Buddha's Tales for Young and Old Volume 1

Buddha's Tales for Young and Old

Buddha's Tales for Young and Old

Prince Goodspeaker -Vol. 1

Prince Goodspeaker -Vol. 1

Interpreted by Ven. Kurunegoda Piyatissa

Stories told by Todd Anderson

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T ' S B O O K L I B R A R Y E-mail: bdea@buddhanet.net

Web site: www.buddhanet.net Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc.

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Prince Goodspeaker

Contents

Interpreter’s Introduction From The Storyteller To The Reader 1. Demons In The Desert [The Correct Way Of Thinking] 2. Finding A New Spring [Perseverance] 3. The Golden Plate [Greed And Honesty]

4. The Mouse Merchant [Diligence And Gratitude]

5. The Price Maker [Foolishness] 6. Prince Goodspeaker And The Water Demon [Chapter 1. Rebirth Of The Bodhisatta] [Chapter 2. The Teaching Of The Gods]

7. Little Prince No-father [The Power Of Truth] 8, 462. The One-hundredth Prince [Obedience To A Wise Teacher] 9. The King With One Gray Hair [Ordination] 10. The Happy Monk [Joys Of The Spiritual Life] 11. Beauty And Gray

[A Wise Leader] I VII 1 6 12. King Banyan Deer [Chapter 1. Compassion] [Chapter 2. Teaching] 13. Mountain Buck And Village Doe [Infatuation] 14. The Wind-deer And The Honey-grass [The Craving For Taste] 15. The Fawn Who Played Hooky

[Truancy] 16. The Fawn Who Played Dead

[Attendance] 17. The Wind And The Moon

[Friendship] 18. The Goat Who Saved The Priest

[Ignorance] 19. The God In The Banyan Tree

[A Bad Promise] 20. The Monkey King And The Water Demon

[Attentiveness] 21. The Tree That Acted Like A Hunter [Impatience] 22. The Dog King Silver [Justice] 23, 24. The Great Horse Knowing-one [Courage] 25. Dirty Bath Water

[Cleanliness]

iii 26. Ladyface [Association] 27. Best Friends [The Power Of Friendship] 28, 88. The Bull Called Delightful [All Deserve Respect] 29. Grandma’s Blackie [Loving-kindness] 30, 286. Big Red, Little Red And No-squeal

[Envy] 31. The Heaven Of 33 [Chapter 1. Co-operation] [Chapter 2. Compassion]

[Chapter 3. Merit] 32. The Dancing Peacock [Pride And Modesty] 33. The Quail King And The Hunter

[Unity] 34, 216. The Fortunate Fish [Desire] 35. The Baby Quail Who Could Not Fly Away

[The Power Of Truth, Wholesomeness And Compassion] 36. Wise Birds And Foolish Birds [Good Advice] 37. The Birth Of A Banyan Tree [Respect For Elders]

iv

120 38. The Crane And The Crab [Trickery] 39. Buried Treasure [The Arrogance Of Power] 40. The Silent Buddha [Generosity] 41, 82, 104, 369, 439. The Curse Of Mittavinda [Chapter 1. Jealousy] [Chapter 2. Greed] [Chapter 3. Pleasure] 42, 274, 375. The Pigeon And The Crow

[The Danger Of Greed] 43. Bamboo’s Father [Wasted Advice] 44, 45. Two Stupid Children [Foolishness] 46, 268 Watering The Garden [Foolishness] 47. Salty Liquor [Foolishness] 48. The Magic Priest And The Kidnapper Gang

[Power And Greed] 49. The Groom Who Lost His Bride To The Stars [Astrology] 50. The Prince Who Had A Plan

[The Power Of Superstition] Appendix A. Who Was the Bodhisatta?

Appendix B. An Arrangement of Morals v

Interpreter’s Introduction

It is a pleasure to rewrite the Jataka stories in modern English understandable by western readers. To achieve this goal, the stories are being retold in order to convey the spirit and meaning. They are not scholarly word-for-word translations as have been done by others. The Pali Text So-ciety has published the whole text in English translations a hundred years ago. In Sri Lanka they were translated into Sinhalese in the 14th century, where they were known as Pansiya Panas Jataka.

In all Buddhist countries the Jataka tales were the ma-jor sources for developing the character of the people. They were used widely in preaching by monks and lay preach-ers. King Dutugemunu (2nd century B.C.), in Anurad-hapura, paid for the support of preachers to teach Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha. They usually used these sto-ries in their sermons. Even the Venerable Arahant Maha Mahinda, who introduced Dhamma into Sri Lanka, used these stories to illustrate the truth of the teachings. Some were even used by the Lord Buddha in his teachings, and from him his followers learned them and passed them into popular use in society. Even earlier, the same types of sto- ries were present in Vedic literature.

Greek myths, as well as the fables of Aesop, inherited them from the Vedas and Buddhism; Persia also took them from India. They later migrated into the stories of Chaucer in England and Boccaccio in Italy. The stories were used for a variety of purposes. In Sanskrit, the Pancatantra used them to teach Law and Economics, and the Katha Sarit Sa-gara used them for the development of knowledge, as well as just for enjoyment. In the past, people have been satis-fied and fulfilled in many ways by hearing them in forms ranging from lessons to fairy tales.

