THE JATAKAMALA
Table of Contents:

The Tigress
The King of the Sibis
Small Portion of Gruel
Head of a Guild
The Invincible One
The Hare
The Sage Agastya
Maitribala
Prince Visvantara
The Sacrifice
Lord of the Devas
The Brahman
Unmadayanti
Suparaga
Lord of Fishes
The Quail's Young
The Story of the Jar
The Childless One
The Lotus Stalks
The Treasurer
Kuddabodhi
The Holy Swan
Mahabodhi
The Great Ape
Sarabha
The Ruru Deer
The Monkey Chief
Kshantivadin
The Brahmaloka Inhabitant
The Elephant
Sutasoma
Ayogriha
The Buffalo
The Woodpecker

Adapted from the 19th century translation by J. S Speyer

"At the very moment when you desired to walk on the right road while exhibiting the pious behavior prescribed by the True Lore, you destroyed in your heart harsh feelings against the virtues. Therefore, let your wealth be an instrument for obtaining virtues. Moreover, exercise mercy on behalf of your people,
for its auspicious nature will act to increase your own happiness. Be also constant in keeping to the excellent restraint
of the senses and keep to the path of good conduct."

Since the tenets of unbelief are blamable, those who are possessed by the vice of clinging to a false belief are especially worthy of the commiseration of the virtuous. This will be taught as follows.

One time the Bodhisattva, having gathered by dint of his constant practice of meditation (dhyana) obtained a store of good karma, and in consequence of the ripening of that merit obtained thereby a birth as a Deva-Rishi in the Heaven of Brahma (Brahmaloka). Nevertheless, that high happiness of the Brahmaloka that he had attained as the effect of the excellence of his meditation, did not destroy his longing for the task of benefiting others, owing to his having always been conversant with commiseration in his former existences. Worldly people become utterly careless because of their indulgence in sensual pleasures; however, the frequent absorption in the delight of meditation, however ideal, does not obscure the pious mind's desire for benefiting others.

While residing in the Brahma-heaven, where Compassion finds its proper sphere of action, the High-minded One cast his gaze down upon the Region of Sensuality below, which is visited by hundreds of different forms of sufferings and calamities, and contains the elements of moral illnesses, disasters, injuries against living beings, and sensual pleasures.

While observing the Region of Sensuality, the High-minded One perceived the King of Videha, who was erring in the wilderness of a wrong belief. King Angadinna's wrongful views were partially due to the fault of his intercourse with bad friends, as well as in consequence of his own ardent attachment to false thoughts.

"There is no other world after this," thought that king. "Therefore, how could anything like result ever ripen out of one's good or evil actions?"

In conformity with this belief, the king's longing for religious practices had been extinguished. Having become averse to performing the pious works of charity, good conduct (sila), and the rest, that king harbored a deep-rooted contempt for the religious life. Moreover, owing to his want of faith he bore ill-will with regard to religious law-books. He laughed at tales concerning the other world and showed but little respect and honor when he encountered the holy Sramanas and Brahmans, whom he held in little esteem for he had exclusively given himself up to sensual pleasures.

The king was overwhelmed by the luster of the Deva-Rishi, who blazed like a mass of fire. He shined brilliantly as if he were an agglomeration of lightning, casting about a great brilliancy of intense light that resembled a collection of sun-rays. Alarmed by that vision, the king rose from his seat to reverently greet the Deva-rishi with folded hands. The king then respectfully gazed up a that luminous being standing in the air and said: "The sky makes a resting-place for your feet as if it were the earth, 0 you being with lotus-like feet. You shine far and wide, bearing the luster of the sun, so to speak. Who are you, whose form is a delight to my eyes?"

The Bodhisattva replied: "Know, 0 king, that I am one of those Deva-Rishis who has attained Brahma's heaven, due to the power of the mind's strong and assiduous attachment to religion I have vanquished the two proud foes known as love and hatred, which are like the two haughty chiefs of a hostile army in battle."

Upon hearing these words, the king offered the High-minded One the hospitable reception that is due to a worthy guest. Then, as he cast admiring looks at his guest's face, the king said: "Very wonderful, 0 Great Rishi, is your figure. Indeed, your power is supernatural. Without clinging to the walls of a building, you walk in the sky as easily as one walks on the earth. Tell me, 0 you whose brightness has the luster of a flash of lightning, how did you obtain such supernatural power?"

The Bodhisattva replied: "O king, such superhuman power is the result of meditation (dhyana), spotless good conduct (sila), and exercising an excellent restraint over the senses, which I have so practiced in so many other existences that they have long since become essential elements of my nature."

