immense love towards all creatures, and identified himself with all
beings. For this reason we ought to have the utmost faith in Buddha, the
Lord. This will be instanced by the following great performance of the
Lord in a previous birth, which has been celebrated by my guru, a
venerator of the Three Jewels, an authority because of his thorough
study of virtues, and beloved by his own guru by virtue of his religious
practices.
In the time that the Bodhisattva, who afterwards became our Lord,
benefited the world by manifold outpourings of his compassion: gifts,
kind words, succour, and similar blameless deeds of a wisdom-cultivating
mind, quite in accordance with the excessive engagements to which he had
bound himself, he took his birth in a most eminent and mighty family of
Brâhmans, distinguished by the purity of their conduct owing to their
attachment to their (religious) duties. Being purified by the
_g_âtakarma and the other sacraments in due order, he grew up and in a
short time, owing to the innate quickness of his understanding, the
excellent aid in his studies, his eagerness for learning and his zeal,
he obtained the mastership in the eighteen branches of science and in
all the arts (kalâs) which were not incompatible with the custom of his
family.
5. To the Brâhmans he was (an authority) like the Holy Writ; to the
Kshatriyas as venerable as a king; to the masses he appeared like the
embodied Thousand-eyed One[23]; to those who longed for knowledge he was
a helpful father.
[23] Viz. _S_akra, the Indra or Lord of the Devas.
In consequence of his prosperous destiny (the result of merits formerly
earned), a large store of wealth, distinction, and fame fell to his
share. But the Bodhisattva took no delight in such things. His thoughts
had been purified by his constant study of the Law, and he had become
familiar with world-renunciation.
6. His former behaviour had wholly cleared his mind, he saw the many
kinds of sin which beset (worldly) pleasures. So he shook off the
householder's state, as if it were an illness, and retired to some
plateau, which he adorned by his presence.
7. There, both by his detachment from the world and by his
wisdom-brightened tranquillity, he confounded, as it were, the people in
the world, who by attachment to bad occupations are disinclined for the
calmness of the wise.
8. His calmness full of friendliness spread about, it seems, and
penetrated into the hearts of the ferocious animals so as to make them
cease injuring one another and live like ascetics.
9. By dint of the pureness of his conduct, his self-control, his
contentment, and his compassion, he was no less a friend even to the
people in the world, who were unknown to him, than all creatures were
friends to him.
10. As he wanted little, he did not know the art of hypocrisy, and he
had abandoned the desire for gain, glory, and pleasures. So he caused
even the deities to be propitious and worshipful towards him.
11. On the other hand, those whose affection he had gained (in his
former state) by his virtues, hearing of his ascetic life, left their
families and their relations and went up to him as to the embodied
Salvation, in order to become his disciples.
12. He taught his disciples, as best he could, good conduct (_s_îla),
chastity, purification of the organs of sense, constant attentiveness,
detachment from the world, and the concentration of the mind to the
meditation on friendliness (maitrî) and the rest[24].
[24] The four, or five, bhâvanâs or 'meditative rites' are meant.
Most of his numerous disciples attained perfection in consequence of his
teaching, by which this holy road (to salvation) was established and
people were put on the excellent path of world-renunciation. Now, the
doors of evils being shut, as it were, but the ways of happiness widely
opened like high roads, it once happened that the Great-minded One
(mahâtman) was rambling along the shrubby caverns of the mountain well
adapted to the practices of meditation (yoga), in order to enjoy at his
ease this existing order of things. A_g_ita, his disciple at that time,
accompanied him.
13-15. Now, below in a cavern of the mountain, he beheld a young tigress
that could scarcely move from the place, her strength being exhausted by
the labour of whelping. Her sunken eyes and her emaciated belly
betokened her hunger, and she was regarding her own offspring as food,
who thirsting for the milk of her udders, had come near her, trusting
their mother and fearless; but she brawled at them, as if they were
strange to her, with prolonged harsh roarings.
16, 17. On seeing her, the Bodhisattva, though composed in mind, was
shaken with compassion by the suffering of his fellow-creature, as the
lord of the mountains (Meru) is by an earthquake. It is a wonder, how
the compassionate, be their constancy ever so evident in the greatest
sufferings of their own, are touched by the grief, however small, of
another!
