sufferings of others; [who, then, ought not to set aside the attachment to anything so mean as wealth? Thus ought to be said when stimulating the zeal of charitable people. Likewise, when explaining the virtue of compassion; when glorifying the Tathâgata; also on the subject of listening with attention to the preaching of the Law. Moreover, the words said by the Lord: 'Monks, these Five have done much, indeed,' will be explained by their being connected with this story. For they were the five Yakshas of that time. To them the Lord imparted the first of the ambrosia of the Law, just as he had promised.]
The story of Maitrîbala is not met with in the Kariyâpitaka nor in the five volumes of the Pâli Gâtaka, which have appeared up to date; it will probably be found in the part not yet published. Something like it is told in the ninety-first pallava of Kshemendra's Avadânakalpalatâ. There a king of the Sibis gives up his flesh and blood in order to obtain a sûkta or well-said sentence[1]. This tale, however, is not yet printed, nor may we expect it soon to be so. But in another part of that poem, already published, I have met with the story of king Manikûda, which bears in many respects a striking resemblance to ours. See 3, 56 foll.
IX. The Story of Visvantara.
The mean-spirited are not even capable of approving the behaviour of the Bodhisattva, how much less can they act after it. This will be taught by the following.
Once the Sibis were ruled by a king named Samgaya, who performed his royal duties in the right manner. Having entirely subdued his organs of sense, and possessing in a high degree the virtues of valour, discretion, and modesty, he was victorious and mighty. Thanks to the constant and strict observance he paid to the elders, he had mastered the essential contents of the three Vedas (trayî) and of metaphysics. His good administration of justice was praised by his
- ↑ Somendra in his introductory slokas describes the ninety-first story thus: svamâmsâsrikpradânena yah Sibih sûktam agrahît (sl 36).
