The Future Buddha, snared five times, stuck fast in five places, dangled from the ogre’s body. But for all that, he was unafraid, undaunted. As for the ogre, he thought: “This is some lion of a man, some man of noble birth,—no mere man! For although he has been caught by an ogre like me, he appears neither to tremble nor to quake! In all the time I have harried this road, I have never seen a single man to match him! Why, pray, is he not afraid?” Not daring to eat him, he asked: “Youth, why are you not afraid? why are you not terrified with the fear of death?”
“Ogre, why should I be afraid? for in one state of existence one death is absolutely certain. What’s more, I have in my belly a thunderbolt for weapon. If you eat me, you will not be able to digest that weapon. It will tear your insides into tatters and fragments and will kill you. In that case we’ll both perish. That’s why I’m not afraid!” (In these terms, we are told, the Future Buddha referred to the Weapon of Knowledge within himself.)
Hearing this, the ogre thought: “What this youth says is true, every word of it. From the body of this lion of a man, my stomach would not be able to digest a fragment of flesh even so small as a kidney bean. I’ll let him go!” Terrified with the fear of death, he let the Future Buddha go, saying: “Youth, you’re a lion of a man! I’ll not eat your flesh. Do you, this moment released from my hand, even as the moon is released from the Jaws of Rāhu, go gladden the circle of your kinsfolk and well-wishers!”
Then said the Future Buddha to the ogre: “Ogre, I’ll go presently. But you, because in a former state of existence also you wrought evil, have been reborn as an ogre, cruel, red-handed, feeding on the flesh and blood of others. If in this state of existence also, so long as you live, you do evil deeds, you will go from darkness to darkness. But from the moment you saw me, it has been impossible for you to do evil deeds. Such a crime as taking the life of living beings means rebirth in hell, in the animal kingdom, in the region of the fathers, in the world of the fallen deities; should you be reborn in the world of men, you will live but a short time and soon pass away.”
In such wise did the Future Buddha recite the disadvantages of doing deeds contrary to the Precepts, and the advantages of keeping the Five Precepts. With one reason after another he terrified the ogre, preached the Doctrine to him, subdued him, made him self-denying. Having established him in the Five Precepts, he bade him practice them. Then he transformed him into a spirit entitled to receive offerings in the forest, and having admonished him to be heedful, departed from the forest. At the mouth of the forest he told his story to human beings. Then, girded with the five weapons, he went to Benāres and visited his mother and father. After a time becoming established in the kingdom, he ruled righteously, gave alms and performed the other works of merit, and passed away according to his deeds.
10. Vedabbha and the Thieves.
Cupidity is the root of ruin.
Jātaka 48: i. 252-256.
Whoever seeks advantage by wrong means. This was said by the Teacher while he was in residence at Jetavana with reference to a disobedient monk. For to this monk the Teacher said: “Monk, not only in your present state of existence are you disobedient, but in a previous state of existence also you were just as disobedient. And through this same habit of disobedience, because you disregarded the words of wise men, you were cleft in twain with a sharp sword and left lying on the road. And through your own fault, and yours alone, a thousand men met destruction.” So saying, he related the following Story of the Past:
In times past, when Brahmadatta ruled at Benāres, there lived in a certain little village a certain Brahman who knew a charm called the Vedabbha charm. This charm, we are told, was beyond price, of great worth. When the moon was in conjunction with a certain constellation, the Brahman would look up at the sky and recite that charm, and straightway the Rain of the Seven Jewels would rain from the sky.