Jataka Vol. II: Book II. Dukanipāta: No. 156. Alīnacitta-Jātaka
No. 156.
ALĪNACITTA-JĀTAKA.
"Prince Winheart once upon a time," etc.--This story the Master told at
Jetavana, about a fainthearted Brother. The circumstances will be set forth in
the Saṁvara Birth in the eleventh Book 1. When the Master asked this Brother if
he really were fainthearted, as was said, he replied, [18] "Yes, Blessed One."
To which the Master said, "What, Brother! in former days did you not gain
supremacy over the kingdom of Benares, twelve leagues either way, and give it to
a baby boy, like a lump of flesh and nothing more, and all this just by
perseverance! And now that you have embraced this great salvation, are you to
lose heart and faint?" And he told a story of olden days.
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Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was king of Benares, there was a village of
carpenters not far from the city, in which five hundred carpenters lived. They
would go up the river in a vessel, and enter the forest, where they would shape
beams and planks for housebuilding, and put together the framework of one-storey
or two-storey houses, numbering all the pieces from the mainpost onwards; these
then they brought down to the river bank, and put them all aboard; then rowing
down stream again, they would build houses to order as it was required of them;
after which, when they received their wage, they went back again for more
materials for the building, and in this way they made their livelihood.
Once it befel that in a place where they were at work in shaping timbers, a
certain Elephant trod upon a splinter of acacia wood, which pierced his foot,
and caused it to swell up and fester, and he was in great pain. In his agony, he
caught the sound of these carpenters cutting wood. "There are some carpenters
will cure me," thought he; and limping on three feet, he presented himself
before them, and lay down close by. The carpenters, noticing his swollen foot,
went up and looked; there was the splinter sticking in it. With a sharp tool
they made incision about the splinter, and tying a string to it, pulled it right
out. Then they lanced the gathering, and washed it with warm water, and doctored
it properly; and in a very short time the wound was healed.
Grateful for this cure, the Elephant thought: "My life has been saved by the
help of these carpenters; now I must make myself useful to them." So ever after
that, [19] he used to pull up trees for them, or when they were chopping he
would roll up the logs; or bring them their adzes and any tools they might want,
holding everything in his trunk like grim death. And the carpenters, when it was
time to feed him, used to bring him each a portion of food, so that he had five
hundred portions in all.
Now this Elephant had a young one, white all over, a magnificent high-bred
creature. The Elephant reflected that he was now old, and he had better bring
his young one to serve the carpenters, and himself be left free to go. So
without a word to the carpenters he went off into the wood, and brought his son
to them, saying, "This young Elephant is a son of mine. You saved my life, and I
give him to you as a fee for your leechcraft; from henceforward he shall work
for you." So he explained to the young Elephant that it was his duty to do the
work which he had been used to do himself, and then went away into the forest,
leaving him with the carpenters. So after that time the young Elephant did all
their work, faithfully and obediently; and they fed him, as they had fed the
other, with five hundred portions for a meal.
His work once done, the Elephant would go play about in the
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river, and then return again. The carpenters' children used to pull him by the
trunk, and play all sorts of pranks with him in water and out. Now noble
creatures, be they elephants, horses, or men, never dung or stale in the water
1. So this Elephant did nothing of the kind when he was in the water, but waited
until he came out upon the bank.
One day, rain had fallen up river; and by the flood a half-dry cake of his dung
was carried into the river. This floated down to the Benares landing place,
where it stuck fast in a bush. Just then the king's elephant keepers had brought
down five hundred elephants to give them a bath. But the creatures scented this
soil of a noble animal, and not one would enter the water; up went their tails,
and off they all ran. The keepers told this to the elephant trainers; who
replied, "There must be something in the water, then." So orders were given to
cleanse the water; [20] and there in the bushes this lump was seen. "That's what
the matter is!" cried the men. So they brought a jar, and filled it with water;
next powdering the stuff into it, they sprinkled the water over the elephants,
whose bodies then became sweet. At once they went down into the river and
bathed.
When the trainers made their report to the king, they advised him to secure the
Elephant for his own use and profit
The king accordingly embarked upon a raft, and rowed up stream until he arrived
at the place where the carpenters had settled. The young Elephant, hearing the
sound of drums as he was playing in the water, came out and presented himself
before the carpenters, who one and all came forth to do honour to the king's
coming, and said to him, "Sire, if woodwork is wanted, what need to come here?
Why not send and have it brought to you?"
"No, no, good friends," the king answered, "’tis not for wood that I come, but
for this elephant here."
"He is yours, Sire!"--But the Elephant refused to budge.
"What do you want me to do, gossip Elephant?" asked the king.
