“ Then Mṛgadhara thought, “If Bhagavant allows it, I will call Viśākhā my mother.” Going to Bhagavant, he touched his feet and said, “O worthy of reverence, is it allowable for a man to call his daughter-in-law his mother?” Bhagavant replied, “If she has five qualities. If she is a nurse to the sick, if she lives in wedlock as a decorous wife, if she protects living creatures, if she is a good guardian of property, and if she has inherited wisdom—in that case she may be called mother.”
Thereupon Mṛgadhara went to King Prasenajit of Kośala and asked for leave to call Viśākhā his mother. ”

“ He who wishes to come into existence in the house of a Brahman is like unto one who from love of golden fetters sets his own feet in bondage. Now will the Bodisat, after having thrice accomplished the purification of the Kāmāvaćara gods, descend from the region of the Tushita gods, and at midnight, as a snow-white elephant like unto the Airāvaṇa, with six tusks and seven splendid limbs, enter the womb of Mahāmāyā, the wife of King Śuddhōdhana, in that monarch’s Śākya seat, not far distant from the hermitage of the Rishi Kapila, on the shore of the Ganges, in the neighbourhood of the Himalaya. ”

“ The jackal answered, “When the Ganges flows upwards, when the raven has the colour of curdled milk, then shalt thou be virtuous. When the snake and the ichneumon dwell in the same hole, and put up with each other, then shalt thou be virtuous. When a man, making clothes out of the hair of a tortoise, shall be able to provide himself thereby with a winter garment, then shalt thou be virtuous. When one shall have made a ladder out of the feet of flies, and climbed up it into heaven, then shalt thou be virtuous. ”

“ As a king of the law, according to the law he ruled over that city, which was blest with wealth, plenty, prosperity, fruitfulness, and a large population, richly provided with rice, sugar-cane, oxen, and buffaloes, and free from disease, discord, quarrels, uproar, strife, and robbery. The king’s faith was pure and his mind virtuous, he bethought himself of his own welfare and that of others, he was full of compassion, constant in magnanimity, and kindly towards mankind. ”

“ Then Śakra, the prince of the gods, laid the palms of his hands together, and thus prayed to Mahābrahma:—
“O Mahābrahma, art thou not Brahma, Mahābrahma, the ruler, the worker, the bestower, the spell-wielder, the lord, the most high, and, as father of the worlds, the creator of all beings? Lo, a deity belonging to our court, a dweller upon the earth, is in danger of being driven away from a tree-habitation. Be pleased, therefore, to bestow a son upon the respected Brahman Nyagrodha of the city of Nyagrodhika.” ”

“ Being wearied, he entered the water to bathe; and as he did so he saw the reflection of his face in the water, and thought, “As I have the eighteen signs of uncomeliness and a face like a lion, and as on that account the king’s daughter takes no pleasure in me, it is needless that such a one as I should remain alive. I will go and put myself to death.” ”

“ It happened one day that King Bimbisāra of Magadha went out on the roof of his palace, and there, surrounded by his band of ministers, he indulged in light talk, asking them what courtesans they had seen. Gopāla said, “O king, there are others besides, but in Vaiśālī there is one of exquisite youth and beauty, Āmrapālī by name. She is versed in the sixty-four arts of love, and deserves, O king, to be enjoyed by thee.” The king replied, “If that be so, Gopāla, I will betake myself to Vaiśālī and enjoy myself with her.” ”

“ His wives said, “Be of good cheer, your majesty; unto thee a son is born.” Thereupon the king ordered all stones, gravel, and rubble to be cast forth from the city, the streets to be swept and sprinkled with sandal-water, standards and banners to be set up, extremely fragrant incense to be provided, flowers to be strewed, as though he had been delighted by various dreams, gifts to be bestowed upon the Śramaṇas, the Brahmans, the poor and the needy, and freedom to be given to all prisoners. After thrice seven days, on the twenty-first day, he appointed a great birth-feast. ”

