Page:Buddhist Birth Stories, or, Jātaka Tales.djvu/376

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

260

26. — MAHILĀ-MUKHA JĀTAKA.

the Bodisat, saying, "Do you go, Paṇḍit, and find out what's the reason of his having become a Rogue!"^[1]

The Bodisat went there, and finding he had no bodily ailment, thought over what the reason could be; and came to the conclusion that he must have become a Rogue after overhearing some conversation or other, and thinking it was meant as a lesson for him. So he asked the elephant keepers, "Has there been any talking going on at night time, near the stable?"

"O yes, sir! Some thieves used to come and talk together," was the reply.

The Bodisat went away, and told the king, "There is nothing bodily the matter with the elephant, your Majesty; it is simply from hearing robbers talk that he has become a Rogue."

"Well; what ought we to do now?"

"Let holy devotees, venerable by the saintliness of their lives,^[2] be seated in the elephant stable and talk of righteousness."

↑ A "Rogue elephant" is a well-known technical term for a male who has been driven out of the herd, and away from the females, by a stronger than himself; or for a male, who, in the rutting season, has lost his self-command. Such elephants, however gentle before, become exceedingly vicious and wanton,
↑ Literally Samaṇa-Brāhmans, the Samaṇas, or Self-conquering Ones, being those who have given up the world, and devoted themselves to lives of self-renunciation and of peace. Real superiority of caste — true Brāhmanship — is the result, not of birth, but of self-culture and self-control. The Samaṇas are therefore the true Brāhmans, 'Brāhmans by saintliness of life.' The Samaṇas were not necessarily Buddhists, though they disregarded the rites and ceremonies inculcated by the Brāhmans. It would not have answered the king's purpose to send Brāhmans: who are distinguished throughout the Jātakas, not by holiness of life, but by birth; and who would be represented as likely to talk, not of righteousness, but of ritual. I cannot render the compound, therefore, by 'Samaṇas and Brāhmans,' and I very much doubt whether it ever has that meaning (but see Childers contra, under Samaṇa). It certainly never has the sense of 'Samaṇas or Brāhmans.' It was an early Buddhist idea that the only true Samaṇas were those members of the Order who had entered the Noble Path, and the only true Brāhmans those who had reached to the goal of the Noble Path, that is, to Nirvāna. See Mahā Parinibbana Sutta, p. 58.

[1] A "Rogue elephant" is a well-known technical term for a male who has been driven out of the herd, and away from the females, by a stronger than himself; or for a male, who, in the rutting season, has lost his self-command. Such elephants, however gentle before, become exceedingly vicious and wanton,

[2] Literally Samaṇa-Brāhmans, the Samaṇas, or Self-conquering Ones, being those who have given up the world, and devoted themselves to lives of self-renunciation and of peace. Real superiority of caste — true Brāhmanship — is the result, not of birth, but of self-culture and self-control. The Samaṇas are therefore the true Brāhmans, 'Brāhmans by saintliness of life.' The Samaṇas were not necessarily Buddhists, though they disregarded the rites and ceremonies inculcated by the Brāhmans. It would not have answered the king's purpose to send Brāhmans: who are distinguished throughout the Jātakas, not by holiness of life, but by birth; and who would be represented as likely to talk, not of righteousness, but of ritual. I cannot render the compound, therefore, by 'Samaṇas and Brāhmans,' and I very much doubt whether it ever has that meaning (but see Childers contra, under Samaṇa). It certainly never has the sense of 'Samaṇas or Brāhmans.' It was an early Buddhist idea that the only true Samaṇas were those members of the Order who had entered the Noble Path, and the only true Brāhmans those who had reached to the goal of the Noble Path, that is, to Nirvāna. See Mahā Parinibbana Sutta, p. 58.

[1]

[2]