English
Where do you come from, ill-dweller, like a dusty goblin, hair disheveled? Put a rag from the rubbish heap around your neck, who are you, you unworthy one? This food of yours, O glorious one, is prepared, it is eaten, consumed, and drunk. You know me as one who lives on others' gifts, let the outcast receive the leftover alms. This food of mine is prepared for brahmins, this is for my own benefit, for one who has faith. Go away from here, why do you stand here? People like me do not give to you, wretch. On high ground and low ground they sow seeds, hoping for fruit in the fertile field. With such faith, give your gift, perhaps you may please the worthy ones. The fields are known to me in the world, in which I establish the seeds. Those brahmins who are endowed with birth, those are the very good fields here. Pride of birth and excessive conceit, greed and hatred, delusion and folly; These are the demerits in whom all these dwell, those are the bad fields here. Pride of birth and excessive conceit, greed and hatred, delusion and folly; These are the demerits in whom all these do not dwell, those are the very good fields here. Where have Upajoti gone, and the preceptor, or Gaṇḍakucchi? Give this wretch punishment and death, seize him by the neck and drag him away! You dig a mountain with your nails, you eat iron with your teeth; You strike fire, whoever abuses a sage. Having said this, Mātaṅga, the sage of true might; departed into the sky. Head twisted back, Arm stretched out, unmoving; Eyes white like one who is dead, Who made my son like this? Here came a monk, ill-clad, A dirty, dust-demon-like one; He wore a rag-robe around his neck, He made your son like this. Which direction did the wise one go? Tell me, young men, this matter; Having gone, we will atone for the offense, Perhaps we may get the son's life back. The wise one went through the air, Like the moon on the fifteenth day, traveling the path; And indeed he went to the eastern direction, The truthful, good-looking sage. Head twisted back, Arm stretched out, unmoving; Eyes white like one who is dead, Who made my son like this? Indeed there are powerful yakkhas, Accompanying the good-looking sages; Knowing your mind was evil and angry, The yakkhas indeed made your son like this. If yakkhas made my son like this, Then you, ascetic, be not angry with me; I have gone for refuge at your feet, Overcome by sorrow for my son, O monk. Indeed, now and then, for me, There is no mental defilement; But your son, intoxicated by Vedic pride, Does not know the meaning, having studied the Vedas. Indeed, O monk, for a moment, A person's perception becomes confused; Forgive this one offense, O wise one, For the wise are not ruled by anger. And this leftover food of mine, Let Mandabya, the foolish one, eat it; And the yakkhas will not harm him, And your son will be well. Mandabya, you are foolish, of little wisdom, You are unskilled in fields of merit; Greatly defiled You give gifts well, to those unrestrained in defiled deeds. 22. Matted hair and locks, dressed in skins, a face overgrown like an old water-well; See this foolish person, matted hair and skins do not protect the unwise. 23. For whom lust and hatred, and ignorance are dispelled; the Arahants whose defilements are destroyed, gifts given to them bear great fruit. The Mātaṅga Jātaka, first. 498. The Cittasambhūta Jātaka (2) 24. All good deeds of men bear fruit, nothing done by action is in vain; I see Sambhūta, of great power, endowed with the fruit of merit through his own deeds. 25. All good deeds of men bear fruit, nothing done by action is in vain; Is it so with Citta too, that his mind is as rich as mine? 26. All good deeds of men bear fruit, nothing done by action is in vain; Know Citta too, O king, to be likewise, his mind is as rich as yours. 27. Did you hear of Citta from another, or did someone tell you this? The verses are well-sung, I have no doubt, I give you a hundred excellent villages. 28. I did not hear of Citta from another, but a sage told me this matter; "Go and recite the verse to the king, perhaps he will gladly grant you a boon." 29. Let them harness the royal chariots, well-made and beautifully adorned; Bind the girths of the elephants, put on their neck-ornaments. 30. Let them strike drums, tabors, and conches, and harness swift vehicles; Today I shall go to that hermitage, where I shall see the sage seated. 31. Truly, a good gain has been mine, the verse well-sung in the midst of the assembly; Seeing that sage endowed with virtue, I am delighted and joyful in mind. 32. A seat, water, foot-water, let him accept from us. Sir; We ask you, Sir, for the price, please set the price for us, Sir. 33. Let them make a delightful dwelling for you, and let women attend upon you; Grant me the opportunity for a favor, and we both shall exercise power. 