No. 545: The Vidhura Pandita Jataka  (Reliefs IBa, 166-168)

AVADANA/JATAKA

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Sigala Jataka
Mati Posaka Jataka
Story  of King Sivi 
Vidhura Jataka
Story of King Surupa
Story of Bhuridatta
Kaccapavadana
Cula Nandiya Jataka
Kancanakkhanda Jataka
King Padmaka Jataka
Story of Manohara
Story of Mandhatar
Samuddavanija Jataka
Story of the Sibi King
Story of the Dharma Seeker
Story of Sambula
Story of Rudrayana
Story of Bhallatiya
Valahassa Jataka
Story of Maitrakanyaka

"Upon entering a king's court
one does not win honor while yet unknown,
nor does one ever win it who is a coward,
nor the foolish man, nor the thoughtless.
When the king finds out his moral qualities,
his wisdom and his purity of heart,
then he learns to trust him and hides not his secrets from him.

"When he is asked to carry out some business,
like a well-fixed balance, with a level beam,
and evenly poised, he must not hesitate;
if like the balance, he is ready to undertake every burden,
he may dwell in a king's court."

The following is a modern retelling of Jataka No. 545 from the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism, which was first translated into English more than one hundred years ago under the direction of the scholar E. B. Cowell.

While dwelling in the Jetavana, the Master told this tale concerning the Perfection of Wisdom. One day the Brethren raised a discussion in the Hall of Truth, saying: "Sirs, the Master has great and wide wisdom, he is ready and quick-witted, he is sharp and keen-witted and able to crush the arguments of his opponents. By means of the power of his wisdom he overthrows the subtle questions propounded by Khattiya sages and reduces them to silence, and having established them in the three Refuges and the moral precepts, causes them to enter on the path which leads to immortality."

The Master came and inquired concerning the topic that the Brethren
were debating as they sat together. Upon learning of it, he said: "It is not wonderful, Brethren, that the Tathagata--having attained the Perfection of Wisdom--should overthrow the arguments of his opponents and convert Khattiyas and others. For in the earlier ages, when he was still seeking for supreme knowledge, he was wise and able to crush the arguments of his opponents. During the time of Vidhurakumara--on the summit of the Black Mountain, which is sixty leagues in height--I converted the Yaksha general, Punnaka. By the force of my wisdom I reduced him to silence and made him give his own life as a gift."

He then told the following story of the past.

I.

Once upon a time in the Kuru kingdom in the city of Indapatta there was a king ruling by the name of Dhananjaya-korabba who had a minister called Vidhurapandita. When that minister gave his instructions concerning temporal and spiritual matters, owing to his sweet tongue and great eloquence in discoursing of the Law, he bewitched all the kings of Jambudipa--just as elephants are fascinated by a favorite lute--nor did he suffer them to depart to their own kingdoms, but dwell in that city in great glory, teaching the law to the people with all a Buddha's power.

Now there were four rich Brahmin householders in Benares, friends, who, having seen the misery of desires, went into the Himalaya and embraced the ascetic life. Having entered upon the transcendental faculties and the mystical meditations, they continued to dwell a long time there, feeding on the forest roots and fruits. Then as they went their rounds to procure salt and sour condiments they came to beg in the city Kalacampa in the kingdom of Anga.

The four householders who were friends, being pleased with their deportment, having paid them respect and taken their begging vessels, waited upon them with choice food, each in his own house, and taking
their promise arranged a home for them in their garden. So the four ascetics having taken their food in the houses of the four householders, went away to pass the day, one going to the heaven of the Thirty-three Devas, another to the world of the Nagas, another to the world of the Supannas, and the fourth to the park Migacira, which belonged to the Koravya king.

Now he who spent his day in the world of the Thirty-Three Devas, after beholding Sakra's glory, described it in full to his attendant. So also did he who spent his day in the Naga and Supanna world, and likewise be who spent his day in the park of the Koravya king Dhananjaya. Each described in full the glory of the respective king of the realm that each had visited.

On account of hearing each description, the four attendants desired to attain these heavenly abodes for themselves. After performed gifts and other works of merit, at the end of their lives, one was born as Sakra, another was born with a wife and child in the Naga world, another was born as the Supanna king in the palace of the Simbali lake, and the fourth was conceived by the chief quern of King Dhanaiijaya. Meanwhile the four ascetics were re-born in the Brahma world.

The Koravya prince grew up, and upon his father's death assumed his kingdom and ruled in righteousness. Although he listened to the instruction of Vidhurapandita, gave alms, kept the moral law and observed the fast, he also became famed for his skill in dice.

One day when he had undertaken the fast, he went into the garden, determining to practice pious meditation, and, having seated himself in a pleasant spot, initiated the performance of the duties of an ascetic. Sakra also, having undertaken to keep the fast, found that there were obstacles in the world of the gods. So he went into that very same garden in the world of men where the Koravya king was practicing, and, having seated himself in a pleasant spot, also performed the duties of an ascetic.

The Naga king Varuna also, having undertaken to keep the fast, found that there were obstacles in the Naga world. So he went into that same garden, and, having seated himself in a pleasant place, began to perform the duties of an ascetic. Likewise, the Supamia king, having undertaken to keep the fast, found that there were obstacles in the Supanna world, so he went into that very same garden, and, after having seated himself in a pleasant spot, took up the duties of an ascetic.

Then these four, having risen from their places at evening time, as they stood on the bank of the royal lake, came together and looked at one another. Being filled with their old kindly affection, they woke up their former friendship, pleasantly greeted one another, and sat down together in a group. Sakra sat down on a royal seat, and the others seated themselves as befitted the dignity of each.

Then Sakra said to them: "We are all four kings, now what is the preeminent virtue of each?"

Then Varuna the Naga king replied: "My virtue is superior to that of you three." When the others inquired why, he said: "This Supanna king is our enemy, whether before or after we are born, yet even when I see such a destructive enemy of our race I never feel any anger. Therefore my virtue is superior."

Sakra then uttered the first stanza of the Catuposatha Jataka: "'The good man who feels no anger towards one who merits anger and who never lets anger arise within him, he who even when angered does not allow it
to be seen, him they indeed call an ascetic.' These are my qualities; therefore my virtue is superior."

Upon hearing Sakra's explanation, the Supanna king said: "This Naga is my chief food; but even though I see such food at hand, I endure my hunger and do not commit evil for the sake of food. Therefore, my virtue is superior." He then uttered this stanza: "'He who bears hunger with a pinched belly, a self-restrained hermit who eats and drinks by rule, and commits no evil for the sake of food, him they indeed call an ascetic.'"

Then Sakra the king of the gods said: "I left behind various kinds of heavenly glory, all immediate sources of happiness, and came to the world of men in order to maintain my virtue, therefore my virtue is superior." He then uttered this stanza: "'Having abandoned all sport and pleasure, he utters no false word in the world, he is averse to all outward pomp and carnal desire, such a man they indeed call an ascetic.'" Thus did Sakra describe his own virtue.

Then King Dhananjaya said: "I today have abandoned my court and my sixteen thousand dancing girls to practice an ascetic's duties in a garden. Therefore, my virtue is superior." He then added this stanza: "'Those who with full knowledge abandon all that they call their own and all the workings of lust, he who is self-restrained, resolute, unselfish, and free from desire, him they indeed call an ascetic.'"

Thus they each declared their own virtue as superior, and then the other three asked Dhananjaya: "0 king, is there any wise man in thy court who could solve this doubt?"

"Yes, 0 kings, I have Vidhura-pandita, who fills a post of unequalled responsibility and declares civil and ecclesiastical law. He will solve our doubt. Let us go to him."

They at once consented. So they all went out of the garden and proceeded to the hall for religious assemblies, and, having ordered it to be adorned, they seated the Bodhisattva on a high seat, and, having offered him a friendly greeting, sat down on one side and said:

"O wise sir! A doubt has risen in our minds. Do you solve it for us. We ask you, O the minister of lofty wisdom, concerning a dispute that has arisen due to our utterances. Consider and solve our perplexities today, so that we may escape from our doubt."

Having heard their words, the wise man replied: "O kings, how shall I know what you said well or ill concerning virtue, as you uttered the stanzas in your dispute?" Then he added this stanza:

"Those wise men who know the real state of things
and who speak wisely at the proper time,
how shall they, however wise, draw out the meaning of verses
which have not been uttered to them?
How does the Naga king speak, how Garula, the son of Vinata?
Or what says the king of the Gandhabbas?
Or how speaks the most noble king of the Kurus!"

Then they uttered this stanza to him:

"The Naga king preaches forbearance,
Garula the son of Vinata gentleness,
the king of the Gandhabbas
abstinence from carnal lust,
and the most noble king of the Kurus
freedom from all hindrances to religious perfection."

