Jataka Vol. I: Book I.--Ekanipāta: No. 1. Apaṇṇaka-Jātaka
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Praised be the Blessed One, the Arahat, the perfect Buddha.
BOOK I.--EKANIPĀTA 1.
No. 1.
APAṆṆAKA-JĀTAKA.
[95.] This 2 discourse regarding Truth was delivered by the Blessed One, while
he was dwelling in the Great Monastery at Jetavana near Sāvatthi. But who, you
ask, was it that led up to this tale?
Well; it was the Treasurer's five hundred friends, disciples of the sophists 3.
For, one day Anātha-piṇḍika 4 the Treasurer, took his friends the five hundred
disciples of other schools, and went off with them to Jetavana, whither also he
had a great store brought of garlands, perfumes, and unguents, together with
oil, honey, molasses, cloths, and cloaks. After due salutation to the Blessed
One, he made his offering to him of the garlands and the like, and handed over
to the Order of the Brethren the medicinal oil and so forth together with the
cloths; and, this done, he took his seat on one side eschewing the six faults in
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sitting down. Likewise, those disciples of other schools saluted the Buddha, and
took their seats close by the side of Anātha-piṇḍika,--gazing upon the Master's
countenance, glorious as the full moon, upon his excellent presence endowed with
the signs and marks of Buddhahood and encompassed to a fathom's length with
light, and upon the rich glory that marks a Buddha, a glory which issued as it
were in paired garlands, pair upon pair.
Then, though in thunderous tones as of a young lion roaring in the Red Valley or
as of a storm-cloud in the rainy season, bringing down as it were the Ganges of
the Heavens 1. [96] and seeming to weave a chaplet of jewels,--yet in a voice of
eightfold perfection, the charm of which ravished the ear, he preached to them
the Truth in a discourse full of sweetness and bright with varied beauty.
They, after hearing the Master's discourse, rose up with hearts converted, and
with due salutation to the Lord of Knowledge, burst asunder the other doctrines
in which they had taken refuge, and betook themselves to the Buddha as their
refuge. Thenceforth without ceasing they used to go with Anātha-piṇḍika,
carrying in their hands perfumes and garlands and the like, to hear the Truth in
the Monastery; and they abounded in charity, kept the Commandments, and kept the
weekly fast-day.
Now the Blessed One went from Sāvatthi back to Rājagaha again. As soon as the
Buddha had gone, they burst asunder their new faith, and returning to the other
doctrines as their refuge, reverted to their original state.
After some seven or eight months' stay, the Blessed One came back to Jetavana.
Once again too did Anātha-piṇḍika come with those friends of his to the Master,
make his salutation and offering of perfumes and the like, and take his seat on
one side. And the friends also saluted the Blessed One and took their seats in
like manner. Then did Anātha-piṇḍika tell the Blessed One how, when the Buddha
had departed on his alms-pilgrimage, his friends had forsaken their refuge for
the old doctrines again, and had reverted to their original state.
Opening the lotus of his mouth, as though it were a casket of jewels, scented
with scents divine and filled with divers perfumes by virtue of his having ever
spoken aright throughout myriad æons, the Blessed One made his sweet voice come
forth, as he enquired:--"Is the report true that you, disciples, have forsaken
the Three Refuges 2 for the refuge of other doctrines?"
And when they, unable to conceal the fact, had confessed, saying, "It is true,
Blessed One," then said the Master, "Disciples, not between the bounds of hell 3
below and the highest heaven above, not in all the infinite worlds that stretch
right and left, is there the equal, much less the superior, of a Buddha in the
excellences which spring from obeying the Commandments and from other virtuous
conduct."
Then he declared to them the excellences of the Three Gems as they are revealed
in the sacred texts, the following amongst the number,--"Of all creatures,
Brethren, whether footless &c., of these the Buddha is the chief"; "Whatsoever
riches there be in this or in other worlds &c."; and "Verily the chief of the
faithful &c." Thence he went on to say:--"No disciples, male or female, who seek
refuge in the Three Gems that are endowed with such peerless excellences, are
ever reborn into hell and the like states; but, released from all rebirth into
states of suffering, they pass to the Realm of Devas and there receive great
glory. Therefore, in forsaking such a refuge for that offered by other
doctrines, you have gone astray."
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(And here the following sacred texts should be cited to make it clear that none
who, to find release and the supreme good, have sought refuge in the Three Gems,
shall be reborn into states of suffering:--
[97] Those who have refuge in the Buddha found,
Shall not pass hence to states of suffering;
Straightway, when they shall quit their human frame,
A Deva-form these faithful ones shall fill 1.
