Part 23

When the mother returned and found the cave empty she sat down and wept. Her friends consoled her, saying that, as her son was a man, he would not be in distress among men. The mother declared that, to prevent his being in distress while parted from her, she would give him something by means of which he could prolong his life. So she besought her friends, so soon as they should set eyes on him, to give him a lute, in order that he might support himself by means of it. Only he must be careful not to touch its uppermost string; for doing so would entail on him a great misfortune.

The Brahman had sent his son Āśuga to a Brahman as his pupil. One day when Āśuga had gone into the forest with the other young Brahmans to collect firewood he wandered far away, and was seen by his mother’s friends, who asked him what news he had to give. When he had complained of hunger and thirst they asked him if he would not go to his mother, for she was weeping and wailing. He said that he could not hold converse with his mother, for she was so hot-tempered. Thereupon they gave him the lute, by means of which he would be able to keep himself alive. But they told him that, in order that no misfortune might arise, he was not to touch its uppermost string. Āśuga took the lute to where the Brahman youths were. When he had played and sung to them there, always without touching the top string, they asked him why he did not touch it. When he had told them the reason, and in spite of that they touched the top string, they all began to skip and dance. As this dancing made them late, it was only in the evening that they returned to their Paṇḍit, who asked them why they had remained out so long. When the youths had told the whole story the Paṇḍit asked the young Āśuga if he really understood how to play the lute and to sing. When he said that he did, he was thereupon obliged to play. And when at the instigation of the Paṇḍit he touched the top string, the Brahman and his wife began to skip and dance; moreover, the whole house skipped with a crash, and all the pots and crockery were broken to pieces. The Brahman in a rage seized the youth Āśuga by the neck and turned him out of the house.

After that Āśuga got his living by lute-playing and singing. Five hundred merchants who were putting to sea took him on board with them as a musician. When he was playing on board ship one day he touched the top string at the request of the merchants, whereupon the ship began to bound in the air and capsized, whereby the whole of the merchants lost their lives. But Āśuga, who got hold of a plank, was driven by a storm to Kaśerudvīpa.

There he took up his abode in a park where there were no other men. And there, having seen Suśroṇī, he held dalliance with her. In this fashion she was at the disposal of Āśuga by day and of King Brahmadatta by night. Now Āśuga besought her to take him with her to Vārāṇasī. She acceded to his request, asked him his name, and told him her own. Every day after that she carried with her, when mounted upon Suparṇa, more and more stones, until she had brought their weight to that of a man’s body. Then she and Āśuga got on Suparṇa’s back together. She told Āśuga to shut his eyes, saying that if he opened them a misfortune would occur. But when they drew near to Vārāṇasī, and Āśuga heard the voices and clamour of many people, he thought that he had reached the journey’s end. So he opened his eyes; whereupon he immediately became blind. Suśroṇī left him in the park, and betook herself to King Brahmadatta’s zenana.

Now when the king had come, and the trees were putting forth their leaves in the thick forest, and the voices were heard of geese, cranes, peacocks, parrots, mainas, kokilas, and pheasants, King Brahmadatta, surrounded by his women, betook himself with Suśroṇī to the park. There the Brahman youth Āśuga, scenting the odour of the Timira flower, was chanting a song after this fashion—

“Set in movement by the wind the odour of the Timira is perceptible. This is Kaśerudvīpa, where Suśroṇī dwells.”

Hearing these words the king ordered his women to find out who had sung them. After Āśuga had been discovered and brought before the king, and had been obliged to repeat his song, the king asked him how far off Kaśerudvīpa was. He replied in a śloka—

“The waters of the ocean stretch well nigh a hundred yojanas from here to where lies Kaśerudvīpa, wherein Suśroṇī dwells.”

The king answered likewise in a śloka—

“If it be said that thou hast looked in sinful fashion on my dear Suśroṇī, say then what marks her body bears.”

Āśuga replied in a śloka—

“On her thigh is the svastika. Her breast is spiral. Over her spread wreaths of Timira blossoms.”