“ Whereupon he broke them into fragments like grains of sesame. Moreover he shot an arrow uninjured through the seven palm-trees, the seven kettledrums, and the seven boars, and remained standing like Sumeru unremoved. Thereupon the heaven-inhabiting gods and many hundreds of thousands of Kinnarīs set up a cry of triumph with noise and shouting. When the Kinnarī king, Druma, saw and heard all this, he marvelled greatly.
After that the king placed Manoharā in the middle of a thousand Kinnarīs exactly like her, and said to the youth Sudhana, “Come hither, O youth, and recognise Manoharā.” ”

“ Therefore is it meet that you, fulfilling my hopes, should give me the children. And why? One who gave away the earth, clothed with the ocean as with a garment, possessing the corn-fields as its incomparable eyes, the mighty hills as the upper parts of its body with breasts, and supporting towns and villages, would not be equal in might to you.”
When the Bodisat Viśvaṇtara had heard these words of the Brahman, he laid aside the longing which clung to the children, saying to himself, “If I give the two children to the Brahman, Madrī and I will feel the pain of parting with the children. ”

“ Then in all haste the troop of men who dwelt there, with clenched fists, and armed with bows and arrows and battle-axes, betook themselves to the Tinduka tree and began to cut it down. Fear came upon the monkeys, and they sprang to and fro on the tree. But the chief sat still and did nothing. The monkeys said to him, “O chief, wherefore do you sit there tranquilly, while we are running to and fro in the pangs of intolerable misery?” He replied in a verse—
“The busy and the idle are like unto each other. The ends of the tree are many; let food be taken by him who is intent upon his life.” ”

“ Some Brahmans versed in the Vedas met him and said, “O Kshatriya youth, may you be victorious!” And they added thereto, “Through the whole world are you renowned as one who gives all things away. Therefore it is meet that you should confer this chariot as a gift on the Brahmans.” When they had thus spoken, the Bodisat Viśvaṇtara swiftly alighted from the chariot, and, while with joyful heart he gave the chariot to the Brahmans, he said, “As I have given away the chariot with the greatest pleasure, so may I, giving away the three worlds, become possessed of the greatest insight!” ”

“ The Rishi replied, “O great king, it is not your power which has brought this about, nor yet that of your wives, princes, ministers, warriors, towns-people, or country-folk. But there are four living creatures in your realm whose power has done so.” The king said, “If this be so, I will go to see them.” The Rishi said, “Wherefore do you wish to see them? Rather adopt the course of life which they have adopted, and live according to it.” ”

“ When you see two rams butting one another, break a horn off each of them and you will find your way. When you see two iron men holding fear-inspiring weapons, strike down one of them and you will find your way. When you see a Rākshasī with iron lips opening and shutting her mouth, fling a wedge at her forehead. Then you must leap across the fount with the wild whirlpool, which measures sixty fathoms. You must bend your bow and slay Yakshas and Rākshasas with lion-yellow hair and eyes, difficult to resist and hard to approach. Many rivers, also, filled with alligators, must you cross. ”

“ Venerable sir, when Bhagavant dwelling as the Bodisat in the Tushita region had arranged the five considerations respecting caste, race, country, time and wife, and had let the six Kāmāvachara gods three times perform the rites of purification, and in the form of an elephant had consciously entered the mother’s womb, at that time the great earth quaked violently, and those regions of the world which enjoy the light neither of the sun nor of the moon, and therefore are filled with utter darkness, were illumined with the greatest brilliance ”

“ It is usually the swan’s feather-dress or bird-husk on which the liberty of the captured maiden depends. While she is deprived of it she must live on earth as a mortal’s wife. But if she can recover it, she becomes a bird once more, and soars heavenward. Manoharā is captured by means of a magic chain. But her power of flying through the air depends upon her possession of a jewel. ”

“ When the arrow of passion, which is ever connected with woes and with longing to enjoy the bliss of love, without letting itself be warned off from the abyss of misfortune due to all those woes—when this arrow strikes the heart, shot from the careless bow with a scarcely audible sound arising from the longing after a meeting, then, completely befooled by senses which hang upon the fair one, a man falls, like a moth, into the flame. ”

