| J.410 |
Somadatta Jaataka |
A wealthy brahmin of Benares once left the world and became an ascetic in the Himalayas.
There he adopted an elephant calf calling it Somadatta. One day the elephant ate
too much and fell ill. The brahmin went in search of wild fruit for it, but before
he could return, the animal was dead. The ascetic was filled with grief. Sakka (the
bodhisatva) saw this and appearing before him, reminded him that it was not for this
that he had renounced his wife, wealth and children. The story was related in reference
to a monk who had ordained a novice and, when the latter died, he was full of grief.
Somadatta is identified with the novice and the brahmin with the monk. |
59/373 |
Jaataka |
Khuddhaka |
J.iii.388ff. |
mourning, bereavement |