Then the Great Being, having heard the four king re-state their previous words, uttered this stanza:

"All these sayings are well spoken,
there is nothing here uttered amiss;
and he in whom these are properly fitted
like the spokes in the nave of a wheel,
he, who is endowed with these four virtues,
is called an ascetic indeed."

Thus the Great Being declared the virtue of each of them to be one
and the same. When the four kings had heard him out, they were well pleased, and uttered this stanza in his praise:

"You are the best, you are incomparable,
you are wise, a guardian and knower of the law:
having grasped the problem by your wisdom,
you do cut away the doubts in your skill
as the ivory-workman the ivory with his saw."

Thus all four kings expressed their pleasure at hearing his explanation of their question, which freed their minds from doubt. Then Sakra rewarded him with a robe of heavenly silk, Garula gave him a golden garland, Varuna the Naga king bestowed a jewel upon him, and King Dhanaanjaya gave the gift of a thousand cows.

Then Dhananjaya addressed his minister with this stanza:

"I give thee a thousand cows and a bull and an elephant,
and these ten chariots drawn with thoroughbred horses,
and sixteen excellent villages,
being well pleased with thy solution of the question."

Then Sakra and the rest, having paid all honor to the Great Being, departed to their own abodes.

II.

Now the queen of the Naga king Varuna was the lady Vimala. When she saw that no jeweled ornament was on his neck, she asked King Varuna to explain what had happened to it.

"I was pleased at hearing the moral discourse of Vidhura pandita the son of the Brahman Canda, and I presented the jewel to him," he replied. "And not only I, but Sakka honored him with a robe of heavenly silk, the Supanna king gave him a golden garland, and King Dhananjaya bestowed upon him a thousand oxen and many other things besides."

"He is, I suppose, eloquent in the law," said the queen.

"Lady, what are you talking about? It is as if a Buddha had appeared in Jambudvipa! A hundred kings in all Jambudvipa, being caught in his sweet words, do not return to their own kingdoms, but remain like wild elephants fascinated by the sound of their favorite lute, due to the character of his eloquence!"

When Queen Vidhura heard her husband tell of the sage's preeminence she longed to hear Vidhura-pandita discourse on the Law. She thought to herself: "If I tell the king that I long to hear Vidhura-pandita discourse on the Law, and ask him to bring him here, he will not bring him to me. But what if I were to pretend to be ill and complained of a sick woman's longing?"

So she gave a sign to her attendants and took to her bed. When the king did not see her the next time he came to pay her a visit, he asked the attendants where she was. When they replied that she was sick, he went to see her. Sitting on the aide of her bed , he gently rubbed her body as he said: "Pale and thin and weak, your color and form was not like this before. O Vimala, answer my question, what is this pain of the body which has come upon you? "

So she told him this: "There is an affection in women, it is called a longing, O king. O monarch of the Nagas, I desire Vidhura-pandita's heart be brought here without guile."

"You long for the moon or the sun or the wind," the king replied. "The very sight of Vidhura is hard to get. Who will be able to bring him here?"

"I shall surely die if I do not obtain it," she exclaimed. Then she turned round in her bed and showed her back to the king and covered her face with the end of her robe.

The Naga king went back to his own chamber, sat on his bed and pondered how bent Vimala was on obtaining Vidhura's heart. "She will die if she does not obtain the flesh of his heart," he said. "How can I get it for her?"

Just then, the king's daughter Irandati, a Naga princess, came in all her beauty and ornaments to pay her respects to her father. Having saluted him, she stood on one side. Seeing from his countenance that the king was troubled, she said: "You are greatly distressed. For reason, father, are you so full of care. Why does your face appear like a lotus plucked by the hand? Why are you so woe-begone, O king? Do not grieve, O conqueror of enemies."

Upon hearing his daughter's words, the Naga king answered: "Your mother, O Irandati, desires Vidhura's heart. The very sight of Vidhura is hard to get. Who will be able to bring him here?"

"Daughter, there is no one in my court who can bring Vidhura here," the king continued. Do thou give life to thy mother, and seek out some husband who can bring Vidhura."

So be dismissed her with a half-stanza, suggesting improper thoughts
to his daughter: "Seek thou for a husband, who shall bring Vidhura here."

When Irandati heard her father's words, she went forth in the night and gave free course to her passionate desire. As she went she gathered all the flowers in the Himalaya that had color, scent, or taste and adorning the entire mountain until it appeared as a precious jewel. After spreading a couch of flowers upon that glistening mountain, she executed a pleasant dance and then sang this sweet song:

"What gandhabba or demon, what Naga, kimpurasa, man, or what sage,
able to grant all desires, will be my husband the livelong night!"

The nephew of the great king Vessavana, the Yaksha general called Punnaka, heard her song as he was riding on a magic Sindh horse that was three leagues in length. He had been hastening over the red arsenic surface of the Black Mountain on his way to a gathering of the Yakshas. But when he heard that familiar voice, which he had encountered before in a previous life, it pierced his skin and nerves and penetrated to his very bones. Enchanted by its power, he turned back to comfort her with these words:

"O lady, I can bring you Vidhura's heart. Due to my knowledge, holiness, and calmness, pray do not be anxious about it." Then he added this verse:

"Be comforted, I will be thy husband, I will be thy husband, 0 thou of faultless eyes: verily my knowledge is such, be comforted, you shall be my wife."

With her thoughts following the familiar experience of a wooing that had taken place in a former birth, Irandati answered: "Come, let us go to my father. He will explain this matter to thee."

Clad in bright raiment, adorned with garlands, and anointed with sandal paste, she seized the Yaksha by the hand and brought him into her father's presence. Punnaka then went up to her father and asked the Naga king for permission to marry his daughter:

"O Naga chief, hear my words and receive a fitting present for thy daughter Irandati. A hundred elephants, a hundred horses, a hundred mules and chariots, a hundred complete wagons filled with all sorts of gems, take all of these, 0 Naga king, and give me thy daughter Irandati to me as my possession."

"Wait while I consult my kinsmen, my friends, and acquaintances," said the Naga king. "A business done without consultation leads afterwards to regret."

After entering his palace, the Naga king spoke these words with his wife: "This Punnaka the Yaksha asks us for Irandati. Shall we give her to him in exchange for much wealth?"

The queen replied: "Our Irandati is not to be won by wealth or treasure. If he obtains by his own worth and brings here the sage's heart, then the princess shall belong to him and we shall ask for no other treasure."

Then the Naga Varuna went out from his palace, and returned to consult with Punnaka: "Our Irandati is not to be won by wealth or treasure. If you obtain by your own worth and bring here the sage's heart, then the princess shall be won by that wealth and we shall ask for no further treasure."

Punnaka replied: "He who some people call a sage, others will call a fool," replied Punnaka. "As there are various different opinions about such matters, pray identify who it is that you call a sage, O Naga."

The Naga king answered: "If you have heard of Vidhura the minister of the Dhananjaya, the king of Koravya, bring that sage here. Then I shall agree to let Irandati be your lawful wedded wife."

Pleased by these words, the Yaksha general sprang up from his seat and said at once to his attendant: "Bring here my thoroughbred, all harnessed, and adorned with ears of gold, hoofs of ruby, and mail-armor of molten gold."

Punnaka, having mounted his horse, a charger fit for bearing the gods, himself richly adorned and with his beard and hair trimmed, went charging through the sky.

Punnaka, greedy with the passion of desire, longing to win the Naga maiden Irandati, went before the glorious ruler of the Yaksha, named Vessavana Kuvera, and described his adventure in the Naga world because he dared not go to fulfill his promise without the permission of his king:

"There is the palace BhogavatI called the Golden Home,
the capital of the snake kingdom erected in its golden city.
Watch-towers which mimic lips and necks,
with rubies and cat's eye jewels,
palaces built of marble and rich with gold,
and covered with jewels inlaid with gold.
Mangoes, tilaka-treea and rose-apples,
sattapannaa, mucalindas and ketakaa,
piyakaa, uddalakas and aahas, and sinduvaritas
with their wealth of blossom above,
champacs, nagamalikas, baginimalas, and jujube trees,
all these different trees bending with their boughs,
lend their beauty to the Naga palace.

"There is a huge date palm made of precious stones
with golden blossoms that fade not,
and there dwells the Naga king Varuna,
endowed with magical powers and born of supernatural birth.
There dwells his queen Vimala
with a body like a golden creeper,
tall like a young kala plant,
fair to see with her breasts like nimba fruits.
Fair-skinned and painted with lac dye,
like a kamkara tree blossoming in a sheltered spot,
like a nymph dwelling in the Deva world,
like lightning flashing from a thick cloud.

Bewildered and full of a strange longing,
she desires Vidhura's heart.
I will give it to them, O king,
they will give me for it Irandati."

