“Behold, this is the reason why I said that Jīvaka, as he is possessed of remarkable insight, intuitively comprehends any matter on a slight intimation being given to him. I will give you yet another proof of this.”
Then he said to his pupils, “Go to the pine-hill, and fetch from it that which is no remedy.” They went thither, and each of them brought away that which he thought was no remedy. But Jīvaka reflected that there is scarcely anything which is not a remedy, so he brought away only a knot from a reed and a morsel of stone. Halfway back he met a herd-girl, who was carrying a jug of curdled milk and a leavening pot, and who was intending to go to Ātreya, as she was suffering greatly with her eyes. Jīvaka asked her where she was going. When she had told him, he showed her a remedy which was near at hand. She applied it, and was cured at once. Full of joy thereat she said, “Take this pot and this jug of curdled milk.” He accepted the pot, but he gave her back the jug of curdled milk. Then he went on his way carrying the pot.
Now the Brahmans’ sons saw some elephant tracks in the middle of the road, and took to inspecting them. When Jīvaka came up with them, he asked what those marks were. “Footprints of an elephant,” they replied. He said, “Those are the footprints of an elephant, not male but female, blind of the right eye, and about to bring forth young to-day. On it a woman was riding. She too is blind of the right eye, and she will bear a son to-day.”
When they had all returned to Ātreya, each of them showed what he had brought away with him. Ātreya said, “O Brahmans’ sons, all these things are remedies. This one is of use in such and such an illness, and the others in other illnesses.” When Jīvaka was asked what he had brought, he said, “O teacher, all things are remedies; there exists nothing which is not a remedy. However, I have brought with me the knot of a reed, a morsel of stone, and a leavening pot.” [[97]]
“Of what use are these things?”
“If a man is stung by a scorpion, he can be fumigated with the reed knot and healed with the leavening pot, and with the morsel of stone can a pot of curdled milk be broken at harvest-time.”
Ātreya laughed. The Brahmans’ sons thought that the teacher was displeased with him, so they said, “O teacher, do you suppose that is all? We saw the track of an elephant in the middle of the road, and Jīvaka declared that the track was that of a female elephant, blind of the right eye and big with young, and that it will bring forth a young elephant to-day; and also that a woman had been seated upon it, who was also pregnant and blind of the right eye, and who will give birth to-day to a son.”
Ātreya asked, “O Jīvaka, is this true?”
“Yes, O teacher.”
“How did you know whether the footprints were those of a male or of a female elephant?”