118. The Bodhisatta And Asanka
Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was king in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born in a Brahmin family at a village of that country. When he grew up, he learned the arts at Takkasila, became an ascetic and reaching the Faculties and Attainments lived on roots and fruits in the Himalaya.
At that time a star fell from the Heaven and was conceived as a girl inside a lotus in a pool; and when the other lotuses grew old and fell, that one grew great and stood. The ascetic coming to bathe saw it and thought, “The other lotuses fall, but this one is grown great and stands; why is this?” So he opened the lotus and saw the girl. He took her to his hut and tended her as his daughter. Now the Bodhisatta had given the maiden the name Asanka. When she came to sixteen years, she was beautiful. Sakka came to see the Bodhisatta and gave a crystal palace with all facilities for her dwelling.
117. The Bodhisatta And A Lie
Once upon a time, there was a king named Apacara. He reigned over the kingdom of Ceti, in the city of Sotthivati. He was endowed with four supernatural faculties – he could walk aloft and pass through the air, he had four angels in each of the four quarters to defend him with drawn swords, he diffused the fragrance of the lotus from his mouth. His family priest was named Kapila. This brahmin’s younger brother, Korakalamba, had been taught along with the king by the same teacher and was the king’s playmate. When Apacara was prince, he promises to make Korakalamba his family priest when he became king. At his father’s death he became king, but he could not depose Kapila from the position of family priest. When Kapila came to wait on him, he showed him special forms of honor.
116. The Bodhisatta And A Clear, Serene Mind
Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was king of Benares, the Bodhisatta was born in the family of a brahmin. When he grew up, he studied under a famed teacher of Takkasila, where he learnt all magic charms. After returning to Benares he taught these charms to a large number of Brahmin and kshatriya youths.
Amongst these youths was one young Brahmin who had learnt the Three Vedas by heart; he became a master of ritual, and could repeat the whole of the sacred texts without stumbling in a single line. By and bye he married and settled down. Then household cares clouded his mind, and no longer could he repeat the sacred verses.
115. The Bodhisatta Admonishing Kassapa
Once upon a time when Brahmadatta reigned in Benares, the Bodhisatta came to life in a brahmin family in a town of the Kasi country. When he was grownup, his mother died. And after due performance of her funeral rites, at the end of six weeks he gave away in alms all the money that was in the house, and taking his father and younger brother with him he put on the bark garment, and adopted the religious life of an ascetic in the Himalayas. And there he lived in a pleasant grove, supporting himself by gleaning in the fields and living on roots and wild fruits.
