the joyful news, he himself began to question the woman straitly as to the character of the event which had happened. To whom the woman replied, "Great minister! pray listen to me well; the circumstances attending the birth of the child were very wonderful! for our queen, Mâya, standing upright on the ground, the child came forth of her right side; there was no rent in her bosom, or side, or loins! when the child came forth, from the air there fell beautiful garments, soft as the stuff of Kasi, sent by the Devas! these the Devas wrapped round the body of the babe, and holding him before his mother, they said, 'All joy be to you, queen Mâya! rejoice and be glad! for this child you have borne is holy!' Then the child, having come forth from his mother's side, said these words, 'No further births have I to endure! this is my very last body! now shall I attain to the condition of Buddha!' then, without aid, standing on the ground, he walked seven steps, whilst lotus flowers sprang up beneath his feet, and faced each quarter; and whilst looking to the east, in perfectly rounded accents, unlike the words of a child, he said, 'Amongst all creatures I am the most excellent; for I am about to destroy and extirpate the roots of sorrow caused by the universal evil of birth and death.' Then there came forth from mid-air two streams of water, hot and cold, respectively, to refresh and cleanse the child's body as he stood there on the ground; and again there was brought to him a golden seat on which to repose whilst he was washed. Then such brightness shone around, eclipsing the very sun and moon, and all the Devas brought a white umbrella with an entire gold handle, it was large as a chariot wheel, with which to shelter him, and they held great chamaras in their hands, waving them over the child's head! whilst in the air, there was the sound of beautiful music, but no instruments; and there was the voice of people singing hymns of praise in every direction; and flowers beautifully scented fell down in profusion, and though the sun was shining fiercely, yet they withered not, nor dried!” Then Mahânama, the great minister, having heard this description, immediately reflected, "Wonderful! wonderful! doubtless a great teacher has been born into the world in the midst of this wicked age! Now then will I myself go to Suddhôdana Raja, and acquaint him with these wonderful circumstances." Then the great minister, taking his swiftest horses, and yoking them to a beautiful chariot, drove, fleet as the wind, from the gate of Lumbini straight to Kapilavastu, and without waiting to see the king, he sounded aloud the drum of joy, until his very strength was exhausted. Now, at this time, Suddhôdana Râja was sitting on his royal throne, settling with his ministers some important affairs of state, surrounded by attendants on every side; suddenly hearing the sound of the joy-drum, the king, in surprise, inquired of his minister, "Who is it so abruptly dares to make this noise in front of the gate of one of the Ikshwaku family? exhausting all his strength in beating the drum of joy!" Then the guard in front of the gate replied, and said to the king, "Mahârâja! your majesty's minister, Basita, surnamed Mahânama is approaching in a four-horsed chariot, swift as the wind, from the direction of Lumbini; and now he is getting down from his chariot, and, with all his might, beating the drum of joy belonging to the Mahârâja, and without any further words, he demands straightway to see the king." The Suddhôdana replied thus to his ministers, "What can be the good news which Basita Mahânama has to tell that he comes so hurriedly to my presence?" The ministers replied, "Let him be summoned to your majesty's presence." So then Mahânama, coming before the king, cried out with a loud voice, "May the king be ever victorious! may the king be ever honored." Having said this, he paused to regain his strength. Meantime, Suddhôdana, having heard these words, addressed Mahânama, and said, “Mahânama! great minister of the Sâkyas! tell me why you thus come without preface into our presence, your strength exhausted with beating the drum of joy!" Then the great minister, Mahânama, replied, "Oh king! your majesty's queen, the queen of the ruler of the city of Devadaho and Lumbini, having gone forth into the midst of that garden, has brought forth a son, beautiful as gold in color, heralded into the world by a supernatural light, and provided with a cradle by the Devas!" HIS PROTECTION OF LIVING CREATURES Now the Royal Prince, up to the time of his eighth year, grew up in the royal palace without any attention to study; but from his eighth year till his twelfth year he was trained under the care of Visamitra and Kshantedeva, as we have related. But now, having completed twelve years and being perfectly acquainted with all the customary modes of enjoyment, as men speak, such as hunting, riding, and driving here and there, according to the desire of the eye or for the gratification of the mind; such being the case, it came to pass on one occasion that he was visiting the Kan-ku garden, and whilst there amused himself by wandering in different directions, shooting with his bow and arrow at whatever he pleased; and so he separated himself from the other Sâkya youths who were also in the several gardens enjoying themselves in the same way. Just at this time it happened that a flock of wild geese, flying through the air, passed over the garden, on which the young man, Devadatta, pointing his bow, shot one of them through the