_______________
Those who have refuge in the Doctrine found
&c., &c.
_______________
Those who have refuge in the Order found
&c., &c.
_______________
They're manifold the refuges men seek,
--The mountain peak, the forest's solitude,
(and so on down to)
When he this refuge shall have sought and found,
Entire release is his from every pain.) 2
But the Master did not end his teaching to them at this point; for he went on to
say:--"Disciples, meditation on the thought of the Buddha, meditation on the
thought of the Truth, meditation on the thought of the Brotherhood, this it is
that gives Entry to and Fruition of the First, the Second, the Third, and the
Fourth Paths to Bliss 3." And when he had preached the Truth to them in these
and other ways, he said, "In forsaking such a refuge as this, you have gone
astray."
(And here the gift of the several Paths to those who meditate on the thought of
the Buddha and so forth, should be made clear by such scriptures as the
following:--"One thing there is, Brethren, which, if practised and developed,
conduces to utter loathing of the world's vanities, to the cessation of passion,
to the end of being, to peace, to insight, to enlightenment, to Nirvana. What is
this one thing?--The meditation on the thought of the Buddha.")
When he had thus exhorted the disciples, the Blessed One said,--"So too in times
past, disciples, the men who jumped to the fatuous conclusion that what was no
refuge was a real refuge, fell a prey to goblins in a demon-haunted wilderness
and were utterly destroyed; whilst the men who clave to the absolute and
indisputable truth, prospered in the selfsame wilderness." And when he had said
this, he became silent.
Then, rising up from his seat and saluting the Blessed One, the layman
Anātha-piṇḍika burst into praises, and with clasped hands raised in reverence to
his forehead, spoke thus:--"It is clear to us, Sir, that in these present days
these disciples were led by error into forsaking the supreme refuge. But the
bygone destruction of those opinionated ones in the demon-haunted wilderness,
and the prospering of the men who clave to the truth, are hidden from us and
known only to you. [98] May it please the Blessed One, as though causing the
full moon to rise in the sky, to make this thing clear to us."
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Then said the Blessed One:--"It was solely to brush away the world's
difficulties that by the display of the Ten Perfections 1 through myriad æons I
won omniscience. Give ear and hearken, as closely as if you were filling a tube
of gold with lion's marrow."
Having thus excited the Treasurer's attention, he made clear the thing that
re-birth had concealed from them, as though he were releasing the full moon from
the upper air, the birthplace of the snows.
_____________________________
Once on a time in the city of Benares in the Kāsi country there was a king named
Brahmadatta. In those days the Bodhisatta was born into a merchant's family, and
growing up in due course, used to journey about trading with, five hundred
carts, travelling now from east to west and now from west to east. There was
also at Benares another young merchant, a stupid blockhead, lacking resource.
Now at the time of our story the Bodhisatta had loaded five hundred carts with
costly wares of Benares and had got them all ready to start. And so had the
foolish young merchant too. Thought the Bodhisatta, "If this foolish young
merchant keeps me company all along, and the thousand carts travel along
together, it will be too much for the road; it will be a hard matter to get
wood, water, and so forth for the men, or grass for the oxen. Either he or I
must go on first." So he sent for the other and laid his view before him,
saying, "The two of us can't travel together; would you rather go first or
last?" Thought the other, "There will be many advantages if I go on first. I
shall have a road which is not yet cut up; my oxen will have the pick of the
grass; my men will have the pick of the herbs for curry; the water will be
undisturbed; and, lastly, I shall fix my own price for the barter of my goods."
Accordingly he replied, "I will go first, my dear sir." [99]
The Bodhisatta, on the other hand, saw many advantages in going last, for he
argued thus to himself:--"Those who go first will level the road where it is
rough,. whilst I shall travel along the road they have already travelled; their
oxen will have grazed off the coarse old grass, whilst mine will pasture on the
sweet young growth which will spring up in its place; my men will find a fresh
growth of sweet herbs for curry where the old ones have been picked; where there
is no water, the first caravan will have to dig to supply themselves, and we
shall drink at the wells they dug. Haggling over prices is killing work; whereas
I, following later, shall barter my wares at the prices they have already
fixed." Accordingly, seeing all these advantages, he said to the other, "Then go
you first, my dear sir."
