The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
no avail, for among the gold coins was one belonging to a Bráhman;'
when I heard this I woke up." Having told his dream in these words,
the king gave away another ten crores of gold to beggars.
And again, when the night came, he used that charm for producing
dreams, and again he had a dream, and next morning when he got up, he
related it in the following words; "Last night too those men in the
other world gave me sand to eat in my dream, and when I questioned
them, they said this to me, 'King, that gift of yours also is of no
avail, for to-day a Bráhman has been robbed and murdered in a forest
in your country by bandits, and you did not protect him, so your gift
is of no avail on account of your not protecting your subjects; so
give to-day double the gift of yesterday.' When I heard this I woke
up." After the king had related his dream to his spiritual guide in
these words, he gave double his former gift.
Then he said to the mendicant, "Teacher, how can men like myself obey
in this world a law which admits of so many infractions."
When the mendicant heard that, he said, "Wise men should not allow
such a little thing to damp their ardour in the keeping of the law
of righteousness. The gods themselves protect firm men, endowed with
perseverance, that swerve not from their duty, and they bring their
wishes to fulfilment. Have you not heard the story of the adorable
Bodhisattva in his former birth as a boar? Listen, I will tell it you."
Story of the Holy Boar.
Long ago there dwelt in a cavern in the Vindhya mountains a wise
boar, who was an incarnation of a portion of a Buddha, together
with his friend a monkey. He was a benefactor of all creatures, and
he remained always in the society of that friend, honouring guests,
and so he spent the time in occupations suited to him. But once on a
time there came on a storm lasting for five days, which was terrible,
in that it hindered with its unintermitting rainfall the movements of
all living creatures. On the fifth day, as the boar was lying asleep
with the monkey at night, there came to the door of the cave a lion
with his mate and his cub. Then the lion said to his mate, "During
this long period of bad weather we shall certainly die of hunger from
not obtaining any animal to eat." The lioness answered, "It is clear
that hunger will prevent all of us from surviving, so you two had
better eat me and so save your lives. For you are my lord and master,
and this son of ours is our very life; you will easily get another
mate like me, so ensure the welfare of you two by devouring me."
Now, as chance would have it, that noble boar woke up and heard
the conversation of the lion and his mate. And he was delighted,
and thought to himself, "The idea of my receiving such guests on
such a night in such a storm! Ah! to-day my merit in a former state
of existence has brought forth fruit. So let me satiate these guests
with this body that perishes in a moment, while I have a chance of
doing so." Having thus reflected, the boar rose up, and went out,
and said to the lion with an affectionate voice; "My good friend,
do not despond. For here I am ready to be eaten by you and your
mate and your cub: so eat me." When the boar said this, the lion
was delighted and said to his mate, "Let this cub eat first, then
I will eat, and you shall eat after me." She agreed, and first the
cub ate some of the flesh of the boar, and then the lion himself
began to eat. And while he was eating, the noble boar said to him,
"Drink my blood quickly, before it sinks into the ground, and satisfy
your hunger with my flesh, and let your mate eat the rest." While
the boar was saying this, the lion gradually devoured his flesh until
nothing but bones was left, but still the virtuous boar did not die,
for his life remained in him, as if to see what would be the end of his
endurance. And in the meanwhile the lioness, exhausted with hunger,
died in the cave, and the lion went off somewhere or other with his
cub, and the night came to an end. At this juncture his friend the
monkey woke up, and went out, and seeing the boar reduced to such a
condition, said to him in the utmost excitement, "Who reduced you to
such a state? Tell me, my friend, if you can." Thereupon the heroic
boar told him the whole story. Then the monkey prostrated himself at
his feet, and said to him with tears,--"You must be a portion of some
divinity, since you have thus rescued yourself from this animal nature:
so tell me any wish that you may have, and I will endeavour to fulfil
it for you." When the monkey said this to the boar, the boar answered;
"Friend, the only wish that I have is one difficult for even Destiny
to fulfil. For my heart longs that I may recover my body as before,
and that this unfortunate lioness that died of hunger before my eyes,
may return to life, and satiate her hunger by devouring me."
While the boar was saying this, the god of Justice appeared in
bodily form, and stroking him with his hand, turned him into a
chief of sages possessing a celestial body. And he said to him;
"It was I that assumed the form of this lion, and lioness, and cub,
and produced this whole illusion, because I wished to conquer thee
who art exclusively intent on benefiting thy fellow-creatures; but
thou, possessing perfect goodness, gavest thy life for others, and
so hast triumphed over me the god of Justice, and gained this rank
of a chief of sages." The sage, hearing this, and seeing the god of
Justice standing in front of him, said, "Holy lord, this rank of chief
of sages, even though attained, gives me no pleasure, since my friend
this monkey has not as yet thrown off his animal nature." When the
god of Justice heard this, he turned the monkey also into a sage. Of
a truth association with the great produces great benefit. Then the
god of Justice and the dead lioness disappeared.