By reading these stories, children and adults can de-velop their knowledge and learn how to face the difficult experiences of modern life. They can easily develop human values and good qualities like patience, forbearance, toler-ance and the four sublime states of mind – loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. The major purpose of these stories is to develop the moral and ethical values of the readers. Without them, people cannot be peaceful and happy in their hearts and minds. And the reader will find that these values are very different from those of the wider, violently acquisitive, ego-based society.

In this interpretation, changes are being made to the style of the old Jataka stories, and explanations are added, as is appropriate for children in the modern world. The lovely artwork is also sometimes in a modern setting, to at-tract young and old to the truths contained in the tales.

The sources used have been as follows:

1. Jataka Pali (Colombo: Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Se-ries Publication Board, 1983) – original Pali stanzas.

2. Jataka Pali (Colombo: Simon Hewavitarane Be-quest, 1926) – original Pali Jataka stories in Sinhalese characters. 3. Sinhala Jataka Pot Vahanse (Colombo: Jinalankara Press, 1928) – Sinhalese translation of Pali Jataka stories. 4. Sinhala Jataka Pot Vahanse, (Colombo: Ratnakara Bookshop, 1961) – Sinhalese translation of Pali Jataka stories.

5. Jataka Pota, ed. Lionel Lokuliyana (Colombo: M. D. Gunasena & Co., 1960) – Sinhalese translation of first fifty Pali Jataka stories.

6. The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha’s Former Lives, ed. E. B. Cowell (London: Pali Text Society, 1981), 6 vols., index – English translation of Pali Jataka stories.

7. Pansiyapanas Jataka Pot Vahanse (Bandaragama:

H.W. N. Prematilaka, 1987) – Sinhalese summaries of Pali

Jataka stories.

In addition, “From the Storyteller to the Listeners” (be-low), contains a paraphrase taken from “Discourse With Canki,” Middle Length Sayings (Majjhima-Nikaya), trans.

I. B. Horner (London: Pali Text Society, 1975), 11, 95, pp.

362-3. The title of the fourth story, “The Mouse Merchant” , was originally in Somadeva, The Ocean of Story (Katha Sarit Sagara), trans. C. H. Tawney (London: C. J. Sawyer,

1924).

The sequence numbers used for the stories are in the same order as in the Jataka Pali and The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha’s Former Lives (above). Multiple sequence numbers indicate that identical, similar or partial stories are told in one version. The most complex example is “The Curse of Mittavinda” which requires explanation. Here the Losaka (41), the three Mittavinda (82, 104, 369) and the Catu-Dvara (439) Jatakas are combined. This is because the stanzas of 82, 104 and 369 all refer directly to the pal-aces described in 41 and 439, as well as to the wheel of tor-ture described in 439. The latter retells the four palaces portion of 41, and then leads directly into the wheel of tor-ture (Ussada hell) portion. To allow continuity, the ending of the wheel of torture portion is taken from 369, since in it Mittavinda does not die.

Since the stories include legends which are not actually canonical, the character traditionally said to be the Bodhi-satta (the Buddha in a past life) is not necessarily identified in each rewritten story. A complete list is given separately in Appendix A for reference.

Many of the stories indicate several morals. Only one per story was selected for emphasis. Appendix B arranges these morals according to the wholesome qualities, as fol- lows:

1. Greed (lobha) – generosity (dana).

2. Anger (dosa) – loving-kindness (metta).

3. Delusion (moha) – wisdom (panna).

Appendix B can serve as an alternative sequence for reading the stories.

It is hoped that these stories will be picked up by teach-ers and used to teach children. They can serve as examples in guiding children to use the morals in their daily activi-ties. By drawing their minds into thinking properly, their thinking power will be developed. This will prove invalu-able in facing difficulties, unexpected circumstances and disasters, without being confused.

The stories teach valuable lessons to correct our current life style. For instance, the second story, “Finding a New Spring”, teaches the value of perseverance. Today people who are enslaved to the Modern development of science and technology, are lazy due to the easy availability of things they need (and things they don’t need). They be-come, used to giving up their efforts to achieve goals when there are even minor difficulties. They give up, change their minds, and try something else. Having become lazy, their thinking power declines, as does their effort to overcome difficulties. Consequently, they also do not understand how to solve the problems of living with others, and their hu- man values decline as well.

Mankind has achieved the present level of civilization over a long period of time, by using vast human energy to control his weaknesses. Deep and immeasurable dedication and effort have been required to develop human physical and intellectual skills. We need to preserve these qualities for the future peace and happiness of the world.

Our highest efforts are needed to preserve declining human qualities and values. If not, the future will be a tur-moil of quarrels and conflicts. Mature and compassionate people of diverse cultures are realising the danger. The cause is the discouragement of the teaching of an internal moral code. Modern educators and psychologists have ne-glected the function of the moral development of children.

This is the major cause of the world-wide increasing crime rate. Fifty years ago children were taught moral values, but there is no such subject in modern schools, while churches and temples are poorly attended. Without such teaching, where will a young child learn what is good and bad, from cartoons, commercials and movies? Why has the subject been neglected in the field of education and in the society at large?