"Does there exist in earnest anything like a world hereafter?" inquired the king.

"Verily, Your Majesty, there is a world hereafter," replied the Deva-Rishi.

"But, my dear sir, how should I too be able to believe so?" asked the king.

"This is a tangible truth, Your Majesty, which may be proved by reasoning with the ordinary modes of proof (pramana): perception by the senses, inference and analogy," answered the Bodhisattva. "It is exemplified by the declarations of reliable persons, and may be tested by the method of accurate examination.

"Do but consider this, O monarch. The heaven with its ornament of sun, moon and stars, and many-shaped variety of animals, is the world hereafter in a concrete and visible form. Let not your mind be benumbed by skepticism so as not to perceive this truth. Furthermore, there are now and then those who remember their former existences owing to their practice of meditation as well as the vividness of their memory. From this it must likewise be inferred, there exists a world after this.

"As for my own appearance before you today, do I not provide you with the evidence of a witness? Moreover, you must infer its existence also from this. The perfection of the intellect presupposes a previous existence of that intellect. The rudimentary intellect of the fetus is the uninterrupted continuation of the intellect in the preceding existence.

"Further, it is the faculty for catching matter of knowledge that is called intellect (buddhi). For this reason, there must be a sphere of employment for the intellect at the beginning of existence. But it is not possible to find it in this world, because of the absence of the eyes and the other organs of sense. By inference, the place where it is to be found, is the other world.

"It is known by experience that children diverge from the nature of their fathers and show discrepancies of conduct and the like. Now, since this fact cannot arise without a cause, it follows that we have to do here with habits acquired in other existences.

"Though his mental powers are wholly rude and his organs of sense in a torpid state, that the new-born child makes an effort to take to the breast without being instructed so and even as a state of deep sleep approaches. This proves his having in a former existences exercised himself as to the fit ways of taking his food just as practice in perfecting the mind sharpens its faculty for acquiring knowledge for different special performances.

"Since you are not accustomed to the idea of the existence of another world, perhaps you may still be doubtful about this last statement. Should this be the case, you should therefore reason in the following manner. The lotuses that shut and open themselves are a proof of their having already practiced these movements in other existences. Otherwise, this not being admitted, why would one affirm that the suckling's effort of taking the breast is the effect of exertion made in previous births?

"O king you are obliged to put aside that doubt when you consider that in one case there is compulsion, in the other freedom, and exertion is not made there, but that it is made here. In the case of the lotuses, their opening and shutting depends on time, but the effort to take the breast does not so. Moreover, there is no exertion in that lotus for it is the power of the sun that causes that lotus to expand. But in the case of the suckling, the exertion is indeed self-evident. In this manner, then, Your Majesty, by undertaking a close and careful examination it is possible to have faith in the world hereafter."

The king, however, remained deeply attached to the false lore he had previously professed. Since the extent of his sin was large, he felt uneasy on hearing that account of the other world, and spoke: "Why, O great Rishi, if the next world is not that well-known bug-bear for children, or if you judge it fit for me to believe in it, well then, lend me five hundred gold coins (nishkas) right now, and I shall give you back one thousand in the next existence."

Now when the king, according to his habitual boldness, had uttered without scruple these unbecoming words as if he were vomiting up the poison of his own wrongful belief, the Bodhisattva answered him in a very proper way: "Still in this world those who wish to employ their money, in order to augment it, do not make any loan at all to a wicked person or a glutton or a block-head or a sluggard. For wealth going to such persons tends to their ruin. But if they see one who is bashful, exhibits thoroughly subdued senses, and is skilled in business, to such a one they offer a loan, even though unwitnessed. Such a bestowal of money produces bliss.

"The very same line of conduct must be followed, 0 king, with respect to a debt payable in the world hereafter. But it is not suitable to contract such a loan with one who is a person of wicked behavior due to the evil doctrine you profess. For, at the time when, being precipitated into hell by your own cruel actions,originating as they do from the sin of upholding a wicked lore, you will lie there, sore with pains and paralyzed in your mental powers. Who would then wish to call upon you to repay a debt of one thousand gold coins?

"There the regions of the sky do not shine in their full feminine beauty illuminated by the beams of sun and moon--the destroyers of the veil of darkness. Nor is the firmament there seen with its ornamental crowds of stars, like a lake embellished by unclosed water lilies.

"The place where the unbelievers dwell in the next world is encompassed with thick darkness And an icy wind prevails there, which penetrates to the very bone and is extremely painful. Who, being wise, would enter that hell in order to obtain money?

"Some wander for a long time on the bottom of that hell, which is wrapped in dense obscurity and dull with pungent smoke. They who are afflicted there draw along rags fastened with leather thongs and cry out with pain whenever they tumble over one another.

