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.”
This story was told regarding a monk who was boastful and who had a cunning mind. The story of that monk was given in the Vikantana-Jātaka (?).
At one time when Brahmadatta was ruling in Benares, the Enlightenment Being was born as a millionaire in that city. At that time a son was born to the Enlightenment Being in his house. On the very same day, a certain servant girl also gave birth to a child. The millionaire’s son and the slave girl’s son both grew up together. When the millionaire’s son went to study, the servant girl’s son also went there and learned how to write, how to count, and all the other subjects. He was known as Kaæāhaka. He was very smart in commerce; also he was skilled in talking and debating. Therefore, the millionaire appointed him to look after his treasure.
One day the lad Kaæāhaka thought, “This status will not be permanent to me forever. Whenever my employer sees a fault in me, he will brand my chest and put me back into slavery. Then I will have to suffer a lot.” Therefore he thought, “Let me do a stratagem so I can remain in this status forever. Let me be friendly with the millionaire so as to gain his complete trust. He has another millionaire friend in a remote village. After being friendly with the millionaire, I will go to his millionaire friend and pretend to be the son of the millionaire. Doing so, I will marry his daughter and have her cook me food. If I do this, I will never lose the status I now have.”
Thinking so, he wrote a letter to the millionaire in the remote village as if he were the millionaire himself introducing his son. This stated, “I send to you my son known as Kaæāhaka for the purpose of marrying your daughter as our families are of the same caste and are appropriately matched to each other. Therefore please give your daughter to him, and he will be able to look after your wealth and so forth until I come to celebrate the marriage. I am at the moment unable to come as I have many things to do here. I will come later.” Stating these things, he wrote such a letter. And he affixed to it the seal of the millionaire. As he was able to go anywhere in the millionaire’s house, he stole some sandals, perfumes and comfortable clothes to give to the millionaire and his daughter, and he went to the millionaire’s home in the remote village and paid his respects to him.
Then the millionaire asked, “From where did you come?” And he said, “I came from Benares.” The millionaire asked, “Whose son are you?” And he said, “I am the son of the millionaire of Benares.” Then he asked, “Why did you come here?” And he took out the letter he had brought, and giving it to the millionaire he said, “You can understand why I came here by reading this.”
The millionaire read the letter and became very happy. And he gave him for marriage to his daughter together with great wealth and many luxurious things.
After that, when the millionaire’s daughter was using those luxurious things that were supposedly sent by the millionaire of Benares, Kaæāhaka used to humiliate her saying, “Did you ever have these types of things before— such perfumes, sweets and so forth, as these?” And when he was given rice and such other things to eat, he would say, “I cannot eat this type of rice and food. It is the poor fare of the provinces.” And when he was given perfume and flowers, he would say, “I cannot use these village products.” He always used to belittle her, saying that he was from the city and she was from the country.
When the millionaire of Benares found that his slave was gone, he wanted to get him back. Later, he heard that his slave Kaæāhaka was living in the country millionaire’s village. Hearing this, the millionaire decided to visit the country millionaire and he got permission from the king to go there. This was heard here and there, and in due course Kaæāhaka also heard this news. Kaæāhaka thought, “There is no doubt that he is coming to get me and to hurt me as I have done this deception.” And he thought further, “It would not be good to hide. It would be better to stay here, and when he comes I will work for him as I have done previously. In this way, I will win his mind. Then I can live freely.” Thinking this, he let it be known to everyone, “We city people are not like you provincials. When we see our parents, we live with the fear and shame of doing bad deeds. We do not sit together with them, and do not eat together with them. We wash our parents’ feet, take them water for bathing, and do all such necessary things as if we were their servants.” Meanwhile, the millionaire came to a nearby village and stayed there.
Hearing this, Kaæāhaka went to his father-in-law and said, “Father-in-law, our father will come to this village soon. It would be good to make arrangements to welcome him and to organize hospitality for when he arrives.” And the country millionaire did so.
When the Benares millionaire came, he was very much welcomed. And after he was well entertained, after their lunch, the Benares millionaire went to take a rest. Then Kaæāhaka took a container of water and placed it near the Benares millionaire’s bed, and kneeling down paid obeisance to the Benares millionaire. He begged him, “Your lordship, whatever you want me to do, I will do for you. But please, do one thing for me. Please do not destroy my present situation here, and do not reveal me.” The millionaire on seeing his humble nature and obedience, and his unconceited air, said, “Do not worry about that. I will not reveal you and put you down from your position.”
