our forefathers, for all their possession of this noble tree, obtained
by the favor of this tree naught but wealth and victory over their
enemies; thus did they demean themselves, and thus did they demean
this tree likewise. For no such purposes as these will I employ this
tree. For I know that the good things of this world endure but for a
short while, and then perish and vanish utterly. But friendliness and
compassion and generosity towards all living beings yield abundant
fruit, both in this world and in the next. As for wealth, if it be
not used for the benefit of others, it is like lightning which for an
instant stings the eye, and then flickers and vanishes. Therefore if
this wishing-tree which we possess, and which grants all desires, be
employed for the benefit of others, we shall reap from it all the fruit
that it can give. Accordingly I will so act that by the wealth of this
tree all living beings shall be delivered from poverty and distress.”
Then Jīmūta-vāhana went to the wishing-tree and said: “O tree-spirit,
thou that dost grant to us the fruit that we desire, fulfil to-day this
one wish of mine: Deliver all living beings from poverty and distress.”
Straightway--wonderful to relate!--the wishing-tree showered a shower
of gold upon the earth, and all living beings rejoiced thereat and
became well-disposed to Jīmūta-vāhana, and the fame and glory of him
spread both near and far. But the relatives of Jīmūta-ketu, seeing
that his throne was firmly established by the glory of his son, were
moved to jealousy and became hostile to him. And because the kingdom of
Jīmūta-ketu was weak, they determined to attack it and overthrow it,
and to take possession of the wishing-tree that granted all desires.
And they assembled and met together and began preparations to attack
the kingdom of Jīmūta-ketu and to overthrow it and to take possession
of the wishing-tree that granted all desires.
Thereupon Jīmūta-vāhana the fairy-prince said to Jīmūta-ketu the
fairy-king his father: “Why should we seek to obtain new wealth, or
to retain the wealth that we possess? Is not this body of ours like a
bubble in the water, which bursts in an instant and vanishes? Is it not
like a candle, which, when it is exposed to the wind, flickers for an
instant and goes out? Should a wise man desire to obtain wealth or to
retain it when it is obtained, by the killing of living beings? I will
not fight with my relatives. Therefore I will leave my kingdom and go
to some forest-hermitage. Let these miserable wretches do as they like,
but let us not kill the members of our own family.”
And Jīmūta-ketu the fairy-king said to Jīmūta-vāhana the fairy-prince
his son: “Then will I too go, my son. For what desire for rule can I
have, who am old, when you, who are young, out of compassion towards
all living beings, abandon your kingdom as though it were so much straw
and stubble?” Thereupon Jīmūta-vāhana, with his father and mother, went
to the Malaya mountain, and took up his abode in a forest-hermitage,
the dwelling of the fairy-magicians, the Siddhas, where the brooks were
hidden by the sandalwood trees, and devoted himself to the care of his
father and mother.
One day, as he was roaming about with a companion, he came to a wood on
the shore of the sea. There he saw many heaps of bones. And he said to
his companion: “Whose bones are these?” His companion replied: “Give
ear, and I will tell you the story in a few words.”
_Griffin and snakes._
In times past Kadrū and Vinatā, the two wives of Kashyapa, had a
quarrel. Kadrū said that the horses of the Sun were black, and Vinatā
said that they were white, and they made a wager that whichever of the
two was wrong should become a slave of the other. Then Kadrū, bent on
winning, actually induced her sons the snakes to defile the horses of
the Sun by spitting venom over them; and showing them to Vinatā thus
defiled, she conquered her by a trick and made her her slave.
When the griffin, the son of Vinatā, heard of that, he came and tried
to induce Kadrū to release Vinatā from slavery. Then the snakes, the
sons of Kadrū, said to the griffin, the son of Vinatā: “O griffin,
the gods have begun to churn the sea of milk. Fetch thence the drink
of immortality and give it to us as a substitute, and then take your
mother away with you.” When the griffin heard these words, he went to
the sea of milk and displayed his mighty prowess in order to obtain
the drink of immortality. Then the god Vishnu, pleased with his mighty
prowess, condescended to say to him: “I am pleased with thee; choose
some boon.” Then the griffin, angry because his mother had been made
a slave, asked the following boon of Vishnu: “May the snakes become
my food!” Vishnu granted him this boon. Now Indra, king of the gods,
listened to the conversation, and when the griffin, by his mighty
prowess, had obtained the drink of immortality, he said to him: “O
griffin, take steps to prevent the foolish snakes from consuming the
drink of immortality, and to enable me to take it away from them
again.” The griffin agreed, and elated by the boon of Vishnu, he went
to the snakes with the vessel containing the drink of immortality.
