| J.302 |
Mahaaassaaroha Jaataka |
The bodhisatva was once king of Benares and having been beaten in some frontier disturbance,
he fled on his horse until he reached a certain village. At sight of him, all the
people hid except one man, who made enquiries, and, on finding that he was no rebel,
took him home and entertained him with great honour, looking after his horse well.
When the king left, he told the man that his name was Mahaassaroha and asked him
to visit his home if ever he should be in the city. On reaching the city himself,
he gave orders to the gatekeepers that if anyone should come enquiring after Mahaassaroha,
he should be brought at once to the palace. Time passed and the man failed to appear.
The king, therefore, constantly increased the taxes of the village until the villagers
asked their neighbour to visit his friend Mahaassaroha and try to obtain some relief.
The man prepared presents for Mahaassaroha and his wife and taking a cake baked in
his own house, he set forth. Arriving at the city gates, he was conducted by the
gate-keeper to the palace. There the king accepted his presents, showing him all
the honours due to a king, and, in the end, gave him half his kingdom. When the ministers
complained, through the medium of the kingís son, that a mere villager had been exhalted
to the rank of a king, the bodhisatva explained that real friends who help one in
time of adversity should be paid every honour. The story was related to the good
offices of Ananda, who is identified with the villager. |
58/383 |
Jaataka |
Khuddhaka |
J.iii.008ff. |
hospitality, true friend |