In “Finding a New Spring”, when the caravan lost its way, the leader did not blame others or grumble, he was determined to overcome the unexpected circumstances. In the midst of the weakened thinking of the others, he was the only one who could be depended on to lead the search for water. Even after tiring digging led to the great rock ob-stacle, he was not to give up. His perseverance broke through the slab and reached the goal. How joyful they all were! Why do we not teach our children to follow such ex-amples in their unexpected encounters? The adults who read these stories to children must point out morals like these and help them to develop the tender minds.

May all beings be well and happy!

Kurunegoda Piyatissa November 30, 1994 Buddhist Literature Society Inc.

New York Buddhist Vihara

84–32 124th Street Kew Gardens New York, N.Y. 11415 USA

From The Storyteller To The Reader

When you read or listen to these very old stories, if you wonder how much is really true, the Buddha gave some advice that might help. He said that when you listen to what a monk says you should test the meaning, weigh or consider it, and depend on your own insides to know the truth of it. Then follow and practice what you know to be true.

Let us praise the Exalted, Worthy, Fully Self-Enlightened One and follow the Truth.

1

Demons In The Desert

[The Correct Way Of Thinking]

Once upon a time there were two mer-chants, who were friends. Both of them were get-ting ready for business trips to sell their merchan-dise, so they had to decide whether to travel together. They agreed that, since each had about 500 carts, and they were going to the same place along the same road, it would be too crowded to go at the same time.

One decided that it would be much better to go first. He thought, “The road will not be rutted by the carts, the bullocks will be able to choose the best of all the grass, we will find the best fruits and vegetables to eat, my people will appreciate my leadership and, in the end, I will be able to bargain for the best prices.”

The other merchant considered carefully and realized there were advantages to going sec-ond. He thought, “My friend’s carts will level the ground so we won’t have to do any road work, his bullocks will eat the old rough grass and new ten- der shoots will spring up for mine to eat. In the same way, they will pick the old fruits and vege-tables and fresh ones will grow for us to enjoy. I won’t have to waste my time bargaining when I can take the price already set and make my profit.” So he agreed to let his friend go first. This friend was sure he’d fooled him and gotten the best of him – so he set out first on the journey. The merchant who went first had a trouble-some time of it. They came to a wilderness called the ‘Waterless Desert’, which the local people said was haunted by demons. When the caravan reached the middle of it, they met a large group coming from the opposite direction. They had carts that were mud smeared and dripping with water. They had lotuses and water lilies in their hands and in the carts. The head man, who had a know-it-all attitude, said to the merchant, “Why are you carrying these heavy loads of water? In a short time you will reach that oasis on the horizon with plenty of water to drink and dates to eat.

Your bullocks are tired from pulling those heavy carts filled with extra water – so throw away the water and be kind to your overworked animals!”

Even though the local people had warned them, the merchant did not realize that these were not real people, but demons in disguise. They were even in danger of being eaten by them. Be-ing confident that they were helpful people, he followed their advice and had all his water emp-tied onto the ground. As they continued on their way they found no oasis or any water at all. Some realized they’d been fooled by beings that might have been de-mons, and started to grumble and accuse the mer-chant. At the end of the day, all the people were tired out. The bullocks were too weak from lack of water to pull their heavy carts. All the people and animals lay down in a haphazard manner and fell into a deep sleep. Lo and behold, during the night the demons came in their true frightening forms and gobbled up all the weak defenseless be-ings. When they were done there were only bones lying scattered around – not one human or animal was left alive.

After several months, the second merchant began his journey along the same way. When he arrived at the wilderness, he assembled all his people and advised them – “This is called the ‘Waterless Desert’ and I have heard that it is haunted by demons and ghosts. Therefore we should be careful. Since there may be poison plants and foul water, don’t drink any local water without asking me.” In this way they started into the desert.

After getting about halfway through, in the same way as with the first caravan, they were met by the water soaked demons in disguise. They told them the oasis was near and they should throw away their water. But the wise merchant saw through them right away. He knew it didn’t make sense to have an oasis in a place called ‘Waterless Desert’. And besides, these people had bulging red eyes and an aggressive and pushy attitude, so he suspected they might be demons. He told them to leave them alone saying, “We are business men who don’t throw away good water before we know where the next is coming from.”

Then seeing that his own people had doubts, the merchant said to them, “Don’t believe these people, who may be demons, until we actu-ally find water. The oasis they point to may be just an illusion or a mirage. Have you ever heard of water in this ‘Waterless Desert’? Do you feel any rain-wind or see any storm clouds?” They all said, “No”, and he continued, “If we believe these strangers and throw away our water, then later we may not have any to drink or cook with – then we will be weak and thirsty it would be easy for de-mons to come and rob us, or even eat us up! Therefore, until we really find water, do not waste even a drop!”

The caravan continued on its way and, that evening, reached the place where the first cara-van’s people and bullocks had been killed and eaten by the demons. They found the carts and human and animal bones lying all around. They recognized that the fully loaded carts and the scat-tered bones belonged to the former caravan. The wise merchant told certain people to stand watch around the camp during the night.

The next morning the people ate breakfast, and fed their bullocks well. They added to their goods the most valuable things left from the first caravan. So they finished their journey very suc-cessfully, and returned home safely so that they and their families could enjoy their profits.

The moral is: One must always be wise enough not to be fooled by tricky talk and false appear-ances.