When in this way the king had become aware that Suśroṇī had sinned, he was of opinion that she was not necessary to him, and that he would give her to the blind man. In his anger he uttered this śloka—

“Suśroṇī is given to you, arrayed in all splendour. Let her mount on an ass, and get ye gone swiftly, exiled from this city.”

Then he ordered Suśroṇī and the blind man to be driven out of the city, riding upon the same ass.

After wandering hither and thither they came at sunset to a hill town, and there they took up their quarters in an empty temple. That same evening there came five hundred robbers in order to plunder the town. But its inhabitants perceived this, and overcame the robbers. The robber chief, on whom they failed to lay hands, escaped into that same temple. The townsmen surrounded it, but the chief closed the door. When the townsmen asked who was dwelling there, Āśuga replied that some travellers were there. The townspeople threatened to make an end of him if he did not give up the robber. The robber chief said to Suśroṇī, “Why should you have to do with a blind man? We will turn him out and then live together.” She agreed to this. The robber chief flung the blind man down from the wall, and the townspeople struck off his head.

Next day Suśroṇī and the robber chief reached the river Karada, and found no boat in which to cross it. [131] The robber chief bade her lay aside her finery, saying that she must swim across the river, and he would bring her things after her. She handed over to him all her clothes and ornaments, and went naked into the water. When she reached the middle of the stream, there arose in her mind the fear that he might run off with her things, and she uttered this śloka—

“The Karada is full of water. The fair one gave thee all her things. Fear has arisen within me. Deceive me not, O evil-doer!”

He likewise replied in a śloka—

“For the sake of one unknown hast thou slain one known of old, considering the man useless. Therefore is it difficult to put trust in thee. Me also mightest thou kill.”

He went off with her things, but she crawled naked into the thick grass. There came by an old jackal carrying a piece of flesh. [132] Just at that spot a fish, driven on to the shore from the stream of the river Karada, was lying on the dry land. The jackal dropped the piece of flesh and made a dash at the fish. But the fish sprang back again into the stream, and the flesh was carried off by a vulture, so that the jackal, deprived of both, was left standing there mournfully, with drooping ears. Seeing that, Suśroṇī uttered the following śloka—

“The vulture has carried off the piece of flesh, the fish has slipped into the water. Wherefore grieves not the jackal, of both those things bereft?”

The jackal looked around on every side, and, seeing no one, uttered the following śloka—

“She who dances not before the robber, who herself has no joy in song, who now abides in the grass, who is she, who chides and scoffs at me?”

She replied, “I am Suśroṇī, uncle.” The jackal reflected with vexation that this yoginī was mocking him, and said—

“Thy husband hast thou killed. Thy paramour has fled. Wherefore grievest thou not, yoginī, that thou art bereft of both?”

Suśroṇī replied, “When I have returned home I will take unto me an excellent husband. When I have obtained a husband, I shall not dishonour the house.”

The jackal answered, “When the Ganges flows upwards, when the raven has the colour of curdled milk, then shalt thou be virtuous. When the snake and the ichneumon dwell in the same hole, and put up with each other, then shalt thou be virtuous. When a man, making clothes out of the hair of a tortoise, shall be able to provide himself thereby with a winter garment, then shalt thou be virtuous. When one shall have made a ladder out of the feet of flies, and climbed up it into heaven, then shalt thou be virtuous. When a bridge shall have been made out of the stalk of the jessamine, and an elephant shall have walked across it, then shalt thou be virtuous. When fire shall burst forth in the middle of the sea, and men shall enter therein, then shalt thou be virtuous. O Suśroṇī! now that I have scoffed at thee enough, I ask thee what reward wilt thou give me if I restore thee to thy former position?” [133]

She replied, “Uncle, if thou wilt do that, I will give thee a piece of meat every day.”

“I will do it, see if I do not. Go into the water, immerse thyself in it up to thy neck, and remain there with thy face turned towards the east. I will go and petition the king.”

