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XXI. The Story of the Kuddabodhi - SE Quadrant, Upper Register, Reliefs 73 - 76 |
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THE JATAKAMALA The
Tigress |
Adapted from the 19th century translation by J. S Speyer "Esteem
forsakes
the man who is unable to appease anger's fever, By keeping down his anger a man appeases his enemies, but doing otherwise he will inflame them. This will be taught as follows. One time the Great Being was born in this world as a member of a noble family of Brahmans. Enjoying great renown for their practice of virtue in a grand style and owners of a large and well-secured estate, this family was both favored by the gods and honored by the king. In due course of time the Bodhisattva grew up. Having duly received the sacraments and exerted himself to excel in the virtue of learning, within a short time he became renowned in the assemblies of the learned in the same way as jewels get their reputation with jewelers and as heroes are known on the battlefield. According to his constant observance of the Law in previous existence's and to the enlightenment of his mind by wisdom, the Great-minded One had familiarized himself world-renunciation and so his house no longer pleased him. For he knew that worldly pleasures are the abode of many evils and sins. Moreover, they are attended by a great deal of discomfort in consequence of strife, quarrel, infatuation, and subject to losses of wealth, either from the side of the king, or due to flood, fire, thieves, or the actions of unfriendly kinsmen. For these very seasons he became convinced that worldly pleasures would never yield him satisfaction. Shunning them like poisonous food and longing only for the Self, he parted with his fair hair and beard, resigned the delusive brilliancy of a householder's dress, and putting on the vile orange-colored robes, embraced that glorious state of the ascetic life that is disciplined by rules and restrained by vows. Because she loved him much, the Bodhisattva's wife likewise cut off her hair and forswore the care of apparel and the beautifying of the body with ornaments. Adorned only by the natural beauty of her form and virtues, she covered her limbs with the orange-colored robes and prepared to follow her husband to the forest. When the Bodhisattva understood her determination of going with him to the penance-grove, and knowing that the delicate constitution of a woman was unfit for taking up the ascetic life, he spoke the following words to her: |
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"My dear, truly, you have now shown me your sincere affection. This alone is sufficient. Do not persist in your determination of being my companion in the forest life. It would be more suitable for you to take up your abode in such a place where other women dwell who have forsaken the world. It is with them that you should live for it is a hard thing to pass the night in forest dwellings. "Look here. Cemeteries, desert houses, mountains, forests infested by ferocious animals, are the resting-places of the homeless ascetics. They take their rest in whatsoever place they are when the sun sets. Being intent on meditation, they always prefer to walk alone and are averse even to the sight of a woman. Therefore, make up your mind to desist from your purpose for what profit may you obtain from the life of a wanderer?" But now that she was firmly resolved to accompanying her husband, her eyes grew dim with tears and she answered him like this: "If I should suppose my going with you to be a matter of weariness rather than of joy, do you think I should desire something that would cause suffering to myself as well as displeasure to you? But it is because I cannot bear to live without you, that you must pardon my lack of obedience to your orders." Although he continued to repeat his entreaties, she refused to turn back. Finally giving up his opposition, the Bodhisattva silently suffered her companionship. As the female kakravaka goes after her mate, so she went along with him in his wanderings through villages, towns and markets.