When the two millionaires were chatting, the country millionaire said, “Sir, when you sent your son, I did everything for him, and I also gave my daughter to him. I did not omit doing anything for him.” The Benares millionaire said, “That is a very good thing that you have done. Our friendship has developed into a relationship now.” And he stayed there for a few days enjoying his hospitality.
One day, the Benares millionaire’s supposed daughter- in-law was combing his hair, and he asked her, “How is your husband? Are you happy with him or not? Do you get along, or does he put on airs with you?” She said, “Your lordship, he is not bad with others. But he has one weakness. When I do something wrong, he abuses me saying that I am a dirty woman. But there is nothing more.”
Then the millionaire said, “I will teach you a verse to tell him if he says this again.” Teaching her that, after a few days he left for Benares.
Kaæāhaka was with him, and left with him as far as the next village. He did not let anyone else talk with him. He said, “goodbye,” after going a certain distance, and then came back. [He then became even more conceited than before, as nothing bad had happened against him.]
One day, his wife prepared rice for his lunch, and on seeing this rice he said, “This is the rice you give to me? This is village rice. It cannot be eaten by city people.” Then the millionaire’s daughter recited the Pāli verse that was taught by the millionaire of Benares:
“One speaks boastfully when he goes to a remote village.
“Without saying unnecessary things, Kaæāhaka, eat this rice.”
She did not know the meaning of this stanza, since she was not well educated. Kaæāhaka, though, understood it, and he became afraid. From that point on, Kaæāhaka did not complain too much.
The real meaning of this stanza is this:
“Kaæāhaka, just because you come from another part of this country to here, do not put down everything and everyone. Why do you not mind your former status? Your millionaire lordship this time returned without doing anything. If he comes back, the next time he will put a branding on your chest and take you back.”
Saying so, the Buddha ended the story and further said, “This monk was the boastful Kaæāhaka at that time. The millionaire of Benares was I who am the Buddha.”
The moral: “Being cunning will not gain all things.”
At one time, Buddha was living in Jetavana monastery. Once there came to that place a young man, and the Buddha ordained him. From the day that he was ordained, he was very strict in performing his duties properly. He did all duties such as sweeping the compound, the preaching hall, and the temple complex, as well as bringing water for washing and drinking, all at their proper times without being lazy. Due to his tireless work, all the lay people were very happy. They gave 500 bowls of water daily, and that water was very useful to many hundreds of monks. This story went mouth to mouth among the monks, and finally it reached the hall of law where Buddha preached in the evening. When this was being discussed there, Buddha went early to the preaching hall and asked them, “Oh monks, what were you talking about before I came?” They said, “Venerable Bhante, because of the newly ordained young monk, we are becoming the beneficiaries of many things. We were talking about that.” The Buddha said, “Oh monks, not only today has this monk been beneficial to us because of his dutifulness and punctuality, but also he was so in the past.” Then the monks requested the Buddha to disclose this monk’s past.
This is how the former story was:
Long ago, a king called Brahmadatta was ruling in Benares. At that time, the Enlightenment Being was born in a well-known Brahmin family. But by seeing the disadvantages of sensual desires, he renounced his lay life and went to the Himalayan forest, joining 500 ascetics. He became their chief.
At that time in the Himalayan forest, there was a severe drought. There was no rain for a long time. As the ponds and lakes dried up and wild animals had no water to drink, they suffered a lot. One out of the 500 ascetics cut down a tree and hollowed out a trough in which to keep water. Daily he put water from a well in this trough, constantly replenishing it. The wild animals became very happy by his efforts. They understood that because of this he had no time to go to fetch fruit for his meal. Therefore they discussed this with each other, and determined that when each came to take water, each would bring some fruit like mangoes, jackfruit, and such other edible fruit. When this happened, there became a large quantity of fruit to be eaten by the 500 ascetics.
The Enlightenment Being understood this situation and said to the ascetics, “We 500 obtained these sweet edible fruit without having to go into the forest because of this one ascetic who made such an effort to give water to animals. Therefore, whether you are clergy or a lay person, everyone must make an effort to do good.”
The ascetic, who fetched water from a well with much effort at that time, is today this dutiful monk. The leader of those ascetics at that time was myself who has become the Buddha.
The moral: “Be generous regardless of position or status.”