So the jackal drew near to the royal palace, and made his request to the king, saying that it would be meet and fitting to send for Suśroṇī at once, seeing that she was piously and righteously performing penance. King Brahmadatta understood the language of the jackal, and he ordered his ministers to send for Suśroṇī at once. The ministers made their appearance with clothes and ornaments, and the king restored her to her former position. Every day she gave the jackal a piece of meat. This she did for some long time. But at length she gave up doing so. Then the jackal came close to the royal palace, and threatened that if she failed to bring the gift, it would lay hold of her, and set her back again in the place she occupied before. She was alarmed, and continued to give it a piece of meat every day.

XIII.

THE OVER-REACHED ACTOR. [134]

The Buddha Bhagavant was abiding in Rājagṛiha in Veṇuvana in Kalandakanivāsa. In Rājagṛiha lived the two Nāgarājas Girika and Sundara, through whose influence the five hundred warm springs in Rājagṛiha, the rivers, lakes, and pools received from the deity, from time to time, a rich copiousness of waters, whereby the grain thrived in the most excellent manner. As Bhagavant had brought under his influence the two Nāgarājas, Nanda and Upananda, they used to come to the slopes of Sumeru and manifest their respect to Bhagavant on the eighth, fourteenth, and fifteenth days of the month. Thereupon the two Nāgarājas, Girika and Sundara, considered that, as the two Nāgarājas, Nanda and Upananda, visited the Sumeru slopes on the eighth, fourteenth, and fifteenth of the month in order to show their respect for Bhagavant, they themselves who dwelt on the spot ought to testify their respect for Bhagavant. So they went to Bhagavant, paid honour with their heads to his feet, and seated themselves on the ground. Then Bhagavant confirmed them in refuge-seeking and in the basis of doctrine, whereby they felt themselves very much elevated. Thereupon they formed the intention of betaking themselves to the ocean. So they went to Bhagavant, paid him honour, and spoke to him thus: “O worthy of reverence, inasmuch as Bhagavant has led us to the search after refuge and the principles of the doctrine, we have become so elevated that we would fain, if Bhagavant allows us, betake ourselves to the ocean.” Bhagavant replied, “O Nāgarājas, as ye dwell in the land of Bimbisāra, king of Magadha, ye must ask him.” They considered that there must be some reason why Bhagavant did not allow them to betake themselves to the ocean. When they appeared at night before Bhagavant in order to show him honour, they formed part of the retinue of the Gods’ [135] dwelling. But when they came by day they had the appearance of ordinary householders.

At that time Bimbisāra, king of Magadha, went to Veṇuvana to Kalandakanivāsa. With Kshatriya pride the king halted on the way, and said to a man of low degree, “Ho, man, go and see who is paying honour to Bhagavant.” The man of low degree obeyed the command of the king, went to the spot where Bhagavant was, and saw that there were two householders who were paying honour to Bhagavant. Of this he informed the king, remarking that those men dwelt no doubt in his territory. The king imagined that those two householders, as they dwelt in his territory, would be sure to rise up when he appeared, and he went to the place where Bhagavant was. The two Nāgarājas perceived him from afar, and said to Bhagavant, “O worthy of reverence, what ought to be done? Should we now pay honour to the excellent law or to the king?”

“O Nāgarājas, do ye pay honour to the excellent law. The Buddha-Bhagavants pay honour to the excellent law, and the Arhants also honour the law highly.” This saying he repeated also in verse.

Then the two Nāgarājas omitted to rise in presence of the king, and the king waxed angry at seeing that the two householders who dwelt in his land did not stand up. After he had paid honour with his head to Bhagavant’s feet, he sat down upon the ground and besought Bhagavant to instruct him in the doctrine. Bhagavant uttered the following verses:—

“Not by him who is beside himself, who is excited by passion, can the excellent doctrine taught by the perfected Buddha be comprehended. But he who represses the commencement of sins, who lays aside anger, and who has given up passion, he can comprehend the excellent words.”

