both. Likewise when expounding the sinfulness of anger, and treating of the high-mindedness of the Tathậgata.]
XXII. The Story of the Holy Swans.
(Comp. Pâli Gâtaka, No. 533, Fausb. V, 337–354.)
The virtuous, even when in distress, behave in such a manner as cannot be imitated by the impious; how much less are the latter able to follow up the conduct of the virtuous, when favoured by fortune! This will be taught as follows.
One time, it is told, the Bodhisattva was a king of swans. He was the chief of a large tribe of swans, numbering many hundred thousands, who lived in Lake Mânasa. His name was Dhritarâshtra. The commander of his army, who was called Sumukha[1], was skilled in the management of affairs, knowing the right and the wrong policy very well; his keen intellect encompassed the objects and events over a large extent of space and time; born of an illustrious family, he embellished the nobility of his extraction by his talent, his courtesy, his modesty; he was endowed with the virtues of constancy, honesty, courage, and distinguished by the purity of his conduct, mode of life, and behaviour; moreover he was capable of enduring fatigue, vigilant and clever in military marches as well as in battles, and bore a great affection to his master. In consequence of their mutual love the grandeur of their qualities shone the more; and as they were in the habit of instructing that flock of swans, as a teacher and his foremost disciple would instruct all his other pupils, or a father with his eldest son his other sons, inculcating upon their mind a peaceable behaviour towards others, and such other matters as lead to the benefit of the creatures, they offered a spectacle for the
- ↑ The original text has here this interpolation, who was the presbyter Ananda at that time,' of course bracketed by the editor. Cp. the note on p. 164.