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"Very well, I will," said the foolish merchant. And he yoked his carts and set
out. Journeying along, he left human habitations behind him and came to the
outskirts of the wilderness. (Now wildernesses are of the five following
kinds:--robber wildernesses, wild-beast wildernesses, drought wildernesses,
demon wildernesses, and famine wildernesses. The first is when the way is beset
by robbers; the second is when the way is beset by lions and other wild beasts;
the third is when there is no bathing or water to be got; the fourth is when the
road is beset by demons; and the fifth is when no roots or other food are to be
found. And in this fivefold category the wilderness in question was both a
drought, and a demon, wilderness.) Accordingly this young merchant took great
big water-jars on his carts, and filling them with water, set out to cross the
sixty leagues of desert which lay before him. Now when he had reached the middle
of the wilderness, the goblin who haunted it said to himself, "I will make these
men throw away their stock of water, and devour them all when they are faint."
So he [100] framed by his magic power a delightful carriage drawn by pure white
young bulls. With a retinue of some ten or twelve goblins bearing bows and
quivers, swords and shields, he rode along to meet them like a mighty lord in
this carriage, with blue lotuses and white water-lilies wreathed round his head,
with wet hair and wet clothes, and with muddy carriage-wheels. His attendants,
too, in front and rear of him went along with their hair and clothes wet, with
garlands of blue lotuses and white water-lilies on their beads, and with bunches
of white lotuses in their hands, chewing the esculent stalks, and dripping with
water and mire. Now the leaders of caravans have the following custom: whenever
the wind blows in their teeth, they ride on in front in their carriage with
their attendants round them, in order to escape the dust; but when the wind
blows from behind them, then they ride in like fashion in the rear of the
column. And, as on this occasion the wind was blowing against them, the young
merchant was riding in front. When the goblin became aware of the merchant's
approach, he drew his carriage aside from the track and greeted him kindly,
asking him whither he was going. The leader of the caravan too caused his
carriage to be drawn aside from the track so as to let the carts pass by, whilst
he stayed by the way and thus addressed the goblin: "We are just on our way from
Benares, sir. But I observe that you have lotuses and water-lilies on your heads
and in your hands, and that your people are chewing the esculent stalks, and
that you are all muddy and dripping with wet. Pray did it rain while you were on
the road, and did you come on pools covered with lotuses and water-lilies?"
Hereon the goblin exclaimed, "What did you say? Why, yonder appears the
dark-green streak of the forest, and thence onward there is nothing but water
all through the forest. It is always raining there; the
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pools are full; and on every side are lakes covered with lotuses and
water-lilies." Then as the line of carts [101] passed by, he asked where they
were bound for. "To such and such a place," was the reply. "And what wares have
you got in this cart and in this?" "So and so." "And what might you have in this
last cart which seems to move as if it were heavily laden?" "Oh, there's water
in that." "You did well to carry water with you from the other side. But there
is no need for it now, as water is abundant on ahead. So break the jars and
throw the water away, that you may travel easier." And he added, "Now continue
on your way, as we have stopped too long already." Then he went a little way
further on, till he was out of sight, when he made his way back to the
goblin-city where he dwelt.
Such was the folly of that foolish merchant that he did the goblin's bidding,
and had his jars broken and the water all thrown away,--without saving so much
even as would go in the palm of a man's hand. Then he ordered the carts to drive
on. Not a drop of water did they find on. ahead, and thirst exhausted the men.
All day long till the sun went down they kept on the march; but at sunset they
unyoked their carts and made a laager, tethering the oxen to the wheels. The
oxen had no water to drink, and the men none to cook their rice with; and the
tired-out band sank to the ground to slumber. But as soon as night fell, the
goblins came out from their city, and slew every single one of those men and
oxen; and when they had devoured their flesh, leaving only the bare bones, the
goblins departed. Thus was the foolish young merchant the sole cause of the
destruction of that whole band, whose skeletons were strewn in every conceivable
direction, whilst the five hundred carts stood there with their loads untouched.
