| J.126 |
Asilakkha.na Jaataka |
In Benares was a brahmin who could tell, by smelling them, whether swords were lucky
or not. One day, while testing a sword, he sneezed and cut off the tip of his nose.
The king had a false tip made and fastened to his nose so that no-one could tell
the difference. The king had a daughter and an adopted nephew, who when they grew
up, fell deeply in love with each other. They wished to marry, but the king, having
other plans, kept them apart. The prince bribed an older women to obtain his beloved
for him. The old woman reported to the king that his daughter was under influence
of witchcraft and that the only way of curing her was to take her to the cemetery
under armed escort, where she must be laid on a bed with a corpse under it. There
she must be bathed for the purpose of exorcism. The prince was to impersonate the
corpse, being provided with pepper to make him sneeze at the right moment. The guard
were warned that if the exorcism succeeded, the dead body would sneeze, rise up and
kill the first thing it got hold of. The plot succeeded, the guard running away as
soon as the prince sneezed. The two lovers were married and were forgiven by the
king. Later, they became king and queen. One day, the sword-testing brahmin was standing
in the sun when the false tip of his nose melted and fell off. He stood hanging his
head out of shame. ėNever mindķ laughed the king, ėsneezing is bad for some but good
for others. A sneeze lost you your nose, but won for me both my throne and my queen.ķ
The story was related in reference to a brahmin of the kingdom of Kosala who tested
swords by smelling them. He accepted bribes and passed the swords only of those who
had won his favour. One day, an exasperated dealer put pepper on his sword so that
when the brahmin smelled it, he sneezed, slitting his nose. The monks were once talking
about him when the Buddha entered and told the story of the past. The two brahmins
were one and the same man in different births. |
56/491 |
Jaataka |
Khuddhaka |
J.i.455ff. |
sneeze |