2

Finding A New Spring

[Perseverance]

Once upon a time a certain tradesman was leading a caravan to another country to sell his goods. Along the way they came to the edge of a severe hot-sand desert. They asked about, and found that during the day time the sun heats up the fine sand until it’s as hot as charcoal, so no one can walk on it – not even bullocks or camels! So the caravan leader hired a desert guide, one who could follow the stars, so they could travel only at night when the sand cools down. They be-gan the dangerous night time journey across the desert. A couple nights later, after eating their eve-ning meal, and waiting for the sand to cool, they started out again. Later that night the desert guide, who was driving the first cart, saw from the stars that they were getting close to the other side of the desert. He had also overeaten, so that when he re-laxed, he dozed off to sleep. Then the bullocks who, of course, couldn’t tell directions by reading the stars, gradually turned to the side and went in a big wide circle until they ended up at the same place they had started from!

By then it was morning, and the people re-alized they were back at the same spot they’d camped at the day before. They lost heart and be-gan to cry about their condition. Since the desert crossing was supposed to be over by now, they had no more water and were afraid they would die of thirst. They even began to blame the caravan leader and the desert guide – “We can do nothing without water!”, they complained.

Then the tradesman thought to himself, “If I lose courage now, in the middle of this disas-trous situation, my leadership has no meaning. If I fall to weeping and regretting this misfortune, and do nothing, all these goods and bullocks and even the lives of the people, including myself, may be lost. I must be energetic and face the situation!”

So he began walking back and forth, trying to think out a plan to save them all.

Remaining alert, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small clump of grass. He thought, “Without water, no plant could live in this desert.” So he called over the most energetic of his fellow travellers and asked them to dig up the ground on that very spot. They dug and dug, and after a while they got down to a large stone.

Seeing it they stopped, and began to blame the leader again, saying “This effort is useless. We’re just wasting our time!” But the tradesman replied, “No no, my friends, if we give up the effort we will all be ruined and our poor animals will die – let us be encouraged!”

As he said this, he got down into the hole, put his ear to the stone, and heard the sound of flowing water. Immediately, he called over a boy who had been digging and said, “If you give up, we will all perish – so take this heavy hammer and strike the rock.” The boy lifted the hammer over his head and hit the rock as hard as he could – and he him-self was the most surprised when the rock spilt in two and a mighty flow of water gushed out from under it! Suddenly, all the people were overjoyed.

They drank and bathed and washed the animals and cooked their food and ate.

Before they left, they raised a high banner so that other travellers could see it from afar and come to the new spring in the middle of the hot-sand desert. Then they continued on safely to the end of their journey.

The moral is: Don’t give up too easily – keep on trying until you reach the goal.

3

The Golden Plate

[Greed and Honesty]

Once upon a time in a place called Seri, there were two salesmen of pots and pans and hand-made trinkets. They agreed to divide the town between them. They also said that after one had gone through his area, it was all right for the other to try and sell where the first had already been.

One day, while one of them was coming down a street, a poor little girl saw him and asked her grandmother to buy her a bracelet. The old grandmother replied, “How can we poor people buy bracelets?” The little girl said, “Since we don’t have any money, we can give our black sooty old plate.” The old woman agreed to give it a try, so she invited the dealer inside.

The salesman saw that these people were very poor and innocent, so he didn’t want to waste his time with them. Even though the old woman pleaded with him, he said he had no bracelet that she could afford to buy. Then she asked, “We have an old plate that is useless to us, can we trade it for a bracelet?” The man took it and, while exam-ining it, happened to scratch the bottom of it. To his surprise, he saw that underneath the black soot, it was a golden plate! But he didn’t let on that he had noticed it. Instead he decided to de-ceive these poor people so he could get the plate for next to nothing. He said, “This is not worth even one bracelet there’s no value in this, I don’t want it!” He left, thinking he would return later when they would accept even less for the plate. Meanwhile the other salesman, after finish-ing in his part of town, followed after the first as they had agreed. He ended up at the same house.

Again the poor little girl begged her grandmother to trade the old plate for a bracelet. The woman saw that this was a nice tender looking merchant and thought, “He’s a good man, not like the rough-talking first salesman.” So she invited him in and offered to trade the same black sooty old plate for one bracelet. When he examined it, he too saw that it was pure gold under the grime. He said to the old woman, “All my goods and all my money together are not worth as much as this rich golden plate!” Of course the woman was shocked at this discovery, but now she knew that he was indeed a good and honest fellow. So she said she would be glad to accept whatever he could trade for it. The salesman said, “I’ll give you all my pots and pans and trinkets, plus all my money, if you will let me keep just eight coins and my balancing scale, with its cover to put the golden plate in.” They made the trade. He went down to the river, where he paid the eight coins to the ferry man to take him across.

By then the greedy salesman had returned, already adding up huge imaginary profits in his head. When he met the little girl and her grand-mother again, he said he had changed his mind and was willing to offer a few cents, but not one of his bracelets, for the useless black sooty old plate. The old woman then calmly told him of the trade she had just made with the honest salesman, and said, “Sir, you lied to us.”

The greedy salesman was not ashamed of his lies, but he was saddened as he thought, “I’ve lost the golden plate that must be worth a hundred thousand.” So he asked the woman, “Which way did he go?” She told him the direction. He left all his things right there at her door and ran down to the river, thinking, “He robbed me! He robbed me! He won’t make a fool out of me!”