Now the Bodhisatta allowed some six weeks to pass by after the starting of the
foolish young merchant, before he set out. Then he proceeded from the city with
his five hundred carts, and in due course came to the outskirts of the.
wilderness. Here he had his water-jars filled and laid in an ample stock of
water; and by beat of drum he had his men assembled in camp [102], and thus
addressed them:--"Let not so much as a palmful of water be used without my
sanction. There are poison trees in this wilderness; so let no man among you eat
any leaf, flower, or fruit which he has not eaten before, without first asking
me." With this exhortation to his men, he pushed on into the wilderness with his
500 carts. When he had reached the middle of the wilderness, the goblin made his
appearance on the Bodhisatta's path as in the former case. But, as soon as he
became aware of the goblin, the Bodhisatta saw through him; for he thought to
himself, "There's no water here, in this 'Waterless Desert.' This person with
his red eyes and aggressive bearing, casts no shadow. Very likely he has induced
the foolish young merchant who
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preceded me, to throw away all his water, and then, waiting till they were worn
out, has eaten up the merchant with all his men. But he doesn't know my
cleverness and ready wit." Then he shouted to the goblin, "Begone! We're men of
business, and do not throw away what water we have got, before we see where more
is to come from. But, when we do see more, we may be trusted to throw this water
away and lighten our carts."
The goblin rode on a bit further till he was out of sight, and then betook
himself back to his home in the demon city. But when the goblin had gone, the
Bodhisatta's men said to him, "Sir, we heard from those men that yonder is the
dark-green streak of the forest appearing, where they said it was always
raining. They had got lotuses on their heads and water-lilies in their hands and
were eating the stalks, whilst their clothes and hair were wringing wet, with
water streaming off them. Let us throw away our water and get on a bit quicker
with lightened carts." On hearing these words, the Bodhisatta ordered a halt and
had the men all mustered. "Tell me," said he; "did any-man among you ever hear
before today that there was a lake or a pool in this wilderness?" "No, sir," was
the answer, "why it's known as 'the Waterless Desert'."
"We have just been told by some people that it is raining just on ahead, in the
belt of forest; now how far does a rain-wind carry?" [103] "A league, sir." "And
has this rain-wind reached any one man here?" "No, sir." "How far off can you
see the crest of a storm-cloud?" "A league, sir." "And has any one man here seen
the top of even a single storm-cloud?" "No, sir." "How far off can you see a
flash of lightning?" "Four or five leagues, sir." "And has any one man here seen
a flash of lightning?" "No, sir." How far off can a man hear a peal of thunder?"
"Two or three leagues, sir." "And has any man here heard a peal of thunder?"
"No, sir." "These are not men but goblins. They will return in the hope of
devouring us when we are weak and faint after throwing away our water at their
bidding. As the young merchant who went on before us was not a man of resource,
most likely he has been fooled into throwing his water away and has been
devoured when exhaustion ensued. We may expect to find his five hundred carts
standing just as they were loaded for the start; we shall come on them today.
Press on with all possible speed, without throwing away a drop of water."
Urging his men forward with these words, he proceeded on his way till he came
upon the 500 carts standing just as they had been loaded and the skeletons of
the men and oxen lying strewn in every direction. He had his carts unyoked and
ranged in a circle so as to form a strong laager; he saw that his men and oxen
had their supper early, and that the oxen were made to lie down in the middle
with the men round them; and he himself with the leading men of his band stood
on guard, sword in hand, through the three watches of the night, waiting for the
day to dawn. On the
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morrow at daybreak when he had had his oxen fed and everything needful done, he
discarded his own weak carts for stronger ones, and his own common goods for the
most costly of the derelict goods. Then he went on to his destination, where he
bartered his stock for wares of twice or three times their value, and came back
to his own city without losing a single man out of all his company.
_____________________________
[104] This story ended, the Master said, "Thus it was, layman, that in times
past the fatuous came to utter destruction, whilst those who clave to the truth,
escaping from the demons' hands, reached their goal in safety and came back to
their homes again." And when he had thus linked the two stories together, he, as
the Buddha, spoke the following stanza for the purposes of this lesson on the
Truth:
Then some declared the sole, the peerless truth;
But otherwise the false logicians spake.
Let him that 's wise from this a lesson take,
And firmly grasp the sole, the peerless truth.
[105] Thus did the Blessed One teach this lesson respecting Truth. And he went
on to say: "What is called walking by truth, not only bestows the three happy
endowments, the six heavens of the realms of sense, and the endowments of the
higher Realm of Brahma, but finally is the giver of Arahatship [106]; whilst
what is called walking by untruth entails re-birth in the four states of
punishment or in the lowest castes of mankind." Further, the Master went on to
expound in sixteen ways the Four Truths 1, at the close of which all those five
hundred disciples were established in the Fruit of the First Path 2.
Having delivered his lesson and his teaching, and having told the two stories
and established the connexion linking them together, the Master concluded by
identifying the Birth as follows:--"Devadatta was the foolish young merchant. of
those days; his followers were the followers of that merchant; the followers o
the Buddha were the followers of the wise merchant, who was myself."