And he called out from afar to the snakes: “To you have I brought the
drink of immortality. Take it, and release my mother. But if you are
afraid, I will put it on a bed of darbha-grass. So soon as my mother is
released, I will go; therefore take the drink of immortality thence.”
Now the snakes were terrified by reason of the boon which Vishnu had
granted to the griffin, and at once agreed to the bargain. Then the
griffin set on a bed of darbha-grass the vessel containing the drink of
immortality, and the snakes released his mother from slavery, and the
griffin departed with her.
But while the snakes, not suspicious of a ruse, were in the very act
of taking the drink of immortality, Indra, king of the gods, suddenly
swooped down, and confounding them with his mighty prowess, carried
off the vessel containing the drink of immortality. Then the snakes in
despair licked the bed of darbha-grass with their tongues, thinking
that there might be so much as a drop of the drink of immortality spilt
thereon; whereupon--wonderful to relate--their tongues became split,
and they became double-tongued for nothing.
Thus did the snakes fail to obtain the drink of immortality. And
straightway their enemy the griffin, relying on the boon which he had
obtained from Vishnu, swooped down on them and began to devour them.
And this he did again and again. And he wrought such havoc among them
that the snakes in Pātāla were nigh unto death from sheer fright, and
their females miscarried, and the whole race of the snakes was nigh
unto utter destruction. Then Vāsuki, king of the snakes, fearing that
the whole race of the snakes would be rooted out, begged the griffin
to relent, and made the following agreement with him: “O king of
birds, every day, on the hill that rises out of the sand of the sea,
I will send you a single snake to eat. But you must not commit the
folly of entering Pātāla, for by destroying utterly the whole race
of the snakes, you will only defeat your own purpose.” The griffin
consented. So every day, on the hill that rises out of the sand of the
sea, Vāsuki, king of the snakes, sends to the griffin, the king of the
birds, a single snake to eat. And the griffin, the king of the birds,
devours each day the snake which Vāsuki, king of the birds, sends to
him to eat. These heaps of bones are the bones of the snakes which the
griffin has eaten, and which, gradually accumulating, have come to look
like the peak of a mountain.
_Fairy-prince and griffin._
When Jīmūta-vāhana, the fairy-prince, embodiment of generosity and
compassion towards all living beings, heard this story from the lips
of his companion, he was pricked to the heart. And he said to his
companion: “Of a truth, Vāsuki, king of the snakes, is to be pitied,
for that, like a coward, he delivers with his own hand into the hands
of his most bitter enemy the snakes that are his subjects. Since he has
a thousand faces and a thousand mouths, why can he not say with one of
his mouths to the griffin who is his enemy: ‘Eat me first, O griffin!’”
Then did the noble-hearted Jīmūta-vāhana make the following Earnest
Wish: “May I, by the sacrifice of my own body and blood, obtain Supreme
Enlightenment!”
At that moment a servant summoned Jīmūta-vāhana’s companion to return
home, and Jīmūta-vāhana, embodiment of generosity and compassion
towards all living beings, was left alone. And Jīmūta-vāhana roamed
about alone, intent on carrying out the resolution which he had formed.
And as he roamed about, he heard afar off a piteous sound of weeping.
And drawing near, he beheld on a lofty slab of rock a youth of handsome
appearance plunged in bitter grief. And by his side stood an officer
of some monarch, as if he had brought him and left him there. And the
youth was seeking to persuade an old woman who was weeping, to cease
her weeping and return whence she had come.
And Jīmūta-vāhana stood and listened, melted with pity, eager to
know who he might be, and she. And the old woman, overwhelmed with
the burden of her grief, began to look again and again at the youth,
and to lament her misfortune in the following words: “Alas, my son!
thou that wast obtained by me at the cost of a hundred bitter pangs!
