| J.323 |
Brahmadatta Jaataka |
Once, the Bodhisatta, after studying at Takkasila, became an ascetic in the Himalayas,
visited uttarapa~ncala and resided in the garden of the Pa~ncala king. The king saw
him begging for alms and invited him into the palace and, having shown him great
honour, asked him to stay in the park. When the time came for the Bodhisatva to leave
for the Himalayas, he wished for a pair of single-soled shoes and a leaf parasol.
However, for twelve years he could not summon up enough courage to ask the king for
these things. He could only get as far as telling the king he had a favour to ask,
and then his heart failed him, for, he said to himself, it made a man weep to have
to ask and it made a man weep to have to refuse. In the end the king noticed his
discomfiture and offered him all his possessions -- the ascetic, however, would take
only the shoes and the parasol, and with these, he left for the Himalayas. The king
is identified with Ananda. |
58/538 |
Jaataka |
Khuddhaka |
J.iii.078ff. |
consideration |