Once upon a time, when Janasandha was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta came to life as the son of his chief queen. His face was resplendent, wearing a look of auspicious beauty, like a golden mirror well polished. They named him as Adasamukha, Prince Mirror-face.

Within seven years his father made him to be taught the Three Vedas, and all the duties of this world; and then he died, when the lad was seven years old. The courtiers performed the king’s obsequies with great pomp, and made the offering for the dead; and on the seventh day they gathered together in the palace court, and talked together. The prince was very young, and he could not be made king.

Before they made him king, they would test him. So they prepared a court of justice, and set a divan. Then they came into the prince’s presence, and said they, “You must come, my lord to the law-court.” To this the prince agreed; and sat upon the dais.

The courtiers had dressed up a monkey, in the garb of a man who is skilled in the lore which tells what are good sites for a building. They made him go upon two feet, and brought him into the judgement hall.

They said, “My lord! in the time of the king your father this man was one who divined by magic as to desirable sites, and well did he know his art. Down in the earth as deep as seven cubits he can see a fault. By his help there was a place chosen for the king’s house; let the king provide for him, and give him a post.”

The prince scanned him from head to food and thought, “This is not a man, but a monkey and monkeys can destroy what others have made, but of themselves can neither make anything nor carry out such a thing.” And so he said:-

” It is not a clever builder, but an ape with a wrinkled face;

He can destroy what others make; that is the way of his race.”

The courtiers said, “It must be so, my lord! and took him away. But after a day or two they dressed this same creature in grand clothes, and brought him again to the judgement hall. ” In the days of your father, this was a judge who dealt justice. Can you take him to help you in the awarding of justice.”

The prince looked at him and thought, “A man with mind and reason is not hairy as all that. This witless ape cannot dispense justice.” He repeated:-

“There’s no wit in this hairy creature; he breeds no confidence;

He knows not, as my father taught; the animal has no sense!”

The courtiers said,”So it must be, my lord!” and led him away. Yet once again they dressed up the very same monkey, and bring him to the hall of judgement. They said, “Sir! in the time of your father, this man did his duty to father and mother, and paid respect to old age in his family. Can you keep him with you.”

Again the prince looked at him, and thought Monkeys are fickle of mind; such a thing they cannot do.” And then he said:-

One thing Dasaratha has taught me; no help such a creature would send to father or mother, to sister or brother, or any who call him friend!”

They answered, “So must it be, my lord!” and took him away again. And they said amongst themselves, ” It is a wise prince and he will be able to rule.” They made the Bodhisatta king; and throughout the city by beat of drum they made proclamation, saying, “The edicts of king Adasamukha!”

From that time the Bodhisatta reigned righteously as Adasamukha; and his wisdom was noised abroad throughout all India. To show forth the matter of this wisdom of his, these fourteen problems were brought to him to decide:

This happened as we shall explain. When the Bodhisatta was inaugurated king, a servant of king Janasandha, named Gamanicands, thus thought: “This kingdom is glorious if it be governed by aid of those who are of an age with the king. No I am old, and I cannot wait upon a young prince; so I will get me a living by farming in the country.” So he went to and lived in a village. But he had no oxen for farming. And so, after rain had fallen, he begged the loan of two oxen from a friend; all day long he ploughed with them, and then he gave them grass to eat, and went to the owner’s house to give them back again. At the moment it happened that the owner of the oxen was eating with his wife and they didn’t invite Gamanicands in. So Gamanicanda departed without formally making over the oxen. During the night, thieves broke into the cow-pen and stole the oxen away.

Early on the morning, the owner of these oxen entered the cow-shed and found no cattle; he perceived that they had been stole away by thieves. He thought, “I’ll make Gamani to pay for it!”. He went to Gamani and cried, “Return me my oxen!”

Gamani asked, “Are they not in their stall?”

“No. you didn’t return them to me?”

You come to the court and let the king settle the case. So they went together towards the king’s court.

On the way, they came to a village where Gamani’s friend lived. Gamani said to the other, “I say, I’m very hungry. Wait here till I go in and get me something to eat!” and he entered his friend’s house. But his friend was not at home. The wife said, “Sir! there is nothing cooked. Wait a moment; I will cook at once and give you.” She climbed a ladder to the grain store, and in her haste she fell to the ground. And as she was pregnant for seven months, miscarriage followed. At that moment, the husband came, and saw what had happened. He cried, “You have struck my wife, and because of you miscarriage happened. You come to the court and let the king settle the case. After this they went on, the two of them, with Gamani between.

As they went, there was a horse running from the village gate. The horse keeper called out to Gamani, “Uncle Gamani! hit the horse with something and drive him back!” Gamani picked up a stone, and threw it at the horse. The stone struck his foot, and broke it’s legs. Then the man cried, “Oh! you’ve broken my horse’s leg! You come to the court and let the king settle the case.

