the precepts of the Law, certainly, this is true. But it is a very, very
difficult thing, methinks. The life in the world is crowded with
business quite adverse to the precepts of the Law, and implies a great
amount of toil. Do but consider it well, sir.
13. 'The life of a householder is not suitable for one who desires
nothing, nor for such a one as never speaks a falsehood, nor for him who
never uses violence, nor for such a one as never injures others.
'And he whose heart is attached to the "comfort of home-life," cannot
but strive to put into effect the means by which this is secured.
14. 'If you devote yourself to the Law, you must leave your house, and
inversely, how can the Law exist for him who is attached to his house?
It is tranquillity from which the road of the Law derives its flavour,
but the success of a householder requires him to follow the way of
courageous enterprise.
15, 16. 'Now, as the life of a householder is reprehensible for this
reason, that it is in opposition to the Law, who, then, having got the
true insight of his Self, will keep to it? He, indeed, whom the prospect
of pleasure has once induced to neglect the Law, will feel himself not
at all restrained as to the means of procuring those pleasures. Besides,
they will certainly be followed by the loss of good reputation, by
remorse and misfortune. For this reason the wise do not embrace that
state, which procures pleasures to the detriment of the Law; they rather
look on it as a calamity.
'Further I should think, the statement that living in the world procures
happiness is only supported by belief (not by evidence).
17, 18. 'The pain caused by earning wealth or by guarding it never
ceases for the householder. He is more than anybody else exposed to
murder, captivity, and other calamities. Even if a king, he would not
be satisfied with his riches, no more than the sea may be with showers
of rain. Why can there be happiness in that state, or how, or when, if
man does not attain by it the longing for self-perfection, but on the
contrary in his infatuation fancies happiness is to be obtained by
attachment to sensual objects? Such a person may be compared to one who
tries to heal his wounds by rubbing.
'As a rule, in truth, I dare say,
19. 'As a rule, material prosperity makes the householder arrogant,
nobility of extraction makes him proud, strength makes him insolent. His
anger is roused by grief, and adversity puts him to dejection. At what
time may that state offer an opportunity for tranquillity?
'And for this reason it is that I would persuade Your Honour not to
oppose my determination.
20. 'The house is the home of many and heavy sufferings. It is haunted
by the serpents named arrogance, pride, and infatuation. In it the
lovely happiness of tranquillity comes to ruin. Who then should choose
that abode that tends to dissolution?
21. 'In the forest, on the other hand, that home of the
nothing-desirers, the mind is calm, enjoying the happiness of
detachment. Can there exist so great a contentment in _S_akra's heaven?
22. 'Thus considering I delight in the midst of the forests, although
covered with rags and getting my livelihood through the kindheartedness
of strangers. I do not long for such happiness as is tainted with
unrighteousness. I abhor it like food besmeared with poison; I have got
the insight of my Self.'
These persuasive words did not fail to make an impression on his
paternal friend, who showed his high respect to the Great Being by
entertaining him with a meal in the most distinguished manner.
* * * * *
In this manner, then, those who long only for the Self abandon the state
of a householder, understanding that it is beset with occupations
inimical to religious conduct and to tranquillity. [When treating of the
virtue of detachment, this is to be propounded: 'Those who have once got
the taste for detachment will not go back to worldly pleasures.']
The Pâli version of this story is not found in the Pâli _G_âtaka
nor in the _K_ariyâpi_t_aka. The whole tale is nothing but a plea
for the virtue of world-renunciation, the naishkrama, roughly
dressed in the shape of a story, and may serve as a kind of
introduction to the subsequent tales, where the state of an ascetic
is glorified.
XIX. THE STORY OF THE LOTUS-STALKS.
(Cp. the Pâli _G_âtaka. No, 488, Fausb. IV, 305-314; _K_ariyâpi_t_aka
III, 4.)
Those who have learnt to appreciate the happiness of detachment are
hostile to worldly pleasures; they will oppose them, like one opposes a
deception, an injury. This will be taught as follows.
One time the Bodhisattva was born in an illustrious family of Brâhmans,
far-famed for their virtues and their freedom from reprehensible vices.