But Vessavana was not listening to him, because he was busy settling some dispute about a palace between two sons of the Devas. Punnaka, knowing that his words had gone unheard, remained next to the Deva-son who had proved victorious in the contest. Vessavana, having decided the dispute, took no thought of the defeated candidate, but said to the other: "Go thou and dwell in thy palace."

As soon as the king had said the words "go thou," Punnaka called some sons of the gods to be his witnesses, and said: "Ye see that I am sent by my uncle."

Punnaka, having bidden farewell to Vessavana Kubera--the glorious lord of beings--thus gave his command to his servant standing there: "Bring hither my thoroughbred harnessed with ears of gold, hoofs of ruby, and mail-armor of molten gold. Having mounted that god-bearing steed, Punnaka, well-adorned and with his beard and hair well-trimmed, proceeded to transverse the sky."

As he flew through the air, the Yaksha General pondered: "Vidhurapandita has a great retinue. He cannot be taken by force. However, King Dhananjaya Koravya is renowned for his skill in gambling. I will wager with him in a game and thereby seize Vidhura-pandita as my prize.

Now there are many jewels in his house and that king will not play for any poor sum. I shall have to bring a jewel of great value to serve as my stake. Just such a precious jewel belongs to the universal monarch who lives on the Vepulla Mountain near the city of Rajagaha. I will take his jewel and go entice King Dhananjaya to play a game of dice with me and so conquer him."

So he went to pleasant Rajagaha and the far-off city of Anga, which is rich in provisions and abounding with food and drink. Like Indra's capital Masakkasara, it resonates with the notes of peacocks and herons and is full of beautiful courts. And like the mountain Himavat, it is covered with flowers and in possession of every kind of bird.

So Punnaka climbed Mount Vepulla, with its heaps of rocks inhabited by 1dm-purisas, in quest of that glorious jewel. And at last he saw that glorious precious gem thus flashing in the middle of the mountain.
It gleamed so splendidly in its beauty, that it shined like lightning in the sky. Seizing at once that precious lapis lazuli, that jewel of priceless value, he re-mounted his peerless steed of noble beauty, and rushed through space in the sky to the city Indapatta. Alighting in the court of the Kurus, the fearless Yaksha summoned the hundred warriors who were gathered there.

"Who wishes to conquer from us the prize of kings?
Or whom shall we conquer in the contest of worth?
What peerless jewel shall we win?
Or who shall win our best of treasures?"

Thus in four lines he praised Koravya. Then the king thought to
himself: "I have never before seen a hero like this who has uttered such words. Who can this be?"

The king thus addressed his visitor: "In what kingdom is thy birthplace? These are not the words of a Koravya. Thou surpass us all in thy form and appearance! Tell me thy name and thy kindred."

The other reflected: "This king asks my name. But if I tell him that I am Punnaka, he will say that I am but a servant and will wonder why I speak to him so audaciously? Then he will despise me. So instead, I will tell him my name in my last birth past."

So he uttered this stanza:

"I am a youth named Kaccayana, O king;
they call me one of no mean name;
my kindred and friends are in Anga;
I have come here for the sake of play."

Then the king asked him: "What will you give if you are conquered
in play? What do you have to offer?" Then he uttered this stanza:

"What jewels has the youth,
which the gamester who conquers him may win?
A king has many jewels,
how canst thou, a poor man, challenge them?"

Then Punnaka answered:
"This is a fascinating jewel of mine,
it is a glorious jewel which brings wealth;
and the gamester who conquers me
shall win this peerless steed which plagues all enemies."

When the king heard this, he replied:

"What will one jewel do, 0 youth?
And what will one thoroughbred avail?
Many precious jewels belong to a king,
and many peerless steeds swift like the wind."

III.

When Punnaka heard the king's speech, he said:

"O king, why dost thou say this i there is one horse,
and there are also a thousand and a hundred thousand horses;
there is one jewel, and there are also a thousand jewels;
but all the horses put together are not equal to this one,
see what its swiftness is."

So saying, Punnaka mounted the horse and galloped it along the top of a wall. Moreover, the city wall seven leagues in length was as it were surrounded by horses striking neck against neck. Then in course of time neither horse nor Yaksha could be distinguished, and a single strip of red cloth tied on his belly seemed to be spread out all round the wall.

When Punnaka alighted from the horse, he told the king that he had now seen the steed's swiftness. He then bade the king to mark something new. So he made the horse gallop within the city garden, on the surface of the water, and then he leapt without even wetting his hoofs. Then he made that horse walk on the leaves of the lotus beds. And when he clapped his hands and then stretched out his arm, the horse came and stood in the palm of his hand.

"This is indeed a jewel of a horse, O king," said Punnaka.

"It is indeed, O youth," answered the king.

"Well, let this jewel of a horse be put on one side for the moment," continued Punnaka. "Now ye shall see the power of the precious jewel,
O greatest of men.

"Within this peerless jewel of mine
are the bodies of women and the bodies of men;
the bodies of beasts are in it
and the bodies of birds, the Naga kings and supannas.
Verily all of creation all in this jewel:
an elephant boat, a chariot host, horses, foot-soldiers, and banners. Behold this complete army created in the jewel.
There are elephant riders, the king's bodyguard,
warriors fighting from chariots, warriors fighting on foot,
and troops in battle array, all created in this jewel.

"There is a city furnished with solid foundations
and with many gateways and walls,
and with many pleasant spots where four roads meet.
Pillars and trenches, bars and bolts, watch-towers and gates,
all created in the jewel.

See various troops of birds in the roads and under the gateways,
geese, herons, peacocks, ruddy geese and ospreys;
cuckoos, spotted birds, peacocks, jivaji-vakas,
birds of every sort are gathered together
and created in the jewel.

"See a marvelous city with grand walls,
making the hair stand erect with wonder,
pleasant with banners upraised,
and with its sands all of gold.
See the hermitages divided regularly in blocks,
and the different houses and their yards,
with streets and blind lanes between.
Behold the drinking shops and taverns,
the slaughter-houses and cooks'
shops, and the harlots and wantons,
all created in the jewel.
The garland-weavers, the washer-men,
the astrologers, the cloth merchants,
the gold workers, the jewelers
all created in the jewel.

"See drums and taboura, concha, tambours and tambourines
and all kinds of cymbals, created in the jewel.
Cymbals, and lutes, dance and song well executed,
musical instruments and gongs,
behold created in the jewel.
Jumpers and wrestlers too are here,
and a sight of jugglers, and royal bards and barbers,
behold created in the jewel.

"Crowds are gathered here of men and women,
see the seats tiers beyond tiers created in the jewel.
See the wrestlers in the crowd striking their doubled arms,
see the strikers and the stricken, created in the jewel.
See on the slopes of the mountains troops of various deer,
lions, tigers, boars, bears, wolves, and hyenas;
rhinoceroses, gayals, buffaloes, red deer, rurus,
antelopes, wild boars, nimkas and hogs,
spotted kadali-deer, cats, rabbits,
all kinds of hosts of beasts, created here in the jewel.

"Rivers well-situated, paved with golden sand, clear
with flowing waters and filled with quantities of fishes;
crocodiles, sea-monsters, porpoises and tortoises,
pathinas, pavusas, valajas, and munjarohitas.
Behold created in the jewel all kinds of trees,
filled with various birds, and a forest
with its branches made of lapis lazuli.

"See too lakes well-distributed in the four quarters,
filled with quantities of birds
and abounding with fish with broad scales.
See the earth surrounded by the sea,
abounding with water everywhere,
and diversified with trees, all created in the jewel.

"See the Videhas in front, the Goyaniyas behind,
the Kurua and Jambudlpa all created in the jewel.
See the sun and the moon, shining on the four sides,
as they go round Mount Sumeru, created in the jewel.

"See Sumeru and Himavat and the miraculous sea
and the four guardians of the world, created in the jewel.
See parks and forests, crags and mountains,
pleasant to look at and full of strange monsters,
all created in the jewel.

Indra's gardens Pharusaka, Cittalata, Misaaka, and Nandana,
and his palace Vejayanta, behold all created in the jewel.
Indra's palace Sudbamma, the heaven of the Thirty-three,
the heavenly tree Paricchatta in full flower,
and Indra's elephant Eravana, behold created in the jewel.
See here the maidens of the gods risen like lightning in the air, wandering about in the Nandana, all created in the jewel.

"See the heavenly maidens bewitching the sons of heaven,
and the sons of heaven wandering about, all created in the jewel. Behold more than a thousand palaces covered with lapis lazuli,
all created with brilliant colors in the jewel.
And the beings of the Tavatimsa heaven
and the Yama heaven and the Tusita heaven,
and those of the Paranimmita heaven
all created in the jewel.
See here pure lakes with transparent water
covered with heavenly coral trees, lotuses and water lilies.

