| J.018 |
Matakabhatta Jaataka |
Once a brahmin well versed in the Vedas, wished to sacrifice a goat at the feast
of the dead (matakabhatta) and sent his pupils to bathe the goat in the river. After
the bath, the goat remembered its past lives and knew that after its death that day
it would be free from misery. So it laughed for joy. However, it also saw that the
brahmin, through slaying it, would suffer great misery and this made it weep. On
being questioned as to the reason for its laughing and weeping, it said the answer
would be given before the brahmin. When the brahmin heard the goatís story, he resolved
not to kill him -- but the same day, while the goat was grazing near a rock, lightening
caused a rock splinter to break off and sever the goatís head. The bodhisatva, who
was a tree sprite, saw all this and preached the Dhamma to the assembled multitude.
The story was told in reference to a question by monks as to whether there was any
benefit in offering sacrifices as feasts for the dead, as was the habit of the people
of Savatthi. |
55/267 |
Jaataka |
Khuddhaka |
J.i.166ff. |
karma, unavoidable |