At this time, Brahmadatta had a barber, called Gangapala, who managed to shave his Majesty's head whilst he was asleep, without waking him; whereupon the king, in gratitude and admiration, presented him with a village to rule over (i. e., made him a magistrate). But finally, Gangapala followed Upaka's example, and became a Rishi. In consequence of this, Brahmadatta and five hundred of his chief ministers proceeding to the place where these Rishis dwelt, paid them worship. "At that time," added Buddha, "I was Upaka; Upali was Gangapala, and Suddhôdana Râja was Brahmadatta; whilst his five hundred chief ministers were these five hundred Sâkya Princes, who have now become my disciples." Buddha having declared that Upali was the chief of his followers in the exercise of moral discipline, proceeded further, in reply to the questions of the Bhikshus, to relate the following particulars respecting Upali's previous history. 66 There was once in days gone by a barber living in this city (Benares?) whose wife bore to him a son. Shortly afterwards the barber sickened and died. On this his mother took the child to the house of his paternal uncle, and gave him into the charge of the man and his wife, desiring that he should be brought up to his father's trade. Now his uncle was barber to the royal household, and constantly went to the palace, where he was detained more or less all the day, and had no time to attend to any other business. It came to pass, shortly after the child had grown up to boyhood, that a certain Pratyeka Buddha came to the city, and begged the hairdresser, the boy's uncle, to shave his hair and face. The barber, being in a hurry, put the holy man off till the next morning. Again the Pratyeka Buddha came on the following morning and requested to be shaved. Once more the barber put him off till noontide and the evening. So matters continued for several days. At last the youth, the barber's nephew, seeing the holy man con. stantly coming to his uncle's house and going away again, in quired the reason, and, finding out the state of the case, himself volunteered to share the head of the saint. On this the latter consented, assuring him it should be for his great benefit. After it was over the Pratyeka Buddha, by the exercise of his spiritual faculties, mounted into the air and few away gracefully as the King of the Hansas. Then the youth, seeing this miracle, closing both his hands, bowed his head in adoration, and prayed that hereafter he might meet with this Pratyeka Buddha, and be taught by him, and that he might ever be saved from the evil ways of birth, and remain in the condition of a man ft to profit by the instruction of Holy Teachers. "Now, it so happened that at this very time the Râja was in his council chamber, surrounded by his ministers, occupied with state business (counting out his money), when suddenly one of them saw this newly-shaved Pratyeka Buddha flying away through the air. On this, they cried out to the king, 'See yonder, oh Râja! goes a holy man fresh-shaved flying through space. The king, looking up and seeing the sight, was rejoiced to think of the good fortune that should accrue to the neighbourhood from such a circumstance, and quickly asked who had been the fortunate man that had shaved the saint. On this his family barber came forward and said, ‘Who but I, your majesty, should have done the matter?' “The youth hearing that his uncle had boasted thus, boldly came forward into the king's presence and denounced it as a falsehood, and declared that he had been the barber on the occasion. On this the king laughed at him, and said, 'You! how could you have shaved him? Where is your razor and where your appliances?' On this the youth brought forth his instruments, and some of the hair of the Pratyeka Buddha, and repeated, ‘I shaved the holy man, and no one else.' The king, at length convinced, addressed his household barber and said, 'Wretched man! how dare you utter such a lie in my very presence? Be gone for ever from my palace and my kingdom.' So he banished the uncle and adopted the youth as the royal barber and nail-cutter. "And so it came to pass that this youth lived and died, and after death continued to be born either as a Deva or man until he was again born in Benares in a barber's family, a beautiful youth, and as he grew up, well acquainted with all the accomplishments and arts. "At this time Kâsyapa appeared in the world as Buddha. During his career he came to Benares, and dwelt in the deer park with two myriads of men who had become his disciples. At this time, the father of the child just named went to the park to attend to the requirements of the Bhikshus, and took his little boy with him. It so happened that they were reciting the law in the assembly, and some part of it the child heard; but the other part of it, with respect to discipline, he was not allowed to hear. This having happened more than once, he inquired the reason, and was told that only the Bhikshus were allowed to hear the entire rules of the community. On this he inquired, Why may I not become a Samanera, and join the community?' On this he went to the superior (Sthavira) and desired permission to take on him the vows of a recluse, and to leave his home and follow the Lord Kâsyapa. And so he became a Bhikshu, and was distinguished for his knowledge of the rules of moral discipline (Vinaya). "Now it came to pass that among Kâsyapa's followers was one called Prabhâpala. Respecting him Kâsyapa predicted that he should be born as a Buddha, his name should be Sâkya, and one of