"In this jewel are ten white lines
and ten beautiful lines dark blue;
twenty-one brown, and fourteen yellow.
Twenty golden lines, twenty silver,
and thirty appear of a red color.
Sixteen are black,
twenty-five are of the color of madder,
these are mixed with bandhuka flowers
and variegated with blue lotuses.

"0 king, best of men, look at this bright flame-like jewel, perfect in all its parts. This is the destined prize for he who wins the contest."

IV.

Punnaka, having thus spoken, went on to say: " 0 great king, if I am overcome by thee in play I will give thee this precious jewel. But if I were to conquer, what will you give me?"

"Except my body and white umbrella let all that I have be the prize," answered the king.

"Then my lord, do not delay!" said Punnaka. "As I have come from a far distance, let the gaming room be made ready now."

So the king gave orders to his ministers and they quickly got the hall ready and prepared a carpet of the finest fiber-cloth for the king and seats for the other kings, Having appointed a suitable seat for Punnaka, they told the king that the time was come.

Then Punnaka addressed the king with this verse:

"O king, proceed to the appointed goal for thou hast not such a jewel. Let us conquer by fair dealing and through an absence of violence. And when one is conquered then let him pay down the stake."

"O youth, do not be afraid of me," replied the king."Whether in victory or in defeat all shall be accomplished through fair dealing and in the absence of violence."

Then Punnaka uttered this verse in order to call the other kings to bear witness that the victory gained was by fair dealing only:

"O lofty Pancala and Surasena, 0 Macchas, and Maddaa, with the Kekakaa,
let them all see that the contest is without treachery. No one is to interfere in our assembly."

Then attended by a hundred kings, the king took Punnaka and went into the gaming hall. Having seated themselves down on suitable seats, the king then placed the golden dice on the silver board.

Then Punnaka said quickly: "O king, there are twenty-four throws in the playing of dice. Choose whichever one pleases thee."

The king assented and then said: "O youth, do thou play the dice first."

"0 king, the first throw does not fall to me, do thou play," said Punnaka.

The king consented. Now his mother in his last existence but one before this was his guardian deity and by her power the king wins in play. She was standing close by, and the king remembering the goddess sang the song of play. Then after turning the dice over in his hand, he threw them up into the air. By Punnaka's power the dice fell so as to conquer the king. Due to his skill in play, the king immediately recognized that the dice were falling against him. So he seized them once again while they were still in the air, mixed them together and threw them into the air once again. But when he detected that were once again falling against him, he seized them as they were.

Then Punnaka thought to himself: "This king mixes the dice as they fall and so takes them up. What can be the reason for this?"

Then perceiving the power of the king's guardian goddess, he opened his eyes wide as if he were angry and looked at her. She became so frightened that she fled and took refuge at the top of the Cakkavala mountain.

When the king threw the dice a third time, he could see that they would fall against him but was unable to put out his hand and seize them in consequence of Punnaka's power. And so they fell against the king.

Then Punnaka threw the dice and the results being favorable to him, indicating that he had won, he clapped his hands with a loud noise, and said: "I have won, I have won, I have won."

The sound of his voice thrilled through all Jambudvipa. And so the contest was decided in the presence of the kings and amidst the witnesses, the Yaksha Punnaka having conquered the mightiest of men.

As the king was displeased at being conquered, Punnaka recited this verse to comfort him: "Victory and defeat belong to one or another of the contending parties, O king. Thou hast lost the great prize, O king. Being worsted, pay down the price forthwith."

Then the king bade Punnaka to claim his prize with the following verse: "Elephants, oxen, horses, jewels and earrings, whatever gems I have in the earth. Take the best of wealth, 0 Kaccana, take it and go where you wish."

Punnaka answered: "Elephants, oxen, horses, jewels and earrings, whatever gems thou hast in the earth, Vidhura the minister is the best of them all. He has been won by me, pay him down to me."

"He is my minister, my refuge and help, my shelter, my fortress and my defense," replied the king. "That minister of mine is not to be weighed against wealth. That minister of mine is like unto my life."

Punnaka answered: "To avoid a long contest between you and I, let us go to the sage and ask him what he wishes. Let him decide this matter between us, and allow what he determines to be the judgment of us both."

"Verily you speak the truth," replied the king. O youth, you utter no injustice. Let us go at once and ask him for in this way we may both be satisfied."

So saying the king, the hundred kings and Punnaka went in glad haste to the court of justice. Upon their arrival, the sage rose from his seat, saluted the king and sat on one side. Then addressing the Great Being, Punnaka said: "O wise man, thou art firm in justice, thou wilt not utter a falsehood, even for the sake of your own life. Such is the echo of thy fame, which has spread throughout the whole world. Well I shall know today whether or not you are really firm in justice."

He then uttered this verse:

"Have the gods truly set thee among the Kurus
as the councilor Vidhura and in justice?
Art thou the slave or the kinsman of the king?
What is thy value in the world, Vidhura?

Then the Great Being thought to himself: "Although this question is asked of me I cannot tell this man whether I am a kinsman of the king, whether I am superior to the king or whether I am nothing to the king. In this world there is no protection like the truth. One must therefore speak the truth."

He then uttered the following two verses to show that he was no kinsman to the king nor his superior, but only one of his four slaves.

"Some are slaves from their mothers,
others are slaves bought for money,
some come of their own will as slaves,
others are slaves driven by fear.
These are the four sorts of slaves among men.
I verily am a slave from my birth:
my weal and my woe come from the king,
I am the king's slave even if I go to another,
he may give me by right to thee, O young man."

Upon hearing this, Punnaka became excessively pleased, clapped his hands and said: "This is my second victory today. Thy minister when asked has answered the question. Verily the best of kings is unjust. The game has been well decided, but you do not give the prize to me."

Hearing this the king became angry with the Great Being and said: "Not regarding one who can confer honor like me you regard this young man who catches your eye."

Then turning to Punnaka, he said: "If he is a slave, well then take him and go."

He then uttered the following stanza: "If he has thus answered our question, saying, 'I am a slave and not a kinsman,' then take, O Kaccana, this best of treasures, take it and go whither thou wilt."

But when the king had thus spoken, he reflected: "The young man will take the sage and go where he pleases, and after he is once gone I shall find it hard to get any sweet converse about holy things. What if I were to set him in his proper place and ask him some question in reference to a householder's life?"

So he said to him: "O sage, after thou art gone I shall find it hard to get any sweet converse about holy things. Wilt thou sit down in a well-decorated pulpit and taking thy proper position expound to me a question relating to the householder's life?"

He assented, and having sat down in a well-decorated pulpit he expounded upon the king's question: "0 Vidhura, how shall there be a prosperous life to him who lives as a householder in his own house? How shall there be for him kind favor among his own people? How shall he be free from suffering and how shall the young man who speaks truth escape all sorrow when he reaches the next world?"

Then Vidhura, full of wisdom and insight, he who sees the real aim and presses steadily onward, he who knows all doctrines, uttered these words: "Let him not have a wife in common with another; let him not eat a dainty meal alone; let him not deal in vain conversation, for this increases not wisdom.

"Virtuous, faithful to his duties, not careless, quick to discern, humble-minded, not hard-hearted, compassionate, affectionate, gentle, skilled in winning friends, ready to distribute, prudent in arranging in accordance with the season, let him continually satisfy the monks and Brahmans with food and drink.

"Let him long for righteousness and be a pillar of the sacred text, ever ready to ask questions and let him reverentially attend to the virtuous learned. Thus shall he make a prosperous life as one who lives as a householder in his own house, thus shall there be for him kind favor among his own people; thus shall he be free from suffering; and thus the youth who speaks truth shall escape all sorrow when he reaches the next world."

The Great Being, having thus expounded the question relating to the householder's life, came down from his seat and made his salutation to the king. The king also, having paid his minister great respect, went away to his own abode, surrounded by the hundred kings.

When the Great Being returned, Punnaka said to him: "Come, I will now depart. You were given to me by the king; attend only to this duty for this is the ancient law."

The sage Vidhura replied: "I know it, O youth. I was won by thee. I was given by the king to thee. Let me lodge thee for three days in my home while I exhort my sons."

When Punnaka heard this, he thought within himself: "The sage has spoken the truth. This will be a great benefit to me. If he had asked leave to lodge me there for seven days or even for a fortnight, I ought at once to have assented."

He then answered: "Let that advantage be for me too. Let us dwell there for three days. Do, Sir, whatever needs to be done in thy home. Instruct today thy sons and thy wife, that they may be happy after you are gone."

So saying, Punnaka went with the Great Being to his home.

Gladly assenting and eagerly longing, the Yakkha went with Vidhura; and the best of the holy ones introduced him into his home, attended by elephants and thoroughbred steeds.

