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Ni “And you will naturally walk in the path of truth,’ master, he secretly left and joined'a band of robbers in the mountains, Pet \ \who made him their chief on account of his great strength and courage. Mat When ‘Mallika heard that the farmer had the best rice to sell, fit Ni . for delivery to the royal table, he bought at once the whole cart-load 'T) him whose vision ig dimmed by the veil of Maya, ithe) pte : Ae) world appears to be ent up into innumerable selves, Thus he will) ‘be puzzled in many ways concerning the transmigration of soul-life, (He) and will be incapable of understanding the import of an Way i sive kindness toward all living beings,’” | mh nh PANAAI | The. jeweller replied: “Your\ words, 0 venerable sir, have a | “significance and I shall bear them in mind, I extended a small kindness’ which caused me no expense whatever, to a poor samana on my way to Baraénasi, and lo! how propitious has been the result! I am deeply in) ny your debt, for without you I should not only have lost my purse, but would have been prevented from doing business in Bardnasi which has. greatly. increased my wealth, while if it had been left undone it might — have reduced me to a state of wretched poverty, In addition, your i thoughtfulness and the arrival of the farmer's rice-cart preserved | tho | prosperity of my friend Mallika, the banker. If all men saw the truth | of your maxims, how much better the world would be, how greatly | i evils would be lessened, and public welfare enhanced! As I am’ anxi- HY a ous to let the truth of Buddha, be understood, I shall found a vihara at : my native place, Kaushambi and invite you to visit me, so that I may - dediente the ND to the brotherhood of Buddha's disciples.” it} th ti : x a raps May nchkd | eee ewan egw gd Etna van (are PACER LY AMONG ‘THE ROBBERS. We Years passed on and Pandu’s vihara at Kaushambi became a place | in which wise samanas used to stay and it was renowned as a | i | eentre of enlightenment for the people of the town. At that time the king of a neighboring country had heard of the \ : beauty of Pavdu'’s jewelry, and he sont his treasurer to order a royal Nyy Hive to be wrought in pure gold and set with the most precious ‘stones of India. When Pandu had finished the work, he started for ‘the residence of the king, and as he expected to transact other profite | i able business, took with him a great store of gold) pieces. ays wi rt Ya} UF aa! Vee ens + Et! wa ey: VIG ay We yey \ YA Wa bts RY RY \t Pash j beak Aen’ WAR KG yy bat ily TAAL: Ley MANA UM y Sed dt) it / : \/¥y RANT eT ; yi ‘i 4 The caravan carrying his en was protected, by a) strong escort. of armed. men, ‘but when they _ -yeached the mountains: they were attacked iM AVA NT by a band of robbers led by Mahaduta, who beat Ahab sal dau va | a Mf i‘ all, the jewelry and the gold, and Pandu escaped with great difficulty, ‘ an ‘ | This misfortune ‘was a blow to Pandu’s prosperity, and as he suffered | geome other severe losses, his wealth was much reduced. | aN ! Pandu was much distressed, but he bore his misfortunes | Siidisunt . + complain thinking to himself: “I have deserved these losses for the — sins. committed in my past existence. In my younger years I was, very - hard on other people; ; when I now reap the harvest of my evil doeds \t Katia no cause for stair annnnl . AK i; : AAT | . 11. Ub vary : ta ; ; Nt NY i : i 7 : 1 Af} : . ; NW i\ i\A Vi h /] ith . 1h } bh) \on te Vie | ‘A Hh Ay) wATi aw! A yy 7 iy fF er ee Liat As he had grown in kindness aan all esa his CoE ee served to purify his heart; and his chief regret, when thinking of. nN bia reduced means, was that be had become unable to do good and to uN Ment his friends in the vihéra to spread the truths nat religion. i) ‘\ Wa years passed ‘on ana it Maeda that Panthaka, a young ‘samana and a disciple of Narada, was travelling through the mountains i Vat Kaushambi, and he fell among the robbers in the mountains. | ‘As he had nothing in his possession, the robber-chief beat him severely | and | ff let him go. On the next morning Panthaka, while pursuing his way i through the woods, heard a noise as of quarreling and fighting men, Ne | | . and going to the place he saw a number of robbers, all of them in a ; great rage, and in their midst stood Mahdduta, their chief; and the chief i mn ‘was desperately fighting them, like a lion surrounded by honnds, and he slew several of his aggressors with formidable blows, but there were Ki “too many against him; at last he succumbed, and fell to the ground as Paneer. h i : ‘\ if dead, covered with wounds. As soon as the robbers had left the . an : place the young samana approached to see whether he could be of any assistance | to the wounded men, He found that all the robbers. were