"Likewise others are running with wounded feet again and again in all directions in the Hell of the Flaming Chaff. They long for their deliverance from thence, but attain neither the end of their sin nor their life. The terrible servants of Yama carve like carpenters the limbs of others as if they were fresh timber, fastening them in different ways and taking delight in cutting various shapes with sharp knives. Others are stripped of their skin, or even bereaved of their own flesh, Although living skeletons, they cannot die; groaning with pain, they are kept alive by their own evil actions. Likewise those others who are cut up into pieces.

"Others draw flaming chariots for a long time. Wearing broad flaming bits in their mouths, they submit to harnesses and goads of a tawny hue that is fiery. The iron grounds on which they draw are heated by an unceasing fire.

Some have their bodies crushed when they meet Mount Sawghata and are ground to dust by its incursion; nevertheless, even in that great suffering of the most intense degree, they cannot die before their evil karma has been annihilated.

"Still others are ground to dust with big and flaming brazen pestles in troughs lit by incandescent fire during a succession of full five hundred years, and yet even then they do not lose life. Others again hang with their heads or feet tied to rough trees made red-hot like corals. They are beset and beaten by demons equipped with flaming thorns of sharp iron, as attendants chide them with harsh cries.

"Others enjoy the fruit of their conduct by lying on large heaps of burning coals, flaming and resembling molten gold. Thereby exposed to their fate, they are helpless to do anything but lie there and moan. Some howl with tongues hanging out of their mouths, while their bodies are pierced by hundreds of sharp spears as they lie on a ground that is illuminated by the garlands of flames that rise out of it. It is during this time that they are made to believe that there exists something like a world beyond this. There are others whose heads are encircled with flaming diadems of brass, boiled in pots of brass, wounded by the sharp stings of showers of weapons, or devoured by crowds of ferocious animals who gnaw them down to the bone.

Others again, exhausted by toil, enter the salt water of the Vaitarawi, but that water is painful to touch like fire, and their flesh wears away from their limbs, when in it, but not their life, kept up by their evil actions. And those who afflicted because of the intense torment caused by burning, have resorted to (the hell named) A-yu^iku^apa [the hell of unclean corpses] as to"a pond of fresh water, meet there with unparalleled pain. Their bones are brought to decomposition by hundreds of worms.

"Elsewhere others undergo the pain of being burnt for a long time. Surrounded by fire, their bodies flame like iron staves surrounded by flames. Yet they do not burn to ashes, being kept alive by their actions. There is sawing of others with fiery saws, cutting of others with sharp razors. Of others the heads are crushed with hammers quickly swung, so as to make them yell with anguish.

"Some are roasted over a smokeless fire or bodies pierced by broad iron-spits. Others again are compelled to drink a blazing brew of liquid brass, which makes them utter raw cries. then there are those who are assailed by spotted dogs of great strength who employ their sharp-biting teeth in order to strip the very flesh from each person's limbs. They loudly cry out in pain as their lacerated bodies fall on the ground.

"Of such a nature are the tremendous torments in the different hells. If you, impelled by your karma, shall once have reached that state, who then would think of calling upon you for repayment when you are sore with sorrow and your mind is afflicted with exhaustion and sadness?

"Perhaps you will stay in the hell of brazen jars that are filled with the corpses of wicked people. They are hard to approach due to the flames of the fires that heats them. Who would think of calling upon one who is helplessly exposed to the suffering of being boiled in order to collect on a debt? Or you may lie with tied limbs on flaming iron pins or on the ground made red-hot by a blazing fire. While you are piteously weeping and your body burning away, who then would think of calling upon you for the repayment of a debt at that time?

"Who would require that debt from you, when you will have reached that wretched state of humiliation, undergoing terrible sufferings and not even able to make any answer? Or suppose that your bones are pierced by an icy wind with the power to destroy even your groaning, or that you are engaged in uttering cries of torment even as your body is being torn asunder. Who would dare ask you for money in the other world then?

"Or, if you were exposed to the injuries of Yama's attendants, or left to lie in the midst of fiery flames, or if dogs and crows were to feast on your flesh and blood, who would make a call for the return of that money in the other world? Besides, when you are about to undergo an uninterrupted torture by the various modes of tearing up your body--striking or cutting, beating or cleaving, burning or carving, or grinding or splitting--how should you be able to give back that debt to me at that time?"