34. Having seen the fruit of evil conduct, O king, and also the great result of good conduct; I shall restrain myself, and not desire sons, cattle, or wealth. 35. These ten decades, are the life of mortals here; Not having reached that limit, one withers like a cut reed. 36. What joy is there, what play, what delight, what search for wealth? What are sons and wives to me? O king, I am freed from bondage. 37. Thus I understand, death does not neglect me; For one overcome by the Destroyer, what delight is there, what search for wealth? 38. The lowest birth for humans, O king of men, is the outcaste womb, the lowest of two-footed beings; By our own very evil deeds, we dwelt in an outcaste womb in the past. 39. We were outcastes in Avanti, deer by the Nerañjarā; Ospreys on the Nammadā's bank, and today we are brahmins and khattiyas. 40. Life is led on, short is the lifespan, for one led on by old age, there are no protectors; O Pañcāla, heed this word of mine, do not commit deeds that bring forth suffering. 41. Life is led on, short is the lifespan, for one led on by old age, there are no protectors; O Pañcāla, heed this word of mine, do not commit deeds that bear suffering as fruit. 42. Life is led on, short is the lifespan, for one led on by old age, there are no protectors; O Pañcāla, heed this word of mine, do not commit deeds that are defiled by dust. 43. Life is led on, short is the lifespan, old age destroys the beauty of a person decaying; O Pañcāla, heed this word of mine, do not commit deeds that lead to rebirth in hell. 44. Indeed, this word of yours is true, as you, O sage, speak, so it is; But desires for me are not few, they are hard to abandon for one like me, O monk. As an elephant sunk in the mud, seeing dry land, cannot go to it; So I, sunk in the mud of desires, do not follow the path of a monk. 46. Just as a mother and a father their son, instruct so that he may be happy; So too, Venerable Sir, instruct me, that I may be happy for a long time after death. 47. If you, O King, are not able, to abandon these human desires; Then establish a righteous tax, O King, let there be no unrighteousness in your realm. 48. Let messengers run in the four directions, inviting ascetics and brahmins; Serve them with food and drink, and with clothes, lodging, and other requisites. 49. With a joyful mind, with food and drink, satisfy the ascetics and brahmins; Having given and eaten according to your power, blameless, you will reach a heavenly state. 50. And if, O King, intoxication should overcome you, while being served by a company of women; Keep this very verse in mind, and recite it in the midst of the assembly. 51. A creature lying in the open, suckled by a she-goat; Surrounded by dogs, is today called a king. The Cittasambhūta Jātaka, the second. 499. The Sivi Jātaka (3) 52. Like an elder who cannot see far, I have come to beg for eyes; We shall be one-eyed, give me eyes, I beg. 53. By whom instructed have you come here, O beggar, to ask for the paths of sight? You ask for a most difficult to abandon chief limb, which they say, the eye, is hard for a man to give up. 54. He whom they call Sujampati among the gods, and Maghava they call him in the human world; By him instructed I have come here, a beggar, to ask for the paths of sight. 55. O beggar, my supreme desire, I give you the paths of sight, as requested. Give me the supreme path of sight, which they call the eye, difficult for a man to renounce. 56. For what purpose you have come, what purpose you desire; May those intentions of yours succeed, receive your eyes, brahmin. 57. When you ask for one, I give both; Go with sight, while people watch, whatever you wish, may that succeed for you. 58. Do not give us eyes, O god, do not harm us all; Give us wealth, great king, many pearls and sapphires. 59. Give us yoked chariots, O god, well-bred horses, adorned; Give us elephants, great king, with golden trappings and coverings. 60. So that all the Sīvis, with their teams and chariots always, May surround you on all sides, give thus, O chief of charioteers. 61. Whoever says "I will give," but sets his mind on not giving; He fastens a snare fallen on the ground, around his neck. 62. Whoever says "I will give," but sets his mind on not giving; He becomes worse than the wicked, having reached the realm of Yama. 63. What one asks, that one should give, what one does not ask, that one should not give; So I will give only that, which the brahmin asks of me. 64. Is it life, or beauty, or happiness, or strength, what do you desire, O lord of men, when you give? How can the supreme king of the Sīvis give his eyes for the sake of the other world? 65. I do not give this for fame, nor do I desire sons, nor wealth, nor a kingdom; But the ancient Dharma of the good has been practiced, thus my mind delights in giving. 66. You are my friend and companion, O Sīvika, well-trained, do my bidding well; Having extracted my eyes, which I wish to give, place them in the hands of the beggar. 67.