Once while the Buddha was living in Jetavana monastery, this story was delivered about Venerable KāÀudāyi. He used to go to preach to gatherings. As he often could not understand the purpose of the gatherings, sometimes he would preach sad things to a happy community and happy things to a grieving community. As he could not preach appropriately to communities, he obtained a bad name. The community of monks knew this. One time, the monks who were assembled in the hall of law for the evening preaching were talking about this matter.
When the Buddha came there, he asked, “Oh monks, what were you talking about before I arrived?” The monks said, “Your lordship, we were talking about the lack of understanding of Venerable KāÀudāyi in preaching.” Then the Buddha said, “Monks, KāÀudāyi not only acts like this today. Even in the past, he has acted in the same way.” And Buddha was invited to disclose the story of the past that had been hidden by the course of time. Buddha preached the story of the past.
This is how it was:
Long ago in the past, there was a king called Brahmadatta in Benares. At that time, the Enlightenment Being was a prominent teacher in the city. He lived by giving instruction to students. People who were rich enough to afford it gave a thousand gold coins to the teacher. Some, who had not much money, got their education by working as servants to the master. And in this way, they were able to study.
Once there came a poor foolish man to get an education from the Enlightenment Being. He was paying for his education by working. One day he was massaging his master’s feet, and the master requested that he raise up his feet. The student agreed, and under one side of the foot of the bed he placed folded cloth. As he had nothing for the other side, he placed his thigh under the bed. All that night, until the next morning, he kept his thigh under the bed forgoing his rest. In the morning, when the master awoke, he saw that the student was sitting at his foot, and he became very sad. He thought, “This poor foolish man works here as a slave, and cannot learn anything. Therefore, it would be good to somehow teach this man something.” Thinking so, he said to the foolish student, “Whatever you see daily, you must tell me. And also relate to me a comparable thing [upamā].” The Enlightenment Being thought that by the student making a comparison, he would be able to develop his thinking.
The next day, the teacher asked the student to bring some firewood. When the student returned, the master requested, “Tell me whatever you have seen.” The student said, “I have seen a snake in the forest.” The master asked,
“What did the snake resemble?” The student responded, “The snake was like a plough handle.” The master thought, “A snake is long, and a plough handle is also long. Therefore his example is correct.” Thinking so, he was satisfied.
The following day, he also went to the forest to bring firewood. And on that day, he saw an elephant. On returning, he said to his master that he had seen an elephant. The master asked him for a comparison. The student said, “It is like a plough handle.” The teacher thought, “The end of an elephant’s trunk is similar to a snake’s head. Therefore it is a good comparison.” And he was satisfied.
On still the next day, he went again into the forest. There he saw sugarcane. When he returned, he told his master, “I have seen sugarcane.” The master again asked for a comparison. He said, “It is like a plough handle.” The master thought, “Sugarcane is long, and the trunk of an elephant is also long. Therefore the comparison is correct.” And he was satisfied.
The next day, when he went to the place where lunch was to be given, he ate curd and rice. After eating the curd and rice, he returned. He told his master, “I have eaten curd and rice.” His master asked for a similar thing to curd and rice. He said, “It is like a plough handle.”
The teacher had been satisfied with the previous three answers. But in this case he thought, “What a foolish man this is. No matter how hard I try, I will not be able to make him a wise man.” And he gave up his efforts to make the student a person with understanding.
The foolish student at that time is today KāÀudāyi. I who am the Buddha was his master at that time.
Saying so, he completed the discourse of the Jātaka story.
The moral: “Even if good luck is in an unwise man’s pocket, he will lose it.”
When the Buddha was living in the Bamboo Grove temple, once those monks who were assembled in the preaching hall were talking about the monk Devadatta. They said to each other, “Brothers, monk Devadatta even when seeing the Buddha’s physical beauties, such as the thirty-two great marks of a great person [mahāpurisa] and the eighty additional attributes, a fathom wide halo, and physical beauties of the like, does not respect the Buddha and affords him no loving kindness. He has become jealous by thinking, ‘I do not have such physical beauty.’ And he wants to kill the Buddha.”
Then the Buddha came there and sat on his seat. He asked, “Oh monks, what were you discussing before I came?” The monks replied, “Your reverence, we were talking about the monk Devadatta’s jealousy of the Buddha.” The Buddha said, “Monks, it is not only now, but even in the past he was jealous of me.” The monks said, “Please, sir, disclose that story to us.” The Buddha, after that invitation, stated the following story:
Long ago in ancient days, there was a king called Magadha in the city of Rājagaha. The Enlightenment Being was born among elephants, was white, and was very beautiful. He was in service to King Magadha.