The Bodhisattva's extremely fearful account of the hells missed not its effect upon the king. Hearing of its fierce and varied consequences, the monarch became alarmed and thereafter abandoned his attachment to the false lore. And having obtained faith in the world hereafter, he bowed to that illustrious Rishi and spoke:

"After being apprised of those tortures in the different hells, my mind almost dissolved from fear. On the other hand, I feel a burning sense of anxiety, considering how I might take shelter from such terrible pain. For, as short-sighted as I was, I walked on the wrong road, my mind perverted by a wicked doctrine. Now then, let your Reverence be my guide here, you know the right way. You are my authority and my refuge, 0 Muni.

"As the rising sun dispels darkness, so you have dispelled the darkness of my false opinions. In the very same manner, 0 Rishi, you must teach me the road, upon which I may not attain such miseries after death."

Perceiving the king's emotion and understanding that he had changed his opinion for the better and had now become a vessel fit for accepting the Law, the Bodhisattva instructed him out of pity, like a father would instruct his own son or a teacher would instruct his pupil.

"The glorious way leading to Heaven is that by which the kings of old went, who displayed their love of virtues by behaving like good pupils towards the Sramanas and Brahmans as well as by manifesting their compassion for their own subjects by means of their own good behavior. Therefore, subdue injustice, which is very difficult to subdue, and overcome vile covetousness, which is very difficult to overcome! In this manner you may mount a luminous being and reach the city of the Lord of Heaven, a place that is adorned by golden gates that are resplendent with the most excellent jewels.

"May your approval of the lore cherished by the virtuous, although accepted in a mind accustomed to wickedness, be steadfast. Renounce the latter, which is a system of injustice that is proclaimed by people who are intent on gratifying fools.

"At the very moment when you desired to walk on the right road while exhibiting the pious behavior prescribed by the True Lore, you destroyed in your heart harsh feelings against the virtues. Therefore, let your wealth be an instrument for obtaining virtues. Moreover, exercise mercy on behalf of your people, for its auspicious nature will act to increase your own happiness. Be also constant in keeping to the excellent restraint
of the senses and keep to the path of good conduct. In acting in such a manner, no calamity in the next world may you incur."

"Let your rule, 0 king, derive its entire brilliancy from the luster of your own meritorious actions. Let it be relied upon by those who practice good actions, let it become lovely by means of its purity. So ruling you will strive for your own true happiness together with your material interest, and thereby exterminate the anguish of the creatures, increasing thereby your glory in a lovely manner.

"Here on Earth as you stand on your royal war-chariot, let the worship of the pious be your charioteer. Let your own body, engendering virtues, be your chariot. Let friendliness be its axle, self-restraint and charity its wheels, and the earnest desire for gathering merit its axle-tree.

"Control your horses, the organs of sense, with that splendid bridle named attentiveness. Make prudence your goad and seize your weapons from the store of sacred learning. Let shame be the furniture of your chariot, humility its lovely pole, forbearance its yoke. Standing on that chariot, you will drive it skillfully, for so long as you remain firm in courageous self-command.

"By keeping down bad words you will make that chariot go without any rattling of its wheels. If you use lovely language, the sound of their movements will always be grave and deep. By never breaking your self-restraint, you may preserve that chariot from the looseness of its constituent parts. And keep the right direction if you wish to avoid going astray on the winding paths of wicked actions.

"Using that vehicle (yana) which brilliant with the luster of wisdom, adorned by the flag of good renown and the high-floating banner of tranquillity, and followed by mercy as its attendance, you will move in the direction of the Highest Self and never shall you descend to the infernal regions, 0 king."

Having thus dispelled by the brilliant beams of his words that darkness of false lore that lay upon the mind of the king, and having shown him clearly the road to happiness, the High-minded One disappeared on the spot. Having received a thorough knowledge concerning the matters of the next world, the king embraced the True Lore with his whole heart, and together with his officials, his townsmen, and landsmen, became intent on exercising charity, self-command, and self-restraint.

In this manner, then, those who are possessed by the vice of clinging to a false belief are especially worth commiserating by the virtuous; for the tenets of unbelief are blamable.

This story may also be adduced with this conclusion: "In this manner listening to the preaching of the Excellent Law (saddharma), fills up with overflowing faith."

Or with this: "In this manner hearing the Law preached by another, rouses faith productive of right belief."

And when adducing it in a discourse on praise of the virtuous, likewise on the subject of forbearance, this is to be said: "In this manner the virtuous will parry even a hostile attack by counseling their enemy for his good, and they will do so without harshness in consequence of their being accustomed to forbearance."

Also when treating of sawvega, it is to be said:"In this manner emotion of the mind makes a man Inclined to care for his salvation."

1 Sawvega is the emotional state which prepares the mind to accept spiritual instruction or to take the vow of a religious life.

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