And his powerful pity made him utter, agitation made him repeat to his
pupil, the following words manifesting his excellent nature: 'My dear,
my dear,' he exclaimed,
18. 'Behold the worthlessness of Sa_m_sâra! This animal seeks to feed on
her very own young ones. Hunger causes her to transgress love's law.
19. 'Alas! Fie upon the ferocity of self-love, that makes a mother wish
to make her meal with the bodies of her own offspring!
20. 'Who ought to foster the foe, whose name is self-love, by whom one
may be compelled to actions like this?
'Go, then, quickly and look about for some means of appeasing her
hunger, that she may not injure her young ones and herself. I too shall
endeavour to avert her from that rash act.' The disciple promised to do
so, and went off in search of food. Yet the Bodhisattva had but used a
pretext to turn him off. He considered thus:
21. 'Why should I search after meat from the body of another, whilst the
whole of my own body is available? Not only is the getting of the meat
in itself a matter of chance, but I should also lose the opportunity of
doing my duty.
'Further,
22-24. 'This body being brute, frail, pithless, ungrateful, always
impure, and a source of suffering, he is not wise who should not rejoice
at its being spent for the benefit of another. There are but two things
that make one disregard the grief of another: attachment to one's own
pleasure and the absence of the power of helping. But I cannot have
pleasure, whilst another grieves, and I have the power to help; why
should I be indifferent? And if, while being able to succour, I were to
show indifference even to an evildoer immersed in grief, my mind, I
suppose, would feel the remorse for an evil deed, burning like shrubs
caught by a great fire.
25. 'Therefore, I will kill my miserable body by casting it down into
the precipice, and with my corpse I shall preserve the tigress from
killing her young ones and the young ones from dying by the teeth of
their mother.
'Even more, by so doing
26-29. 'I set an example to those who long for the good of the world; I
encourage the feeble; I rejoice those who understand the meaning of
charity; I stimulate the virtuous; I cause disappointment to the great
hosts of Mâra, but gladness to those who love the Buddha-virtues; I
confound the people who are absorbed in selfishness and subdued by
egotism and lusts; I give a token of faith to the adherents of the most
excellent of vehicles[25], but I fill with astonishment those who sneer
at deeds of charity; I clear the highway to Heaven in a manner pleasing
to the charitable among men; and finally that wish I yearned for, "When
may I have the opportunity of benefiting others with the offering of my
own limbs?"--I shall accomplish it now, and so acquire erelong Complete
Wisdom.
[25] This best of vehicles (yânavara) is the Buddhayâna, the
vehicle by which Buddhahood may be reached, or mahâyâna, for both
appellations cover nearly the same ground. The other two are the
_S_râvakayâna and the Pratyekabuddhayâna. See Dharmasa_m_graha II,
with the annotation of Kenjiu Kasawara.
30, 31. 'Verily, as surely as this determination does not proceed from
ambition, nor from thirst of glory, nor is a means of gaining Heaven or
royal dignity, as surely as I do not care even for supreme and
everlasting bliss for myself, but for securing the benefit of
others[26]: as surely may I gain by it the power of taking away and
imparting for ever at the same time the world's sorrow and the world's
happiness, just as the sun takes away darkness and imparts light!
[26] Parârthasiddhi here and in st. 33 is a rather ambiguous term,
as it may also convey this meaning: 'the attainment of the highest
object.' Apparently this ambiguity is intentional. Cp. Story XXX,
verse 17.
32. 'Whether I shall be remembered, when virtue is seen to be practised,
or made conspicuous, when the tale of my exploit is told; in every way
may I constantly benefit the world and promote its happiness!'
33. After so making up his mind, delighted at the thought that he was to
destroy even his life for securing the benefit of others, to the
amazement even of the calm minds of the deities--he gave up his body.
The sound of the Bodhisattva's body falling down stirred the curiosity
and the anger of the tigress. She desisted from her disposition of
making a slaughter of her whelps, and cast her eyes all around. As soon
as she perceived the lifeless body of the Bodhisattva, she rushed
hastily upon it and commenced to devour it.
But his disciple, coming back without meat, as he had got none, not
seeing his teacher, looked about for him. Then he beheld that young
tigress feeding on the lifeless body of the Bodhisattva. And the
admiration of the extraordinary greatness of his performance driving
back his emotions of sorrow and pain, he probably gave a fair
utterance[27] to his veneration for his teacher's attachment to virtues
by this monologue:
[27] The text has _s_obheta, not a_s_obhata, as might have been
expected.