Gamani was thus three men’s prisoner. As they led him along, he thought, “I can not compensate either for oxen or for the horse. If they fine me for miscarriage, there is no money. It is better to die.” So, as they went along, he saw a hill with a precipice on one side of it. In the shadow of it were two basket-makers, father and son, weaving a mat. Gamani said, “I want to retire for a moment; wait here, while I go aside” and with these words he climbed the hill, and threw himself down the precipice. He fell upon the back of the elder basket-marker, and killed him on the spot. Gamani got up, and stood still. The younger basket-marker cried, “You have murdered my father! You come to the court and let the king settle the case.” He seized Gamani’s hands, and came out of the thicket.

“What’s this ?” asked the others.

“He has murdered my father!”

So on they went, the four of them, with Gamani in the middle.

They came to the gate of another village. The headman was there, who hailed Gamani: “Gamani, where are you going?”

“To see the king,” says Gamani.

“Oh indeed, to see the king. I want to send him a massage; will you take it?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Well! I am usually handsome, rich, honoured, and healthy; but now I am miserable and have the jaundice too. Ask the king why this is?

He is a wise man and he will tell you, and you can bring me his message again.”

To this the other agreed.

At another village a woman called him; “Gamani! where are you going?”

“To see the king,” says he.

The woman said, “They say the king is a wise man; take him a message from me. Formerly, I used to make great gains; now I don’t get the worth of a betel-nut, and nobody courts me. Ask the king how this may be, and then you can tell me.”

At a third village, there was a young woman who told Gamani, “I can live neither with my husband nor with my own family. Ask the king how this is, and then tell me.”

A little further on there was a snake who told Gamani, “I go out to get my food, I leave this ant-hill faint and famishing, and yet I fill the entrance hole with my body, and I get out with difficulty, dragging my self along. But when I come in again, I feel satisfied, and fat, yet I pass quickly through the hole without touching the sides. How is this? Ask the king, and bring me his answer.”

And further on a deer saw him, and said, “I can’t eat grass anywhere but underneath this tree. Ask the king the reason.” And again a partridge said, ” When I sit at the foot of this ant heap, and utter my note, I can make it prettily; but nowhere else. Ask the king why.” And again, a tree sprit told him, “In former times I was highly honoured; now I don’t receive so much as a handful of twigs. Ask the king what the reason is.”

And further on again he was seen by a serpent king who spoke to him thus:”Formerly the water in this pool has been clear as crystal; Why is it that now it has become turbid, with scum all over it?”

Further on, ascetics who lived in a park told him, “Formerly the fruits in this park were sweet and plenty, now they have grown tasteless and dry. Ask him what the reason is.” Further on again, some Brahmin students told him, “Till now, whatever passage we learnt was bright and clear; now it does not stay with us, it is not understood, but all his darkness, It is like water in a leaky jar. Ask the king what the reason his.”

Gamani canda came before the king with his fourteen questions. When the king saw him, he recognized him. “This is my father’s servant, who used to dandle me in his arms. The king asked, “where have you been living all this time? We have seen nothing of you for a long while; what brings you here ?”

“Oh! my lord! when my lord the late king went to heaven, I went to a village and was farming. Then this man summoned me for a suit regarding his cattle, and here he has brought me.”

“If you had not been brought here, you would not have come; but I’m glad that you were brought anyhow. Now I can see you. Where is that man? What is the suit?”

“He refuses to give back my pair of oxen!”

“Is this so, Canda?”

“Hear my story too, my lord!” sand Canda; and told him the whole. When he had heard the tale, the king accosted the owner of the oxen and asked, “Did you see the oxen entering the stall?”

“No, my lord,” the man replied.

“Why, man, did you never hear my name? They call me king Mirror-face. Speak out honestly.”

“I saw them, my lord!” said he.

The king said, “Now, Canda! you failed to return the oxen, and therefore you are his debtor. But this man, in saying that he had not seen them, told a direct lie. Therefore you with your own hands shall pluck his eyes out, and you shall yourself pay him twenty four pieces of money as the price of the oxen.” Then they led the owner of the oxen out of doors.

The owner of the oxen thought, “If I lose my eyes, what do I care for the money?” And he fell at Gamani’s feet, and requested him “O! master Canda! keep those twenty four pieces, and take these too!” and he gave him other pieces, and ran way.

The second man said, “My lord, this fellow struck my wife and made her miscarry.” “Is this true, Canda ? asked the king. Canda begged for a hearing, and told the whole story.

“Did you really strike her, and cause her to miscarry ?” asked the king.

“No, my lord! I did no such thing.”

“I ought to have a son, my lord.”

“Canda! you take the man’s wife to your house; and when a son shall be born to you, hand him over to the husband.”

Then this man also fell at Canda’s feet crying, “don’t break up my home, master!” threw down some money, and made off.

The third man then accused Canda of laming his horse’s foot. Canda as before told what had happened. Then the king asked the owner,

“Did you really bid Canda strike the horse, and turn him back ?”