In this existence he had six younger brothers endowed with virtues
similar to his, and who out of affection and esteem for him always
imitated him; he had also a sister, who was the seventh. Having studied
the Vedas with their auxiliary sciences, likewise the Upavedas[140], he
obtained great renown on account of his learning, and high respect from
the side of the people. Attending on his father and mother with the
utmost piety, yea, worshipping them like deities, and instructing his
brothers in different branches of science like a spiritual teacher or a
father, he dwelt in the world, being skilled in the art of dealing with
worldly affairs, and distinguished by his good manners. In course of
time his parents died, which loss deeply moved his soul. Having
performed the funeral ceremonies for them, after some days spent in
mourning, he assembled his brothers and thus spoke to them:
[140] The Upavedas are the four sciences of medicine (âyurveda),
military sciences (dhanurveda), music (gândharvaveda), and
mechanics (_s_ilpa_s_âstra), which theory attaches to the _Ri_g-,
Ya_g_ur-, Sâma-, and Atharva-veda respectively.
1, 2. 'This is the necessary order of things in the world and a source
of grief and excessive pain, that Death separates us at last from those
with whom we have lived together for a time, however long. For this
reason I desire to walk homeless on that laudable road to salvation,
before Death, our foe, seizes me while attached to the householder's
life.
'Having thus resolved, I have to advise you this, one and all. Our
Brâhmanical family is in the lawful possession of some wealth obtained
in an honest way. With it you are able to sustain yourselves. Well,
then, you must dwell here as householders in a becoming manner. Let all
of you be intent on loving and respecting each other, take care not to
slacken your regard of the moral precepts and the practice of a
righteous behaviour, keep up the assiduous study of the Veda, be
prepared to meet the wishes of your friends, your guests, and your
kinsmen. In short, above all things observe Righteousness.
3. 'Always continuing in good behaviour, observing your daily
Veda-study, and delighting in almsgiving, you must keep the
householder's state (so) as it ought to be kept.
4. 'In this way not only will your reputation increase, not only will
you extend your virtue and your wealth, the substance of welfare, but
you may expect your entrance in the other life to be happy. Do not
commit, therefore, any inadvertence while living the householder's
life.'
But his brothers, hearing him speak of the homeless life, felt their
hearts grieved with the apprehension of separation. Their faces grew wet
with tears of sorrow, and respectfully bowing they spoke to him: 'The
wound caused by the sorrow-arrow of our father's decease is not yet
healed. Pray do not rub it open afresh with the salt of this new assault
of grief.
5. 'Even now the wound is still open which was inflicted on our minds by
the death of our father. Oh! you must retract your resolution, wise
brother, you must not strew salt on our wound.
6. 'Or, if indeed you are convinced that attachment to the house is
unfit, or that the happiness of the forest-life is the road to
salvation, why is it that you desire to depart for the forest alone,
leaving us in this house destitute of our protector?
'For this reason, the state of life which is yours, that will be ours,
too. We too will renounce the world.'
The Bodhisattva answered:
7. 'People who have not familiarised themselves with Detachment cannot
but follow after worldly desires. As a rule they look upon it as the
same thing to give up the world or to fall over a precipice.
'Thus considering, I restrained myself and did not exhort you to adopt
the homeless life, though knowing the difference between both states.
But if my choice please you too, why, let us abandon our home!' And so
all seven brothers, with their sister as the eighth, gave up their
wealthy estate and precious goods, took leave of their weeping friends,
kinsmen and relations, and resorted to the state of homeless ascetics.
And with them, out of affection also one comrade, one male, and one
female servant set out for the forest.
In a certain place in the forest there was a large lake of pure, blue
water. It exhibited a resplendent fiery beauty, when its lotus-beds were
expanded, and offered a gay aspect, when its groups of waterlilies
disclosed their calyxes[141]; swarms of bees were always humming there.
On the shore of that lake they built as many huts of leaves as they
numbered, one for each, placing them at some distance from one another,
hidden in the shadow of the trees in the midst of a lovely solitude.
There they lived, devoted to their self-imposed vows and observances,
and having their minds bound to meditation. On each fifth day they were
in the habit of going to the Bodhisattva in order to listen to his
preaching of the Law. Then he delivered some or other edifying discourse
to show them the way of tranquillity and placidity of mind. In those
discourses he exhorted to meditation, asserted the sinfulness of worldly
pleasures, expatiated on the sense of satisfaction which is the result
of detachment, blamed hypocrisy, loquacity, idleness and other vices,
and made a deep impression on his audience.
