But one doorkeeper, standing not far from the king, was sighing and sobbing. "Good Porter," said the Bodhisatta, observing him, "all the people are making merry for joy that my father is dead, but you stand weeping. Come, was my father good and kind to you?" And with the question he uttered the first stanza:--

"The Yellow King was cruel to all men;
Now he is dead, all freely breathe again.
Was he, the yellow-eyed, so very dear?
Or, Porter, why do you stand weeping here?"

The man heard, and answered: "I am not weeping for sorrow that Pingala is dead. My head would be glad enough. For King Pingala, every time he came down from the palace, or went up into it, would give me eight blows over the head with his fist, like the blows of a blacksmith's hammer. So when he goes down to the other world, he will deal eight blows on the head of Yama, the gatekeeper of hell, as though he were striking me. Then the people there will cry--He is too cruel for us! and will send him up again. And I fear he will come and deal fisticuffs on my head again, and that is why I weep." To explain the matter he uttered the second stanza:--[242]

"The Yellow King was anything but dear:
It is his coming back again I fear.
What if he beat the king of Death, and then
The king 'of Death should send him back again?"

Then said the Bodhisatta: "That king has been burnt with a thousand cartloads of wood; the place of his burning has been soaked with water from thousands of pitchers, and the ground has been dug up all round; beings that have gone to the other world, except by force of fate , do not return to the same bodily shape as they had before; do not be afraid!" and to comfort him, he repeated the following stanza

"Thousands of loads of wood have burnt him quite,
Thousands of pitchers quenched what still did burn;
The earth is dug about to left and right
Fear not--the king will never more return.

After that, the porter took comfort. And the Bodhisatta ruled in righteousness; and after giving gifts and doing other good acts, he passed away to fare according to his deserts.

_____________________________

When the Master had ended this discourse, he identified the Birth:--"Devadatta was Pingala; and his son was I myself."

Footnotes

^165:1 Folk-Lore Journal, iii. 126.

^166:1 -jamghakahapanadigahanena I take to mean 'the taking away of legs, money, etc.' Possibly jamgha (taking it independently) may mean something like 'boot' or 'stocks,' but I can find no authority for this.

^167:1 Reading annatra gativasa, 'except by the power of rebirth.'

[j241]

No. 241 .

SABBADATHA-JATAKA.

"Even as the Jackal," etc. This story the Master told while staying in the Bamboo-grove, about Devadatta.