Khuddaka Nikaya - Jataka - Dukanipata - Sadhusila Jataka

Jataka Vol. II: Book II. Dukanipāta: No. 200. Sādhusīla-Jātaka



p. 96
No. 200.
SĀDHUSĪLA-JĀTAKA.
"One is good," etc.--This story the Master told while dwelling at Jetavana,
about a brahmin.
This man, we are told, had four daughters. Four suitors wooed them; one was fine
and handsome, one was old and well advanced in years, the third a man of family,
and the fourth was good. He thought to himself, "When a man is settling his
daughters and disposing of them, whom should he give them to? the handsome man
or the oldish man, or one of the other two, the highly born or the very virtuous
man?" Ponder as he would, he could not decide. So he thought he would tell the
matter to the Supreme Buddha, who would be sure to know; and then he would give
the girls to the most suitable wooer. So he had a quantity of perfumes and
garlands prepared, and visited the monastery. Saluting the Master, he sat on one
side, and told him everything from beginning to end; then he asked, "To which of
these four should I give my daughters?" To this the Master replied, "In olden
days, as now, wise men asked this question; but now that rebirth has confused
your memory, you cannot remember the case." And then at his request the Master
told an old-world tale.
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Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta ruled in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born as
a brahmin's son. He came of age, and received his education at Takkasilā; then
on returning he became a famous teacher.
Now there was a brahmin who had four daughters. These four were wooed by four
persons as told above. The brahmin could not decide to whom to give them. "I
will enquire of the teacher," he thought, "and then he shall have them to whom
they should be given." So he came into the teacher's presence, and repeated the
first couplet:
"One is good, and one is noble; one has beauty, one has years. Answer me this
question, brahmin; of the four, which best appears?"
[138] Hearing this, the teacher replied, "Even though there be beauty and the
like qualities, a man is to be despised if he fail in virtue. Therefore the
former is not the measure of a man; those that I like are the virtuous." And in
explanation of this matter, he repeated the second couplet:
"Good is beauty: to the aged show respect, for this is right:
Good is noble birth; but virtue--virtue, that is my delight."
When the brahmin heard this, he gave all his daughters to the virtuous wooer.
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p. 97
The Master, when this discourse was ended, declared the Truths and identified
the Birth:--at the conclusion of the Truths the brahmin attained the Fruit of
the First Path:--"This brahmin was the brahmin then, and the famous teacher was
I myself."



Next: No. 201. Bandhanāgāra-Jātaka