English
A passage for editorial review. KARMA: *\ A STORY OF EARLY BUDDHISM, BY Paul Carus. een Od Hee DEVALA’S RICE-CART. ’ Long, long ago in the days of early Buddhism, India was already in a most prosperous condition. The Aryan inhabitants of the country were highly civilized, and the great cities were centres of beatae commerce, and learning. It was in those olden times that Pandu, a wealthy jeweller of the Brahman caste, travelled in a carriage to Bardnasi, which is now called | | Benares. He was bent on some lucrative business, and a slave who | attended to the horses accompanied him, The jeweller was apparently in a hurry to reach the place of his mi destination, and as the day was exceedingly pleasant, since a heavy thunder storm had cooled the atmosphere, the horses sped along rapidly. | While Di esatie on their journey the travellers aieertouls| a NaaiNatn: as the Buddhist monks were called, and the jeweller observing the venerable appearance of the holy man, thought to himself: “This \ samana looks noble and saintly. Companionship with good men brings “Yuck; should he also be going to Baranast, I will invite him to ride with me in my carriage.” Having saluted the samana the jeweller explained whither he was driving and at what inn he intended to Btay | : im Barénasi. Learning that the samana, whose name was Narada, also | was travelling to Baranasi, he asked him to accept a seat in’ his , carriage. *T am obliged to you for your kindness,” said the samana | wane the Brahman, “for Iam quite worn out by the long journey. As. 1 have no possessions in this world, E cannot repay you in money} but Nh ; : vyit : - yeh : me AAs? Ht FAN < AVANTE tinh rT AOE OHA RIAL ATRIAL EL TMA EMAAR NCAA Ni ANI Ay an “the semana fa IA Dévala, iia farmer, and began to help hin wl TAA Hay toate his cart and load up the tice, part of which had been ‘thrown, ont, A The: work proceeded quickly and Dévala. thought: * This simana must - Wi \ yi | be: a holy man; invisible devas* seem to assist him. I will ask him ; aN} Mi how I deserved ill treatment at the hands of the proud Brahm an” , And he said: Venerable sir, can you tell me why I suffer an injustion fom ‘a man to whom I have never done any harm?” — Bity Dh € at iy / And the samana said: “My dear friend, you do not esi nN ‘ana Ay Ht | justice, but only receive in your present state of existence the same Hi nT | - treatment which you visited upon the jeweller in a former life. i i. Bey ae NE ie reap what you have sown, and your fate Cin te acateManNnS pied is the product of your deeds. ‘Your very — CAV ctf existence, such as it is ‘ROW, a rua but the Karma of your past lives ae ss | “What is omy Karma” is | apleed the farmer, (enaiie., Davie are spit wien, ¥ | j Sy ery th aM iyo yak. 4 kK} : \ ae raat Levy Pay (oe “ A man's Karma,” replied the samana, \“ consists of all the deeds ‘both good and evil that he has done in his present and in any prior existence, ‘Your life is a system of many ‘activities which have origi- nated in tho natural way of evolution, and have been transferred from. generation to generation. The entire being of every one of us is an accummlation of inherited functions which are modified by new ex- periences and deeds. Thus we are what we have done. Our ‘Karma’ } - constitutes our nature. We are our own ereators,”” ” to do with that overbearing Brahman ?” | The samana replied: “You are in character quite similar to. ‘the. “What may be as you say,” rejoined Dévala, “but what have I “Brahman, and the Karma that has shaped your destiny differs but little | ~feom his, If I am not mistaken in reading the thoughts of your mind, I should say that you would, even to-day, have done the same unte the. - jeweller if he had been in your place, and if you had such a strong — slave at your command as he has, able to deal with ret at his pleasure.” - ‘The farmer confessed, that if he had had the power, he ‘pou haves - felt little ‘eompunction in treating another man, who had happened to. impede his way, as he had been treated by the Brahman, but thinkiag. iN in of the retribution attendant upon unkind deeds, he resolved to be more Raat i eonsiderate in the future with his fellow-beings. ‘Phe rice was loaded and both together pursued their journey to "“-BarAnasi, when all of a sudden the horse jumped aside, ay: snake, a is \ object at. which the horse shuddered, jumped out of the cart and saw that . : “it was a purse full of gold, and the idea struck him: “Wo one else but, ‘the wealthy jeweller can have lost this purse.” He took the purse, and handing it to the farmer said; “Take this purse and when you come fo. ‘‘BérAnasi drive up to the inn which I shall point out to you; ask for Ye a\s - \ x \ gnake!” shouted the farmer; but the samana looked closely | at the AY ‘Pandu, the Brahman, and