Now the Great Being had three palaces for the three seasons--one of them was called Konca, another Mayura, and the third Piyaketa. He went there to Konca, Mayura, and Piyaketa, each of most pleasant aspect, furnished with abundance of food and plenty to eat and to drink, like Indra's own palace Masakkasara."

After their arrival, the sage had prepared for Punnaka a sleeping-chamber and a raised platform in the seventh story of the decorated palace. And having had a royal couch spread and every kind of dainty to eat and drink set out, he presented to Punnaka five hundred women who were like the daughters of the gods, saying: "Let these be your attendants. Stay here without a care."

Then the sage went to his own abode. After he had gone, the women took their different musical instruments and performed all kinds of dances as they attended on Punnaka. These women, who were adorned like nymphs among the gods, danced and sang and address him, each better in her turn. The guardian of the Law, having given him food and drink and fair women, next, thinking only of his highest good, brought him into the presence of his wife.

Then he said to his wife, who was adorned with sandal and liquid perfumes and stood like an ornament of purest gold: "Come listen, lady! Call thy sons here, 0 fair one with eyes of the hue of copper."

Hearing her husband's words, Anujja, spoke to her daughter-in-law, fair-eyed and with nails like copper: "0 Ceta, who wears bracelets as an armor, and art like a blue water-lily, go, call my sons hither.'"

Having uttered her assent and after traversed the whole length of the palace, she assembled all the friends as well as the sons and daughters, saying: "Your father wishes to give you an exhortation, this will be your last sight of him."

When the young prince Dhammapala-kumara heard this he began to weep, and went before his father surrounded by his younger brothers. When the father saw them, unable to maintain his tranquility, he embraced them with eyes full of tears, and kissed their heads and pressed his eldest son for a moment to his heart. Then, raising him up from his bosom and going out of the royal chamber, he sat down in the middle of the couch on the raised platform and delivered his address to his thousand sons.

The guardian of the law, without trembling, kissed his sons on their foreheads when they drew near, and having addressed them uttered these words:

"I have been given by the king to this young man. I am subject to him, but today I was free to seek my own pleasure. But he will now take me and go whither he will, and I am come to admonish you, for how could I go if I had not given you salvation? If Janasandha, the king who dwells in Kurukhetta, should very earnestly ask you: 'What do you reckon as having been ancient even in ancient time? What did your father teach first and foremost?'

"And if he were then to say, 'Ye are all of an equal position with me,' which of you here is not more than a king? Do you make a respectful salutation and reply to him: 'Say not so, O monarch, this is not the law; how shall the baseborn jackal be of equal position with the royal tiger?'"

Having heard this discourse of his the sons and daughters and all the kinsmen, friends, servants, and common folk were unable to maintain their tranquility and uttered a loud cry; and the Great Being consoled them.

V.

Then having come to all those kinsmen and seeing that they were all silent, he said: "Children, do not grieve, all material things are impermanent and honor ends in misfortune. Nevertheless I will tell you of a means of obtaining honor, namely, a king's court. Listen to it with your minds earnestly intent."

Then through the Buddha's magic power he made them enter into a royal court. With his mind and will detached from all things, he then addressed his friends and his enemies, his kindred, and his intimates, with the following words:

"Come, dear ones, sit down and listen to me as I tell of a royal dwelling, and how a man upon entering a king's court may attain honor.

"Upon entering a king's court
one does not win honor while yet unknown,
nor does one ever win it who is a coward,
nor the foolish man, nor the thoughtless.
When the king finds out his moral qualities,
his wisdom and his purity of heart,
then he learns to trust him and hides not his secrets from him.

"When he is asked to carry out some business,
like a well-fixed balance, with a level beam,
and evenly poised, he must not hesitate;
if like the balance, he is ready to undertake every burden,
he may dwell in a king's court.

"Whether by day or by night,
the wiser man should not hesitate
when set upon the king's business,
such an one may dwell in a king's court.

The wise man who,
when set upon the king's business,
whether by day or by night,
undertakes every commission,
he is the one who may dwell in a king's court.

"He who sees a path made for the king
and carefully puts it in order for him,
and though advised to do so,
refrains from entering himself therein,
he is the one who may dwell in a king's court.

"Let him on no account ever enjoy
the same pleasures as the king,
let him follow behind in everything,
such a one may dwell in a king's court.

Let him not put on a garment like the king's
nor garlands nor ointment like his;
let him not wear similar ornaments
or practice a tone of voice like his;
let him always wear a different attire,
such a one may dwell in a king's court.

"If the king sports with his ministers
or is surrounded by his wives,
let not the minister make any allusion to the royal ladies.
He who is not lifted up, nor fickle,
who is prudent and keeps his senses under control,
he who is possessed of insight and resolution,
such a one may dwell in a king's court.

"Let him not sport with the king's wives
nor talk with them privately;
let him not take money from his treasury,
such an one may dwell in a king's court.

Let him not think too much of sleep,
nor drink strong drink to excess,
nor kill the deer in the king's forest,
such an one may dwell in a king's court.

"Let him not seat himself on the king's chair
or couch or seat or elephant or chariot;
as thinking himself a privileged person,
such an one may dwell in a king's court.

Let him prudently keep not too far
from the king nor yet too near to him,
and let him stand ready before him,
telling something for his lord to hear.
The king does not count as a common person,
the king must not be paired with anyone else;
kings are easily vexed,
as the eye is hurt if touched by a barley-corn.

Let not the wise man, thinking himself to be held in honor,
ever venture to speak roughly to the suspicious king.
If he gets his opportunity, let him take it;
but let him not trust in kings;
let him be on his guard as in the case of fire,
such a one may dwell in a king's court.

"If the ruler favors his son or his brother
with a gift of some villages or towns
or some people in his kingdom as clients,
let him quietly wait in silence,
nor speak of him as prudent or faulty.
If the king increases the pay of his elephant-driver
or his life-guardsman, his chariot-soldier or his foot-soldier,
through hearing some story of their exploits,
let him not interfere to hinder it,
such a one may dwell in a king's court.

"The wise man will keep his belly small like the bow,
but he will bend easily like the bamboo;
let him not go contrary to the king,
so he may dwell in a king's court.
Let him keep his belly small like the bow,
and let him have no tongue like the fish;
let him be moderate in eating, brave and prudent;
such an one may dwell in a king's court.

"Let him not visit a woman too often,
fearing the loss of his strength;
the foolish man is a victim
to cough, asthma, bodily pain and childishness.
Let him not laugh too much,
nor keep always silent; he should utter,
when the due season cornea,
a concise and measured speech.
Not given to anger, not ready to take offence,
truthful, gentle, no slanderer,
let him not speak foolish words,
such a one may dwell in a king's court.

"Trained, educated, self-controlled, experienced in business, temperate, gentle, careful, pure, skilful,
such an one may dwell in a king's court.
Humble in behavior towards the old,
ready to obey, and full of respect,
compassionate, and pleasant to live with,
such an one may dwell in a king's court.
Let him keep at a distance
from a spy sent by a foreign king to intermeddle;
let him look to his own lord alone, and to no other king.

"Let him pay respect to monks and Brahmins
who are virtuous and learned;
let him carefully wait on them;
such an one may dwell in a king's court.
Let him satisfy virtuous and learned monks
and Brahmins with food and drink,
such an one may dwell in a king's court.
Let him draw near and devotedly attend
on virtuous and learned monks and Brahmans,
desiring thereby his own real good.

"Let him not seek to deprive monks or Brahmans
of any gift previously bestowed on them,
and let him in no way hinder mendicants
at a time of distributing alms.
One who is righteous, endowed with wisdom,
and skilled in all business arrangements,
and well-versed in times and seasons,
such an one may dwell in a king's court.

"One who is energetic in business, careful and skillful,
and able to conduct his affairs successfully,
such an one may dwell in a king's court.
Visiting repeatedly the threshing floor,
the house, the cattle and the field,
he should have the corn carefully measured
and stored in his granaries,
and he should have it carefully measured
for cooking in his home.

"Let him not employ or promote a son or a brother
who is not steadfast in virtue;
such children are no true members of one's own body,
they are to be counted as if they were dead.
Let him cause clothing and food for sustenance
to be given to them and let them sit while they take it.
Let him employ in offices of authority servants and agents
who are established in virtue, skillful in business
and ready to rise to attend any emergency.

"One who is virtuous, free from greed and devoted to his king,
never absent from him and seeking his interest,
such an one may dwell in a king's court.
Let him know the king's wish,
and hold fast to his thoughts,
and let his action be never contrary to him,
such an one may dwell in a king's court.

"He will rub him with perfumes and bathe him,
he will bend his head low when washing his feet;
when smitten he will not be angry;
such an one may dwell in a king's court.

He will make his salutation to a jar full of water,
or offer his reverential greeting to a crow,
yea, he will give to all petitioners
and be ever prudent and preeminent,
he will give away his bed, his garment,
his carriage, his house, his home,
and shower blessings, like a cloud, down on all beings.