dead, and there was only a little life ‘left. in the chief. He at once went _ | down to the little brooklet which was murmuring near by, fetched fresh, water in his bowl and brought it to the dying man, Mahiduta: opened — his eyes | and gnashing his teeth, said; “ Where are those ungrateful dogs y ae ‘whom I have led to victory and success? Without me as) their chief Vasa ie they will scon ‘perish like jackals hunted down by skilful hunters.” "Do not think of your comrades, the companions of your sinful 4") + eat iA be Hanh life,” said Panthaka, “but think of your soul, and accept in the last: ig i a - moment the chance of salvation that is offered you. Here is water to _ drink, and let me dress your wounds; perhaps I may save your life.” ) 4 Alas! alas!” replied Mahaduta, “are you not the man whom it, beat but yesterday and now you come to my assistance, to assuage my pain? You bring me fresh water to quench my thirst, and try to. Hy ‘saye my life! It is useless, honorable sir, Tam a doomed man. The vet Wai churls have. wounded me unto death — the ungrateful cowards! ‘They Ay have. dealt me the blows which taught them,” | | “You reap what you have sown;" continued the samana, “had a : iveuts you taught your comrades acts of kindness, you would have received | from them acts of kindness, but having taught them the lesson of © Wi ate are slaughter, it is but your own deed that you are slain by their hands.” Ale ar ; a ab —o Jeet —~ > “Tene, very true,” said the robber chief, ‘ my “fate is) well deserved; but how sad is my lot, that I must reap the full harvest of all my evil deeds in future existences! Advise me, O holy sir, what I. can do to lighten the sins of my life which oppress me like! a great _ | rock placed upon my breast, taking away thos breath of my lungs. ey Said Panthaka: “Root out your sinful desires; destroy all evil pas: : sions, and fill your soul with kindness rare oH your fellow betnga.”” THE SPIDER WEB. “While the charitable samana washed the oem the robber chit said; “I have done much evil and no good. How can I extricate my- self from the net of sorrow which I have woven out. of the evil desires ' of my own heart? My Karma will lead me to hell and I shall never | Hi ‘life and hope, and the robber Kandata cried aloud ‘0. blessed Buddha, nt have mercy upon me! I suffer greatly, and although I have done evil, i be able to walk in the path of salvation.” Said the samana: “Indeed your Karma will in its suit fnear- Ave \ | nations reap the seeds of evil that you have sown. ‘There is no escape WANN for en evil doer from the consequences of his own actions. But there \ . : x) : is no cause for despair. The man who is converted and has rooted out the illusion of self, with. all its lusts and sinful desires, will be a source of blessing to himself and others. mi . “As an illustration, I will tell you ay story of the eriat robber “\t Kandate, who died without repentance’ and was reborn as a demon in Nai hell, where he suffered for his evil deeds the most terrible agonies and _ pains. He had ‘been in hell several kalpas * and was unable to rise out of his wretched condition, when Buddha ‘appeared | upon earth and | attained to the blessed state of enlightenment. At that memorable mo- MS ment a ray of light fell down into hell quickening all the demons, with | I am anxious to walk in the) noble path of Haaaunt nina But q cannot by} ‘ ANS \i i ' f WRG WW NA Via? alps ie a long period of te, an on, CANN WAN AWARE ' A ease piyaeit from Ye, net of Borrow, Help me, 0 Lord; hbve merey me ANE My . on me !? Now, it is the law of Karma vhat evil deeds lead to destruc- ie Y \ tion, for absolute evil is so bad that it cannot exist. Absolute. evil ET involves impossibility of existence, But good deeds lead to life. ‘Thus Tay | - there fg a final end to every deed that is done, but there is ‘mo end to | THe the development of good deeds, The least act of goodness bears fruit. A) Nb ARAN ‘i 4 onbeiatag new seeds of goodness, aud they continue to grow, hind HA he ie , \ | nourish the soul in its weary transmigrations until it reaches the ‘final he Wis i Peeves from all evil in Nirvana. When Buddha, the Lord, heard ANN nee yas the prayer of the demon suffering in hell, he said: ‘Kandata, did you ih HAN AY ys \ ever perform an act of, kindness? It will now return to you and help MEA MN you to rise again. ‘But you cannot be rescued unless | the inteme \ vat } |. sufferings which you ‘endure as consequences of your evil deeds have Nee | vid \\ ; “dispelled all conceit of selfhood and have HaHa yous Boul of vanity, MAME Yi Ne and envy : ACU ae ; c TONY Kandata ‘remained Uae for He had peen a ernel man, a ae the ' Ni +e | Tathagata in his omniscicnce BAW all the deeds done by. the | er wretch, and he perceived that once in his life when walking throu ho “the.