Jataka Vol. I: Book I.--Ekanipāta: No. 6. Devadhamma-Jātaka
No. 6.
DEVADHAMMA-JĀTAKA.
"Those only 'godlike' call."--This story was told by the Blessed One while at
Jetavana, about a wealthy Brother.
Tradition tells us that, on the death of his wife, a squire of Sāvatthi joined
the Brotherhood. When he was joining, he caused to be built for himself a
chamber to live in, a room for the fire, and a store-room; and not till he had
stocked his store-room with ghee, rice, and the like, did he finally join. Even
after he had become a brother, he used to send for his servants and make them
cook him what he liked to eat. He was richly provided with the requisites
2,--having an entire change of clothing for night and another for day; and he
dwelt aloof on the outskirts of the monastery.
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One day when he had taken out his cloths and bedding and had spread them out to
dry in his chamber, a number of Brethren from the country, who were on a
pilgrimage from monastery to monastery 1, came in their journeying to his cell
and found all these belongings.
"Whose are these?" they asked. "Mine, sirs," he replied. "What, sir?" they
cried; "this upper-cloth and that as well; this under-cloth as well as that; and
that bedding too, is it all yours?" "Yes, nobody's but mine." "Sir," said they,
"the Blessed One has only sanctioned three cloths; and yet, though the Buddha,
to whose doctrine you have devoted yourself, is so simple in his wants, you
forsooth have amassed all this stock of requisites. Come! we must take you
before the Lord of Wisdom." And, so saying, they went off with him to the
Master.
Becoming aware of their presence, the Master said, [127] "Wherefore is it,
Brethren, that you have brought the Brother against his will?" "Sir, this
Brother is well-off and has quite a stock of requisites." "Is it true, Brother,
as they say, that you are so well-off?" "Yes, Blessed One." "But why, Brother,
have you amassed these belongings? Do not I extol the virtues of wanting little,
contentment, and so forth, solitude, and determined resolve?"
Angered by the Master's words, he cried,--"Then I'll go about like this!" And,
flinging off his outer clothing, he stood in their midst clad only in his
waist-cloth.
Then, as a moral support to him, the Master said, "Was it not you, Brother, who
in bygone days were a seeker after the shamefacedness that fears to sin, and
even when you were a water-demon lived for twelve years seeking after that
shamefacedness? How then comes it that, after vowing to follow the weighty
doctrine of the Buddha, you have flung off your outer robes and stand here
devoid of shame?"
At the Master's word, his sense of shame was restored; he donned his robes
again, and, saluting the Master, seated himself at the side.
The Brethren having asked the Blessed One to explain to them the matter he had
mentioned, the Blessed One made clear what had been concealed from them by
re-birth.
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Once on a time Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares in Kāsi. The Bodhisatta,
having come to birth in those days as the king's son by the queen, was duly
named Prince Mahiṃsāsa. By the time he could run about, a second son was born to
the king, and the name they gave this child was Prince Moon; but by the time he
could run about, the Bodhisatta's mother died. Then the king took another queen,
who was his joy and delight; and their love was crowned with the birth of yet
another prince, whom they named Prince Sun. In his joy at the birth of the boy,
the king promised to grant her any boon she might ask on the child's behalf. But
the queen treasured up the promise to be fulfilled at her own good time
hereafter. Later, when her son had grown up, she said to the king, "Sire, when
my boy was born, you granted me a boon to ask for him. Let him be king."
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"Nay," said the king; "two sons have I, radiant as flaming fires; I cannot give
the kingdom to your son." But when he saw that, undaunted by this refusal, the
queen kept plaguing him time after time, to grant her request, [128] the king,
fearing lest the woman should plot evil against his sons, sent for them and
said, "My children, when Prince Sun was born, I granted a boon; and now his
mother wants the kingdom for him. I have no wish to give him the kingdom; but
women are naturally wicked, and she will be plotting evil against you. You had
better retire to the forest, to return at my death to rule in the city which
belongs by right to our house." So saying, with tears and lamentations, the king
kissed his two sons on the head and sent them forth.
As the princes were leaving the palace after their adieux to their father, who
should see them but Prince Sun himself, who was playing in the courtyard? And no
sooner did he learn what was the matter than he made up his mind to go with his
brothers. So he too went off in their company.
The three came to the region of the Himalayas; and here the Bodhisatta, who had
turned aside from the road and was sitting at the foot of a tree, said to Prince
Sun, "Run down to the pool yonder, Sun dear; drink and bathe there; and then
bring us too some water back in a lotus-leaf."
(Now that pool had been delivered over to a certain water-sprite by Vessavaṇa 1,
who said to him, "With the exception of such as know what is truly god-like, all
that go down into this pool are yours to devour. Over those that do not enter
the waters, you have no power granted to you." And thenceforth the water-sprite
used to ask all who went down into the pool what was truly godlike, devouring
everyone who did not know.)