"This, O Sirs, is the way to dwell in a king's court,
this is how a man is to behave himself
and so to conciliate the king's favor,
and to obtain honor from his rulers."

VI.

Three days went by as the sage delivered the discourse to his sons, wives, friends and others. Then, knowing that the time of his departure had arrived, the Bodhisattva ate a meal consisting of various dainties early in the morning and then bid them farewell. "I will now take my leave of the king and depart with the young man," said the sage.

After embracing his eldest son and controlling the anguish in his heart, with eyes filled with tears the Bodhisattva went to the king's palace surrounded by his kinsmen.

Now in that palace there were a thousand sons, a thousand daughters, a thousand wives, and seven hundred courtesans, and with these and the other servants and attendants and relations and friends lying prostrate everywhere, the palace appeared like a sal-grove with its trees strewed about by the fury of that great wind which heralds the very end of the world.

The Great Being saluted the king and then stood on one side. With his hands clasped before him, he uttered these words of wise practical counsel: "This youth, wishing to employ me according to his will, is leading me away. I will therefore speak for the sake of my kindred, O enemy-conqueror, so hear what I have to say.

"Will you be pleased to look after my sons and whatever property I may have in my house, so that after I have departed my kinsmen may not hereafter perish? For when the Earth trembles all which lies upon it likewise trembles, but when the Earth is firm all that lies upon it remains firm.

"Only now do I see that my kindred may fall with my own fall. This I perceive was my error."

When the king heard this, he said: "O sage, your going pleases me not. Do not go. I will send for the young man on some pretext, and then we will kill him and hush it up."

"You cannot not go, this is my resolve. Having smitten and slain this fellow, you may continue to dwell here. This is what seems best to me. Do not go hence, O you who are possessed of such vast wisdom."

"Such an intention is not worthy of thee!" exclaimed the Great Being. "Do not set your mind upon following the path of unrighteousness, but rather remain devoted to temporal and spiritual good.

"Shame on any action which is ignoble and sinful, for when a man so acts, he shall fall into hell thereafter. This is not righteousness, this is not what ought to be done.

"A king, O lord of men, is the supreme authority of the poor slave who kills upon command. Bearing no wrath against that young man, I shall depart."

The Great Being then respectfully saluted the king and exhorted
the king's wives and his officers to follow the path of righteousness. As the sage went out from the palace the royals--unable to retain their fortitude--burst out with bitter cries.

The sons and wives of Vidhura laid prostrate in the palace as if they were sal-trees that had been shaken and shattered by the wind. A thousand wives, and seven hundred female slaves wailed with arms outstretched in the palace of King Vidhura. The ladies of the harem and the princes, the Vesiyas and Brahmins wailed as they stretched out their arms in the palace of Vidhura. The elephant-drivers, the soldiers of the body-guard, the chariot-riders and foot-soldiers likewisecried out in sorrow as they stretching out their arms in the palace of Vidhura.

The people of the country and the towns collected together to see what had caused such an uproar.

"Look! The sage is going with the young man," some of them exclaimed. "Come, we will see him off as he goes."

Then as they gazed upon the Bodhisattva leaving the king's court, they consoled each other with these words: "Sorrow not for it for all material things are transitory. Be zealous in almsgiving and other good works." Then they returned to the city and went each to his own house.

When the Bodhisattva reappeared before Punnaka he announced that he had done everything that was to be done within the house and having instructed all the people, his friends and counselors and companions, his wives, sons and relations, and having arranged the outside work which demanded attention and informed them of the stores in the house, the treasure and the debts that were to be paid, he said: "While you were dwelling these past three days in my house, I have done all that needed to be done in my home. Having instructed my son and my wives, let us now act according to thy will, O Kacoana."

Punnaka replied: "If you, acting of your own will, have instructed your sons, thy wives, and thy dependents, then alas! You stand here as one about to cross the long journey before thee. Well then, take hold, without fear, of the tail of your noble steed and then obtain your final sight of the world of the living."

Then the Great Being said to him: "Of whom shall I be afraid, when I have done no evil to him by body, speech or thought, whereby I could come to misfortune?" Then uttering a loud shout and displaying the fearlessness of an undismayed lion, the Great Being said: "This is my robe--put it not off without my permission."

Then guided by his own perfect resolution and after having girded his robes tightly, the sage disentangled the horse's tail. Seizing it firmly with both hands, he then pressed the horse's thighs with both feet and said: "Having seized the tail, proceed, O youth, as you will."

Punnaka signaled to the horse who, having been endowed with reason, forthwith bounded into the sky, carrying the seer. Soon they had reached the Black Mountain' without coming in contact with the boughs of trees or the rocks.

While Punnaka was thus carrying off the Great Being, the seer's sons and the other spectators went in search for the Great Being but found him not. Realized that he had already been carried off, they lamented with loud and repeated cries, they all fell down as if their feet had been suddenly cut off. Then they all went wailing to the king's gate, accompanied by all the citizens.

Upon hearing the loud sound of their lamentations, the king opened his window and asked for its cause. They replied: "O Sire, that was no Brahmin youth, but a Yaksha in the guise of a Brahmin. Now he has carried off the seer. Without him there is no life for us. If he does not return on the seventh day from today, we will collect timber in hundreds, yea, thousands of carts and will thereafter all enter the fire."

"Fear not," replied the king. "The sage with his honeyed speech will soon beguile that youth. Through delivering a religious discourse shall cause that one to fall down at the seer's feet. Before long he shall return to bring smiles to your tearful faces, so sorrow not."

After Punnaka had set the Great Being on the top of Black Mountain, he thought to himself: "As long as this minister lives there is no chance of prosperity for me. Rational beings exist in various gradations; I have no possible use for his life. Therefore I shall kill him and take his heart's flesh to the Naga world, where I shall present it to Queen Vimala. And after I have thus obtained the hand of her beautiful daughter Irandati, I shall rise to the very world of the Devas."

"But I don't necessarily have to kill him by my own hand," thought Punnaka. "I shall to cause him to perish by means of assuming some frightful shape."

So after assumed the form of a frightful demon, he went up to the Great Being and threw him down upon the mountain top. Seizing him in his mouth, he made as if he were about to devour him on the spot. But even so, not a hair of the Great Being stood on end.

Punnaka then assumed the shape of a beast that combined the ferocity of a lion with the fury of an elephant. But when he threatened to attack the sage with teeth and tusks, the Bodhisattva continued to show no fear. So the Yaksha assumed the form of a hissing serpent that was as big as a great trough-shaped canoe. Then he coiling his body round the seer and covered the sage's head with a snake's hood. But even then the Great Being showed no signs of alarm.

Punnaka then decided to cause the Great Being to fall down from the peak of Black Mountain, thinking that the fall would compel his body to shatter into fragments. So he raised up a mighty wind for this purpose. But even this terrible force stirred not the end of a single one of the Bodhisattva's hairs.

So Punnaka set the Great Being once more on the mountain top where he himself now stood in the form of an elephant and made the Black Mountain shake to and fro as if it were a wild date palm tree. But despite all his efforts he could not stir one hair of the seer's head from its place.

Then Punnaka thought: "I will make his heart burst in terror by uttering some frightful noise." After entering the inside of the mountain, he unleashed a tremendous roar that filled both heaven and earth with its sound.

But still the Great Being showed no alarm, knowing as he did that the youth that had assumed various terrible forms and had uttered the great roar was still only a man and nothing more.

Then the Yaksha thought: "As I am unable to kill him by external means, I shall have to destroy him by my own hand."

So he set the Great Being back on the top of the mountain Katiyana. Then after he descended to the foot of that mountain of evil mind, the Yaksha rose up from its center as if he were inserting a white thread into a perforated gem. With a great roar be seized the Great Being violently, whirled him round, and then flung him into the sky where there was nothing for the sage to lay hold of.

The seer hung in the air with his head downward. As he dangled on that precipice of hell that is most frightful to see and most difficult to traverse, that best of all the Kurus in action remained undismayed.

"Although you have the power to assume a noble form for a time, you are base in your nature," said the sage to the Yakha. "Although wearing the guise of one restrained, you are utterly licentious in your performance of such a cruel and monstrous deed and there is nothing good to be said of your nature.

"Tell me, what reason do you have for killing me by casting my body down this precipice? Your appearance displays the signs of something superhuman, so tell me what kind of a god you are."

"Perhaps you have heard of Punnaka, who is the minister of King Kubera," answered the Yaksha. "There is an earth-ruling Naga called Varuna, mighty, pure, and endowed with beauty and strength. I desire to have his younger sister, the Naga maiden named Irandati, for my own. For the love of that fair damsel I have set my mind on killing you, 0 sage."

