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Jātaka TalesJātaka Tales 84

Jātaka Tales

Jātaka Tales 84

Atthassadvāra-Jātaka

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English · E. B. Cowell (ed.), R. Chalmers, W. H. D. Rouse, H. T. Francis, R. A. Neil

Atthassadvāra-Jātaka

“Seek health.”—-This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a boy who was sage in matters relating to spiritual welfare. When he was only seven years old, the boy, who was the son of a very wealthy Treasurer, manifested great intelligence and anxiety for his spiritual welfare; and one day came to his father to ask what were the Paths leading to spiritual welfare. The father could not answer, but he thought to himself,—“This is a very difficult question; from highest heaven to nethermost hell there is none that can answer it, save only the All-knowing Buddha.” So he took the child with him to J etavana, with a quantity of perfumes and flowers and unguents. Arrived there, he did reverence to the Master, bowed down before him, and seating himself on one side, spoke as follows to the Blessed One:—‘Sir, this boy of mine, who is intelligent and anxious for his spiritual welfare, has asked me what are the Paths leading to spiritual welfare; and as I did not know, I came to you. Vouchsafe, O Blessed One, to resolve this question.” “Lay-brother,” said the Master, “this selfsame question was asked me by this very child in former times,.and I answered it for him. He knew the answer in bygone days, but now he has forgotten because of change of birth.” Then, at the father’s request, he told this story of the past.

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English · E. B. Cowell (ed.), R. Chalmers, W. H. D. Rouse, H. T. Francis, R. A. Neil

Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was a very wealthy Treasurer; and he had a son who, when only seven years old, manifested great intelligence and anxiety for his spiritual welfare. One day the child came to his father to ask what were the Paths leading to spiritual welfare. And his father answered him by repeating this stanza:—

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English · E. B. Cowell (ed.), R. Chalmers, W. H. D. Rouse, H. T. Francis, R. A. Neil

Seek Health, the supreme good; be virtuous; Hearken to elders; from the scriptures learn: Conform to Truth; and burst Attachment’s bonds. —For chiefly these six Paths to Welfare lead.

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English · E. B. Cowell (ed.), R. Chalmers, W. H. D. Rouse, H. T. Francis, R. A. Neil

In this wise did the Bodhisatta answer his son’s question as to the Paths that lead to spiritual welfare; and the boy from that time forward followed those six rules. After a life spent in charity and other good works, the Bodhisatta passed away to fare thereafter according to his deserts.

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English · E. B. Cowell (ed.), R. Chalmers, W. H. D. Rouse, H. T. Francis, R. A. Neil

His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth by saying, “This child was also the child of those days, and I myself the Lord Treasurer.”

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English · E. B. Cowell (ed.), R. Chalmers, W. H. D. Rouse, H. T. Francis, R. A. Neil

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ORIGINALS & TRANSLATIONS

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Pāli text: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka Buddhavasse 2500 (M.L. Maniratana Bunnag Dhamma Society Fund), as published by SuttaCentral. Public domain. · Source ↗

Pāli text: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka, via SuttaCentral. Public domain. The canonical Jātaka is the verses only; each verse is shown with the English stanza that translates it where the stanzas could be matched one to one, and after the English story otherwise.

The Cambridge translation edited by E. B. Cowell (1895–1907), read from scans of the printed volumes. Like other translators of the time, they put a few passages into Latin. A handful of Pāli names with diacritics may appear garbled.

The Jātaka, or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births, translated from the Pāli by various hands under the editorship of E. B. Cowell, 6 vols. (Cambridge University Press, 1895–1907). Public domain. Text read from scans in the Internet Archive (Smithsonian Libraries, Cornell University Library, University of California Libraries and others). · Source ↗

The Jātaka, or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births, ed. E. B. Cowell, 6 vols. (Cambridge, 1895–1907). Public domain. Read from scans of the printed edition: every word was checked against three or four independent scans of the same printing and corrected where they agree; footnotes, running heads and page numbers are left out. Diacritics the OCR could not read are not reproduced.

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