[141] The former happened at daytime, the latter in the nights
bright with moonshine.
Now, their maid-servant, prompted by respect and affection, did not
cease to attend upon them still in the forest. She was wont to draw
eatable lotus-stalks out of the lake and to put equal shares of them
upon large lotus-leaves in a clean place on the lake-shore; when she had
thus prepared the meal, she would announce the time by taking two pieces
of wood and clashing them against each other, after which she withdrew.
Then those holy men, after performing the proper and usual prayers and
libations, would come to the lake-side one after another according to
their age, and each having taken successively his share of the stalks,
return to his hut. There they would enjoy the meal in the prescribed
manner and pass the rest of the time absorbed in meditation. By this
practice they avoided seeing each other, except at preaching-time.
Such irreproachable morals, way of living, and behaviour, such love of
detachment, and such proneness to meditation made them renowned
everywhere. _S_akra, the Lord of the Devas, having heard of their
reputation, came to their abode for the purpose of trying them. Now,
when he perceived their disposition to meditation, their purity from bad
actions, their freedom from lusts and the constancy of their serene
calmness, his high opinion of their virtues grew stronger, and he
became the more anxious to try them.
8. He who lives in the depth of the forest without any desire, only
intent on calmness of mind, such a man causes reverence for his virtues
to arise in the hearts of the pious.
_S_akra, then, the Lord of the Devas, watched the time when the
maid-servant, after gathering her provision of eatable lotus-stalks, as
white and tender as the teeth of a young elephant, washed them and
arranged them in equal portions on lotus-leaves with the green hue of
emeralds, taking care to adorn each share by adding to it some petals
and filaments of the lotuses. After announcing the mealtime to the holy
ascetics, as usual, by the noise of the clashing pieces of wood, she
withdrew. At this moment _S_akra, with the object of trying the
Bodhisattva, made the very first share disappear (from the lotus-leaf).
9. When mishap arises and happiness disappears, then there is
opportunity for measuring the constancy of the virtuous, as it cannot
fail to start into view.
When the Bodhisattva, coming to the place of the first share of stalks,
perceived that the eatable stalks were missing on his lotus-leaf, while
the adornment of petals and filaments was disarranged, he thought:
'Somebody has taken my share of food.' Then, without feeling agitation
or anger in his heart, he went back to his hut, where he entered upon
his practices of meditation, as he was wont to do. Nor did he inform the
other holy ascetics of the matter, to avoid grieving them. And those
again, thinking it to be a matter of course that he had taken his share
of the stalks, took their portions too, as usual, successively and in
due order, and ate them severally, each in his hut; after which they
became absorbed in meditation. In the same manner _S_akra concealed the
Bodhisattva's portion of the lotus-stalks on the second, the third, the
fourth and the fifth day. But the effect was the same. The Great Being
remained as calm in mind as ever, and was entirely free from trouble.
10. The virtuous consider the agitation of the mind, not the extinction
of life, to be death. It is for this reason that the wise never become
alarmed, not even when in danger of life.
In the afternoon of that (fifth) day those _Ri_shis went up to the
leaf-hut of the Bodhisattva, as they were in the habit of doing, in
order to listen to his preaching of the Law. On seeing him, they
perceived the leanness of his body. His cheeks looked hollow, his eyes
were sunken, the splendour of his face had faded, his sonorous voice had
lost its full sound. Yet, however emaciated, he was lovely to behold
like the crescent; for his virtues, wisdom, constancy, tranquillity had
not diminished. Accordingly, after coming into his presence and paying
him the usual homage, they asked him with anxious excitement the cause
of that emaciation. And the Bodhisattva told them the matter as he had
experienced it. The ascetics, who could not suppose any one among
themselves to have done an action so unbecoming as this, and who felt
quite alarmed at his pain, expressed their sorrow by exclamations, and
kept their eyes fixed on the ground for shame. But _S_akra having by his
power obstructed their free movement on the ways in which they could
obtain knowledge, they were unable to come to a conclusion as to the
cause of the disappearance. Then the brother of the Bodhisattva, who was
born next to him, showing both his alarmed mind and his guiltlessness,
made this extraordinary protestation[142]:
[142] The following set of remarkable protestations are also found
in the same order and in a substantially identical form in the Pâli
redaction. They are very old, and not wholly free from corruptions
and misunderstandings.