"This world may come to ruin over a matter that is misunderstood," replied the Great Being. "Why should a wooer of a Naga maiden want my own death? Come, let us hear the whole tale."

"Because of my love for the mighty Naga's daughter, I have asked King Varuna for her hand in marriage," answered Punnaka. "But her father-- knowing that I my heart moved by an honorable passion--said that he would only give that damsel to me--she who is endowed with beautiful body and eyes, fair-smiling and with limbs perfumed with sandal wood--if I first bring to him your heart after having won it in a fair fight. 'The maiden is to be won by this prize and none other,' said the king of the Nagas to me.

"So as you can now see, O doer of right actions, I have misunderstood nothing. I can only gain Irandati's hand after having won your heart in a fair fight. It is for this very reason that I intend to kill you, for otherwise your death serves me not. So I shall cast your body down into hell and when you are dead it shall seize you heart."

"Vimala has no need of my heart," reflected the Great Being. "Indeed, after having heard my discourse on the law, Varuna honored me by bestowing the gift of his jewel. After returning home, he must have described my power to his queen Vimala, who must have felt a great longing to hear my words. This must be the misconception under which Punnaka is now acting. My character as a sage includes the power to discover absolute truths and bring them into the light. But if Punnaka kills me before I can do so, what good will that do?"

So the Great Being said: "Young man, I know the Law as followed by good men. Before I die, set me on the top of this mountain and hear of the Law from my lips. Then I will allow you to take my life afterwards."

Then Punnaka reflected, "This Law has never before been declared to either gods or men. I will therefore hold him up and hear the Law of good men." So Punnaka lifted the Great Being up and set him on the mountain's summit.

"I have brought you up from the precipice," said the Yaksha. "I have need of thy heart this day, so tell me straight-away all the Laws of the good man."

"I shall grant your wish, but my body is dirty, so I will bathe first," replied the Great Being.

After consenting to the seer's request, the Yaksha brought some water, and while the Bodhisattva was bathing, he adorned the Great Being with heavenly cloth and perfumes and then gave him some heavenly food.

After the sage had finished eating, the Great Being caused the top of the Black Mountain to be covered with adornment, and prepared a richly decorated seat. Upon seating himself thereon, he began to describe the duties of the good man with a Buddha's triumphant mastery:

"O youth, follow the path already traversed; put away from yourself the soiled hand; be not ever treacherous to your friends, nor fall into the power of unchaste women."

The Yakkha, being unable to comprehend these four rules in such a concise form, asked for further details: "How does one follow the path already traversed? How does one bum the wet hand ? Who is the unchaste woman? Who is treacherous to his friend? Tell me these meanings at my request."

The Great Being replied: "Let a man follow his actions, who invites him even to a seat, when he comes as a stranger and never seen before; him the wise call one who follows in the path already traversed.

"In whosesoever house a man dwells even for one night, and receives there food and drink, let him not conceive an evil thought against him in his mind.

"He who is treacherous to his friend bums the innocent hand. Let not a man break a bough of that tree under whose shadow he sits or lies, the wretch is treacherous to his friend.

"Let a man give this earth filled with riches to the woman whom he has chosen, yet she will despise him if he gets the opportunity; let him not fall into the power of unchaste women.

"Thus does a man follow the path already traversed; thus does he burn the wet hand; this is the unchaste woman; this is one that is treacherous to his friend; such a man is righteous, abandon ye unrighteousness."

Thus did the Great Being declare to the Yaksha with a Buddha's triumphant mastery the four duties of a good man. When he heard these four duties expounded, Punnaka reflected: "In these four propositions the sage is only asking for his own life, for he did verily welcome me though I was before unknown. I have indeed dwelled in his house three days, where I received great honor from him. In doing him this wrong, I so indeed do it for a woman's sake. Moreover, I am in every way treacherous to my friends. If I shall do injury to the sage, I shall not be following the duties of a good man.

"What need do have I for that Naga maiden? Therefore I will carry him forthwith to Indapatta and gladden the weeping faces of its inhabitants by seating him once again in the convocation hall."

So he spoke these words to the sage: "I dwelt three days in your house, where I was served with food and drink. As you were my friend, I shall let you go, 0 seer of excellent wisdom. You may depart as you will to your own home.

"Yea, let all that concerns the Naga race perish, I have had enough of that Naga maiden. By your own well spoken words you have been set free, 0 seer, from my threatened blow today."

The Great Being replied: "0 youth, send me not away to my own home but carry me instead to the Naga-world. Come, Yaksha, carry me to greet your father-in-law, which is the act that is deemed best by me. I will then reveal to him a royal Naga palace, one that he has never been before.

Punnaka said: "The wise man should not look on that which is not for a man's well-being. Why then, 0 seer of excellent wisdom, dost you wish to go amongst your enemies?"

The Great Being answered: "Verily I know it all. The wise man ought not to look upon it, but as I have never at any time committed evil, I fear not the coming of death. Moreover, by delivering a discourse concerning the Law, such a cruel being as yourself has been won over and softened, for now you say, 'I have had enough of the Naga maiden, go to your own home.' But my task at present is to soften the heart of the Naga king, so carry me to him forthwith."

When he heard this, Punnaka consented, saying: "Come, we shall see together that world of unequalled glory where the Naga king dwells amidst dance and song like King Vessavana in Nalmi. Filled with troops of Naga maidens, gladdened constantly with their sport both by day and by night, abounding with garlands and covered with flowers, it shines like the lightning in the sky. Filled with food and with drink, with dance and song and instruments of music, filled with maidens richly attired, it shines with all manner of dresses and ornaments."

Punnaka placed him--that best doer of good actions among the Kurus--on the seat behind and then carried the illustrious sage to the palace of the Naga king. When they had reached that place of unrivalled glory, the sage stood behind Punnaka. Beholding the concord between them, and the Naga king thus addressed his son-in-law with these words: "Did you to the world of men to seek the sage's heart? Have you returned here with success, bringing with you that sage of unequalled wisdom?"

Punnaka replied: "He whom you desire is come. He is my guardian in duty, won by righteous means. Behold him as he speaks before thee, and thus intercourse with the good that brings happiness."

When he saw the Great Being, the Naga king uttered a stanza: "This mortal, beholding me whom he had never seen before and pierced with the fear of death, does not speak to me in his terror, this is not like a wise man."

"I am not terrified, 0 Naga, nor am I pierced with the fear of death," said the seer. "The victim should not address his executioner, nor should the latter ask his victim to address him."

Then the Naga king uttered a stanza in the Great Being's praise: "It is as you say, O sage, you speak the truth. The victim should not address his executioner nor should the latter ask his victim to address him."

Then the Great Being spoke kindly to the Naga king: "This splendor and glory and this might and Naga birth of yours, are subject to death. As you are not immortal, I ask this question, 0 Naga king. How did you obtain this palace? Was it gained without a cause or as the development of a previous condition? Was it made by yourself or given by the gods? Explain to me this matter, 0 Naga king, how did you win this palace?"

The Naga king replied: "It was not gained without a cause, nor was it the development of a previous condition. It was not made by myself nor given by the gods. This palace of mine was gained by means of my own performance of virtuous deeds."

The Great Being answered: "What holy vow was it, what practice of sanctity? Of what good action was this the fruit, this splendor and glory and might and Naga birth of yours and this great palace, O Naga!"

The Naga king replied: "I and my wife in the world of men were both full of faith and bountiful. My house was made into a drinking hill, where priests and Brahmans found cheer. Garlands, perfumes and ointments; lamps, couches, resting places and beds; as well as food and drink, I virtuously gave away as free gifts. That was my vow and practice of sanctity, and this is the fruit of that good conduct--this splendor and glory, Naga birth and great palace, 0 seer."

The Great Being said: "If this is how you gained the palace, then you know about the fruit of holy actions and rebirth. Therefore practice virtue with all diligence so that thou may have a palace once again in the next life."

The Naga king replied: "There are no priests or Brahmans here to whom we may give food and drink, 0 holy one. Tell me this thing, I pray, how may I again live in a palace?"

The Great Being said: "There are snakes who have been born here, sons and wives and dependents. Commit no sin towards them in word or deed at any time. Thus shall follow you, O Naga, innocence in word and deed, so will you dwell here all your life in a palace and then depart hence to the world of the Devas."

The Naga king, having heard the religious discourse of the Great Being, thought to himself: "The sage cannot stay long away from his home. I will show him to Vimala and let her hear his good words. After calming her longing desire, I will gratify King Dhananjaya by sending the sage home."

So he said: "Verily that best of kings is mourning in thy absence, whose intimate minister you indeed are. Having thus regained you, though now distressed and sick, a man will regain happiness."

The Great Being praised the Naga: "You do indeed utter the holy words of the good for this is a peerless piece of right doctrine. In such crises of life as these the character of men like me is made known."

