Owing to association with a wicked friend, he disregarded the words and repeated the same lie for the seventh time. Then the earth opened and the flames of Avici leapt up and seized him.

[460] Cursed by a sage, the king who once could walk the air, they say,
Was lost and swallowed by the earth on his appointed day.

Wherefore the wise do not approve at all
When that desire into the heart doth fall:
He that is free from guile, whose heart is pure,
All that he says is ever firm and sure.

These are two stanzas inspired by Perfect Wisdom.

The multitude said in fear, "The king of Ceti reviled the sage, and told a lie; so he has entered Avici." The king's five sons came to the brahmin and said, "Be thou our helper." The brahmin answered, "Your father destroyed Right, he lied and reviled a sage: therefore he has entered Avici. If Right is destroyed, it destroys. You must not dwell here." To the eldest he said, "Come, dear: leave the city by the eastern gate and go straight on: you will see a white royal elephant prostrate, touching the earth in seven places : that will be a sign for you to lay out a city there and dwell in it: and the name of it will he Hatthipura." To the second prince he said, "You leave by the south gate and go straight on till you see a royal horse pure white: that will be a sign that you are to lay out a city there and dwell in it: and it shall be called Assapura." To the third prince he said, "You leave by the west gate and go straight on till you see a maned lion; that will be a sign that you are to lay out a city there and dwell in it: and it shall be called Sihapura." To the fourth prince he said, "You leave by the north gate and go straight on till you see a wheel-frame all made of jewels: that will be a sign [461] that you are to lay out a city there and dwell in it: and it shall be called Uttarapancala." To the fifth he said, "You cannot dwell here: build a great shrine in this city, go out towards the north-west, and go straight on till you see two mountains striking against each other and making the sound of daddara: that will be a sign that you are to lay out a city there and dwell in it: and it shall be called Daddarapura." All the five princes went, and following the signs laid out cities there and dwelt in them.

After the lesson, the Master said, "So, Brethren, this is not the first time that Devadatta has told a lie and sunk in the earth," and then he identified the Birth: "At that time the king of Ceti was Devadatta, and the brahmin Kapila was myself."

Footnotes

^272:1 In years, 1 followed by 140 ciphers.

^272:2 A lie was a new thing in the first age.

^275:1 With tusks, trunk, and four legs.

^275:2 Another reading is pancacakkam, "five wheels."