Alas, virtuous youth! Alas, only scion of our family, where shall I
behold thee again? Bereft of thee, thy father will be plunged into the
darkness of sorrow, and will not for long endure to live. That body of
thine, which would suffer even from the torch of the sun’s rays,--how
can it endure the agony of being devoured by the griffin? How comes it
that Fate and the king of the snakes were able to discover thee, the
only son of ill-starred me, though the world of the snakes is wide?”
Thereupon the youth said: “Mother, I am afflicted enough as it is. Why
do you afflict me more? Return to your home, I beg you. This is my last
reverence to you. The griffin will soon be here.” When the old woman
heard those words, she cast her sorrowful eyes all around the horizon,
and cried aloud: “Alas, I am undone! Who will deliver my son from
death?”
Then Jīmūta-vāhana with joy and delight went up to the old woman and
said: “Mother, I will deliver your son!”
When the old woman heard those words, she was frightened and terrified,
for she thought that the griffin had come. And straightway she cried
out: “Eat me, O griffin! eat me!” Then said the youth her son: “Mother,
be not afraid, for this is no griffin!” Then said Jīmūta-vāhana:
“Mother, I am the prince of the fairies, disguised in the garb of a
man. I am come to deliver your son from death. I will give my own body
and blood to the hungry griffin. Therefore return to your home, and
take your son with you.” But the old woman said: “By no means! for in
a still higher sense you yourself are my very own son, since you have
shown such a measure of compassion to me and my son at this time.”
Then said Jīmūta-vāhana: “I have formed a resolution, and you must not
defeat my purpose.”
Then said the youth: “O thou of great and noble heart! I cannot consent
to save my own body at the cost of thine. Should a common stone be
saved by the sacrifice of a precious stone? The world is full of those
who, like myself, pity only themselves. But few in number are those who
entertain sentiments of compassion for the whole world and for all the
living beings that are therein.” At that moment the trees began to sway
with the wind of the wings of the griffin, and seemed to utter a cry
of dissuasion. And the sea, churned by the wind, seemed with the eyes
of its bright-flashing jewels to be gazing in wonder and astonishment
at the greatness of his courage and the depth of his compassion. Then
came the griffin, hiding the heavens with his outspread wings. And
swooping down, he smote the valiant hero Jīmūta-vāhana with his beak,
and gripping him with his talons, carried him off from that slab of
rock; and soaring aloft, flew quickly with him to a peak of the Malaya
mountain, to eat him there. And Jīmūta-vāhana’s crest-jewel was torn
from his head, and drops of blood fell from his body, as the griffin
carried him through the air. And while the griffin was devouring his
body and blood, he uttered the following Earnest Wish: “May my body and
blood be offered thus in every state of my existence, and may I not
obtain rebirth in heaven or deliverance from the round of existences
if thereby I shall be deprived of the opportunity of doing good to my
neighbor!”
But afterwards, through the finding of his crest-jewel, his kinsfolk
and friends effected his deliverance from the power of the griffin, and
a goddess sprinkled him with a potion, whereupon he arose more glorious
than before, with all his limbs made whole again. And the goddess said
to him: “My son, I am pleased with this sacrifice of thy body and
blood. Therefore I sprinkle thee king of the fairies, and thy reign
shall endure for a cycle of time.” Thereupon a rain of flowers fell
from the sky, and the drums of the gods resounded with approbation.
And the griffin repented of his evil deeds, and said: “From this day
henceforth I will not again eat snakes. As for those which I have
already eaten, let them return to life again!” Then--wonderful to
relate!--all the snakes that he had previously eaten returned to
life again. Then Jīmūta-vāhana was escorted to the Himālaya, and was
sprinkled king over all the kings of the fairies, and his reign endured
for a cycle of time.
_Glossary._
_Ace._ The losing throw at dice.
_Ascetic._ A man who has taken a vow to remain single, and to devote
himself to fasting, bodily torture, and meditation as a means of
escape from the horrors of repeated existences. Specifically, a monk
belonging to some religious order other than the order of monks
founded by Gotama Buddha.
_Benāres._ A sacred city of North India, situated on the Ganges. It
was the capital of Kāsi.