"Order the carpenters to be paid for what they have spent on me, Sire."
"Willingly, friend." And the king ordered an hundred thousand pieces of money to
be laid by his tail, and trunk, and by each of his four feet. But this was not
enough for the Elephant; go he would not. So to each of the carpenters was given
a pair of cloths, and to each of their wives robes to dress in, nor did he omit
to give enough whereby his playmates the children should be brought up; then
with a last look upon the carpenters, and the women, and the children, he
departed in company with the king.
p. 16
To his capital city the king brought him; and city and stable were decked out
with all magnificence. He led the Elephant round the city in solemn procession,
and thence into his stable, which was fitted up with splendour and pomp. There
he solemnly sprinkled the Elephant, and appointed him for his own riding; like a
comrade he treated him, and gave him the half of his kingdom, [21] taking as
much care of him as he did of himself. After the coming of this Elephant, the
king won supremacy over all India.
In course of time the Bodhisatta was conceived by the Queen Consort; and when
her time was near come to be delivered, the king died. Now if the Elephant
learnt news of the king's death, he was sure to break his heart; so he was
waited upon as before, and not a word said. But the next neighbour, the king of
Kosala, heard of the king's death. "Surely the land is at my mercy," thought he;
and marched with a mighty host to the city, and beleaguered it. Straight the
gates were closed, and a message was sent to the king of Kosala:--"Our Queen is
near the time of her delivery; and the astrologers have declared that in seven
days she shall bear a son. If she bears a son, we will not yield the kingdom,
but on the seventh day we will give you battle. For so long we pray you wait!"
And to this the king agreed.
In seven days the Queen bore a son. On his name-day they called him Prince
Winheart, because, said they, he was born to win the hearts of the people.
On the very same day that he was born, the townsfolk began to do battle with the
king of Kosala. But as they had no leader, little by little the army gave way,
great though it was. The courtiers told this news to the Queen, adding, "Since
our army loses ground in this way, we fear defeat. But the state Elephant, our
king's bosom friend, has never been told that the king is dead, and a son born
to him, and that the king of Kosala is here to give us battle. Shall we tell
him?"
"Yes, do so," said the Queen. So she dressed up her son, and laid him in a fine
linen cloth; after which she with all the court came down from the palace and
entered the Elephant's stable. There she laid the babe at the Elephant's feet,
[22] saying, "Master, your comrade is dead, but we feared to tell it you lest
you might break your heart. This is your comrade's son; the king of Kosala has
run a leaguer about the city, and is making war upon your son; the army is
losing ground; either kill your son yourself, or else win the kingdom back for
him!"
At once the Elephant stroked the child with his trunk, and lifted him upon his
own head; then making moan and lamentation he took hies down and laid him in his
mother's arms, and with the words--"I will master the king of Kosala!" he went
forth hastily.
Then the courtiers put his armour and caparison upon him, and
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unlocked the city gate, and escorted him thither. The Elephant emerging
trumpeted, and frightened all the host so that they ran away, and broke up the
camp; then seizing the king of Kosala by his topknot, he carried him to the
young prince, at whose feet he let him fall. Some rose to kill him, but them the
Elephant stayed; and he let the captive king go with this advice: "Be careful
for the future, and be not presumptuous by reason that our Prince is young."
After that, the power over all India fell into the Bodhisatta's own hand, and
not a foe was able to rise up against him. The Bodhisatta was consecrated at the
age of seven years, as King Winheart; just was his reign, and when he came to
life's end he went to swell the hosts of heaven.
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When the Master had ended this discourse, having become perfectly enlightened,
he repeated this couple of verses:--
"Prince Winheart took king Kosala ill pleased with all he had;
By capturing the greedy king, he made his people glad."
"So any brother, strong in will, who to the Refuge flies,
Who cherishes all good, and goes the way Nirvana lies,
By slow degrees will bring about destruction of all ties."
[23] And so the Master, bringing his teaching to a climax in the eternal
Nirvana, went on to declare the Truths, and then identified the Birth: after the
Truths, this backsliding Brother was established in sainthood:--"She who now is
Mahāmāyā was then the mother; this backslider was the Elephant who took the
kingdom and handed it over to the child; Sāriputta was the father Elephant, and
I myself was the young Prince."
Footnotes
13:1 No. 462.
15:1 Compare Hesiod, Op. 753: μηδέ ποτ᾽ ἐν προχοῇ ποταμῶν ἄλαδε προρεόντων, μηδ᾽
ἐπὶ κρηνάων οὐρεῖν. Hdt. i. 138 (the Persians) ἐς ποταμὸν δὲ οὔτε
ἐνουρέουσι.....
Next: No. 157. Guṇa-Jātaka
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