deliver the purse. He will excuse himself, for, ANA, the rudeness with which he treated you, but tell him that you have for given him and wish him success in all his undertakings, For, let me tell You, the more successfal he is, the better you will ‘Prosper your ne ae “fate depends in ‘many respects upon his fate. Should the jeweller de- ae on any ‘explanation, send him to the vihara* where he will ind ‘i | | ney hey aasiet him with advice in case he may feel the need of it. + | “y Vian eae BF ROG Eo BUSINESS INBENARES. ‘i To eorner the market of the necessities of life is not a | modern | invention. The old testament contains the story of Joseph, the poor RN va | Hobrew youth who became minister of state, and succeeded with — ‘ae Ae i scrapulous hut clever business tricks in cornering the wheat market, so | i as to force the starved people to sell all their property, their privileges, Viger | ‘ and even their lives, to Pharach. And we read in the Jataka Tales ¢ ae: i that one of the royal treasurers of Kasi, which is the old name. MEN AS - Bardnasi, made his first great success in life by cormering: the grass, it \ matket of the metropolis on the day of the arrival of a horse maui PUG with five handred horses. an ‘When Pandu the jeweller arrived at Bardnasi it so ranuiel that a bold speculator had brought about a corner in rice, and Mallika a Yu rich banker, and a business friend of Pandu’ 8s, Was in great 1ateeeeaa aapaen On meeting the jeweller he said: “I am a ruined man and can do. no iN) | business with you unless I can buy a cart of the best rice for, the ' : Ue _ | Iking’s table. I have a rival banker in/Baranasi, who learning that I aN had made a contract with the royal treasurer to deliver the rice to va morrow morning, and, being desirous to bring about my destruction, . i ii bought up all the rice in Baranasi, The royal treasurer must haye | a ue ih GH Nt} Teceived a bribe, for he will not release me from my contract and toe ae ) vA morrow I shall. be a ruined man haat Krishna will send an angel i ‘iN from heaven to help me.” _ \ AN , VA While Mallika was, still Tana ediie the AED to which his se pn) would. reduce him, Pandn patent his purse, Mstislav his carriage a uy . “# Baddhist monastery... wih My NY va TB iid Stories. Drona by T, W. Rhys Davids, P. 169, Muenretiiinihy vata? : 1?\e 6 , : Oe ‘ ; ‘4 ' i} : ‘ without being able to find it, he suspected his slave Mahaduta; and calling the poliee, accused him of theft, and had him bound and cruelly tortured to extort a confession. The slave in his agonies cried: “I am innocent, let me go, for I cannot stand this pain; Iam quite innocent at least of this crime, and suffer now for other sins. 0, that I could beg the farmer’s pardon whom, for the sake of my master, I wronged sr any cause! This torture, I believe, is a punishment for my it rudeness.” weer eee NL ee Hf ws t i STIS emer eenas F a 3 — by 4 Veer. Sha | While the police officer was still applying the lash to the back SA of the slave, the farmer arrived at the inn, and, to the great astomish- \ ment of all concerned, delivered the purse. The slave was at once released from the hands of his torturer. But being dissatisfied with his ( | for treble the price that the farmer had ever received, and Pandu, glad \ geeeive further explanations from: Narada, the samana. Narada ‘said: “I might give thee an explanation, but Oa that thou art unable to understand a spiritual truth, I prefer to remain silent. However, I shall give thee some advice: Treat every man whom. thou meetest as thine own self; serve him as thou wouldst de- — _ mand ‘to be served thyself; for thus thou shalt sow a sowing of good deeds, the rich harvest of which thou shalt not fail to reap,” | “Give me, 0 samana, the explanation,” said the jeweller, 8 and I Nene shall thereby be better able to follow your advice.” NRA Nt The samana said: “Listen then, I will give you the key to ta aaa | mystery. If you do not understand it, have faith in what I say. Self is an illusion, and he whose mind is bent upon following self, follows an ignis fatuus which leads him into the quagmire of sin. The illa- | gource of sin. There are few who know the truth. Let this motto bo Aven a sion of self is the veil of May4 that blinds your eyes and prevents you — from recognising the close relations that obtain between yourself and your, fellows, which are even closer than the relatione ‘hat obtain ‘among the various organs of your body. You must learn to treve the . hos ‘ i at heart to have his money restored, hastened at once to the vibara sol | identity of your self in the souls of other beings. Ignorance is the i) Nk talisman’; ‘He who hurts others injures himself, ‘He who helps others advances his own interests, ‘Let the delusion of self disappear from your mind.