34-37. 'Oh, how merciful the Great-minded One was to people afflicted by
distress! How indifferent He was to His own welfare! How He has brought
to perfection the virtuous conduct of the pious, and dashed to pieces
the splendid glory of their adversaries! How He has displayed, clinging
to virtues, His heroic, fearless, and immense love! How His body, which
was already precious for its virtues, has now forcibly been turned into
a vessel of the highest veneration! And although by His innate kindness
He was as patient as Earth, how intolerant He was of the suffering of
others! And how my own roughness of mind is evidenced by the contrast of
this splendid act of heroism of His! Verily, the creatures are not to be
commiserated now, having got Him as their Protector, and Manmatha[28],
forsooth, is now sighing away, being disturbed and in dread of defeat.
[28] Manmatha, Kâma, Kandarpa and the other names of the god of
sensual love and pleasure are common equivalents of Mâra. Cp.
Buddha_k_arita XIII, 2.
'In every way, veneration be to that illustrious Great Being
(mahâsattva), of exuberant compassion, of boundless goodness, the refuge
of all creatures, yea, that Bodhisattva for the sake of the creatures.'
And he told the matter over to his fellow-disciples.
38. Then his disciples and also the Gandharvas, the Yakshas, the snakes,
and the chiefs of the Devas, expressing by their countenance their
admiration for his deed, covered the ground that held the treasure of
his bones, with a profusion of wreaths, clothes, jewel ornaments, and
sandal powder.
So, then, even in former births the Lord showed His innate,
disinterested, and immense love towards all creatures, and identified
Himself with all creatures. For this reason we ought to have the utmost
faith in Buddha, the Lord. [And also this is to be propounded: 'And
having obtained this faith in Buddha the Lord, we ought to strive for
feeling the highest gladness; in this manner our faith will have its
sanctuary.'--Likewise we must listen with attention to the preaching of
the Law, since it has been brought to us by means of hundreds of
difficult hardships[29].--And in sermons on the subject of compassion,
thus is to be said: 'in this manner compassion, moving us to act for the
benefit of others, is productive of an exceedingly excellent
nature[30].']
[29] Dushkara_s_atasamudânîtatvât, cp. Divyâvadâna, ed. Cowell, p.
490.
[30] Viz. as far as gathering merit, the consequence of good
actions, improves our nature.
* * * * *
The story of the tigress, which does not appear either in the Pâli
_G_âtaka or in the _K_ariyâpi_t_aka, is alluded to in the
Bodhisattvâvadanâkalpalatâ of Kshemendra II, 108. There the
Bodhisattva, on the occasion of a similar fact of self-denial and
heroism in a later birth, says: 'Formerly, on seeing a hungry
tigress preparing to eat her whelps, I gave her my body, in order
to avert this, without hesitation.' And in the fifty-first pallava
the story is narrated at length, verses 28-50. It differs in some
points from ours. So does also the redaction of the Southern
Buddhists, told by Spence Hardy, Manual, p. 94 of the 2nd ed.
II. THE STORY OF THE KING OF THE _S_IBIS.
(Comp. the Pâli _G_âtaka, No. 499, Fausb. IV, 401-412; _K_ariyâpi_t_aka
I, 8.)
The preaching of the excellent Law must be listened to with attention.
For it is by means of hundreds of difficult hardships that the Lord
obtained this excellent Law for our sake. This is shown by the
following.
In the time, when this our Lord was still a Bodhisattva, in consequence
of his possessing a store of meritorious actions collected by a
practice from time immemorial, he once was a king of the _S_ibis. By his
deference to the elders whom he was wont to honour from his very
childhood, and by his attachment to a modest behaviour, he gained the
affection of his subjects; owing to his natural quickness of intellect,
he enlarged his mind by learning many sciences; he was distinguished by
energy, discretion, majesty and power, and favoured by fortune. He ruled
his subjects as if they were his own children.
1. The different sets of virtues, that accompany each member of the
triad (of dharma, artha, and kâma) all together gladly took their
residence, it seems, with him; and yet they did not lose any of their
splendour in spite of the disturbance which might occur from their
contrasts.
