(continuation)

[495]

One his own mortal state that fails to learn,

Or good from evil, heaven from hell discern,

The slave of carnal appetite, how can

A wretch like thee know any boon for man?

Suppose I say "Grant me this boon" and then

Thou shouldst thy promised word take back again,

Who that is wise would knowingly incur

So clear a risk of quarrelling, good sir?

Then the man-eater said, "He does not believe me; I will make him believe," and he repeated this stanza:

No one should claim to grant a boon and then

His promised word, false man, take back again:

Amongst these boons, my friend, all fearless choose;

I'll grant it thee, though life itself I lose.

Then the Great Being thought, "He has spoken like a brave fellow and will do what I tell him; I will accept his offer. But if I should choose as the very first boon that he should abstain from eating human flesh, he will be very sick at heart. I will first choose three other boons, and after that I will choose this," and he said:

Who with a saint lives face to face [23] ever with saint agrees,

So too a sage is ever sure a brother sage to please:

Thus safe and sound a hundred years I pray to see thee live:

This is the first of all the boons I fain would have thee give.

[496] The man-eater, on hearing this, thought, "This man, even though I have driven him from his sovereignty, now wishes long life for me, the noted robber that lusteth after human flesh and would do him a mischief. Ah! he is my well-wisher." And he was glad at heart, not knowing that this boon had been chosen to cheat him to his good, and in granting the boon he uttered this stanza:

Who with a saint lives face to face ever with saint agrees,

So too a sage is ever sure a brother sage to please:

Thou fain wouldst see me safe and sound for years twice fifty live:

Lo! at thy prayer this first of boons to thee I gladly give.

Then the Bodhisatta said:

These warrior chiefs held captive in thy hand,

By sprinkling hailed as kings in many a land,

These mighty lords of earth thou must not eat:

For this as second boon I next entreat.

Thus did he in choosing a second boon gain the boon of life for over a hundred kshatriyas, and the man-eater in granting the boon to him said:

These warrior chiefs held captive in my hand,

By sprinkling hailed as kings in many a land,

These mighty lords, I'll not eat them, I swear:

This second boon too grant I to thy prayer.

[497] Well, did these kings hear what they were talking about? They did not hear it all. For when the man-eater lighted a fire, for fear of any injury to the tree from the smoke and flame, he stepped back a space from it, and the Great Being conversed with him, seated in the interval between the fire and the tree, and consequently these kings did not hear all that they said, but heard only partially, and they comforted one another, saying, "Fear not: now will Sutasoma convert the man-eater," and at this moment the Great Being spoke this stanza:

Thou captive holdst a hundred kings and more,

All strung up by their hands and weeping sore,

Restore then each to his own realm again:

This the third boon I would from thee obtain.

Thus did the Great Being in making his third choice choose the restoration of these kshatriyas, each to his own kingdom. Why was this? Because the ogre, supposing he did not eat them, through fear of their hostility would either enslave them all and make them, dwell in the forest, or would slay them and expose their dead bodies, or would bring them to the border country and sell them as slaves; and therefore he made choice as his boon of their restoration to their own kingdoms, and the man-eater in granting his request spoke this stanza:

I captive hold a hundred kings and more,

All strung up by their hands and weeping sore,

All will I to their realms restore again:

This third boon too thou shalt from me obtain.

Now in making his fourth choice the Bodhisatta spoke this stanza:

Distracted is thy realm and sick with fright,

In caves much people hide them from thy sight.

From eating human flesh, O king, abstain:

This the fourth boon I would from thee obtain.

[498] When he had so spoken, the man-eater clapped his hands and laughing said, "Friend Sutasoma, what in truth is this that you say I How can I grant you this boon? If you are anxious to receive another boon, choose something else," and he uttered this stanza:

Much to my taste I surely find this food;

’Twas for this cause I hid within the wood.

How then from such delights should I abstain?

For thy fourth boon, good sir, pray, choose again.

Then the Great Being said, "Because you love man's flesh, you say, "I cannot abstain from it." He verily that does evil because it is pleasant is a fool," and he repeated this stanza:

[24] A king like thee should not his pleasure take

Nor sacrifice his life for pleasure's sake.

Life in its highest sense, best gift, attain

And future joys thou shalt by merit gain.