wing, and left his arrow fixed in the feathers; whilst the bird fell to the ground at some distance off in the middle of the garden. The Prince Royal, seeing the bird thus transfixed with the arrow, and fallen to the ground, took it with both his hands, and sitting down, with his knees crossed, he rested it in his lap, and with his own soft and glossy hand, smooth and pliable as the leaf of the plantain, his left hand holding it, with his right hand he drew forth the arrow, and anointed the wound with oil and honey. At this time Devadatta, the young prince, sent certain messengers to the Prince Royal, who spoke to him thus, "Devadatta has shot a goose which has fallen down in your garden, send it to him without delay." Then the Prince Royal answered the messengers and said, “If the bird were dead, it would be only I should return it forthwith to you; but if it is not dead you have no title to it." Then Devadatta sent again to the Prince Royal, and the message was this: "Whether the bird be living or dead it is mine; my skill it was that shot it, and brought it down, on what ground do you delay to send it to me?" To which the Prince Royal answered, "The reason why I have taken possession of the bird is this, to signify that in time to come, when I have arrived at the condition of perfection to which I tend, I shall thus receive and protect all living creatures; but if still you say that this bird belongs not to me, then go and summon all the wise and ancient men of the Sâkya tribe, and let them decide the question on its merits!" At this time there was a certain Deva belonging to the Suddhavasa heaven, who assumed the appearance of an old man and entered the assembly of the Sâkyas, where they had come together, and spoke thus: "He who nourishes and cherishes is by right the keeper and owner; he who shoots and destroys is by his own act the loser and the disperser." At this time all the ancient men of the Sâkyas at once confirmed the words of the would-be clansman and said, "Verily, verily, it is as this venerable one says, with respect to the difference between Devadatta and the Royal Prince." THE LEGEND OF YASÔDHARÂ At this time the world-honored one, having arrived at complete enlightenment, was addressed by the venerable Udâyi as follows: "How was it when you were still residing in your father's royal palace, and you offered to Yasodharâ the priceless jewels and ornaments that adorned your person, you were unable to cause her any gratification?" On this Buddha answered Udâyi as follows: "Listen! and weigh my words. It was not only on this occasion that Yasodhara was discontented with the gifts I offered her, but from old time, because of an offense she had taken through successive ages, she has never been pleased with me." On which Udâyi said, "Oh! would that the world-honored Buddha would recount this history to me." At this time Buddha addressed the venerable Udâyi and said, "I remember in ages gone by, there was in the country of Kasi, and in the city of Benares, a certain king who was an unbeliever. That king had a son who, for some trivial fault, was banished by his father from the kingdom. As he wandered along, he came to a certain Devâlaya, and having there contracted a marriage with a woman he stopped in the place, and lived with her. Now, after a time it so happened that, all their food being exhausted, this king's son went out to hunt to try to get something to eat. It so chanced that on that day he shot a large sort of lizard, and having skinned it, he cut up the flesh, and put it in a pot of water to boil. When it was nearly cooked, the water in the pot having boiled away, the king's son said to his wife, 'This flesh is hardly done yet, will you run and get some more water?' She immediately consented, and went to fetch it. In the meanwhile, her husband, overcome with hunger and not having patience to wait, began to eat the flesh that was in the pot, and at last finished it all, without leaving a morsel. Just as he had finished, his wife came back with the water, and seeing the pot empty, she asked her husband, 'Where has the flesh gone?' He immediately prevaricated, and said, 'Do you know, just after you left, the lizard came to life again, got out of the pot and ran away?' But his wife would not believe that the half-cooked lizard had really so suddenly come to life again and got away; for she said, 'How is it possible?' and so she thought to herself, 'The fact is, this man of mine has eaten it all up, and now he is mocking me by telling me this story about the animal running away.' So she took offense, and was always in a poor temper. "Now, after the lapse of a few years, it came to pass that the king, the father of the prince, died; at which time all the ministers sent for the young prince, and immediately anointed him king. On this the king, having ascended the throne, caused every kind of precious jewel, costly ornament, and splendid robe to be brought to him, and these he forthwith presented to his wife, the queen. Notwithstanding this, although so liberally and ungrudgingly provided, her face revealed not the slightest pleasure or happiness; but she remained gloomy as before. On this the king addressed her and said, 'How is it, notwithstanding the priceless gifts I have bestowed on you, that you still remain so gloomy and so sad? You are just as unhappy now as you were before?' Then the queen forthwith replied in the following Gatha, "Most noble monarch! listen! In years gone by, when you went to hunt, You sent me to fetch more water for the pot; |