The king thought that Bhagavant took the side of the two householders, and therefore would not teach him the doctrine; so he went away thence. When he had departed from Veṇuvana, he said to his servants, “So soon as those two householders go away from Bhagavant, tell them in the name of the king that they must not remain in the country.” Having received this order from the king, the servants remained there, and communicated the king’s order to the two Nāgarājas when they made their appearance. The two Nāgarājas perceived that their long fostered wish was going to be fulfilled. So they produced on the spot a mighty jet of water, and betook themselves into small canals, and from the small canals into great canals, and from the great canals into small rivers, and from the small rivers into great rivers, and from the great rivers into the ocean. When they two reached the ocean, they were far more elevated than before.

At that same time the five hundred warm springs in Rājagṛiha, the rivers, lakes, and pools, inasmuch as the deity no longer sent them from time to time a fulness of water, began to dry up, and the crops began to perish. Then the king reflected that by the power of the Nāgarājas the water-courses used to be kept constantly full, and, as this was no longer the case, he considered that those two Nāgarājas were perhaps dead, or had been carried off or shut up by a snake charmer. He determined then to obtain information on this point from the omniscient Bhagavant. Bhagavant replied that the two Nāgarājas had not been destroyed, nor had they died, and that they had not taken themselves away secretly, nor had they been imprisoned by a snake charmer, but that they had been banished from the country by the king himself.

“Venerable sir, so far as I can remember, I have never seen, much less exiled, the two Nāgarājas Girika and Sundara.”

“O great king, I will recall the fact to your memory.”

Thereupon Bhagavant informed him that those two householders whom he had sent out of the country were precisely those two Nāgarājas, and recommended him, in order to obtain help for his land, to ask for their forgiveness. The king observed that he was not in a position to do this, as they had departed into the ocean. Then Bhagavant informed him that they were accustomed to come, in order to show him honour, on the eighth, fourteenth, and fifteenth days of the month. And that when he was teaching them the doctrine, the king might ask their forgiveness.

“Venerable sir, how should that be done? Ought I to touch the feet of them twain!”

“No, great king, that is what men of inferior degree do, who touch the hand of their superiors. But you should stretch out your right hand, and say to the two Nāgarājas: ‘Forgive me!’”

So when the king met the two Nāgarājas in the presence of Bhagavant, he followed his instructions, and received the pardon he asked for.

Then he said: “O Nāgarājas, having accorded me forgiveness, return back to my country.” They replied that they would do so then only when he had erected two temples, the one for Girika and the other for Sundara, and had provided them with the necessary attendants, and had founded a festival to be held every six months, at which they would appear in person and accept hospitality. The king obeyed these orders. He built the two temples, the one for Girika, and the other for Sundara, and he founded a festival to be held every six months. When this festival took place, vast multitudes of men came together from the six great cities.

One day there came an actor from the south, with the intention of discovering something whereby he might amuse the company, and obtain a large reward for himself. He hoped to attain both ends if he glorified the most excellent of men. Inasmuch then as the multitudes were full of faith in Bhagavant, he wished to take him as the subject of glorification, so he betook himself to Nanda and said:

“Venerable sir, when Bhagavant dwelling as the Bodisat in the Tushita region had arranged the five considerations respecting caste, race, country, time and wife, and had let the six Kāmāvachara gods three times perform the rites of purification, and in the form of an elephant had consciously entered the mother’s womb, at that time the great earth quaked violently, and those regions of the world which enjoy the light neither of the sun nor of the moon, and therefore are filled with utter darkness, were illumined with the greatest brilliance; so that when the beings, which otherwise could not see their own hands when they stretched them out, saw each other by means of this light, they cried: ‘Honoured sirs, there are other beings besides ourselves born here.’ When after the lapse of ten months Bhagavant the Bodisat was born, leaving the mother’s womb, then likewise did the great earth quake, and the bright radiance ensued. On the day on which Bhagavant the Bodisat was born, on that same day were born also sons of four great kings. In Śrāvastī truly to King Aranemi Brahmadatta there was born a son whom he called Prasenajit, because the whole world was filled with radiance at his birth. In Rājagṛiha there was born to King Mahāpadma a son whom he called Bimbisāra, because he was the son of Queen Bimbī, and at his birth the world was illumined as at the rise of the sun’s disk. In Kauśāmbī there was born to King Śatānīka a son whom he named Udajana, because the world was illumined at his birth as if by the rising of the sun. In Videha there was born to King Anantanemi a son, whom he called Pradyota, because at his birth the world was greatly illumined. On the day on which Bhagavant the Bodisat was born, there were born also five hundred Śākya sons, Bhadrika, and so forth, and five hundred attendants, Chhanda, and so forth. Five hundred mares gave birth to five hundred colts, Kanthaka, and so forth, and five hundred treasures were conferred by the gods. The Brahmans versed in omens prophesied with respect to Bhagavant the Bodisat as follows: ‘If the Prince remains in the palace, he will become a Chakravartin, who will conquer the four regions of the world, a ruler in accordance with the law, a king having the seven treasures, those of the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the gem, the wife, the householder, and the general, a king to whom there shall be born a full thousand of heroic, extremely handsome sons, victorious over hosts of foes, and under whom the whole great earth up to the ocean shall live in peace of mind and in harmony with the law, free from harm or danger, without punishments or force of arms. But if, full of faith, with shorn hair and beard, and dressed in dark brown raiment, he leaves his home and joins the ecclesiastical body, then will he gain the renown in the world of a Tathāgata, an Arhant, and a fully consummated Buddha.’”

At the time when Bhagavant the Bodisat was born, it was known everywhere that on the shore of the river Bhagirathī, on the side of Himavant, not very far from the hermitage of the Rishi Kapila, a Śākya prince was born, and what sort of prophesies the Brahmans skilled in omens had uttered. When the kings of the earth heard thereof, they reflected that if they exalted the prince, they would gain thereby, and that if they honoured King Suddhodana, the prince would thereby be honoured; so they began to pay honour to King Suddhodana, and to send him in due season envoys and caskets of jewels. As King Suddhodana reflected that all things had attained their ends in consequence of the birth of his son, that son ought to receive the name of Sarvārthasiddha, and he called him by that name accordingly. When the prince had been taken to pay reverence to the Śākya-god, the Yaksha Śākyavardha, but was received with reverence by him, the Śākya-Mighty-One, he received the names of Śākyamuni and God of gods (Devātideva).

When Bhagavant the Bodisat had attained perfection in all sciences, and had enjoyed himself in youth, but then had looked upon old age, sickness, and death, and his mind had been agitated thereby, he retired into the forest and devoted himself for six years to penance. At that time were two hundred and fifty men sent every day, who made known the words of King Suddhodana and of Suprabuddha, and daily carried the words spoken by Bhagavant the Bodisat.

When Bhagavant the Bodisat had practised penance for the space of six years, and had attained to the knowledge that it was all of no avail, he desired to restore himself completely. So he took rice soup, and warm food in abundance, anointed his body with oil and melted butter, and bathed it with warm water. And when he came to the village of Senānī, the village maidens Nandā and Nandabalā gave him sixteen times purified milk mixed with honey, and the Nāgarāja Kālika extolled him. From the Svastika grass-dealers he received gold coloured grass. When he arrived at Bodhimaṇḍa, after he had prepared himself a couch of indestructible grass, and had taken up his seat upon it with crossed legs, and had made straight his body, and strengthened his memory, he said with emotion, “Until I shall have attained sinlessness will I not change my sitting position. How then Bhagavant the Bodisat, after he had, at the midnight hour by means of the wheel of mildness overcome Māra and the host of three hundred and sixty millions of demons, attained to the supreme perfection of insight—all this he pleased to relate to me in full.”