When these words had been spoken by the Great Being, the man-eater was overcome with fear and thought, "I can neither repudiate the choice Sutasoma has made nor abstain from human flesh. [499] What in the world am I to do?" and with his eyes swimming in tears he repeated this stanza:

I love man's flesh: thou too must know,

Great Sutasoma, it is so.

From it I never can abstain,

Think, sir, of something else and choose again.

Then the Bodhisatta said:

Whoso shall ever his own pleasure take

And sacrifice e’en life for pleasure's sake,

The poison cup like drunkard will he drain,

And so hereafter suffers endless pain.

Who knowingly shall pleasure here eschew,

The arduous path of duty to pursue,

As one in pain that drains the healing cup,

So he to bliss in the next world wakes up.

After he had thus spoken, the man-eater sorely lamenting repeated this stanza:

The five-fold joys that from our senses spring

And parents dear and all abandoning,

For this cause came I in this wood to live;

How then can I the boon thou askest give?

Then the Great Being spoke this stanza:

Sages in speech duplicity ne’er show,

True to their promise are good men, we know:

[500] "Choose, friend, some boon" is what thou saidst to me;

What now thou sayst with this will scarce agree.

Once more, still weeping, the man-eater spoke this stanza:

Demerit, with disgrace and shame combined,

Misconduct, lust and sin of every kind,

All this, to eat man's flesh, I did incur:

Why then should I this boon on thee confer?

Then the Great Being said:

No one should claim to grant a boon and then

His promised word, false man, take back again:

Amongst these boons, my friend, all fearless choose;

I'll grant it thee, though life itself I lose.

When he had thus pointed out the stanza uttered in the first instance by the man-eater, to inspire him with courage to grant the boon, he spoke this stanza:

Good men will life give up, but never right,

True to their word e’en in their own despite;

If thou shouldst promise, best of kings, a boon,

Perfect thy work and see it done right soon. [25]

One who to save a limb rich treasure gave

Would sacrifice a limb, his life to save,

[501] Yea, wealth, limbs, life and all away would fling,

Right and its claims alone remembering.

Thus did the Great Being by these means establish the man-eater in the Truth, and now to make clear to him his own title to respect he spoke this stanza:

One from whose lips a man the Truth may prove,

– Yea all good men that will his doubts remove

– A refuge sure is he, a rest, a stay;

The wise man's love for him should ne’er decay.

After repeating these verses he said, "My man-eating friend, it is not right that you should transgress the words of so excellent a master, and I, too, when you were young, acted as your private teacher and gave you much instruction, and now with all the charm of a Buddha I have repeated to you stanzas worth a hundred pieces each: therefore you ought to obey my words." On hearing this the man-eater thought, "Sutasoma was my teacher and a learned man, and I granted him the choice of a boon. What am I to do? Death verily is a certainty in the case of an individual existence. I will not eat human flesh but will grant him the boon he asks," and with tears streaming front his eyes he rose up and fell at king Sutasoma's feet, and in granting the boon he repeated this stanza:

[502]

Sweet to my taste and pleasant is this food,

’Twas for this cause I hid within the wood;

But if thou askest me to do this thing,

This boon I'll grant to thee, my friend and king.

Then the Great Being said, "So be it, friend; to one firmly grounded in moral practice, verily even death is a boon. I accept, sire, the boon you have offered me. From this very day you are established in the path of a spiritual guide, and this being so I beg this favour of you; if you have any love for me, accept, sir, the five moral laws." "Very good," he answered, "teach me, friend, these moral laws." "Learn then from me, sire." So he saluted the Great Being with the five Rests [26] and took a seat apart, and the Great Being established him in the moral law. At that moment the deities that dwell on the earth gathered together and said, "There is no one else from the inhabitants of the Avīci hell to those of the highest of the Formless Worlds that by inspiring affection for the Great Being could make this man-eater abstain from eating human flesh. Oh! a miracle has been wrought by Sutasoma," and they applauded, making the jungle re-echo with their loud cries, and hearing the tumult the Four Great Kings did likewise and there was one universal roar reaching even to the Brahma world. And the kings suspended on the tree heard this noise of applauding spirits, and the tree nymph still standing in her abode uttered a sound of applause. So the cry of the angel spirits was heard, but their form was invisible. The kings on hearing the loud applause of the spirits thought, "Owing to Sutasoma our lives are saved: Sutasoma has wrought a miracle in converting the man-eater," [27] and they offered up their praises to the Bodhisatta. The man-eater after bowing down to the feet of the Great Being stood apart. Then the Great Being said to him, "Friend, release these warrior princes." He thought, "I am their enemy; if they are released by me, they will say, "Seize him, he is an enemy of ours," and will do me a mischief, but even if I lose my life, I cannot transgress the moral law which I have accepted at the hands of Sutasoma: I will go with him and release them and in this way I shall find safety." Then bowing to the Bodhisatta he said, "Sutasoma, we will go together and release the warrior princes," and he repeated this stanza:

[503]

My teacher and my friend art thou in one,

Behold, good sir, thy bidding I have done:

Do thou in turn what I have bidden thee

And straight we'll go and set these princes free.

Then the Bodhisatta said to him:

Thy teacher and thy friend am I in one,

And thou in truth my bidding, sir, hast done:

I too will do what thou hast bidden me

And straight we'll go and set these princes free.

And drawing nigh to them he said

Strung up upon this tree your tears fast flow

Because of ogre that has wronged you so,

Still we would fain from you a promise wring

Never to lay a finger on this king.

Then they replied:

Strung up upon this tree and weeping sore

This ogre that has wronged us we abhor,

Yet will we all a solemn promise give

To harm him not, if only we may live.

[504] Then the Bodhisatta said, " Well, give me this promise," and he repeated this stanza:

Just as fond parents to their children may

A merciful and tender love display,

E’en such a father may he ever prove

And may ye him as children dearly love.

They, too, agreeing to this, repeated this stanza:

Just as fond parents to their children may

A merciful and tender love display,

E’en such a father may he ever prove

And may we him as children dearly love.

Thus did the Great Being exact a promise from them and summoning the man-eater he said, "Come and release these princes," and the man-eater took his sword and severed the bonds of one of the kings, and as this king had been fasting for seven days and was maddened with pain, no sooner was he released by the cutting of his bonds than he fell on the ground, and the Great Being on seeing this was moved with compassion and said, "My man-eating friend, do not cut them down like this," and taking hold of a king firmly with both hands he clasped him to his breast and said, "Now cut his bonds." So the man-eater severed them with his sword and the Great Being, endowed as he was with great strength, placed him on his breast, and letting him down tenderly as though it were his own son laid him flat upon the ground. Thus did he lay them all on the ground, and after bathing their wounds he gently pulled the cords from their hands, just as it were a string from a child's ear, and washing off the clotted blood he rendered the wounds harmless. And he said to the man-eater, "My friend, pound some bark from the tree on a stone and bring it to me." And when he had got him to fetch it, he performed an Act of Truth and rubbed the palms of their hands, and at that very moment their wounds were healed. The man-eater took some husked rice and cooked it as a prophylactic [505], and the pair of them gave it to the hundred and odd warrior princes to drink as a prophylactic, and so all of them were satisfied and the sun set. On the next day at dawn and at noon and in the evening they still gave them rice water to drink, but on the third day they gave them gruel with boiled rice, and so on till they were convalescent. Then the Great Being asked them if they were strong enough to go home, and when they answered they were equal to the journey he said, "Come, my man-eating friend, let us depart to our own kingdom." But weeping he fell at the Great Being's

feet and cried, "Do you, my friend, take these kings and depart, but I will continue to live here on roots and wild berries." "What would you do here, my friend? Your kingdom is a delightful one: go and reign at Benares." "Friend, what is this you say? It is out of the question for me to go there: all the inhabitants of that city are my enemies. They will revile me and say, "This fellow ate my mother or my father; seize this brigand," and with a clod of earth they will deprive me of life, but if I am firmly established in the moral law by you, I could not kill anyone else, not even to save my life. I will not go. In consequence of my abstaining from eating human flesh how long shall I live? and now I shall no more set eyes on you," and he wept, saying, "Do you go." And the Great Being stroked him on the back and said, "My friend, my name is Sutasoma: I have ere now tamed just such a cruel wretch as yourself, and if you ask what story you are to tell in Benares, why I will either establish you there, or dividing my own kingdom I will hand over the half of it to you." "In your city too I have enemies," he said. Sutasoma thought, "In obeying my word this man has achieved a difficult task: by some means or other I must establish him in his former state of glory," and to tempt him he sang the praises of the great glory of his city and said:

Of beasts and birds of every kind the flesh thou once didst share,

By skilful cooks prepared was it, in sooth a dainty fare,

Yielding such joy as Indra felt, to taste ambrosial food

Why leave it all, to take delight alone within this wood?

