| J.521 |
Tesaku.na Jaataka |
Once upon a time, the king of Benares had no heir, but finding three eggs in a nest
-- an owl’s, a mynah’s and a parrot’s -- he collected them and when they hatched,
adopted them as his children, giving them the names of Vessantara, Kundalini and
Jambuka. When they had grown up in the houses of the courtiers who had charge of
them, the king had them summoned one by one and asked them for advice as to how the
king should reign. Each admonished the king in eleven stanzas, and at the suggestion
of the admiring populace, they were respectively given the ranks of general, treasurer
and commander in chief. When the king died, the people wished to make Jambuka king,
but, having inscribed the rules of righteousness on a golden plate, he disappeared
into the forest. The story was related in reference to the admonitions delivered
by the Buddha to the king of Kosala. The king of the past was Ananda, Kundalini was
Uppalavanna, Vessantara was Sariputta and Jambuka the Bodhisatva. |
61/537 |
Jaataka |
Khuddhaka |
J.v.109ff., J.i.177, J.vi.094 |
royal conduct |