder in a cloth, and she hid it near the bed so the nephew would be able to take it. She requested the nephew to go there and lie under the bed as the dead body. She explained to the nephew how to carry this off. The woman said to the caretakers, “When I come to the cemetery and wash the princess, the dead body will sneeze two or three times, come out from under the bed, and seize and devour the first one whom he sees. Therefore, be warned. Run away.” This was also mentioned to the nephew and princess, and the nephew was told, “When the caretakers run away, take the princess out of the cemetery, and after taking a bath with her, go wherever you like.”
On the day they set to have the service, the nephew went early and lay down under the bed she had prepared. The woman mentioned again to all the caretakers in the cemetery, “When the dead body sneezes, you will have to be ready for the death of the first one he seizes.” When, as she said, the nephew started to sneeze, all the caretakers laying their weapons down beside them, ran away from the cemetery screaming loudly. The retinue and other dignitaries who had come to witness this also all ran away.
When the nephew came out from under the bed, he took the princess, took a good bath, and went to his house with her. Hearing this news, the king became happy and he gave his daughter to the nephew.
Finalizing this story the Buddha said, “At that time the fortune-telling Brahmin who was skilled in sniffing swords was this fortune-telling Brahmin of today. The nephew prince of the king of Benares was I who am the Buddha.”
The moral: “What causes a loss for one person, may cause a gain for someone else.”
頂禮 H.H. 第三世多杰羌佛- 眾善奉行 