From the riverside he saw the honest salesman still crossing over on the ferry boat. He shouted to the ferry man, “Come back!” But the good merchant told him to keep on going to the other side, and that’s what he did. Seeing that he could do nothing, the greedy salesman exploded with rage. He jumped up and down, beating his chest. He became so filled with hatred towards the honest man, who had won the golden plate, that he made himself cough up blood. He had a heart attack and died on the spot!

The moral is: “Honesty is the best policy.”

4

The Mouse Merchant

[Diligence and Gratitude]

Once upon a time, an important adviser to a certain king was on his way to a meeting with the king and other advisers. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dead mouse by the roadside. He said to those who were with him. “Even from such small beginnings as this dead mouse, an energetic young fellow could build a fortune. If he worked hard and used his intelligence, he could start a business and support a wife and family.” A passer-by heard the remark. He knew this was a famous adviser to the king, so he decided to follow his words. He picked up the dead mouse by the tail and went off with it. As luck would have it, before he had gone even a block, a shopkeeper stopped him. He said, “My cat has been pestering me all morning. I’ll give you two copper coins for that mouse.” So it was done.

With the two copper coins, he bought sweet cakes, and waited by the side of the road with them and some water. As he expected, some peo- ple who picked flowers for making garlands were returning from work. Since they were all hungry and thirsty, they agreed to buy sweet cakes and water for the price of a bunch of flowers from each of them. In the evening, the man sold the flowers in the city. With some of the money he bought more sweet cakes and returned the next day to sell to the flower pickers. This went on for a while, until one day there was a terrible storm, with heavy rains and high winds. While walking by the king’s pleasure garden, he saw that many branches had been blown off the trees and were lying all around. So he offered to the king’s gardener that he would clear it all away for him, if he could keep the branches. The lazy gardener quickly agreed.

The man found some children playing in a park across the street. They were glad to collect all the branches and brush at the entrance to the pleasure garden, for the price of just one sweet cake for each child.

Along came the king’s potter, who was al-ways on the lookout for firewood for his glazing oven. When he saw the piles of wood the children had just collected, he paid the man a handsome price for it. He even threw into the bargain some of his pots.

With his profits from selling the flowers and the firewood, the man opened up a refresh-ment shop. One day all the local grass mowers, who were on their way into town, stopped in his shop. He gave them free sweet cakes and drinks. They were surprised at his generosity and asked, “What can we do for you?” He said there was nothing for them to do now, but he would let them know in the future.

A week later, he heard that a horse dealer was coming to the city with 500 horses to sell. So he got in touch with the grass mowers and told each of them to give him a bundle of grass. He told them not to sell any grass to the horse dealer until he had sold his. In this way he got a very good price.

Time passed until one day, in his refresh-ment shop, some customers told him that a new ship from a foreign country had just anchored in the port. He saw this to be the opportunity he had been waiting for. He thought and thought until he came up with a good business plan.

First, he went to a jeweler friend of his and paid a low price for a very valuable gold ring, with a beautiful red ruby in it. He knew that the foreign ship was from a country that had no rubies of its own, where gold too was expensive. So he gave the wonderful ring to the captain of the ship as an advance on his commission. To earn this commission, the captain agreed to send all his passengers to him as a broker. He would then lead them to the best shops in the city. In turn, the man got the merchants to pay him a commission for sending customers to them.

Acting as a middle man in this way, after several ships came into port, the man became very rich. Being pleased with his success, he also re-membered that it had all started with the words of the king’s wise adviser. So he decided to give him a gift of 100,000 gold coins. This was half his en-tire wealth. After making the proper arrange-ments, he met with the king’s adviser and gave him the gift, along with his humble thanks.

The adviser was amazed, and he asked, “How did you earn so much wealth to afford such a generous gift?” The man told him it had all started with the adviser’s own words not so long ago. They had led him to a dead mouse, a hungry cat, sweet cakes, bunches of flowers, storm dam-aged tree branches, children in the park, the king’s potter, a refreshment shop, grass for 500 horses, a golden ruby ring, good business contacts, and fi- nally a large fortune.

Hearing all this, the royal adviser thought to himself, “It would not be good to lose the tal- ents of such an energetic man. I too have much wealth, as well as my beloved only daughter. As this man is single, he deserves to marry her. Then he can inherit my wealth in addition to his own, and my daughter will be well cared for.” This all came to pass, and after the wise adviser died, the one who had followed his advice became the richest man in the city. The king ap-pointed him to the adviser’s position. Throughout his remaining life, he generously gave his money for the happiness and well being of many people.

The moral is: With energy and ability, great wealth comes even from small beginnings.

5

The Price Maker

[Foolishness]

Long ago and far away, their was a king who ruled in Benares, in northern India. One of his ministers was called the Royal Price Maker, and he was a very honest man. His job was to set a fair price for anything the king wanted to buy or sell.

On some occasions, the king did not like his price making. He did not get as big a profit as he wanted. He did not want to pay so much when he bought, or sell for what he thought was not enough. So he decided to change the price maker.

One day he saw a nice looking young man and he thought, “This fellow will be good for my price making position.” So he dismissed his for-mer honest price maker, and appointed this man to be the new one. The man thought, “I must make the king happy by buying at very low prices and selling at very high prices.” So he made the prices ridiculous, without caring at all what anything was worth. This gained the greedy king a lot of money, and made him very happy. Meanwhile, all the others who dealt with the new price maker, in-cluding the king’s other ministers and ordinary people, became very unhappy.