11. 'May he who took thy lotus-stalks, O Brâhman, obtain a house
betokening by its rich decoration the wealth of its owner, a wife to his
heart's desire, and may he be blessed with many children and
grand-children![143]'
[143] The Pâli redaction adds, that the audience on hearing this
protestation shut their ears, saying: 'Do not speak in this manner,
friend! thy curse is too tremendous.'
The second brother said:
12. 'May he who took thy lotus-stalks, O foremost Brâhman, be tainted
with a strong attachment to worldliness, may he wear wreaths and
garlands and sandal-powder and fine garments and ornaments, touched by
his (playing) children!'
The third brother said:
13. 'May he who took thy lotus-stalks even once, be a husbandman who,
having obtained wealth in consequence of his husbandry and delighting in
the prattle of his children, enjoys the home-life without thinking of
the time when he must retire from the world![144]'
[144] The Sanskrit text has vayo 'py apa_s_yan=Pâli vaya_m_
appassan. I follow the explication of the Pâli commentary.
The fourth brother spoke:
14. 'May he who prompted by cupidity took thy lotus-stalks, rule the
whole earth as a monarch, and be worshipped by kings attending on him in
the humble attitude of slaves, lowering their trembling heads!'
The fifth brother spoke:
15. 'May he be a king's family-priest in the possession of evil-charming
mantras and the like, may he also be treated with distinction by his
king, whosoever he be who took thy lotus-stalks!'
The sixth brother said:
16. 'May he who has been eager to possess thy lotus-stalks rather than
thy virtues, be a famous teacher well-versed in the Veda and largely
enjoy the worship of an ascetic from the people crowding together to see
him!'
The friend spoke:
17. 'May he who could not subdue his greediness for thy lotus-stalks
obtain from the part of the king an excellent village endowed with the
four plenties (abounding in population, corn, wood and water)[145], and
may he die without having subdued his passions!'
[145] The said four plenties are thus explained in the commentary
on the Pâli _G_âtaka, which proves here of essential help, since
_k_atu_hs_atam of the Sanskrit text is a wrong Sanskritisation of
Pâli _k_atussada_m_, and does not suit the context.
The male-servant said:
18. 'May he be the head of a village, cheerfully living with his
comrades, exhilarated by the dances and chants of women, and never meet
with harm from the king's side, he who destroyed his own interest for
the sake of those lotus-stalks!'
The sister said:
19. 'May that person[146] who ventured to take the lotus-stalks of such
a being as you, be a woman of resplendent beauty and figure, may a king
make her his wife and put her at the head of his zenana of a thousand
females!'
[146] Both the Sanskrit and the Pâli redaction have here the
masculine pron. demonstr. The fault must be a very ancient one. In
the imprecation of the female servant the grammatical gender is
respected by _S_ûra, not so in the _G_âtaka.
The maid-servant said:
20. 'May she much delight in eating sweetmeats alone stealthily,
disregarding the pious, and be greatly rejoiced when she gets a dainty
dish, she who set her heart on thy lotus-stalks, not on thy
righteousness!'
Now three inhabitants of the forest had also come to that place to hear
the preaching of the Law, namely a Yaksha, an elephant, and a monkey.
They had heard the conversation and were overcome with the utmost shame
and confusion. Among them, the Yaksha attested his innocence, uttering
in their presence this solemn protestation:
21. 'May he who failed against thee for the sake of the lotus-stalks,
have his residence in the Great Monastery, entrusted with the charge of
the reparations in (the town of) Ka_k_aṅgalâ, and make one window every
day![147]'
[147] This imprecation alludes to the story of a certain devaputra,
who in the time of the Buddha Kâ_s_yapa dwelt in the said monastery
and was obliged to do the labour imposed on him, whereby he
suffered much. A brief account of that tale is given in the
commentary on the Pâli _G_âtaka, where the speaker of this stanza
is called a Devatâ, not a Yaksha.
The elephant spoke:
22. 'May he come into captivity from the lovely forest into the company
of men, fettered with six hundred solid chains[148], and suffer pain
from the sharp goads of his driver, he who took thy lotus-stalks, O most
excellent of Munis!'
