In this manner the intensely compassionate show pity even to him who attempts their life, when he is in distress; they will not disregard such a one. [This story is to be told also when treating of commiseration, when discoursing on the high-mindedness of the Tathâgata and on the subject of listening with attention to the preaching of the Law. Likewise it is to be propounded when demonstrating that enmities are appeased by means of friendliness, also when treating of the virtue of forbearance. 'In this way it is seen that the High-minded, even when in the state of beasts, behave mercifully towards those who attempt their life. How, indeed, should it become a human being or one who has taken the vow of a homeless life to be wanting in mercy towards the animals? For this reason a pious man (ârya) must show mercy to living beings.']
XXVI. The Story of the Ruru-Deer.
(Cp. the Pâli Gâtaka, No. 482, Fausb. IV, 255-263; Kariyâpitaka II, 6.)
To the virtuous no suffering exists but that of others. It is this they cannot bear, not their own suffering, as will be taught by the following.
One time the Bodhisattva, it is said, lived in the forest as a ruru-deer. He had his residence in a remote part of a large wilderness, far from the paths of men and overgrown with a rich, manifold vegetation. There were a great number of sâls, bakulas, piyâlas, hintâlas, tamâlas, naktamâlas, of vidula and nikula reeds and of shrubs; thickets of simsapâs, tinisas, samîs, palâsas, sâkas, of kusa-grass, bamboo and reeds encumbered it; kadambas, sargas, argunas, dhavas, khadiras, and kutagas abounded in it; and the outstretched branches of many trees were covered as if by a veil with the tendrils of manifold creeping plants. It was the abode of a great many forest-animals: deer of the ruru, prishata and srimara varieties, yaks, elephants, gavaya-oxen, buffaloes, antelopes of the harina and the nyaṅku kind, boars, panthers, hyenas, tigers, wolves, lions, bears, and others. Among them that ruru-deer was conspicuous by its hue brilliant like pure gold and the very soft hair of his body, which was moreover adorned and resplendent with spots of different lovely colours, shining like rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and beryls. With his large blue eyes of incomparable mildness and brightness, with his horns and hoofs endowed with a soft splendour, as if they were made of precious stones, that ruru-deer of surpassing beauty had the appearance of a moving treasury of jewels. Then, knowing his body to be a much desirable object and being aware of the pitiless nature of man, he liked to frequent such forest-tracks as were free from human intercourse, and in consequence of his keen intellect, was careful to avoid such places as were unsafe by the artifices of huntsmen, their traps, nets, snares, holes, lime-twigs, and the seeds and other food they strew down. Moreover, he warned also the animals who followed after him to avoid them. He exercised his rule over them like a teacher, like a father.
1. Where on earth will not people, longing for their happiness, honour the combination of paramount beauty and paramount intelligence, hallowed by accomplished good actions?
Now once upon a time it happened that the High-minded One, residing in that wild part of the forest, heard cries for help uttered by some man who was being carried away by the current of a rapid stream flowing near and lately swollen by the rains.
2. 'The rapid and swollen stream carries me away, and there is nobody to help, no vessel to take me. Come to me, pitiful people; come quickly to rescue a wretch.
3. 'My arms, exhausted from fatigue, are not able to keep my body on the water, and nowhere can I find a ford. Help me then and soon, there is no time to lose.'