Then one day a horse merchant arrived in Benares with 500 horses to sell. There were stal-lions, mares and colts. The king invited the mer-chant to the palace, and called upon his Royal Price Maker to set a price for all 500 horses. Thinking only of pleasing the king, he said, “The entire herd of horses is worth one cup of rice.” So the king ordered that one cup of rice be paid to the horse dealer, and all the horses were taken to the royal stables.

Of course the merchant was very upset, but he could do nothing at the moment. Later he heard about the former price maker, who had a reputa-tion for being very fair and honest. So he ap-proached him and told him what had happened.

He wanted to hear his opinion, in order to get a proper price from the king. The former price maker said, “If you do as I say, the king will be convinced of the true value of the horses. Go back to the price maker and satisfy him with a valuable gift. Ask him to tell the value of one cup of rice, in the presence of the king. If he agrees, come and tell me. I will go with you to the king.”

Following this advice, the merchant went to the price maker and gave him a valuable gift. The gift made him very happy, so that he saw the value of pleasing the horse dealer. Then the merchant said to him, “I was very happy with your previous evaluation. Can you please convince the king of the value of one cup of rice?” The foolish price maker said, ‘Why not? I will explain the worth of one cup of rice, even the presence of the king.” So the price maker thought the horse dealer was satisfied with his cup of rice. He arranged for another meeting with the king, as the merchant was departing for his own country. The merchant reported back to the old price maker, and they went together to see the king.

All the king’s ministers and his full court were in the royal meeting hall. The horse mer-chant said to the king, “My lord, I understand that in this your country, my whole herd of 500 horses is worth one cup of rice. Before I leave for home, I want to know the value of one cup of rice in your country.” The king turned to his loyal price maker and said, “What is the value of one cup of rice?”

The foolish price maker, in order to please the king, had previously priced the herd of horses at one cup of rice. Now, after receiving a bribe from the horse dealer, he wanted to please him too. So he replied to the king, in his most digni-fied manner, “Your worship, one cup of rice is worth the city of Benares, including even your own harem, as well as all the suburbs of the city.

In other words, it is worth the whole kingdom of Benares!”

On hearing this, the royal ministers and wise men in the assembly hall started to roar with laughter, slapping their sides with their hands. When they calmed down a little, they said, “Ear-lier we heard that the kingdom was priceless. Now we hear that all Benares, with its palaces and mansions, is worth only a cup of rice! The deci-sion of the Royal Price Maker is so strange!

Where did your highness find such a man? He is good only for pleasing a king such as you, not for making fair prices for a merchant who sells his horses from country to country.”

Hearing the laughter of his whole court, and the words of his ministers and advisers, the king was ashamed. So he brought back his former price maker to his official position. He agreed to a new fair price for the herd of horses, as set by the honest price maker. Having learned a lesson, the king and his kingdom lived justly and prospered.

The moral is: A fool in high office can bring shame even to a king.

6

Prince Goodspeaker

And The Water Demon

[Chapter 1. Rebirth of the Bodhisatta]

Once upon a time, there was a very right-eous king. He had a lovely queen who gave birth to a beautiful baby. This made the king very happy. He decided to give his son a name that might help him in later life. So he called him Prince Goodspeaker.

It just so happened that the prince was no ordinary baby. This was not his first life or his first birth. Millions of years before, he had been a follower of a long-forgotten teaching ‘Buddha’ – a fully ‘Enlightened One’. He had wished with all his heart to become a Buddha just like his beloved master.

He was reborn in many lives – sometimes as poor animals, sometimes as long-living gods and sometimes as human beings. He always tried to learn from his mistakes and develop the ‘Ten Perfections’. This was so he could purify his mind and remove the three root causes of unwhole-someness – the poisons of craving, anger and the delusion of a separate self. By using the Perfec-tions, he would someday be able to replace the poisons with the three purities – non-attachment, loving-kindness and wisdom.

This ‘Great Being’ had been a humble fol-lower of the forgotten Buddha. His goal was to gain the same enlightenment of a Buddha – the experience of complete Truth. So people call him ‘Bodhisatta’, which means ‘Enlightenment Be-ing’. No one really knows about the millions of lives lived by this great hero. But many stories have been told – including this one about a prince called Goodspeaker. After many more rebirths, he became the Buddha who is remembered and loved in all the world today.

[Chapter 2. The Teaching of the Gods]

In time, the queen gave birth to another son, who was named Prince Moon. Shortly after both children began walking about, their mother suddenly became very sick, and died.

To help him look after his playful children, the king found a princess to become his new queen. In a few years, this queen gave birth to a beautiful bright little boy. He was named Prince Sun. Since the king was so happy, he wanted to please his queen, and reward her for bringing up all three children. So he promised to grant her one wish. The queen considered, and said, “Thank you my lord, I will make my wish at some time in the future.”

As time went on, the three princes grew into wonderful playful youngsters. The queen saw that Prince Goodspeaker was intelligent and un-derstanding. She thought, “If these two older princes remain in the palace, my son, Prince Sun, will never get a chance to be king. Therefore, I must do something to make him the next king.”

