| J.488 |
Bhisa Jaataka |
Once the bodhisatva was born into a family with eighty crores. He was called Mahaka~ncana
and had six younger brothers and a sister. None of them would marry and on the death
of their parents, they distributed their wealth, and together with a servant and
a maid, went to the Himalayas to become ascetics, gathering food and wild food. Later
they agreed that Mahaka~ncana, the sister and the maid should be spared the task
of collecting fruit and the others should do this in turn. Each day the fruits collected
were divided into lots and the gong was sounded. The ascetics would then come one
by one and take each his share or her share. By the glory of their virtues, Sakka’s
throne trembled. In order to test them, for three days in succession he caused Mahaka~ncana’s
share to disappear. On the third day, Mahaka~ncana summoned the others and asked
the reason for this. Each protested his innocence and swore an oath that heavy curses
should attend them if any were guilty of stealing so much as a lotus stalk (bhisa).
In each case punishment was to be that in their next birth they should have the encumberances
of land and possessions, which from an ascetic’s point of view would be grievous
things. At this gathering were also present the chief deity of the forest, an elephant
escaped from a stake, a monkey who had once belonged to a snake-charmer and Sakka
who remained invisible. At the end of their protestations of innocence, Sakka inquired
of Mahaka~ncana why they all so dreaded possessions. On hearing the explanation,
he was greatly moved and asked pardon of the ascetics for his trick. The story was
related in the same circumstances as the Kusa
Jataka (J.531). Sariputta, Moggallana, Punna, Kassapa, Anuruddha and Ananda were
the Bodhisatva’s brothers, uppalavanna the sister, Khujjuttara the maid, Cittagahapati
the servant, Satagiri the forest deity, Parileyya the elephant, Madhuvasettha the
monkey and Kaludayi was Sakka. The Bhisacariya is included in the Cariyapitaka (Cya.iii.4)
and also in the Jatakamala (No.19) |
60/402 |
Jaataka |
Khuddhaka |
J.iv.304ff. |
renunciation |