_Brahmā._ The Supreme Being, the Invincible, the All-seeing, the
Subduer, the Lord, the Maker, the Creator, the Ancient of Days, the
Conqueror, the Ruler, the Father of all that are and are to be.
Gotama ignored the question whether such a being exists.
_Brahman._ A man belonging to the priestly caste.
_Buddha._ See Introduction.
_Casts no shadow._ One of the marks of a demon.
_Chatty._ An earthenware vessel.
_Crore._ 10,000,000.
_Devadatta._ Cousin and enemy of Gotama. The Judas of Buddhism.
_Enlightenment._ See Introduction.
_Exalted One._ Title of Buddha.
_Exalted States._ Friendliness, Compassion, Sympathy, and
Indifference.
_Five Precepts._ (1) Thou shalt not take the life of any living
being. (2) Thou shalt not take that which is not given. (3) Thou
shalt not give way to the sins of the flesh. (4) Thou shalt not
speak falsehood. (5) Thou shalt avoid occasions of heedlessness
through the use of liquor or spirits or other intoxicants.
_Four Requisites._ Robes, food, lodging, and medicine.
_Fourfold Army._ Infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants.
_Future Buddha._ See Introduction.
_Ganges._ A sacred river of North India, in the valley of which
Buddhism took its rise. The Heavenly Ganges is the Milky Way.
_Great Being._ Title of a Future Buddha.
_Heretic._ A man who refuses to accept the teachings of Buddha.
_Hermitage._ Dwelling-place of a hermit or ascetic.
_Heron’s Call._ Triumphant cry of an elephant.
_Himālaya, Himavat._ Literally, Abode of Snow. A range of mountains,
the loftiest in the world, forming the northeastern border of India.
The foothills of the Himālaya range were a favorite resort for monks
and ascetics.
_Inconceivable._ 1 followed by 28 ciphers.
_Jaws of Rāhu._ Eclipses of the sun and moon were supposed to be due
to the fact that they were swallowed from time to time by a demon
named Rāhu, the Seizer.
_Jetavana._ Conqueror’s Grove. Name of a monastery near Sāvatthi. The
favorite residence of the Buddha.
_Kāsi._ A country of North India of which Benāres was the capital.
_Kelāsa._ One of the principal peaks of the Himālaya range.
_Kosala._ A country lying north of Kāsi, of which Sāvatthi was the
capital.
_Lac._ A scarlet dye.
_Land of the Rose-apple._ India. A Rose-apple (Jambu) tree is
represented in the illustration to Story 15, lower right.
_Marks of the spread hand._ For good luck. The fingers were supposed
to “point off” evil spirits.
_Meru. Sineru._ A vast mountain occupying the centre of each of an
infinite number of worlds.
_Monk._ A man who has taken a vow to remain single, and to devote
himself to meditation and good works in accordance with the
teachings of the Buddha.
_Nit._ A fly’s egg.
_Play-ring._ Before beginning play, dicers would draw a circle on the
ground or floor. So long as the play continued, a dicer was bound to
remain within the circle. By stepping outside of the circle, a dicer
“broke” the play-ring and stopped the play.
_Omniscience._ Knowledge of all things. Enlightenment. By performing
a work of merit and making an Earnest Wish thereby to attain
Enlightenment in some future state of existence, a Future Buddha, as
it were, sows the Seed of Omniscience.
_Sāvatthi._ A city of North India, the capital of Kosala.
_Seven Buddhas._ The oldest texts mention only seven Buddhas. The
Jātaka Book mentions twenty-four. Later, the number is increased
indefinitely.
_Sineru._ See Meru.
_Sprinkling._ In ancient India kings were not anointed, but sprinkled.
_Takkasilā._ A city of Northwest India, the capital of Gandhāra. A
famous seat of learning in ancient times.
_Teacher._ Title of Buddha.
_Ten Perfections._ Generosity, Morality, Renunciation, Wisdom,
Energy, Patience, Truth, Resolution, Friendliness, Indifference.
_Three Jewels._ The Buddha, the Doctrine, and the Order of Monks.
_Warrior._ A man belonging to the military caste.
_Yugandhara._ One of seven vast circles of rock which surround Mount
Meru.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.