2. And felicity, that is like a mockery to those who have attained a
high rank by wrong means, like a grievous calamity to the fool, like an
intoxicating liquor to the feeble-minded--to him it was, as is indicated
by its name, real happiness.
3. Noble-hearted, full of compassion, and wealthy, this best of kings
rejoiced at seeing the faces of the mendicants beaming with satisfaction
and joy at the attainment of the wished-for objects.
Now this king, in accordance with his propensity for charity, had caused
alms-halls, provided with every kind of utensils, goods, and grains, to
be constructed in all parts of the town. In this way he poured out the
rain of his gifts, not unlike a cloud of the K_ri_ta Yuga. And he
distributed them in such a manner, as well became the loftiness of his
mind, supplying the wants of each according to his desire, with lovely
deference and kind speed, whereby he enhanced the benefit of his gifts.
He bestowed food and drink on those who were in need of food and drink;
likewise he dispensed couches, seats, dwellings, meals, perfumes,
wreaths, silver, gold, &c., to those who wanted them. Then, the fame of
the king's sublime munificence spreading abroad, people who lived in
different regions and parts of the world went to that country, with
surprise and joy in their hearts.
4. The mendicants, when letting the whole world of men pass before their
mind's eye, did not find in others an opportunity of putting forth their
requests; to him it was that they went up in crowds with glad faces,
just as wild elephants go up to a great lake.
The king, on the other hand, when beholding them, whose minds were
rejoiced with the hope of gain, flocking together from all directions,
though the outward appearance of that mendicant people in travelling
dress was anything but handsome,--
5. Nevertheless he received them, as if they were friends come back from
abroad, his eyes wide-opened with joy; he listened to their requests, as
if good news were reported to him, and after giving, his contentment
surpassed that of the recipients.
6. The voices of the beggars spread about the perfume of the fame of his
munificence, and so abated the pride of the other kings. In a similar
way, the scent of the juice that runs out of the temples of the
scent-elephant in rut, being scattered by the wind, causes the bees to
neglect the like fluid of the other elephants[31].
[31] In the original this simile is expressed by the rhetorical
figure, called _s_lesha.
One day the king, making the tour of his alms-halls, noticed the very
small number of supplicants staying there, in consequence of the wants
of the mendicant people being supplied. When he considered this, he was
uneasy, because his habit of almsgiving could not well proceed.
7. The indigent, when coming to him, quenched their thirst (for the
desired boons), not he his (thirst for giving), when meeting with them.
His passion for charity was so great, that no requester by the extent of
his request could outdo his determination of giving.
Then this thought arose within him: 'Oh, very blessed are those most
excellent among the pious, to whom the mendicants utter their desires
with confidence and without restraint, so as to ask even their limbs!
But to me, as if they were terrified by harsh words of refusal, they
show only boldness in requesting my wealth.'
8. Now Earth, becoming aware of that exceedingly lofty thought, how her
lord holding on to charity, had stopped the very attachment to his own
flesh, trembled as a wife would, who loves her husband.
The surface of the earth being shaken, Sumeru, the lord of mountains,
radiant with the shine of its manifold gems, began to waver. _S_akra,
the Lord of the Devas (Devendra), inquiring into the cause of this
wavering, understood that it was the sublime thought of that king which
produced the shivering of Earth's surface; and as he was taken up with
amazement, he entered into this reflection:
9. 'How is this? Does this king bear his mind so high and feel so great
a rejoicing at giving away in charity as to conceive the thought of
girding his resolution to give with the strong determination of parting
with his own limbs?
'Well, I will try him.'
Now the king, surrounded by his officials, was sitting (on his throne,
in his hall) in the midst of the assembly. The usual summons by
proclamation had been given, inviting anybody who was in need of
anything; stores of wealth, silver, gold, jewels, were being disclosed
by the care of the treasurer; boxes filled to the top with various kinds
of clothes, were being uncovered; various excellent carriages, the yokes
of which enclosed the necks of different well-trained beasts of draught,
were being made to advance; and the mendicants were crowding in. Among
them _S_akra, the Lord of the Devas, having assumed the shape of an old
and blind Brâhman, drew the attention of the king. On him the king fixed
his firm, placid, and mild looks expressive of compassion and
friendliness, and he seemed with them to go to his encounter and to
embrace him. The royal attendants requested him to say what he was
wanting, but he drew near the king, and after uttering his hail and
blessing, addressed him with these words:
10. 'A blind, old man I have come hither from afar begging thy eye, O
highest of kings. For the purpose of ruling the world's regular course
one eye may be sufficient, O lotus-eyed monarch.'