[506] These noble dames with slender waists, magnificently dressed,

That round about thee formerly, a thronging bevy, pressed,

Whilst thou, like Indra midst his gods, didst step in happy mood –

Why leave them thus, to take delight alone within this wood?

In midst of ample couch, O king, thou once at ease didst lie,

With many a woollen coverlet around thee piled on high,

And pillow red beneath thy head and bedding clean and white –

Why leave it thus, within this wood alone to take delight

There thou ofttimes at dead of night the beat of drum wouldst hear,

And sounds surpassing human strains [28] would strike upon the ear,

Music and song in unison, inspiring cheerful mood –

Why leave it all, to take delight alone within this wood?

Thou hadst a charming park wherein flowers in abundance grew,

Migācira, so known to fame, as park and city too,

There horses, elephants, and cars innumerable stood –

Why leave them all, to take delight alone within this wood?

[507] The Great Being thought, "Haply this man, calling to mind the flavour of dainties he enjoyed long ago, will be eager to come with me," and so he tempted him first with food, next by appealing to his passions, thirdly by the thought of a bed, fourthly by song, dancing and music, fifthly by remembrance of a park and a city – with all these thoughts he tempted him, saying, "Come, sire, I will go with you to Benares and firmly establish you there and afterwards return to my own kingdom; but if we shall fail in securing the kingdom of Benares, I will grant you the half of my realm. What have you to do with a forest life? Only do what I tell you." The man-eater after hearing his words was eager to go with him and he thought, "Sutasoma is anxious for my well-being and is a merciful man. He first established me in virtue and now says he will restore me to my former glory, and he will be able to do so. I ought to go with him. What have I to do with a forest?" And being glad at heart he was eager by reason of his merit to sing Sutasoma's praises, and he said, "Friend Sutasoma, there is nothing better than consorting with a virtuous friend, nothing worse than consorting with a wicked one," and he repeated these verses:

As in the dark half of the month the moon wanes day by day,

So friendship with the bad, O king, will suffer like decay;

Thus I consorting with that cook, the lowest of the low,

Wrought evil deeds, for which in time to hell I'm doomed to go.

As in the mouth's clear half the moon aye waxes day by day,

So friendship with the good, O king, will suffer no decay:

Thus with thee, Sutasoma, I consorting, thou must know,

Shall after working righteousness to heaven all blissful go.

As copious floods when shed upon dry ground

Are ever fleeting, transitory found,

[508] E’en so is union of bad men, O king,

Like water on dry land, a fleeting thing.

But copious floods when shed upon the sea

Enduring long are ever found to be,

E’en such is union of good men, O king,

Like water in the sea, a lasting thing.

No transient thing is union of the good,

As long as life endures such brotherhood,

But union of the bad soon falls away,

From virtue's course bad men go far astray.

Thus did that man-eater in seven stanzas sing the praises of the Great Being. But he took the man-eater and those kings and went to a frontier village, and the inhabitants on seeing the Great Being went to the city and reported it, and the king's ministers came with an army and escorted the Great Being, and with this escort he came to the kingdom of Benares. And on his way there the country people brought presents and followed in his train, and a great company reached Benares with him. At that time the man-eater's son was the king and Kāḷahatthi was still commander-in-chief, and the people of the city reported it to the king, saying, "Sutasoma, they tell us, sire, has tamed the man-eater and is come here with him: we will not allow him to enter the city," and they hastily closed the city gates and stood by with arms in their hands. The Great Being, when he discovered that the gate was closed, left the man-eater and the hundred and odd kings and coming with a few of his counsellors he cried, "I am king Sutasoma, open ye the gate," and the officers went and told the king, and he ordered them to open the gate with all speed, and the Great Being entered the city. And the king and Kāḷahatthi came out to meet him [509] and took him up with them to the tower of the palace. The Great Being seating himself on the royal throne summoned the man-eater's chief consort and the rest of his counsellors, and addressing Kāḷahatthi said, "Why, Kāḷahatthi, do you not suffer the king to enter the city?" He answered, "The wicked wretch that he was, while he was ruling as king in this city, devoured many men and did that which is not lawful for kshatriyas to do, and rent asunder all India: that is the reason why we act thus." "Do not suppose," he answered, "that he will act after this sort now. I have converted him and established him in the moral law. Not even to save his life will he do anyone an injury: you are in no danger from him; act not after this manner. Verily children ought to watch over their parents: they who cherish their father and mother go to heaven, the others go to hell." Thus did he admonish the king's son, as he sat by him on a low seat. And he instructed the commander-in-chief and said, "Kāḷahatthi, you are a friend and follower of the king, and were firmly established by him in great power; you too ought to act in the king's interests." And admonishing the queen he said, "You, O queen, came from a noble stock and from his hand acquired the position of chief consort and were blest with many sons and daughters by him; you too ought to act in his interests." And, to bring this matter to a head, in teaching the law he said:

No king should conquer one who aye inviolate [29] should be,

No friend should get the better of a friend by treachery;

She of her lord that stands in fear is no true wife, I hold,

Nor children they that nourish not a father when he's old.

No council-hall is that wherein the wise do not appear,

Nor wise are they that do not preach the Truth both far and near.

The wise are they that lust and hate and error lay aside,

And never fail to preach the Truth to mortals far and wide.

The sage midst fools if silent none at once discern as wise,

He speaks and all a Teacher of Nirvāna recognise.

Preach, glorify the Truth, and lift the sages' flag on high,

Emblem of saints is goodly speech, Truth is the flag they fly.

[510] The king and the commander-in-chief on hearing his exposition of the Truth were highly pleased and said, "Let us go and bring the great king here," and having made proclamation in the city by beat of drum, they called together the inhabitants and said, "Be not afraid; the king, they tell us, is established in righteousness: let us conduct him hither." So with a great multitude and with the Great Being at their head they went and saluted the king. And they provided barbers and when his hair and beard had been shorn and he had taken a bath and put on goodly raiment, they placed him on a pile of precious stones and besprinkled him and then conducted him into the city. The man-eating king paid great honour to the hundred and more kshatriyas and the Great Being, and there was great excitement throughout all India at the report that Sutasoma, lord of men, had converted the man-eater and re-established him on the throne. And the inhabitants of the city Indapatta sent a message bidding the kings return. The Great Being stayed there just a month and admonished the king, saying, "Friend, we will be going; see that you are zealous in good works and have five alms-halls erected at the city gates and at your palace door, and observe the ten royal virtues and guard against evil courses." And from a hundred and more royal cities a numerous army [511] assembled together, and with this escort he went forth from Benares. The man-eater too going forth with him halted midway on the road. The Great Being presented horses to ride to such as had them not and then dismissed them all. And they exchanged friendly greetings with him, and then after fitting salutations and embraces they returned each to his own people. The Great Being too on reaching Indapatta with great majesty entered the city, which its inhabitants had decorated like as it were a city of the gods. After paying his respects to his parents and expressing his pleasure at seeing them he ascended the palace tower. While exercising just rule in his kingdom the thought occurred to him, "The tree-spirit was very helpful to me; I will see that it receives a religious offering." So he had a vast lake constructed near the banyan tree and transported thither many families and founded a village. It grew into a big place supplied with eighty thousand shops. And starting from the farthest limits of its branches he levelled the ground about the roots of the tree and surrounded it with a balustrade [30] furnished with arches and gates; and the spirit of the tree was propitiated. And owing to the fact of the village having been settled on the spot where the ogre was converted, the place grew into the town of Kammāsadamma. And all the kings, abiding in the admonition of the Great Being, performed good works such as alms-giving and the like, and attained to heaven.

The Master here ended his religious instruction and said, "Not now only, Brethren, do I convert Aṅgulimāla, in former times too was he converted by me and he identified the Birth": "At that time the man-eating king was Aṅgulimāla, Kāḷahatthi was Sāriputta, the brahmin Nanda was Ānanda, the tree-sprite was Kassapa, Sakka was Anuruddha, the rest of the kings were the followers of Buddha, the king's father and mother were members of the great king's household, and king Sutasoma, it is said, was I myself."