his principal followers should be this youth distinguished for his knowledge of the precepts. And so, oh Bhikshus, it has come to pass, for I was then Prabhâpala, and that youth is Upali, who is the chief of my disciples in respect of his acquaintance with the moral law." [Kiouen LIV contains 6,664 words, and cost 3.332 taels.] CHAPTER LV. History of Rahûla. Now at this time Suddhôdana Râja requested Buddha and the priests to accept of his hospitality on the morrow, and as the worldhonoured one remained silent, the Râja understood he had accepted the invitation, and so rising up, he paid his homage, and having circumambulated the holy one three times, he returned with his followers to his palace, and made all necessary preparations for the entertainment. On the morrow, therefore, the Râja sent his messengers to the place where Buddha was, to bid him and the Bhikshus come to the feast, for all things were ready. Accordingly, the world-honoured one, surrounded right and left by his disciples, himself leading the way, went forward to the palace of Suddhôdana Râja. Having entered the royal apartment, they took their seats in due order according to the law. Then the king himself personally waited upon his guests, and after the feast was over he provided water for cleansing the mouth and hands, and then taking a small seat he came and took his place in front of Buddha and thus began the discourse. "Oh! that the honoured of men would open his mouth in instruction, and teach us some of his own divine lessons!" On this Buddha opened his mouth, and taught his father and the rest the secrets of his law. After the discourse, he arose and returned to his own place. Then by the intervention of Sâriputra, Suddhôdana Râja obtained light and became a disciple. Now at this time Rahûla began to be about six years of age, having been born six years after his father had left his home. His mother, therefore, seeing Buddha had returned to Kapilavastu, and in recollection of all the charges which had been made against her, resolved to set the matter clear, and to vindicate both her own and her son's character. So Yasodharâ sent messengers to Buddha to ask him to an entertainment on the morrow. Accordingly, as the day dawned, Buddha and his 1,200 followers proceeded to the palace, and entering into the apartment appointed, they took their seats in due order. Then Yasodharâ instructed Rahula her son in this wise-" My child! the great Shaman who is now our guest is your father, go to him then and speak to him!" On this the child Rahûla proceeded to the side of the world-honoured and said to him, "How are you, Shaman! are you quite happy and well ?" Then Suddhôdana Râja asked Buddha plainly, “Is it true or not that this is your son ?" To which the world-honoured one replied, "Yasodharâ is perfectly pure and innocent. This is my son." Then the Raja and all the company present were exceedingly glad, they rejoiced and exulted for joy at the news. Then Suddhôdana requested some of the priests to ask Buddha to relate the previous history of Yasodharâ and Rahûla, and how it was that the child was borne so long by his mother. Then Buddha addressed all the Bhikshus and said "I remem ber in years long gone by, there was a certain king of the Brahman caste whose name was Jin-tien; this monarch had two sons born to him, the one was called Sûrya (Sun), the other (Moon) Chandra.2 They both of them had a distaste for the world and its pleasures, and desired to become religious mendicants. Now not long after their minds were so directed, the king their father died. Then the two princes, Sûrya and Chandra, consulted together as to the succession. The elder said, 'You, my brother, ought to assume the reins of government, and rule the kingdom.' The other said, 'It is clearly your duty, as the elder, to do so.' To this the first replied, ‘Not so, you must of necessity be king because I am going to give up the world and become a recluse.' The other answered, 'It is your duty to reign, I shall not consent to be your substitute.' Then Sûrya replied, What are the rules customary before accepting the royal authority?' The other answered, First of all you adopt the royal title.' 'And if,' said Surya, ‘a man after this disobeys or disregards the authority which the king takes, what is done to him?' 'He is punished heavily,' said the other. • Well then,' said Sûrya, 'I now take the title of king, and I order you to conduct the empire in my stead. I am about to become a recluse.' Thus Sûrya, having given the kingdom to his brother, went into the desert as a hermit, to practise religion, accompanied by many of his relations and friends. Then Sûrya, seeing all his followers around him, undertook to be their teacher, and he made a vow to the effect that henceforth he would rely only on their charitable offerings for his own support, and that he would have nothing, and take nothing himself unless freely given him, down even to a draught of water and a tooth cleaner (twig of willow for cleaning the mouth and teeth). But after a time it came to pass that Sûrya forgot his vow, and being in want of some medicinal herbs and other things, in the absence of any one to offer them to him, he went and helped himself. And so also one evening when he was thirsty, and saw a certain person's pitcher (kundika) full of water, he went and helped himself and put the empty pitcher on one side. Then the owner of the pitcher coming and finding some one had taken the water that was in it said, What thief has stolen the 1 Man-Heaven or Man-God (Manushya-deva?). |