The Gâtakamâlâ; Or, Garland of Birth-StoriesAryasura
Religion
The Gâtakamâlâ; Or, Garland of Birth-Stories
Aryasura
Gautama Buddha -- Pre-existence
15. 'By the thunderbolt of his curse he might change a mountain into
dust, if he were to pronounce the word "perish," and still, he does not
break silence, whilst his wife is thus injured! And I must live to see
this, wretched woman that I am!
16. 'Or am I a bad person, scarcely deserving pity after coming into
this distress? But ascetics ought to behave with compassion towards any
one in distress. Is not this their proper line of conduct?
17. 'I am afraid you bear in mind even now my refusal to leave you, when
you ordered me to turn back. Alas! Is then this catastrophe the
happiness I longed for through the fulfilment of my own wish though
contrary to yours?'
While she thus lamented--and what else could she do, that female
ascetic, but cry and wail and weep in piteous accents?--the royal
attendants, obeying the orders of the king, placed her on a chariot,
and before the very eyes of the Great Being carried her off to the
zenana. The Bodhisattva, however, had repressed his powerful anger by
the power of his tranquillity, and was sewing his rags just as before
without the slightest perturbation, as calm and serene as ever. To him
the king spoke:
18. 'Threatening words of indignation and anger you uttered in a loud
and strength-betraying voice, but now, on seeing that beauty ravished
before your eyes, you keep quiet and are cast down because you have no
power.
19. 'Why, show your wrath, either by the strength of your arm or by the
splendid power you have accumulated as the result of your penance. He
who, not knowing the compass of his own faculties, takes an engagement
he cannot keep, such a one loses his splendour, you know.'
The Bodhisattva replied: 'Know that I did keep my engagement, Your
Majesty.
20. 'He who was ready in that case against me
To act and struggled--I did not release him,
But kept him down, made him by force be quiet,
So you must own that I made true my promise.'
That excessive firmness of mind of the Bodhisattva, proved by his
tranquillity, did not fail to inspire the king with respect for the
virtues of the ascetic. And he began to reflect: 'This Brâhman must have
hinted at something else, speaking thus, and I, not understanding his
mind, committed a rash action.' This reflection arising within him,
induced him to ask the Bodhisattva:
21. 'Who was that other who acted against you and was not released by
you, however much he struggled, no more than rising dust is by a
rain-cloud? Whom did you quiet then?'
The Bodhisattva answered: 'Hearken, great prince.
22. 'He, whose forthcoming robs the insight and without whose appearance
a man sees clearly, rose within me, but I repressed him; Anger is the
name of that being, disastrous to his fosterer.
23. '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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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