One day, when the king was in a good mood, the queen respectfully approached him and reminded him of the promised wish. He was very happy and said, “Ask whatever you want!” The queen said, “Oh my husband and king, grant that after the course of your life is over, my son, Prince Sun, will be the next king.”

The king was shocked by this request. He became angry and said, “My first two children are like bright stars! How can I give the kingdom to my third son? All the people will blame me. That cannot be done!” The queen kept silent.

As happy as the king had been, he now be-came just as unhappy. He was afraid and filled with doubt. He suspected that the queen might de-stroy his first-born children by some wicked means. He decided that he must make sure his children were safe.

Secretly, the king called Prince Good-speaker and Prince Moon to him. He told them of the queen’s dangerous desire. He sadly said that the only safe thing for them to do was to leave the kingdom. They should return only after their fa-ther’s death, and take their rightful places ruling the kingdom. The two obedient princes accepted their father’s order and prepared to leave.

In a few days they were ready. They said their sad good-byes to their father and friends, and left the palace. On their way through the royal gardens, they came upon Prince Sun. He had al-ways been very affectionate and friendly towards his two older half-brothers. He was upset to hear that they were leaving for a very long time. So he decided that he too would leave the kingdom. The three friendly princes departed together.

For several months they travelled, until they reached the forest country of the mighty Hi-malayas. They were very tired and sat down under a tree. The oldest brother, Prince Goodspeaker, said to the youngest, Prince Sun, “Please go down to the nearby lake and fill some lotus leaves with water. Bring them back here so we all can drink.” They did not know that the beautiful dark blue lake was possessed by a water demon! He was permitted by his demon ruler to eat any be-ings that he could convince to go into the water.

There was also one condition. He could not eat anyone who knew the answer to the question, ‘What is the teaching of the gods?”

When Prince Sun arrived at the shore of the lake, being dry and dirty and tired, he went di-rectly into the water without any investigation.

Suddenly the water demon rose up from under the water and captured him. He asked him, “What is the teaching of the gods?” Prince Sun said, “I know the answer to that! The sun and the moon are the teachings of the gods.” “You don’t know the teaching of the gods, so you belong to me!” said the water demon. Then he pulled Prince Sun under the water and locked him up in a deep cave.

Since Prince Sun was delayed, Prince Goodspeaker asked the second brother, Prince Moon, to go down to the lake and bring back wa-ter in lotus leaves. When he got there, he too went directly into the water without examining. Again the water demon appeared, grabbed him, and asked, “What is the teaching of the gods?” Prince Moon said, “I know the answer to that! The four directions – North, East, South and West – these are the teachings of the gods.” “You don’t know the teaching of the gods, so you belong to me!” , replied the water demon. Then he locked up Prince Moon in the same underwater cave with

Prince Sun.

When both his brothers did not return, Prince Goodspeaker began to worry that they might be in some danger. So he himself went down to the beautiful dark blue lake. As he was a wise and careful person, he did not go directly into the water. Instead, he investigated and saw that there were two sets of footprints leading into the lake – but not coming out again! To protect himself, he got his sword and bow and arrows ready. He began to walk around the lake. Seeing that this prince did not go straight into the lake, the water demon appeared to him disguised as a humble villager. He said to him, “My dear friend, you look tired and dirty from much walking. Why don’t you get into the water and bathe, drink, and eat some lotus roots?”

Remembering the one-way footprints, Prince Goodspeaker said, “You must be some kind of demon disguised as a human! What have you done with my brothers?” Surprised at being recognized so quickly, the water demon returned to his true ferocious appearance. He replied to the wise prince, “By my rights, I have captured your brothers!”

The prince asked, “For what reason?” “So that soon I can gobble them up!”, the demon an-swered, “I have permission from my demon ruler to eat all those who go into this lake who do not know the teaching of the gods. If anyone does know the teaching of the gods, I am not allowed to eat him.” The Prince asked, “Why do you need to know this? What is the advantage to a demon like you, to know the teaching of the gods?” The water demon replied, “I know there must be some ad-vantage to me.” “Then I will tell you what the gods teach,” said Prince Goodspeaker, “but I have a problem. Look at me. I am covered with dust and dirt from travelling. I cannot speak about wise teachings in this condition.”

By now, the water demon realized that this prince was especially wise. So he washed and re-freshed him. He gave him water to drink from lo-tus leaves, and tender lotus roots to eat. He pre-pared a comfortable seat for him, decorated with pretty wild flowers. After laying aside his sword and bow and arrows, the Enlightenment Being sat on the adorned seat. The ferocious demon sat by his feet, just like a student listening to a respected teacher.

Prince Goodspeaker said, “This is the teaching of the gods:

You should be ashamed to do un- wholesome deeds. You should be afraid to do unwholesome deeds. You should always do wholesome deeds – that bring happiness to others, and help mankind.

Then you will shine with the inner light of calm and peacefulness.”

The water demon was pleased with this an-swer, and said, “Worthy prince, you have com-pletely satisfied my question. You have made me so happy that I will give you back one of your brothers. Which one do you choose?”

Prince Goodspeaker said, “Release my younger brother, Prince Sun.” To this the demon replied, “My lord prince, wise one, you know the teaching of the gods but you do not practice it!”

