| J.202 |
Ke.liisiila Jaataka |
Brahmadatta, king of Benares, could not look upon anyone old or decrepit without
playing jokes on them. He made old men roll about on the ground and played practical
jokes on old women. His friends behaved likewise. All the old people left his country
-- no parents or aged persons remained to be tended by the young -- and the newcomers
among the gods were few in number. Sakka (the Bodhisatva), wishing to teach the king
a lesson, once appeared before him in the guise of an old man, with two jars of buttermilk
in a crazy old cart, having willed that only the king would be able to see him. The
king was riding on his state elephant, and when he asked the old carter to move,
the latter smashed the two jars on the king’s head and the onlookers laughed to see
the milk dripping down his face. Resuming Sakka’s form, the Bodhisatva admonished
the king. The Jataka was related to account for Lakuntaka’s deformity. |
57/281 |
Jaataka |
Khuddhaka |
J.ii.142ff. |
respect for the aged |