With trading-folk from Bharukaccha land
My ship was wrecked by monsters of the sea;
I on a plank did safely gain the strand,
When an anointed queen with gentle hand
Upbore me tenderly upon her knee,
As though to her a true son I might be.
She food and raiment brought, and as I lay
With love-lorn eyes hung o'er my couch all day.
Know, Tamba, well; this word is sooth I say.

The Garuda, while the minstrel thus spake, was filled with regrets and said: "Though I dwelt in the abode of the Garudas, I failed to guard her safely. What is this wicked woman to me?" So he brought her back and presented her to the king and departed. And thenceforth he came not there any more.

The Master, his lesson ended, declared the Truths and identified the Birth:--At the conclusion of the Truths the worldly-minded Brother attained fruition of the First Path:--"At that time Ananda was the king of Benares, and I myself was the Garuda king."

Footnotes

^123:1 A Brother who was suspended for siding with heretics.

^123:2 Compare No. 327 supra.