Buddhist birth stories; or, Jataka tales, Volume 1
Religion
Buddhist birth stories; or, Jataka tales, Volume 1
Jataka stories, English
121. As the death of all mortals is sure and constant,
So the word of the glorious Buddhas is sure and everlasting.
122. As the rising of the sun is certain when night has faded,
So the word of the glorious Buddhas is sure and everlasting.
123. As the roaring of a lion who has left his den is certain,
So the word of the glorious Buddhas is sure and everlasting.
124. As the delivery of women with child is certain,
So the word of the glorious Buddhas is sure and everlasting.
And having thus made the resolution, “I shall surely become Buddha,”
with a view to investigating the conditions that constitute a Buddha,
exclaiming, “Where are the conditions that make the Buddha, are they
found above or below, in the principal or the minor directions?”
investigating successively the principles of all things, and beholding
the first Perfection of Almsgiving, practised and followed by former
Bodhisattas, he thus admonished his own soul: “Wise Sumedha, from this
time forth thou must fulfil the perfection of Almsgiving; for as a
water-jar overturned discharges the water so that none remains, and
cannot recover it, even so if thou, indifferent to wealth and fame, and
wife and child, and goods great and small, give away to all who come
and ask everything that they require till nought remains, thou shalt
seat thyself at the foot of the tree of Bodhi and become a Buddha.”
With these words he strenuously resolved to attain the first perfection
of Almsgiving. Therefore it is said,
125. Come, I will search the Buddha-making conditions, this way and
that,
Above and below, in all the ten directions, as far as the
principles of things extend.
126. Then, as I made my search, I beheld the first Gift-perfection,
The high road followed by former sages.
127. Do thou strenuously taking it upon thyself advance
To this first perfection of almsgiving, if thou wilt attain
Buddhaship.
128. As a brimming water-jar, overturned by any one,
Discharges entirely all the water, and retains none within,
129. Even so, when thou seest any that ask, great, small, and middling,
Do thou give away all in alms, as the water-jar overthrown.
But considering further, “There must be beside this other conditions
that make a Buddha,” and beholding the second Perfection of Moral
Practice, he thought thus, “O wise Sumedha, from this day forth mayest
thou fulfil the perfection of Morality; for as the Yak ox, regardless
of his life, guards his bushy tail, even so thou shalt become Buddha,
if from this day forward regardless of thy life thou keepest the moral
precepts.” And he strenuously resolved to attain the second perfection
of Moral Practice. Therefore it is said,
130. For the conditions of a Buddha cannot be so few,
Let me investigate the other conditions that bring Buddhaship
to maturity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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