Once, King Magadha got onto this white elephant that was well caparisoned and left in a grand procession to go to the city. The citizens, on seeing this elephant’s beautiful body that was well shaped and large, said, “Oh, what a nice elephant. Such a big elephant is good for a universal monarch, and not for a king like this.” Talking so, the people appreciated only the elephant, and not the king. On hearing such appreciation of the elephant, the king got angry, thinking, “These people did not appreciate me, who is their king.” He became in this way jealous of the elephant, and thought of killing him. Thinking so, he summoned the mahout and said, “I want to know whether you trained this royal elephant to be obedient. If so, I want to examine it. Climb with him to the top of Vephulla Mountain.” The mahout did so. And the king followed him with his ministers. He ordered the mahout to lead the elephant to a precipice. The mahout did so. The king then asked the mahout to have the elephant stand on three feet. He did so. Then the king ordered to have the elephant hold up its front two feet. He did so. Then the king asked him to have the elephant raise up its hind legs. He did so. Then he asked the mahout to have the elephant stand on one foot. He did so. And the elephant still did not fall. Then the king said, “Ask the elephant to go forward toward the precipice raising all four legs into the air.”
The mahout thought, “This king wants to kill the elephant. This is just a stratagem.” He said secretly to his elephant, “Your lordship, he is trying to kill you. If you can, get up into the sky and flee away to the city of Benares.” At that very same moment, there arose a certain miraculous power on account of the virtue from previous merit, and miraculously the elephant jumped up into the sky. Then the mahout said to the king, “Your lordship, this elephant is not appropriate for such a person as you who has so little merit. Therefore, this elephant is not fit for such a foolish king as you. You stay there by yourself.” And he had the elephant go through the sky to Benares to the king’s palace grounds. People saw this, and they were surprised and became very happy. They ran to the king and informed him about this. The king came to that place and saw the elephant. And he said with great pleasure, “If this elephant will allow me to mount it, I request you to come down to the ground.” And the elephant came down to the ground.
The mahout got down from the elephant and gave respect to the king. The king asked, “Why, son, did you come with this elephant?” The mahout told him everything. The king thanked him, saying, “You have done a good deed.” Being satisfied, the king took the elephant into his possession. He divided Benares into three parts. He gave one part to the elephant, the second part to the mahout, and the third part he kept for himself. And he ruled righteously. Finally, he passed away according to his Kamma.
The Buddha, finalizing the story, said, “The king of Benares at that time was the Venerable Sāriputta. The mahout was the Venerable Ānanda. And King Magadha was the monk Devadatta. I, who am now the Buddha, was the elephant.” Saying so, the Buddha ended this Jātaka story of an unwise person.
The moral: “While lack of wisdom brings death, wisdom brings happiness.”
The Buddha delivered this story about Anāthapiϯika’s true friend when he was in the Jetavanārāma of Anāthapiϯika in Sāvatthi. The millionaire Anāthapiϯika had a friend and he helped him as stated earlier in the Kālaka::i-Jātaka [No. 83].
At one time there was a king called Brahmadatta in Benares. At that time the Enlightenment Being lived in the pleasure garden of the king and was a friend of the deity who possessed that park and who lived in the most prominent Sāla tree in the park. The Enlightenment Being lived in a clump of Kusa grass.
The king of Benares lived in a palace that had only one pillar supporting it. One day this pillar was shaken by the wind. The king decided to further support it. He summoned his carpenter and asked him to cut down any good tree with a core from the pleasure garden. The chief carpenter went to the pleasure garden, looked for an appropriate tree to cut down, and not seeing one decided finally with his assistant to cut down the prominent Sāla tree in the garden. He went back to the palace and reported about the problem, and about the prominent tree to the king.
The king said, “Even if it is the prominent tree, you cut it and repair the palace.” Then the carpenter went with his assistant to cut down the tree. They made an appropriate reverence [pūjā], asking the deity who possessed the tree to move away from the tree. Hearing this request, the deity thought, “I do not have any other tree this large in the pleasure garden in which to stay.” He began to cry, and his children also began to cry while they all embraced one another. All the other deities who were visiting there also started to cry. The deity who resided in the clump of Kusa grass also came upon hearing all this crying. He asked the reason for the crying. On hearing the reason, he said, “Please, do not be afraid. I know a way to save the tree.” The next day, when the carpenters came to cut the tree, he made himself into a chameleon. He went through the roots of the tree, came up the tree on the far side so that people could not see him, and went to a top branch of the tree.