"So you see, king, that it is easy for those, who in the strength of
goodness do not relax their efforts after virtue, and are aided by
gods, to attain the ends which they desire." When the generous king
Vinítamati had heard this tale from the Buddhist mendicant, he again
used, when the night came, that charm for obtaining a dream. And after
he had had a dream, he told it the next morning to the mendicant:
"I remember, a certain divine hermit said to me in my dream 'Son,
you are now free from sin, enter on the discipline for obtaining the
rank of a Bodhisattva.' And having heard that speech I woke up this
morning with a mind at ease." When the king had said this to the
mendicant, who was his spiritual guide, he took upon himself, with
his permission, that difficult vow on an auspicious day; and then he
remained continually showering favours on suitors, and yet his wealth
proved inexhaustible, for prosperity is the result of virtue.
One day a Bráhman suitor came and said to him: "King, I am a Bráhman,
an inhabitant of the city of Pátaliputra. There a Bráhman-Rákshasa
has occupied my sacrificial fire-chamber and seized my son, and no
expedient, which I can make use of, is of any avail against him. So I
have come here to petition you, who are the wishing-tree of suppliants;
give me that ring of yours that removes all noxious things, in order
that I may have success." When the Bráhman made this request to the
king, he gave him without reluctance the ring he had obtained from
Kálajihva. And when the Bráhman departed with it, the fame of the
king's Bodhisattva-vow was spread abroad throughout the world.
Afterwards there came to him one day another guest, a prince named
Indukalasa, from the northern region. The self-denying king, who knew
that the prince was of high lineage, shewed him respect, and asked him
what he desired. The prince answered, "You are celebrated on earth as
the wishing-stone of all suitors, you would not send away disappointed
a man who even asked you for your life. Now I have come to you as a
suppliant, because I have been conquered and turned out of my father's
kingdom by my brother, whose name is Kanakakalasa. So give me, hero,
your excellent sword and horse, in order that by their virtue I may
conquer the pretender and obtain my kingdom." When king Vinítamati
heard that, be gave that prince his horse, and his sword, though
they were the two talismanic jewels that protected his kingdom, and
so unshaken was his self-denial that he never hesitated for a moment,
though his ministers heaved sighs with downcast faces. So the prince,
having obtained the horse and sword, went and conquered his brother
by their aid, and got possession of his kingdom.
But his brother Kanakakalasa, who was deprived of the kingdom he had
seized, came to the capital of that king Vinítamati; and there he was
preparing in his grief to enter the fire, but Vinítamati, hearing of
it, said to his ministers; "This good man has been reduced to this
state by my fault, so I will do him the justice, which I owe him,
by giving him my kingdom. Of what use is this kingdom to me, unless
it is employed to benefit my fellow-creatures? As I have no children,
let this man be my son and inherit my kingdom." After saying this,
the king summoned Kanakakalasa, and in spite of the opposition of
his ministers gave him the kingdom.
And after he had given away the kingdom, he immediately left the
city with unwavering mind, accompanied by his two wives. And his
subjects, when they saw it, followed him distracted, bedewing the
ground with their tears, and uttering such laments as these, "Alas! the
nectar-rayed moon had become full so as to refresh the world, and now
a cloud has suddenly descended and hid it from our eyes. Our king,
the wishing-tree of his subjects, had begun to satisfy the desires
of all living creatures, when lo! he is removed somewhere or other by
fate." Then Vinítamati at last prevailed on them to return, and with
unshaken resolution went on his way, with his wives, to the forest,
without a carriage.
And in course of time he reached a desert without water or tree, with
sands heated by the sun, which appeared as if created by Destiny to
test his firmness. Being thirsty and exhausted with the fatigue of
the long journey, he reclined for a moment in a spot in this desert,
and both he and his two wives were overtaken by sleep. When he woke
up and looked about him, he beheld there a great and wonderful garden
produced by the surpassing excellence of his own virtue. It had in
it tanks full of cool pure water adorned with blooming lotuses, it
was carpeted with dark green grass, its trees bent with the weight
of their fruit, it had broad, high, smooth slabs of rock in shady
places, in fact it seemed like Nandana drawn down from heaven by
the power of the king's generosity. The king looked again and again,
and was wondering whether it could be a dream, or a delusion, or a
favour bestowed on him by the gods, when suddenly he heard a speech
uttered in the air by two Siddhas, who were roaming through the sky
in the shape of a pair of swans, "King, why should you wonder thus
at the efficacy of your own virtue? So dwell at your ease in this
garden of perennial fruits and flowers." When king Vinítamati heard
this speech of the Siddhas, he remained in that garden with mind at
ease, practising austerities, together with his wives.
And one day, when he was on a slab of rock, he beheld near him a
certain man about to commit suicide by hanging himself. He went to him
immediately, and with kindly words talked him over, and prevailed on
him not to destroy himself, and asked him the reason of his wishing to
do so. Then the man said, "Listen, I will tell you the whole story from
the beginning. I am the son of Nágasúra, Somasúra by name, of the race
of Soma. It was said by those versed in the study of astrology, that