Though the Bodhisattva experienced an extreme delight at his heart's
desire being realised, a doubt arose within him as to whether the
Brâhman had really said so or, this thought being always present to his
mind, himself had fancied so, and since he longed to hear the very sweet
words of the eye being asked, he thus spoke to the eye-asker:
11. 'Who has instructed thee, illustrious Brâhman, to come here and to
ask from me one eye? No one, it is said, will easily part with his eye.
Who is he that thinks the contrary of me?'
_S_akra, the Lord of the Devas in the disguise of a Brâhman, knowing the
intention of the king, answered:
12. 'It is _S_akra. His statue, instructing me to ask thee for thy eye,
has caused me to come here. Now make real his opinion and my hope by
giving me thy eye.'
Hearing the name of _S_akra, the king thought: 'Surely, through divine
power this Brâhman shall regain his eyesight in this way,' and he spoke
in a voice, the clear sound of which manifested his joy:
13. 'Brâhman, I will fulfil thy wish, which has prompted thee to come
here. Thou desirest one eye from me, I shall give thee both.
14. 'After I have adorned thy face with a pair of bright lotus-like
eyes, go thy way, putting the bystanders first into doubt's swing as to
thy identity, but soon amazing them by the certainty of it.'
The king's counsellors, understanding that he had decided to part with
his eyes, were perplexed and agitated, and sadness afflicted their
minds. They said to the king:
15, 16. 'Majesty, Your too great fondness for charity makes you overlook
that this is mismanagement leading to evil. Be propitious, then, desist
from your purpose; do not give up your eyesight! For the sake of one
twice-born man you must not disregard all of us. Do not burn with the
fire of sorrow your subjects, to whom you have hitherto ensured comfort
and prosperity.
17, 18. 'Money, the source of opulence; brilliant gems; milch cows;
carriages and trained beasts of draught; vigorous elephants of graceful
beauty; dwellings fit for all seasons, resounding with the noise of the
anklets[32], and by their brightness surpassing the autumn-clouds: such
are boons fit to be bestowed. Give those, and not your eyesight, O you
who are the only eye of the world.
[32] Not only the houses, therefore, are meant, but also the
(female) attendance; in other words, the epithet is indicative of
the richness and magnificence of the habitations.
'Moreover, great king, you must but consider this:
19. 'How can the eye of one person be put in the face of another? If,
however, divine power may effect this, why should your eye be wanted for
it?
'Further, Your Majesty,
20. 'Of what use is eyesight to a poor man? That he might witness the
abundance of others? Well then, give him money; do not commit an act of
rashness!'
Then the king addressed his ministers in soft and conciliating terms:
21. 'He who after promising to give, makes up his mind to withhold his
gift, such a one puts on again the bond of cupidity which he had cast
off before.
22. 'He who after promising to give, does not keep his promise, being
driven from his resolution by avarice, should he not be held for the
worst of men?
23. 'He who, having strengthened the hope of the mendicants by engaging
himself to give, pays them with the harsh disappointment of a refusal,
for him there is no expiation.
'And with respect to your asserting "is divine power of itself not
sufficient to restore the eyesight to that man?" you should be taught
this.
24. 'That different means are wanted to carry out purposes, is well
known, indeed. For this reason even Destiny (Vidhi), though a deity,
needs some means or other.
'Therefore, you must not exert yourselves to obstruct my determination
to accomplish an extraordinary deed of charity.'
The ministers answered: 'We have only ventured to observe to Your
Majesty that you ought to give away goods and grains and jewels, not
your eye; when saying this, we do not entice Your Majesty to
wickedness.'
The king said:
25. 'The very thing asked for must be given. A gift not wished for does
not afford pleasure. Of what use is water to one carried off by the
stream? For this reason, I shall give to this man the object he
requests.'
After this, the first minister who more than the others had got into the
intimate confidence of the king, overlooking, owing to his solicitude,
the respect due to the king, spoke thus: 'Pray, do it not.