One day after meal-time, the Bodhisattva performed the usual rite of profound meditation (dhyana) within a lonely part of some forest. It was a place with a splendid landscape that was adorned with groves of trees affording much shade. They were waited on, as it were, by the sunbeams that peeped through the foliage here and there with the softness of moonlight. Moreover, the dust of various flowers overspread the ground. In short, it was a fair spot. During the afternoon the Bodhisattva rose from his profound meditation and began to sew rags together to make clothes. Nearby, the companion of his homeless life was embellishing by the splendor of her beauty the trunk of a tree in whose shade she was seated like a deity. There she meditated on such a subject and in such manner as he had earlier enjoined her. Then was the season of spring, when gardens and groves are at their loveliest. On all sides young and tender shoots abounded and the soft humming of roaming crowds of bees could be heard, together with the joyful cries of lascivious cuckoos. Lakes and ponds adorned with laughing lotuses and water lilies were an attraction for the eyes and soft, scented winds assaulted the nostrils with the odorous and perfumes of manifold blossoms. In order to enjoy the magnificence of spring, the king of that country had decided to make a tour of the groves. For indeed spring-time affords gladness to the mind when the forest regions are brightened by various blossoms and flower clusters make, as if the pomp of spring had enveloped them. For this is the time of year when the male-cuckoo and the peacock sing, the drunken bees make their buzzing sound, when soft and fresh grass plots cover the earth and lotuses fill up the water-basins. Then the groves are indeed the play grounds of Kama, the God of Love. The king eventually arrived at the very grove within the Bodhisattva and his wife had been practicing meditation. On seeing the Bodhisattva, the king respectfully drew near, and after offering the usual ceremonial greetings and complimentary words, sat down apart. Then, on perceiving that very lovely apparition of the female ascetic's beautiful figure, the king's heart became perturbed. Although understanding that she must certainly be the companion in religious duties of the Bodhisattva, owing to the lasciviousness of his nature the king reflected on some contrivance to carry her away. But he had previously heard of the transcendent power of the ascetics, that the fire of their wrath could shoot a curse as its flame. And so the king refrained from performing a rash deed of contempt against the Bodhisattva, even though Kama, the God of Love, had already destroyed the moral checks that might have once restrained him. Then this thought entered the king's mind: "Let me examine the extent of this ascetic's penance-obtained power. Then I shall be able to act in a proper manner, not otherwise. If his mind is ruled by passionate affection for her, surely he has gained no power through penance. But if he were to prove dispassionate or to show little interest in her, then he may be supposed to possess sublime power." Having thus considered, the king spoke to the Bodhisattva as if he were intent upon expressing his good-will. "Say, ascetic, this world abounds in rogues and bold adventurers. It is not fit for Your Reverence to have with you such a handsome person as this companion in your religious duties when you reside in such a remote forest and therefore destitute of protection. If she were to be injured by someone, certainly the people would censure me as well. "Look here. Suppose, while living in these lonely regions, some man might disregard both you--a penance-exhausted ascetic--and Righteousness. Were he to carry her off by force, what else could you do in that case but wail on her account? Indulging in anger, forsooth, agitates the mind and destroys the glory of a religious life tending to the detriment of it. It would be better for her to live in an inhabited place. Of what use, after all, is female company to ascetics?" "Your Majesty has spoken the truth," replied the Bodhisattva. "Yet hear to what I would resort in such circumstances. Whosoever were to act in such a case against me, should pride incite or thoughtless rashness move him, in truth, I would not release him while still living. A rain-cloud like that will never endure dust." Then the king thought: "He takes a great interest in her, he does not possess penance-power." Now despising the Great Being, the king was no longer afraid of injuring him. Obeying his passion, he ordered his attendants to go and fetch that female ascetic into his harem (zenana).
"Alas! The divine guardians of the four quarters of the world (Lokapalas) have been dismissed from their office, or they do not exist at all, or they are dead, since they make no effort to protect the oppressed. Dharma himself is but a mere sound, I suppose. But why do I reproach the Celestials while my lord himself keeps silent and is undisturbed by my fate? Are you not bound to protect even a stranger who is ill-treated by wicked people? "By the thunderbolt of his curse he might change a mountain into dust, if he were but to pronounce the word 'perish.' Yet still he does not break his silence, while his wife is thus injured! And I must live to see this, wretched woman that I am! "Am I a bad person who scarcely deserves pity once coming into this distress? But even then ascetics ought to behave with compassion towards anyone in the throes of distress. Is not this their proper line of conduct? "Perhaps even now you bear in mind my refusal to leave your side despite having ordered me to turn back. Alas! Is this catastrophe to reward for the happiness I sought through the fulfillment of a wish that was contrary to your own?" What else could she do but cry and wail and weep in piteous accents? Obeying the orders of the king, the royal attendants,placed her on a chariot and