Chapter XI: Book I: No. 1.--Holding to the Truth.237 (2)

“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.

Long ago,[256] when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, in the land of Kāsi, the Bodisat was born in a treasurer’s family; and when he grew up he received the post of treasurer, and was called Chullaka.[257] 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 be 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.[258] 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 said to the gardener, “If you will give me these sticks and leaves, I will get them out of the way.” The gardener agreed to this, and told him to take them.

Chullaka’s pupil[259] 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 through 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 off, and taking his seat gave orders to his men that when merchants came from outside he should be informed of it with triple ceremony.[260]

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 _his_ remaining share: and thus they made themselves owners of the cargo.

So Chullaka’s pupil returned to Benares, taking with him two hundred thousand.[261] And from a feeling of gratitude, he took a hundred thousand and went to Chullaka 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 Chullaka 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 Jātaka by concluding, “He who was then Chullaka’s pupil was Little Roadling, but Chullaka the high treasurer was I myself.”

END OF THE STORY OF CHULLAKA THE TREASURER.

No. 5.

TAṆḌULA-NĀḶI JĀTAKA.

The Measure of Rice.[262]

_“What is the value of a measure of rice,” etc._--This the Teacher told while sojourning at Jetavana, about a monk called Udāyin the Simpleton.

At that time the Elder named Dabba, a Mallian by birth, held the office of steward in the Order.[263] When he issued the food-tickets in the morning, Udāyin 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 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 Udāyin! the mark is too high, or too low.” And again, “The good rice is in such a storehouse, the inferior rice in such a storehouse.”[264]

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 Udāyin, the brethren are deprived of their due. You are incapable of the office. Leave the place!”

Thereupon a great tumult arose in the hall of distribution. The Teacher heard it, and asked of Ānanda the Elder, “There is a great tumult, Ānanda, 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, Ānanda, does Udāyin by his stupidity bring loss upon others, formerly also he did the same.”

The Elder asked the Blessed One to explain that matter. Then the Blessed One made manifest an occurrence hidden by change of birth.

* * * * *

Long ago, Brahma-datta was king in Benares, in the land of Kāsi. At that time our Bodisat was his Valuer. 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 appointed to the office, as he decided, so the price was.

Now 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 ordered the 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.

“Give 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, O 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, O king!” said he.

“Very 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 fellow.

For the story goes that he first valued the 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, laughing, 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! O 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![265]

Then the king was ashamed, and drove out that fool, and appointed the Bodisat to the office of Valuer. And in course of time the Bodisat passed away according to his deeds.

When the Teacher had finished preaching this discourse, and had told the double story, he made the connexion, and summed up the Jātaka by concluding, “He who was then the foolish peasant valuer was Udāyin the Simpleton, but the wise valuer was I myself.”

END OF THE STORY OF THE MEASURE OF RICE.

No. 6.

DEVA-DHAMMA JĀTAKA.

On True Divinity.[266]

_“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 Sāvatthi 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 received 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 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, mendicants, 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, O Blessed One!”

“How is it, brother, that you have become thus luxurious? 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 water-sprite. 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.

* * * * *

Long ago Brahma-datta was king in Benares, in the country of Kāsi. And the 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 Mahiŋsāsa. 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 himself, 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 away into the forest; and when I am dead, come back and reign in the city that is yours by right!” So, weeping and lamenting, he kissed them on their foreheads, 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 Himālaya. 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 Vessavana (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.

Now 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?”

“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.”[267]

“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 footsteps 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.

“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--

“O, 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.”

“But, Teacher; you who 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 is due to seniority.”

“I both know, O 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 unwilling 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 believe it. Therefore it is that I, to avoid all blame, have told you to bring _him_.”

“Verily thou hast spoken well, O 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 rebirth 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 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 be constantly provided with the best of garlands and flowers and food. And he himself ruled his kingdom in righteousness, 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 Nirvāna. And the Buddha having told the double story, made the connexion and summed up the Jātaka by concluding, “The then water-sprite was the luxurious monk; the Sun Prince was Ānanda; the Moon Prince was Sāriputta; but the elder brother, the Prince Mahiŋsāsa, was I myself.”[268]

END OF THE STORY ABOUT TRUE DIVINITY.

No. 9.[269]

MAKHĀ-DEVA JĀTAKA.[270]

The Story of Makhā 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 Nidāna Kathā.[271]

Now at that time the priests as they sat were magnifying 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 Renunciation,” 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 Mithilā, in the land of Videha, there was a king named Makhā Deva, a righteous man, and ruling in righteousness.[272] 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, O 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.[273] And he thought, “O foolish Makhā 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!”[274]

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!”

Then he gave to the 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 Makhā Deva’s Mango-park, I will train myself in the characteristics of those who are subdued in heart.”

His ministers, when he formed this intention, came to him and said, “What is the reason, O 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 Makhā 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 born again in the Brahma heaven; and when his allotted time there was exhausted, he became in Mithilā a king called Nimi, and reunited his scattered family.[275] And after that he became a 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 Nirvāna, some the Second, some the Third. And when the Blessed One had thus told the double story, he established the connexion, and summed up the Jātaka as follows: “The barber of that time was Ānanda, the prince was Rāhula, but Makhā Deva the king was I myself.”

END OF THE STORY OF MAKHĀ DEVA.

No. 10.

SUKHAVIHĀRI JĀTAKA.

The Happy Life

_“He whom others guard not,” etc._--This the Teacher told while at the Anūpiya 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 Upāli.[276] Of these, Bhaddiya and Kimbila and Bhagu and Upāli became Arahats, Ānanda entered the First Stage of the Road to Nirvāna, 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 Anūpiya, will be related in the Khaṇḍahāla Jātaka.

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 himself 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!”

This the monks told the Blessed One, saying, “Bhaddiya is prophesying about Arahatship!”[277]

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 Brāhman 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 Himālaya 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 Himālayas, 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 Himālayas? Send your disciples there, but dwell here yourself!”

So the Bodisat gave the five hundred ascetics in charge to his senior pupil, and sent him away, saying, “You shall go and live with these men in the Himālayas. 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 Himālaya 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 enjoying 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--

He who needs no others to defend him,
He who has not others to defend,--
He it is who lives at ease, O 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 returned to the Himālaya 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 Jātaka as follows: “The pupil of that time was Bhaddiya the Elder, but the Master of the company of disciples was I myself.”[278]

END OF THE STORY ON A HAPPY LIFE.