On seeing the chameleon on the top branches of the tree, the carpenter and his assistant thought, “This tree is hollow inside.” They gave up the idea of cutting down the tree because it had no core inside.
Then the tree deity summoned the other deities and said, “Even though I was the highest deity in the pleasure garden, I did not know how to save my tree and palace. The deity who lived in a clump of Kusa grass understood how to protect it with his wisdom. Therefore, we must always associate with wise people, and not with the unwise.” In this way, he preached to his fellow deities, and he became friendlier with the deity who possessed the clump of Kusa grass. Later, he passed away.
The pleasure garden deity was the Venerable Ānanda at that time. And I was born as the deity of the clump of Kusa grass.
And in this way, the Buddha finalized the KusanāÀi story.
The moral: “Associate with the wise no matter what their station, not the unwise.”
When the Buddha was living in the Jeta Grove, the Buddha related this story regarding the Brahmin girl Ciñcā. Its present story is explained in the Mahāpaduma-Jātaka in the twelfth book [No. 472].
[After the Buddha’s attainment of enlightenment, the Jains and other ascetics found that their gains had fallen. Therefore, the Jain recluses became upset and angry, and they hatched a conspiracy to defame the Buddha. Ciñcā, the Brahmin girl, became their instrument. In accord with the conspiracy, she came from home toward the Jetavana monastery every evening wearing a red cloth. Then she slept at a recluse’s home, and returned to her home each morning as if she were a person coming from Jetavana monastery. People asked, “Where did you go?” She answered, “Do not care about where I go. Do not think about me.” And she behaved so as to create doubts in people’s minds about her.
She continued in this fashion for four months. By doing this, she led people to believe that she was no doubt coming from the Buddha’s chamber. She used to say, “Now I am one month pregnant.” “Now I am two months pregnant.” “Now I am three months pregnant.” And so forth. When ten months had passed like this, she pretended to be a woman who was about to deliver a baby.7 Then she went to the Buddha having stuffed something around her belly, and when Buddha was preaching, in the middle of the congregation she accused the Buddha, saying, “Ah, you are preaching here as if a person who is innocent. I am now ten months pregnant and I have to deliver my baby. I have no home in which to deliver. Why do you not prepare the food and other items that I need for my delivery of the baby? Mention it to King Kosala or to millionaire Anāthapiϯika and arrange someplace for me to stay.”
The Buddha said, “Oh sister, the truth of this incident is known by both of us. Except for the two of us, who will know the truth?” At the same moment, there came four deities as rats. They scurried up her body, and cut the strings holding what was tied around her belly. The cloths that were tightened there fell down to the ground.
Everyone started to censure her. People attacked her because she had falsely accused the Buddha. And they kicked her out of the hall. Suddenly there came a big fire from hell (Avici), and the ground opened and took her.]
Regarding this, there was then discussion in the preaching hall. The Buddha revealed the story of the past thus:
Once the Enlightenment Being was born as a Brahmin advisor to King Brahmadatta, who ruled in Benares. He had a very beautiful queen who loved him very much. Because the king loved her so much, he once said to her, “For whatever you desire, you may ask.” The queen responded, “I have everything I want. I have nothing to ask. And so, I ask you not to look at any other woman with passion. That is my boon.” The king said, “Since there are 16,000 beautiful women in my possession, I may not be able to give that boon.” She then pleaded, again and again. Very ardently, she continued to so plead. Finally, the king was unable to say “no” to her, and agreed.
While they were living in such a manner, deeply in love with one another, there was a riot in a remote village. His minister could not settle it. Finally, the king went there with his fourfold army. Before he left, he summoned his queen and said, “War is doubtful. It is difficult to bring women to the battlefield. One cannot retreat quickly with women beside you. Therefore, I cannot take you to the battlefield. Stay at home.” The queen said, “No. Let me come with you.” But the king was steadfast.
Then the queen said, “If such be so, please inform me of all news every Yojana.8” The king and queen both agreed to this. And the king left, asking his ministers to look after the queen. The chief Brahmin advisor undertook her protection within the confines of the city. Every Yojana the king sent a messenger to inform her of his affairs, and to inquire about her well being.