before the very eyes of the Great Being carried her off to the king's harem. Through the power of his tranquillity, the Bodhisattva repressed his powerful anger; as calm and as serene as ever, he continued to sew his rags as before without the slightest perturbation. To him the king then spoke: "You previously uttered threatening words of indignation and anger in a loud and strong voice. But upon seeing that one's beauty ravished before your eyes, you kept quiet, cast down because you have no power. "Why do you not now display your wrath, either by the strength of your arms or by the splendid power you have accumulated as the result of your penance? He who does not know the compass of his own faculties, takes an engagement he cannot keep and so loses his splendor." "Know, Your Majesty, that I did keep my engagement," replied the Bodhisattva. "He who was ready to move against me, to act and struggle, I did not release. I did indeed keep him down and made him perforce be quiet. Therefore you must admit that I made true my promise." |
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That excessive firmness of mind of the Bodhisattva--proved by his tranquillity--did not fail to inspire the king to have respect for the virtues of the ascetic. He then reflected in the following manner: "This Brahman must have hinted at something else, and I, not understanding his mind, have committed a rash action." This reflection induced the king to ask the Bodhisattva the following questions: "Who was that other who acted against you and was not released by you, however much he struggled, no more than rising dust is released by a rain-cloud? Whom, then, did you quiet?" "Hearken, great prince," answered the Bodhisattva. "He, whose forthcoming robs insight and without whose appearance a man sees clearly, rose within me, but I repressed him. Anger is the name of the one who is disastrous to his fosterer. He, at whose appearance the foes of mankind rejoice, rose within me, but I repressed him, that Anger who would have caused gladness to my enemies. When bursting forth, he blinds the eye of the mind induces man to nothing good. It is he who I did subdue, 0 king and Anger is his name. "Yea, I have destroyed that hideous-looking ferocious monster as he fought to arise within me. For Anger, once subdued, cannot cause a man to leave his good intentions behind or lose the profit obtained before. Just as fire, through the process of attrition, arises from a piece of wood to the destruction of that very log, the false conceptions that wrath produces in the mind of men tends to their own ruin. "He who is not able to appease the heart-burning fever of anger, when fire-like it bursts forth with fierceness, such a man is little esteemed. His reputation fades away in the same way that the moonbeam that befriends the water lilies fades in the blush of dawn. However, he who refrains from heeding the insults of other people considers anger to be his real enemy, well his reputation ever shines with the auspicious luster that streams down from that crescent disc. "Further, anger is attended to by other noxious qualities. Though resplendent with ornaments, an angry man looks ugly since the fire of his wrath strips him of beauteous splendor. Though lying on a precious couch, he does not rest at his ease because his heart has been wounded by the anger's arrow. Bewildered by wrath, a man forgets to keep to the path by which he can reach the happiness that suit s him. Running down the wrong road, he forfeits the happiness that comes from having a good reputation, just as the moon is deprived of its luster during the dark part of its course. "By wrath he throws himself headlong into ruin, in spite of the efforts of his friends to restrain him. As a rule the stupid rage of hatred acts to impair the power of his mind and so he is unable to distinguish between what is good for him and what is bad. Carried away by his anger, he will commit sinful actions that will lead to misfortunes to come for centuries. Could any enemy whose wrath has been provoked by severe injuries do any worse? "Anger is the adversary within us, this I know. Who could possibly bear the free course of its insolence? For this reason I did not release my anger, although it was struggling to gain a footing within me. Who, indeed, may suffer himself to overlook an enemy that is able to do such mischief?" The heart-moving words and the marvelous forbearance of the Bodhisattva acted to possess, softened and convert the mind of that king. "Worthy, indeed, of your tranquillity of mind are these words you have spoken!" said the king. "But why use many words? I was deceived because I did not understand you." After thus praising the Bodhisattva, the king approached the ascetic, threw himself down at the Great Being's feet, and confessed his sin. And after obtaining her pardon, the king dismissed that female ascetic and offered to serve as the Bodhisattva's attendant. In this manner a man by keeping down his anger appeases his enemies, but doing otherwise he will inflame them. Thus considering, one ought to strive after the suppression of anger. This story is also to be told in connection with such sayings as praise the precept of forbearance. "In this manner unfriendly feelings are set at rest by friendliness, and by self-restraint hatred is not allowed to grow." Likewise, "In this manner he who banishes anger acts to the benefit of both." |
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On hearing this order, fear, alarm, and dismay of
the Bodhisattva's wife was reflected by her changed countenance. It was
as if she were a deer that had been assailed by a ferocious animal.
with her eyes full of tears and overpowered by her grief, she lamented
her fate in a faltering voice: "To mankind, overcome by sufferings, the
king is the best refuge, like a father it is said. But whose help can
be implored by him to whom the king himself acts as an evildoer?