[148] I suppose the author of the Sanskrit original did not
understand the meaning of the text he Sanskritised. The
corresponding stanza of the Pâli redaction has so ba_gg_hatû
pâsasatehî _kh_ambhî, where _kh_ambhî is explained in the
commentary as signifying the six parts of the elephant's body
fastened by many chains (pâsasatehîti bahûhi pâsehi), viz. the four
feet, the neck, and the loins.
The monkey said:
23. 'May he who moved by greediness took thy lotus-stalks wear a
flower-garland and a tin collar rubbing his neck, and beaten with a
stick pass before the face of a serpent[149], and with a long wreath
hanging from his shoulder, live in the houses (of men)!'
[149] In other words, may he be the monkey of a serpent-charmer.
In reply, the Bodhisattva addressed all of them with words both
persuasive and kind, indicating how deep-rooted was his
dispassionateness.
24. 'May he who falsely said "they have disappeared," though he had
them, obtain to his heart's desire worldly pleasures and die a
householder. May the same be the fate of him who suspects you of a
similar action!'
Those extraordinary protestations of them, indicative of their
abhorrence of the enjoyment of worldly pleasures, roused the
astonishment and respect of _S_akra, the Lord of the Devas. He made
himself visible in his own brilliant shape, and drawing near to those
_Ri_shis, said as if with resentment: 'You ought not to speak so.
25. 'Those enjoyments--to obtain which everybody who longs for happiness
strives after to such a degree as to banish sleep from his eyes and to
undertake any form of penance and toil--you censure, calling them
"worldly pleasures!" Why do you judge so?'
The Bodhisattva spoke: 'Sensual enjoyments are accompanied by endless
sins, sir. Why, hear then, I will tell thee concisely, what the Munis
have in view that makes them blame sensual enjoyments.
26. 'On account of them, men incur captivity and death, grief, fatigue,
danger, in short manifold sufferings. For the sake of them, kings are
eager to oppress righteousness, and consequently fall into hell after
death.
27. 'When the ties of friendship are suddenly loosened, when men enter
the road of political wisdom, that unclean path of falseness, when they
lose their good reputation and hereafter come to meet with
sufferings--is it not sensual enjoyments that are the cause thereof?
28. 'Now, since worldly pleasures in this manner tend to the destruction
of all conditions of men, the highest, the middle and the lowest, both
in this world and in the next, the Munis, O _S_akra, who long only for
the Self, keep aloof from them, as they would from angry serpents.'
Then _S_akra, the Lord of the Devas, approved his words, saying, 'Well
spoken,' and as he was propitiated by the greatness of mind of those
_Ri_shis, he confessed that he himself had committed the theft.
29, 30. 'A high opinion of virtue may be tested by trial. Thus
considering, I hid the lotus-stalks in order to try you. And now, how
fortunate is the world in that it possesses such Munis as you, whose
glory is tested by fact. And thou, here, take these lotus-stalks, as a
proof of a constant holy behaviour.'
With these words he handed the stalks over to the Bodhisattva. But the
Bodhisattva reproved his unbecoming and audacious way of proceeding in
terms though modest, yet expressive of noble self-esteem.
31. 'We are no kinsfolk of thine, nor thy comrades, nor are we thy
actors or buffoons. What, then, is the reason for thy coming here, Lord
of the Devas, to play with _Ri_shis in this manner?'
At these words _S_akra, the Lord of the Devas, hastily divested himself
of his divine appearance, brilliant with his ear-rings, his
head-ornament, and his lightning, and respectfully bowing to the
Bodhisattva, spoke thus in order to appease him:
32. 'O thou who art free from all selfishness, deign to forgive me the
thoughtless deed I did with the aforesaid purpose; pardon it like a
father, like a teacher!
33. 'It is proper, indeed, to those whose eyes are not yet opened to
wisdom, to offend against others, be they even their equals. Likewise it
is proper to (the wise) who know the Self, to pardon such offences. Also
for this reason, pray do not feel anger in thy heart concerning that
deed!'
Having thus appeased him, _S_akra disappeared on the spot.
* * * * *
In this manner, then, those who have learnt to appreciate the happiness
of detachment are hostile to worldly pleasures; they will oppose them
like one opposes a deception, an injury[150].
[150] In the original some lines follow here, bracketed by the
editor. No doubt, we have here an interpolation, as is also
indicated by its very collocation after the ethical maxim which
must be the final part of our tale. This is its translation: