Rebirth Tales: Two Gandhāra Jātakas (406, 55)

G. P. Malalasekera, Gandhāra Jātaka (palikanon.com) edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

The Gandhara Buddha, Mes Aynak, Afghanistan

The Bodhisatta ("Buddha-to-be") was once king of Gandhāra (Afghanistan/Pakistan). He and the king of Videha became friends, though they never saw each other.

One day the Gandhāra king saw an eclipse of the moon and, being stirred in his mind, renounced his kingdom and became an ascetic in the Himalayas (Himavā). The king of Videha hearing of this did likewise.

They met in the Himalayas but failed to recognize each other until, seeing another lunar eclipse, they exchanged reminiscences. They went out collecting alms together, and the Videha ascetic, having been given a large quantity of salt, stored up some of it for a saltless day.

The Gandhāra ascetic, finding this out, blamed his friend for being greedy, and the Videha ascetic asked for forgiveness.

The Videha ascetic, at the end of this story of the past, is identified as Ananda. The past life story was told in reference to the occasion of the passing of the rule forbidding Buddhist monastics to store medicine for more than seven days (J.iii.363ff).

The introductory story is given in Vin.i.206ff; see also Pilindavaccha; the Jātaka story is given in MA.i.534f.

Jataka 55: "Prince Five-Weapons"

Pañcavudha Jataka: "Prince Five-weapons" (Jataka 55), Jataka Tales of the Buddha, Part V retold by Ken and Visakha Kawasaki and edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha told this story while at Jetavana Monastery, about a monastic who had stopped making effort.

Asked if it was true that he was a backslider, the monk immediately admitted it was so.

"In bygone days, meditator," the Buddha told him, "the wise and good won a throne by sheer perseverance in the hour of need." Then he told this story of a past life:

Story of the past

Past Lives Made Easy (A. Fyfe)

Long, long ago when Brahmadatta was reigning in Varanasi (Benares), the Bodhisatta was reborn to the queen. On the day he was to be named, his royal parents gave a feast for 800 Brahmins. After the meal they asked the Brahmins what their son's destiny would be.

Noting that the Bodhisatta showed promise of a glorious destiny, the soothsayers predicted that the child would become a mighty monarch endowed with every virtue. Winning fame through exploits with his five weapons, he would be without equal in all Jambudipa [the "Rose Apple Land," a name for Planet Earth or the Indian subcontinent].

Because of the Brahmins' prophecy, the king and queen named their son "Prince Five-Weapons."

When the prince was 16-years-old, the king gave him 1,000 pieces of silver and sent him to study with a famous teacher in Takkasila (Taxila), the capital city of Gandhara.

The prince studied there for several years. When he had mastered all his subjects, the teacher presented him with a set of five weapons. The prince paid his respects to his master and left Takkasila to return to Varanasi.

Yakkhas/Yakshis (Yetis) exist now as then.

On his way the prince came to a dense forest. Some men camped at the edge of the forest tried to stop him, warning: "Young man," they cautioned, "do not try to go through that forest! It is the haunt of a formidable ogre [Sasquatch, yakkha, jinn] named 'Shaggy-Grip' who kills everyone who enters his territory."

Where the Footprints End folklore (Josh Cutchin)

Confident of his own strength, the prince was undaunted. Then sure enough, in the middle of the woods, the hairy ogre confronted the prince.

The shapeshifter made himself as tall as a palm tree, with a head as big as a gazebo, eyes like mixing bowls, two sharp tusks, and a hawk-like beak. His distended belly was purple, and the palms of his hands were blue-black.

"Where do you think you're going?" cried the monster. "Stop! You're mine!"

"Ogre," answered the prince calmly, "you do not scare me. Do not come near me or I will kill you with a poisoned arrow!"

Bravely, the prince fitted an arrow dipped in deadly poison to his bow. He shot it at the monster, but it only stuck to the creature's scruffy coat. The youth shot all 50 of his arrows, one after another, but they all stuck to the ogre's unkempt fur.

This sword will dispatch the ogre Shaggy-Grip.

Shaking himself, the arrows fell at his feet. Then the ogre gave a roar and charged at the prince. The young Bodhisatta shouted defiantly, drew his sword, and struck at the ogre. But like the arrows the sword merely got caught in the ogre's shaggy hair.

Next the prince hurled his spear. But that, too, lodged in the monster's thick pelt. He struck the ogre with his club. But the club joined the other weapons in sticking to the creature's fur.

The prince nevertheless maintained his stance and said, "Ogre, you have never before heard of me. I am 'Prince Five-Weapons.' When I entered this forest, however, I put my trust not in these weapons — bow, arrows, sword, spear, and club — but in myself! Now will I give you a blow that will crush you and send you flying to smithereens."

The prince hit the monster with his right fist. But his hand stuck fast to the hair. Next he aimed a blow with his left hand. He kicked the ogre with his right foot, and with his left. All he accomplished, however, was to get himself stuck to the monster with both hands and both feet.

"I will smash you to atoms!" he shouted, as he butted the ogre with his head. But that, too, stuck to the fur.

Wait, these Yakkha/Rakkshasa monsters are real and not just mythological and folkloric?

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Though completely ensnared by all four limbs and his head, hanging helplessly like a doll from the ogre's coat, the prince remained fearless and undaunted.

The monster reflected, "This is a hero without equal, a lion among men. He cannot be an ordinary human being. Although he has been captured by an ogre like me, he shows no sign of fear. In all the time I've been killing travelers in this wilderness, I have never seen anyone like him. Why isn't he afraid of me?"

Reluctant to devour the prince, the ogre asked: "How can it be, young prince, that you have no fear of death?"

Jataka Tales (T. W. Rhys Davids)

"Why should I be afraid? Each life must surely end in death. I know that inside my body there is a diamond sword that not even you can digest. If you eat me, this sword will slice your innards into mincemeat. My death will bring about your death." The prince was of course referring to the adamantine Sword of Knowledge.

The ogre pondered this. "This young prince speaks only the truth. Surely I would not be able digest a morsel of such a hero. I had better release him."

Fearful for his own life, the monster let the prince go free, saying, "Brave youth, I will not eat you. Go free to gladden the hearts of your kinsfolk, your friends, and your country."

"I am free to go, ogre, and I will go," answered the prince, "but the karma you committed in a past life have caused you to be reborn as a murderous fiend. If you continue your vicious ways, you will be reborn from darkness to darkness.

"However, having met me you have the opportunity to stop killing. To destroy life is to ensure rebirth in a hell (as a hellion), as a beast, or as a hungry ghost. Even if a killer's rebirth is as a human, it will be miserable and short."

The prince taught the ogre the painful consequences of violating the moral precepts and explained the blessings that follow from observing them. Having saved the monster, the prince imbued him with self-discipline and established him in the Five Precepts.

Before continuing on his way, the prince made the ogre the guardian of that forest, with a right to levy dues, and charged him to remain steadfast. As he passed through the villages at the forest's edge, he announced to everyone that the ogre was completely reformed.

I've returned, Mother and Father! Look at these.

Finally, armed with his five weapons, the prince returned to the royal city of Varanasi and was reunited with his parents.

When he at last became king, he was a righteous ruler. After a life spent in charity and other good works, he passed away to fare according to his just deserts.

Conclusion

His lesson concluded, the Buddha announced, "Without attachments to hamper one's heart, victory will be achieved by walking righteously."

Serial killer Angulimala the ogre returns.

The Buddha gave a gradual discourse that taught the Dharma progressively, until that backsliding monk won full enlightenment (arhatship).

Then he showed the connection and identified the actors in that past life, saying: "Angulimala was the ogre in those days, and I myself was Prince Five-Weapons."