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[Note. See Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 1847, where
Gogerly has given a translation of this Jātaka, as also of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th,
6th, and 38th, with a brief introduction to the Jātaka-book. See also page 108
of Hardy's Manual of Budhism, and Gogerly in the Ceylon Friend for August 1838.
This Jātaka is quoted in the Milinda-pañho, p. 289 of Rhys Davids' translation
in Vol. 35 of Sacred Books of the East. There is an Apaṇṇaka-Sutta in the
Majjhima-Nikāya (No. 60), but it does not appear to be connected with this, the
Apaṇṇaka-Jātaka.]
Footnotes
1:1 The canonical text of the Jātaka book, which consists exclusively of gāthās
or stanzas, is divided into 'books,' or nipātas, according to the number of
gāthās. The present volume contains the 150 stories which illustrate, and form
the commentary of, a single gāthā in each ease, and compose the first book. The
later books contain an increasing number of gāthās and a decreasing number of
stories: e.g. the second book contains 100 two-gāthā stories, the third book 50
three-gāthā stories, and so on. The total number of the books or nipātas is 22,
21 of which form the text of the five published volumes of the Pāli text. The
nipātas are subdivided into vaggas, or sets of about 10 stories, named as a rule
after their first story. It has not been thought desirable to cumber the
translation with these subdivisions.
1:2 The Introductory Story usually begins by quoting, as a catchword, the first
words of the subsequent gāthā.
1:3 Literally 'sectaries'; but usually translated 'heretics,' a term which has
come to have too theological a connotation to be applicable to philosophers. The
six rivals with whom Gotama had chiefly to compete were Pūraṇa Kassapa, Makkhali
Gosāla, Ajita Kesa-kambalī, Pakudha Kaccāyana, Sañjaya Belaṭṭhi-putta, and
Nigaṇṭha Nāta-putta (see, e.g., the Sāmaññaphala Sutta in the Dīgha Nikāya, Vol.
1. p. 47).
1:4 This is a surname, meaning literally 'feeder of the poor.' His ordinary name
was Sudatta. See the account in the Vinaya (Cullavagga, vi. 4, 9) of how he
bought from Prince Jeta the latter's grove for as much money as would pave the
ground, and how he built thereon the Great Monastery for the Buddha.
2:1 i.e. the Milky Way.
2:2 i.e. the Buddha, the Truth he preached, and the Brotherhood he founded.
Infra this triad is spoken of its the 'Three Gems.'
2:3 Strictly speaking Buddhism knows no hells, only purgatories, which--though
places of torment--are temporary and educational.
3:1 The word deva, which I have retained in its Pāli form, means an 'angel,'
rather than a 'god,' in the godless creed of the Buddhist. See hereon Rhys
Davids in his 'Buddhist Suttas,' page 162.
3:2 Dhammapada, v. 188-192.
3:3 See note 2 on p. 8
4:1 i.e. almsgiving, goodness, renunciation, wisdom, energy, patience, truth,
resolution, loving-kindness, and equanimity. (See the Cariyā Piṭaka, pp. 45-7 of
the Pāli text edited by Dr Morris for the Pāli Text Society); see also Jātaka
No. 35 &c.
8:1 These four cardinal truths of Buddhism are as follows:--(i) individual
existence is pain; (ii) cravings cause the continuance of individual existence;
(iii) with the disappearance of cravings, individual existence also would
disappear; and (iv) cravings disappear by following the Noble Eightfold Path
pointed out by the Buddha. (See hereon Rhys Davids' Hibbert Lecture for 1881.)
8:2 The normal road to the Buddhist ideal after conversion is divided into four
successive stages, called the cattāro maggā or 'four paths.' The first of these
is that trodden by the sotāpanno (one 'who has entered the stream' which flows
down to the ocean of Nirvana), who is assured of ultimately reaching his goal
but has first to undergo seven more existences none of which can be in a state
of suffering; the second path is that trodden by the sakadāgāmī, the disciple
whose imperfections have been, so far eradicated that he has only to 'return' to
a human-form once more before attaining Nirvana; the third path is that of the
anagāmī, the disciple who will 'not return' to earth, but will attain the goal
from a Brahma realm; whilst the fourth and last is Arahatship, which is Nirvana.
Each of these four stages is further subdivided into two sub-stages, the lower
called 'the path,' and the higher 'the fruit.' (See Mahā-parinibbāna Sutta and
the commentary thereon of the Sumaṅgala Vilāsinī´.)
Next: No. 2. Vaṇṇupatha-Jātaka
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