Then the Naga king still more delighted uttered this stanza:

"Say, were you taken for nothing? Say, did he conquer you in the game?
He says that he won you fairly, how did you come into his power?"

The Great Being replied: "Punnaka conquered in the game with dice him who was my lord and king; he being conquered gave me to the other; so I was won fairly and not by wrong."

Delighted and overjoyed by the noble words of the sage, the great Naga seized the lord of lofty wisdom by the hand and thus went into the presence of his wife.

"He for whom, 0 Vimala, you grew pale and whereby food lost its savior in your eyes, this sun, for the sake of whose heart this trouble came upon you, listen well to his words for you will never see him again."

When she saw the lord of great wisdom, Vimala folded the ten fingers of her hands in reverence, and thus addressed the best of the Kurus with a soul that was full of delight: "This mortal, beholding me whom he had never seen before and pierced with the fear of death, does not speak to me in terror. This is not like a wise man."

"I am not terrified, 0 Nagi, nor am I pierced with the fear of death; the victim should not address his executioner, nor should the latter ask his victim to address him."

Thus the Naga maiden asked the sage the same question which the Naga Varuna had asked before and by his answer the seer satisfied her as he had before satisfied King Varuna. The sage, upon seeing that the Naga king and the Naga maiden were both pleased with his answers, and undaunted in soul and without a single hair erect in fear, thus addressed King Varuna:

"Fear not, 0 Naga, here I am. Whatever use this body may be to you, whatever it can do by its heart and its flesh, I myself will carry out according to your will."

The Naga king replied: "The heart of a sage is his wisdom, and we are delighted to receive yours this very day. Let he whose name implies perfection, take his bride away today and let him put you once again in the possession of the Kurus."

Having thus spoken, Varuna gave Irandati to Punnaka, who then poured out his joyful heart to the Great Being: "As you have made me possessed of a wife, I shall do what is due to thee, 0 Vidhura. I give this pearl of jewels and I will put the Kurus in possession of you this very day."

Then the Great Being praised him in another stanza: "May your friendship with your loved wife be indissoluble, and do you, in thy joy and with a happy heart, give me that jewel and carry me to Indapatta."

Then Punnaka placed the best of the Kurus in action on a seat before him and carried him, the lord of supreme wisdom, to the city Indapatta. Swift as the mind of man may travel, his speed was even swifter still as Punnaka bore the Bodhisattva back to the city Indapatta.

Then he said to him: "Behold before thee the city Indapatta and its pleasant mango groves and districts. I am possessed of a wife, and you have returned to your own home."

On that very day at morning-tide, the king had a dream. This is what he saw:

At the door of the king's palace there stood a great tree whose trunk was wisdom, and whose branches, its boughs were like virtues, and its fruits were like unto the five sacred products of the cow. That great tree was covered with elephants and horses richly caparisoned. Surrounding it was a great multitude of people, who with folded hands were worshipping it with all possible reverence.

Then a black man appeared in the king's dream who was clothed in red a red garment and was wearing earrings of red flowers. Bearing weapons in his hands, he came up and cut that great tree down, dragging if off by its roots in spite of the expostulations of the multitude. But after a time he came back and planted the great tree once again in its old place and then departed.

When the king woke up he said to himself: "No one else but the sage Vidhura could be the great tree and that youth who carried off the sage but be the man who cut the tree down and dragged it off by the roots despite of the expostulations of the multitude. Verily he shall return with the seer this very day and deposit him on the doorstep of the Hall of Truth and then depart."

So the king joyfully ordered the whole city to be decorated, the Hall of Truth to be made ready and a pulpit erected in a pavilion adorned with jewels. Surrounded by a hundred kings, their counselors, and a multitude of citizens and country people, the king consoled them all by saying: "Fear not, for you will see the sage again today." He then seated himself in the Hall of Truth to await the sage's return.

When Punnaka arrived, he set down the best of the Kurus in action in the middle of the religious assembly, re-mounted his own noble steed and sped in the sky through the air. The sage was greeted by a triumphant waving of cloths as the vast assembly joyfully beheld the Great Being once more. Filled with delight, the king sprang up and embraced his minister in his arms, and without a moment's fear seated him on a throne in the midst of the congregation.

After extending a friendly greeting, the king welcomed the seer with affectionate words and then uttered the following stanza: "You have ever guided us like a ready-furnished chariot, the Kurus rejoice at seeing you again; answer me and tell me this, how was it that that young man let you go?"

The Great Being replied: "He whom you call a young man, 0 great king, is no common man, 0 best of heroes. If you have ever heard of the Yaksha Punnaka, it was he, the minister of King Kubera. There is a Naga king named Varuna, mighty, endowed with strength and a noble presence. Punnaka fell in love with his younger daughter, the Naga maiden Irandati. He laid a plan for my death for the sake of obtaining that fair maiden."

"The Naga king, being pleased with my answer to his question concerning the four ends of men, had earlier paid me honor by giving me a jewel. When he later returned to the Naga world, his queen Vimala asked him what had happened to it. He described my skill in discoursing on the Law, and she, being desirous of hearing such a discourse, feigned a longing for my heart. The Naga king, not understanding her real wish, said to his daughter Irandati: 'Your mother has a longing for Vidhura's heart. Find a noble who is able to bring it for her.'

"As she was seeking out a hero to perform this task, she saw the Yaksha Punnaka, the son of Vessavana's sister. Perceiving that he was in love with her, she sent him to her father, who said to him: 'If you are able to bring me Vidhura's Heart you shall obtain my daughter for yourself.'

"So he, having brought from the mountain Vepulla the gem which might well belong to a universal monarch, played a game of dice with you. After having won me through his play, he remained for three days in my own house, after which he bade me lay hold of his horse's tail. Although he dashed me against the trees and the mountains of Himavat, but he was unable not kill me. Then he rushed forward on a whirlwind in the seventh sphere of the winds and he set me on the top of the Black Mountain sixty leagues high. There he assailed me as a lion and in other shapes, but kill me he could not.

"Then upon receiving his request, I told him how I could be killed. But when I proceeded to tell him the duties of the good man, he was highly pleased and wished to bring me home. But I asked him to take me to the Naga world instead, where I told the Law to King Varuna and Queen Vimala. When King and Queen heard my discourse on the Law, they were so pleased that they decided to allow me to return home. After remaining in their court for six days, the king gave Irandati to Punnaka and requested that the noble being bring me back to the Kurus.

"Punnaka was so delighted to have thus obtained his wife that he honored me by bestowing many jewels as his present, including the one all desires and which is worthy of a universal emperor; accept it, O monarch.

"Then he mounted me before him with Irandati seated behind, and on a magic horse that he created by his own will, he has brought me here and put me down in the middle of this hall." And so saying the seer gave the great jewel to his king.

The king then told the story of dream to the citizens in attendance:

"There grew a tree before my gates,
its trunk was wisdom and its boughs the moral virtues;
it ripened into all that was natural and developed,
its fruits were the five products of the cow,
and it was covered with elephants and cattle.

"But while it resounded with dance, song, and musical instruments
a man came and cut it up from the roots and carried it away;
it then came to this palace of ours, pay your homage to this tree.

"Let all who are joyful by my means show it today by their actions; bring your presents in abundance, and pay your homage to this tree.

"Whatever captives there may be in my realm,
let them all be set loose from their captivity;
as this tree has been delivered from its captivity,
so let them release others from bondage.

"Let them spend this month in holiday, banging up their ploughs;
let them feast the Brahmans with flesh and rice;
let them drink in private, and still seem total abstainers,
with their full cups flowing over.
Let them invite their friends on the highway,
and keep a strict watch in the kingdom
so that none may injure his neighbor,
pay your homage to this tree."

When he had thus spoken, the queens, the princes, the Vesiyas, and the Brahmans brought to the sage much food and drink. Likewise riders on elephants, body-guards, riders in chariots, foot-soldiers, brought to the sage much food and drink. And also the people of the country and the city brought to the sage much food and drink.

As a full month of festivities drew to a close, the Great Being, in fulfillment of a Buddha's duties, taught the great assembly the Law and continued to counsel the king, so fulfilling his span of life and thus becoming destined for heaven.

Abiding in the sage's teaching and following their king, all the inhabitants of the Kuru kingdom gave gifts and performed good works. And at the end of their lives they went to dwell with the hosts of heaven.

The Master, having brought his lesson to an end, said: "Not now only but formerly also did the Buddha--having obtained complete wisdom--show himself skillful in adapting the means to the ends."

Then he identified the Birth: "At that time the sage's father and mother were the royal family, the eldest queen was Rahula's mother, the eldest son was Rahula, the Naga king Varuna was Sariputra, the garula king was Moggallana, Sakra was Anuruddha, the king Dhananjaya was Ananda, and the wise Vidhura was myself."

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