Now it was into this pool that Prince Sun went down, quite unsuspiciously, with
the result that he was seized by the water-sprite, who said to him, "Do you know
what is truly godlike?" "O yes," said he; "the sun and moon." "You don't know,"
said the monster, and hauling the prince down into the depths of the water,
imprisoned him there in his own abode. Finding that his brother was a long time
gone, the Bodhisatta sent Prince Moon. He too was seized by the water-sprite and
asked whether he knew what was truly godlike. "Oh yes, I know," said he; "the
four. quarters of heaven are." "You don't know," said the water-sprite as he
hauled this second victim off to the same prison-house.
Finding that this second brother too tarried long, the Bodhisatta felt sure that
something had happened to them. So away he went after them and tracked their
footsteps down into the water. [129] Realising at once
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that the pool must be the domain of a water-sprite, he girded on his sword, and
took his bow in his hand, and waited. Now when the demon found that the
Bodhisatta had no intention of entering the water, he assumed the shape of a
forester, and in this guise addressed the Bodhisatta thus: "You're tired with
your journey, mate; why don't you go in and have a bathe and a drink, and deck
yourself with lotuses? You would travel on comfortably afterwards." Recognising
him at once for a demon, the Bodhisatta said, "It is you who have seized my
brothers." "Yes, it was," was the reply. "Why?" Because all who go down into
this pool belong to me." "What, all?" "Not those who know what is truly godlike;
all save these are mine." "And do you want to know the godlike?" "I do." "If
this be so, I will tell you what is truly godlike." "Do so, and I will listen."
"I should like to begin," said the Bodhisatta, "but I am travel-stained with my
journey." Then the water-sprite bathed the Bodhisatta, and gave him food to eat
and water to drink, decked him with flowers, sprinkled him with scents, and laid
out a couch for him in the midst of a gorgeous pavilion. Seating himself on this
couch, and making the water-sprite sit at his feet, the Bodhisatta said, "Listen
then and you shall hear what the truly godlike is." And he repeated this
stanza:--
Those only 'godlike' call who shrink from sin,
The white-souled tranquil votaries of Good.
[132] And when the demon heard this, he was pleased, and said to the Bodhisatta,
"Man of wisdom, I am pleased with you, and give you up one of your brothers.
Which shall I bring?" "The youngest." "Man of wisdom, though you know so well
what the truly godlike is, you don't act on your knowledge." "How so?" "Why, you
take the younger in preference to the elder, without regard to his seniority."
"Demon, I not only know but practise the godlike. It was on this boy's account
that we sought refuge in the forest; it was for him that his mother asked the
kingdom from our father, and our father, refusing to fulfil her demand,
consented to our flight to the refuge of the forest. With us came this boy, nor
ever thought of turning back again. Not a soul would believe me if I were to
give out that he had been devoured by a demon in the forest; and it is the fear
of odium that impels me to demand him at your hands."
"Excellent! excellent! O man of wisdom," cried the demon in approval; "you not
only know but practise the godlike." [133] And in token of his pleasure and
approval he brought forth the two brothers and gave them both to the Bodhisatta.
Then said the latter to the water-sprite, "Friend, it is in consequence of your
own evil deeds in times past that you have now been born a demon subsisting on
the flesh and blood of other living creatures; and in this present birth too you
are continuing to do evil. This evil conduct
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will for ever bar you from escaping re-birth in hell and the other evil states.
Wherefore, from this time forth renounce evil and live virtuously."
Having worked the demon's conversion, the Bodhisatta continued to dwell at that
spot under his protection, until one day he read in the stars that his father
was dead. Then taking the water-sprite with him, he returned to Benares and took
possession of the kingdom, making Prince Moon his viceroy and Prince Sun his
generalissimo. For the water-sprite he made a home in a pleasant spot and took
measures to ensure his being provided with the choicest garlands, flowers, and
food. He himself ruled in righteousness until he passed away to fare according
to his deeds.
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His lesson ended, the Master preached the Truths, at the close whereof that
Brother won the Fruit of the First Path. And the All-knowing Buddha, having told
the two stories, made the connexion linking the two together, and identified the
Birth, by saying, "The well-to-do Brother was the water-demon of those days;
Ānanda was Prince Sun, Sāriputta Prince Moon, and I myself the eldest brother,
Prince Mahiṃsāsa."
[Note. See Fausböll's Dhammapada, p. 302, and Ten Jātakas, p. 88.]
Footnotes
23:2 I.e. an alms-bowl, three cloths, a girdle, a razor, a needle and a
water-strainer.
24:1 I take this to be the meaning of senāsana-cārikā, in contradistinction to
the ordinary cārikā in which the destination was uncertain and in which alms
were received from the laity.
25:1 This is another name for Kuvera, the Hindū Plutus, half-brother of Rāvaṇa,
the demon-king of Ceylon in the Rāmāyaṇa. As appears from Jātaka No. 74,
Vessavaṇa had rule over Tree-sprites as well as Water-sprites, holding his
office from Sakka.
Next: No. 7. Kaṭṭhahāri-Jātaka
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