“ Jīvaka said, “O man, I have never seen you before; how, then, could I have cured you?” The blind man replied, “That is true; but he to whom you did prescribe a remedy taught me what to do.”
“What did he teach you to do?”
“Such and such things.”
“Your nature and that man’s nature are different,” said Jīvaka. “Now do this and that, and you will be made whole.”
The man acted accordingly and was made whole. Then he said, “O king, be pleased to let Jīvaka be appointed king of the physicians.” So Jīvaka was seated upon an elephant, and with great pomp was installed king of the physicians. ”

“ It happened once that he sat, resting his cheek upon his hand, absorbed by the thought that, since he had neither son nor daughter, his family would be extinct after his death, the treasures heaped up within his house would pass into other hands, and another king would rule over all that had been his. As he sat there thus absorbed in meditation, the Śramaṇas and Brahmans, his friends, companions, and kinsmen, asked him why he was so downcast. When he had fully explained the whole matter to them, they said, “Be pleased to pray to the gods. Then will a son be born unto you.” ”

“ Now the youth Sudhana was a Bodisat, and Bodisats are versed in all arts and in every kind of skill. Moreover, the gods take pains to remove all hindrances out of their way. The Bodisat stepped forth, surrounded by many thousands of Kinnarīs, amid dance and song, and to the sound of the harps, kettledrums, cymbals, lutes, drums, and the rest of the instruments of various kinds made by the gods. ”

“ With eyes filled with tears, he wandered through the squares, the streets, and the roads of Vārāṇasī, and, plagued by hunger, in order to obtain food, he went to the spot where the day-labourers betook themselves. At that time the householder Gautama was building himself a house. As he was looking for day-labourers, the young merchant was brought up to him by one of the others. But the youth seemed to him too young and too little accustomed to work of that kind, so he ordered another man to be sought for. ”

“ When you, O king, sitting one day in the midst of your court, asked whom one might venture to trust, and the ministers replied one’s father, or mother, or sister, or comrades, but you, O king, said that a man should intrust a secret to his wife, because a man’s wife is the half of his body, then did I entertain the idea of bringing the whole matter before the eyes of the king. ”

“ Go and order the five good horses to be placed at the edge of a piece of water. Then let the king and the ministers meet together at that place and give their opinions on the matter. If it turns out that, as the woman says, the merchant has really enjoyed her, then let the five good horses be given to her. But if it be proved that he did so only in a dream, then let her be shown the image of the horses in the water. If she says that she can neither grasp nor use them, then let her be told that, just as it is impossible to grasp that image, so is it also with the fruition of love in a dream. ”

“ When Mahaushadha had looked at the king’s letter, he went at once to the king. When the people of that land saw him, they all paid reverence to him, and he spoke words of encouragement to them, and fixed their taxes according to law, and succoured the poor and lowly and helpless. To the townspeople and the country-folk he gave presents, greeting and embracing [151] them as if they were his parents, brothers, and kinsmen. The old men of the land, and the young people and the women, looked upon him as a son or a brother. ”

“ Madrī reflected for a moment, recognising inauspicious omens, for the air resounded with wailing notes, and the beings inhabiting the forest gave forth sorrowful sounds, and she came to the conclusion that some disaster had certainly taken place in the hermitage, and said, “As my eye twitches, as the birds utter cries, as fear comes upon me, both my children have certainly been given away; as the earth quakes, as my heart trembles, as my body grows weak, my two children have certainly been given away.” ”

“ In long past times King Brahmadatta came to the throne in Vārāṇasī. A man, who had gone with his axe and wood-basket into the forest to fetch wood, was frightened by a lion while looking for wood, and in running away fell into a pit. Into it fell likewise the lion which was intending to devour him. A mouse, which had been frightened by a snake, ran away from it, and a falcon pursued the mouse, in order to devour it. They all four fell into the pit, and they all entertained the evil design of putting each other to death. ”