Buddhist birth stories; or, Jataka tales, Volume 1
Religion
Buddhist birth stories; or, Jataka tales, Volume 1
Jataka stories, English
The people of both towns took the Bodisat and went to Kapilavastu.
On that day too, the choirs of angels in the Tāvatiŋsa heaven were
astonished and joyful; and waved their cloaks and rejoiced, saying, “In
Kapilavastu, to Suddhodana the king, a son is born, who, seated under
the Bo-tree, will become a Buddha.”
At that time an ascetic named Kāḷa Devala (a confidential adviser
of Suddhodana the king, who had passed through the eight stages of
religious attainment)[179] had eaten his mid-day meal, and had gone to
the Tāvatiŋsa heaven, to rest through the heat of the day. Whilst there
sitting resting, he saw these angels, and asked them, “Why are you thus
glad at heart and rejoicing? Tell me the reason of it.”
The angels replied, “Sir, to Suddhodana the king is born a son, who
seated under the Bo-tree will become a Buddha, and will found a Kingdom
of Righteousness.[180] To us it will be given to see his infinite grace
and to hear his word. Therefore it is that we are glad!”
The ascetic, hearing what they said, quickly came down from the
angel-world, and entering the king’s house, sat down on the seat set
apart for him, and said, “A son they say is born to you, O king! let me
see him.”
The king ordered his son to be clad in splendour and brought in to
salute the ascetic. But the future Buddha turned his feet round, and
planted them on the matted hair of the ascetic.[181] For in that birth
there was no one worthy to be saluted by the Bodisat, and if those
ignorant ones had placed the head of the future Buddha at the feet of
the ascetic, assuredly the ascetic’s head would have split in two. The
ascetic rose from his seat, and saying, “It is not right for me to work
my own destruction,” he did homage to the Bodisat. And the king also
seeing this wonder did homage to his own son.
Now the ascetic had the power of calling to mind the events of forty
ages (kalpas) in the past, and of forty ages in the future. Looking at
the marks of future prosperity on the Bodisat’s body, he considered
with himself, “Will he become a Buddha or not?” And perceiving that he
would most certainly become a Buddha, he smiled, saying, “This is a
wonderful child.” Then reflecting, “Will it be given to me to behold
him when he has become a Buddha?” he perceived that it would not.
“Dying before that time I shall be reborn in the Formless World; so
that while a hundred or perhaps a thousand Buddhas appear among men, I
shall not be able to go and be taught by them. And it will not be my
good fortune to behold this so wonderful child when he has become a
Buddha. Great, indeed, is my loss!” And he wept.
The people seeing this, asked, saying, “Our master just now smiled, and
has now begun to weep! Will, sir, any misfortune befall our master’s
little one?”[182]
“There is no misfortune in him; assuredly he will become a Buddha,” was
the reply.
“Why then do you weep?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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