Jataka Vol. II: Book III. Tika-Nipāta: No. 264. Maha-Panada Jataka
No. 264.
MAHĀ-PANĀDA-JĀTAKA 1.
"’Twas king Panāda," etc.--This story the Master told when he was settled on the
bank of the Ganges, about the miraculous power of Elder Bhaddaji.
On one occasion, when the Master had passed the rains at Sāvatthi, he thought he
would show kindness to a young gentleman named Bhaddaji. So with all the
Brethren who were with him, he made his way to the city of Bhaddiya, and stayed
three months in Jātiyā Grove, waiting until the young man should mature and
perfect his knowledge. Now young Bhaddaji was a magnificent person, the only son
of a rich merchant in Bhaddiya, with a fortune of eight hundred millions. He had
three houses for the three seasons, in each of which he stayed four months; and
after spending this period in one of them, he used to migrate with all his kith
and kin to another in the greatest pomp. On these occasions all the town was
a-flutter to see the young man's magnificence; and between these houses used to
be erected seats in circles on circles and tiers above tiers.
When the Master had been there three months, he informed the townspeople that he
intended to leave. Begging him to wait until the morrow, the townsfolk on the
following day collected magnificent gifts for the Buddha and his attendant
Brethren; and set up a pavilion in the midst of the town, decorating it and
laying out seats; then they announced that the hour had come. The Master
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with his company went and took their seats there. Everybody gave generously to
them. After the meal was over, the Master in a voice sweet as honey returned
thanks to them.
At this moment, young Bhaddaji was passing from one of his residences to
another. [332] But that day not a soul came to see his splendour; only his own
people were about him. So he asked his people how it was. Usually all the city
was in aflutter to see him pass from house to house; circles on circles and
tiers above tiers the seats were built; but just then there was nobody but his
own followers! What could be the reason?
The reply was, "My lord, the Supreme Buddha has been spending three months near
the town, and this day he leaves. He has just finished his meal, and is holding
a discourse. All the town is there listening to his words."
"Oh, very well, we will go and hear him too," said the young man. So, in a blaze
of ornaments, with his crowd of followers about him, he went and stood on the
skirt of the crowd; as he heard the discourse, he threw off all his sins, and
attained to high fruition and sainthood.
The Master, addressing the merchant of Bhaddiya, said, "Sir, your son, in all
his splendour, while hearing my discourse has become a saint; this very day he
should either embrace the religious life, or enter Nirvana."
"Sir," replied he, "I do not wish my son to enter Nirvana. Admit him to the
religious order; this done, come with him to my house to-morrow."
The Blessed One accepted this invitation; he took the young gentleman to the
monastery, admitted him to the brotherhood, and afterward to the lesser and
greater orders. For a week the youth's parents showed generous hospitality to
him.
After remaining these seven days, the Master went on alms-pilgrimage, taking the
young man with him, and arrived at a village called Koṭi. The villagers of Koṭi
gave generously to the Buddha and his followers. At the end of this meal, the
Master began to express his thanks. While this was being done, the young
gentleman went outside the village, and by a landing-place of the Ganges he sat
down under a tree, and plunged in a trance, thinking that he would rise as soon
as the Master should come. When the Elders of greatest age approached, he did
not rise, but he rose as soon as the Master came. The unconverted folk were
angry because he behaved as though he were a Brother of old standing, not rising
up even when he saw the eldest Brethren approach.
The villagers constructed rafts. This done, [333] the Master asked where
Bhaddaji was. "There he is, Sir." "Come, Bhaddaji, come aboard my raft." The
Elder rose, and followed him to his raft. When they were in mid-river, the
Master asked him a question.
"Bhaddaji, where is the palace you lived in when Great Panāda was king?" "Here,
under the water," was the reply. The unconverted said one to the other, "Elder
Bhaddaji is showing that he is a saint!" Then the Master bade him disperse the
doubt of his fellow-students.
In a moment, the Elder, with a bow to his Master, moving by his mysterious power
1, took the whole pile of the palace on his finger, and rose in the air bearing
the palace with him (it covered a space of twenty-five leagues); then he made a
hole in it and showed himself to the present inhabitants of the palace below,
and tossed the building above the water first one league, then two, then three.
Then those who had been his kinsfolk in this former existence, who had now
become fish or tortoises, water-snakes or frogs, because they loved the palace
so much, and had come to life in the very same place, wriggled out of it when it
rose up, and tumbled over and over into the water again. When the Master saw
this, he said, "Bhaddaji, your relations are in trouble." At his Master's words
the Elder let the palace go, and it sank to the place where it had been before.
The Master passed to the further side of the Ganges. Then they prepared
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him a seat just on the river bank. On the seat prepared for the Buddha, he sat,
like the sun fresh risen pouring forth his rays. Then the Brethren asked him
when it was that Elder Bhaddaji had lived in that palace. The Master answered,
"In the days of king Great Panāda," and went on to tell them an old-world tale.
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Once upon a time, a certain Suruci was king of Mithilā, which is a town in the
kingdom of Videha. He had a son, named Suruci likewise, and he again had a son,
the Great Panāda. They obtained possession of that mansion. They obtained it by
a deed done in a former existence. A father and son made a hut of leaves with
canes and branches of the fig-tree, as a dwelling for a Paccekabuddha.
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The rest of the story will be told in the Suruci Birth, Book XIV. 1
[334] The Master, having finished telling this story, in his perfect wisdom
uttered these stanzas here following:--
"’Twas king Panāda who this palace had,
A thousand bowshots high, in breadth sixteen.
A thousand bowshots high, in banners clad;
An hundred storeys, all of emerald green.
"Six thousand men of music to and fro
In seven companies did dance withal:
As Bhaddaji has said, ’twas even so:
I, Sakka, was your slave, at beck and call."
[335] At that moment the unconverted people became resolved of their doubt.
When the Master had ended this discourse, he identified the Birth:--"Bhaddaji
was the Great Panāda, and I was Sakka."
Footnotes
229:1 Cp. Divyāvadāna, p. 57.
230:1 For an explanation of this phrase, aññaṁ vyākaroti, see Mahāvagga r. v. 19
with the translators' note (S. B. E., Vinaya Texts ii. p. 10).
231:1 No. 489.
Next: No. 265. Khurappa-Jātaka
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