When each messenger came, the queen asked, “Why did you come?” Each messenger replied, “I came to inquire about your safety and happiness.” Thereupon the queen summoned each to her chamber, was intimate with each of them, and then sent each back. Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the king won. During his thirty-two Yojana long trip, the queen was intimate with thirty-two messengers. Coming back, he also sent thirty-two messengers, and each of these was also intimate with the queen. The queen in this way was intimate with sixty-four messengers.
Finally, the king came near the city and camped overnight. He informed the chief Brahmin advisor the news of his arrival. The chief advisor decorated the city to welcome the king and his army. And he went to the palace to inform the queen of the king’s arrival. The queen, seeing the beauty of his body, said, “Come and sit on the bed.” The advisor, who was the Enlightenment Being, said, “Your majesty, the king who is your husband is handsome. I am both afraid of him, and of what might befall me in my next birth.” When she heard this, she said, “Were not those sixty- four messengers who came to me also afraid of the king the same as you are? And were they also not afraid of their next birth?” Then the advisor said, “Even though I have reached my present age, I have never seen a woman with such a lustful mind. Therefore, please do not speak to me in this way.” She said, “If you say ‘no’ to me, then I will ask the king to behead you complaining that you have asked me to be intimate with you.” The advisor, who was the Enlightenment Being, said, “Not only in one life, but also in a thousand lives, even if you have me beheaded, I will not agree to your desires.” Saying so, he left.
The queen got angry. She scratched her body everywhere, and applied oil to the wounds. Wearing a dirty garment, she lay in her bedroom. She told her servant girls that when the king comes and asks about her, to tell him that she was sick and was lying in her bed.
The Enlightenment Being went forward to welcome the king and his army, who returned to the city triumphantly with a very big procession. The king came into the palace after circumambulating the city and not seeing the queen in the palace, he asked the servant girls about her. They said she was sick. Then the king went into her sleeping room and saw that she was lying in bed. Touching her back, he asked how she was feeling. After asking her two or three times, she turned around toward him and replied, “Ah, your lordship also has come. Now I am with my husband.” Hearing these words, the king asked, “Why do you speak so?” Then she complained about the advisor, saying, “He did what no husband would ask him to do.” And she showed her bruises to the king. The king got very angry, and ordered his security people to handcuff the Brahmin advisor and to kill him.
The security people, hearing these words, took the Brahmin advisor and brought him to the place of execution beating the death drums. Then the Enlightenment Being thought, “This happened because of the queen. But I must use my common sense here.” Thinking so, he said to the executioners, “I know many places where wealth is hidden. Please do not kill me until I show them to the king.” Then they asked, “What can you show the king?” The advisor said, “Because of me, the king has much wealth hidden. If you kill me, he will lose all this wealth not knowing where it is. Therefore, my death will be a big loss for him.” The executioners heard this, and thought, “He says the truth.” So they took him back to the king.
On seeing him, the king asked, “You, Brahmin, without having fear or shame did such a bad deed. Why did you do it?” The Enlightenment Being said, “Your lordship, I never did such a thing. From the earliest time I can remember, I have never even killed a louse. I have never even taken so much as a piece of grass that was not given. I have never looked at another’s woman with lustful thoughts, and have never looked at another’s woman with head raised.9 Even in jest, I have never said falsehoods. I have never tasted alcohol, even as little as would be on a blade of grass. The sixty-four messengers are the people who misbehaved with the queen. Even though she trapped me in the same way, I did not get involved. That is why she complained about me.”
On hearing this, the king summoned all the sixty-four messengers and also the queen. He questioned them as to whether or not this was true. They all admitted to their wrongdoing. The king ordered all of them to be killed. But the Enlightenment Being said, “Your lordship, these people did what the queen requested. Therefore, it is not right to punish them.” And they were saved from punishment, and were retained in their positions. And he said further, “This is the nature of women. Therefore, it would be correct to excuse the queen as well.” He in this way saved her also.
Finally he thought, “All this happened to me as I was in the life of a householder. Therefore, it would be good to renounce lay life.” Thinking so, while his relatives cried, giving up all his wealth behind him, he went to the Himalayan forest and became ordained as an ascetic. After meditating there, he generated the fivefold higher knowledge and the eightfold high achievements of concentration. After his death, he was born in the Brahma world.
Buddha said, “The queen at that time was Ciñcā. The king was the Venerable Ānanda. And the advisor Brahmin was myself, the Buddha.” And in this way he ended the story of release from bondage [bandhanamokkha].
頂禮 H.H. 第三世多杰羌佛- 眾善奉行 