“No! my lord! I did not.” But on being pressed, he admitted that he had said so.

The king said, “This man has told a direct lie, in saying that he did not tell you to head back the horse. You may tear out his tongue; and then you pay him a thousand pieces for the horse’s price, which I will give you.” But the fellow even gave him another sum of money, and departed.

Then the basket-maker’s son said, “This fellow is a murderer, and he killed my father!”

“Is it so, Canda ?” asked the king. “Hear me, my lord,” said Canda, and told him about it.

“Now, what do you want?” asked the king.

“My lord, I must have my father.”

The king said, “Canda! this man must have a father. But you cannot bring him back from the dead. Then take his mother to your house, and be a father to him.”

“Oh! Master! don’t break up my dead father’s home!” He gave Gamani a sum of money, and ran away.

Thus Gamani won his suit, and in great delight he said to the king, “My lord! I have several questions for you from several persons; may I tell you then?.”

The king said, “Say on.”

So Gamani told them all in reverse order, beginning with the young Brahmins. The king answered them in turn.

To the first question, he answered; “In the place where they lived there used to be a crow. When they heard this crow, they used to rise up, and repeat their texts, until the sun rose, and thus they did not forgot what they learnt. But now there is a cock that crows out of season; he crows at dead of night, or in broad day. When the cock crows in the depth of night, up they rise, but they are too sleepy to repeat the text. When the cock crows in broad day, they rise up, but they have not the chance to repeat their texts. Thus it is, that whatever they learn, they soon forgot.”

To the second question, he answered; “Formerly these men used to do all the duties of the ascetic, and they induced the mystic trance. Now they have neglected the ascetic’s duties, and they do what they ought not to do; the fruits which grow in the park they give to their attendants; they live in a sinful way, exchanging their alms. This is why this fruit does not grow sweet. If they once more do their duty as ascetics, again the fruit will grow sweet for them. Those hermits know not the wisdom of kings; tell them to live the ascetic life.”

He heard the third question, and answered: “Those serpent chiefs quarrel one with another, and that is why the water becomes turbid. If they make friends as before, the water will be clear again.”

After hearing the fourth, the King said, “The tree spirit, formerly used to protect men passing through the wood, and therefore she received many offerings. Now she gives them no protection, and so she receives no offerings. If She protect. Tell her, to guard the men who go up into that wood.”

And on hearing the fifth, the King said, “Under the ant hill where the partridge finds himself able to utter a pleasant cry is a crock of treasure; dig it up and get it.”

To the sixth he answered, “On the tree under which the deer found he could eat grass, is a great honey comb. He craves the grass on which this honey has dropped, and so he can eat no other. You get the honeycomb, send the best of it to me, and eat the rest yourself.”

Then on hearing the seventh, “Under the snake’s ant heap lies large treasure crock, and there he lives guarding it. So when he goes out, from greed for this treasure his body sticks fast; but after he has fed, his desire for the treasure prevents his body from sticking, and he goes in quickly and easily. Dig up the treasure, and keep it.”

Then he replied to the eight question, “Between the villages where she lives with her husband and her parents live, her lover lives. When she remembers her lover, her desire is toward him; and therefore she cannot stay in her husband’s house; but when she goes to see her parents, on the way she stays for a few days she lives with her lover. When she has been at home a few days, again she remembers him, and saying she will return to her husband, she goes again to her lover. Go! tell her! she must dwell with her husband; or else king will give death sentence.

The King heard the ninth, and to this he said, “The woman used formerly to take a price from the hand of one, and not to go with another until she was off with him and that is how she used to receive much. Now she has changed her manner and without leave of the first she goes with the last, so that she receives nothing, and none seek after her. If she keeps to her old custom, it will be as it was before. Tell her that she should keep to that.”

On hearing the tenth, the King replied, “That village headman used once to deal justice indifferently, so that men were pleased and delighted with him; and in their delight they gave him many a present. This is what made him handsome, rich, and honoured. Now he loves to take bribes, and his judgement is not fair; so he is poor and miserable. If he judges once again with righteousness, he will be again as he was before. He knows not that there are kings in the land. Tell him that he must use justice in giving judgement.”

And Gamani canda told all these messages, as they were told to him. And the king having resolved all these questions by his wisdom, like Buddha omniscient, gave rich presents to Gamani Canda; and the village where Canda lived, he gave to him, as a brahmin’s gift, and let him go. Canda went out of the city, and told the king’s answer to the Brahmin youths, and the ascetics, to the serpent and to the tree spirit; he took the treasure from the place where the partridge sat, and from the tree beneath which the deer did eat, he took the honeycomb, and sent honey to the king; he broke into the snake’s ant hill, and gathered the treasure out of it; and to the young woman, and the light o love, and the village headman he said eve as the king had told him.

Then he returned to his own village, and lived there so long as he lived, and afterwards passed away to fare according to his deserts. And king Mirror-face also gave alms, and wrought goodness, and finally after his death went to swell the hosts of heaven.