The prince asked, “Why do you say that?” The demon said, “Because you leave the older one to die, and save the younger. You do not respect elders!”

The prince then said, “Oh demon, I know the teaching of the gods, and I do practice it. We three princes came to this forest because of the youngest brother. His mother requested our fa-ther’s kingdom for him. So it was for our protec-tion that our father sent us here. The young Prince Sun joined us out of friendship. But if we return to the court without him, and say he was eaten by a water demon who wanted to know the teaching of the gods, who would believe us? They would think we killed him because he was the cause of our danger. This would bring shame to us and un-happiness to the kingdom. Fearing such unwhole-some results, I tell you again to release the young

Prince Sun.”

The water demon was so pleased with this answer that he said, “Well done, well done, my lord. You know the true teaching of the gods, and you do practice that true teaching. I will gladly give back both your brothers!” So saying, he went down into the lake and brought both princes back to shore. They were wet, but unharmed. Later on, the Bodhisatta gave further help-ful advice to the demon. He said, “Oh water de-mon, my new friend, you must have done many unwholesome deeds in your previous lives, so that you were born as a flesh eating demon. And if you continue in this way, you will be trapped in a ter-rible state even in later lives. For unwholesome deeds lead to shame, fear and unpleasant rebirth. But wholesome deeds lead to self-respect, peace and pleasant rebirth. Therefore, it would be much better for you to do pure deeds, rather than impure deeds, from now on.” This turned the demon from his past ways, and the princes lived together hap-pily under his protection.

One day, word came that the king had died.

So the three princes, as well as their friend the wa-ter demon, returned to the capital city. Prince Goodspeaker was crowned as king. Prince Moon became the chief minister, and Prince Sun became commander of the army. The water demon was awarded a safe place to live, where he was well fed, cared for and entertained for the rest of his life. In this way they all acquired wholesome meritorious thoughts, leading to rebirth in a heaven world.

The moral is: Unwholesome actions bring shame and fear. Wholesome actions bring self-respect and peace.

7

Little Prince No-father

[The Power of Truth]

Once upon a time, the King of Benares went on a picnic in the forest. The beautiful flow-ers and trees and fruits made him very happy. As he was enjoying their beauty, he slowly went deeper and deeper into the forest. Before long, he became separated from his companions and real-ized that he was all alone.

Then he heard the sweet voice of a young woman. She was singing as she collected fire-wood. To keep from being afraid of being alone in the forest, the king followed the sound of the lovely voice. When he finally came upon the singer of the songs, he saw that she was a beauti-ful fair young woman, & immediately fell in love with her. They became very friendly, and the king became the father of the firewood woman’s child.

Later, he explained how he had gotten lost in the forest, and convinced her that he was indeed the King of Benares. She gave him directions for getting back to his palace. The king gave her his valuable signet ring, and said, “If you give birth to a baby girl, sell this ring and use the money to bring her up well. If our child turns out to be a baby boy, bring him to me along with this ring for recognition.” So saying, he departed for Benares. In the fullness of time, the firewood woman gave birth to a cute little baby boy. Being a simple shy woman, she was afraid to take him to the fancy court in Benares, but she saved the king’s signet ring.

In a few years, the baby grew into a little boy. When he played with the other children in the village, they teased him and mistreated him, and even started fights with him. It was because his mother was not married that the other children picked on him. They yelled at him, “No-father!

No-father! Your name should be No-father!”

Of course this made the little boy feel ashamed and hurt and sad. He often ran home cry-ing to his mother. One day, he told her how the other children called him, “No-father! No-father!

Your name should be No-father!” Then his mother said, “Don’t be ashamed, my son. You are not just an ordinary little boy. Your father is the King of Benares!” The little boy was very surprised. He asked his mother, “Do you have any proof of this?” So she told him about his father giving her the signet ring, and that if the baby was a boy she should bring him to Benares, along with the ring as proof. The little boy said, “Let’s go then.” Because of what happened, she agreed, and the next day they set out for Benares.

When they arrived at the king’s palace, the gate keeper told the king the firewood woman and her little son wanted to see him. They went into the royal assembly hall, which was filled with the king’s ministers and advisers. The woman re-minded the king of their time together in the for-est. Finally she said, “Your majesty, here is your son.”

The king was ashamed in front of all the ladies and gentlemen of his court. So, even though he knew the woman spoke the truth, he said, “He is not my son!” Then the lovely young mother showed the signet ring as proof. Again the king was ashamed and denied the truth, saying, “It is not my ring!” Then the poor woman thought to herself, “I have no witness and no evidence to prove what I say. I have only my faith in the power of truth.” So she said to the king, “If I throw this little boy up into the air, if he truly is your son, may he remain in the air without falling. If he is not your son, may he fall to the floor and die!” Suddenly, she grabbed the boy by his foot and threw him up into the air. Lo and behold, the boy sat in the cross-legged position, suspended in mid-air, without falling. Everyone was astonished, to say the least! Remaining in the air, the little boy spoke to the mighty king. “My lord, I am indeed a son born to you. You take care of many people who are not related to you. You even maintain countless elephants, horses and other animals. And yet, you do not think of looking after and raising me, your own son. Please do take care of me and my mother.”

Hearing this, the king’s pride was over-come. He was humbled by the truth of the little boy’s powerful words. He held out his arms and said, “Come to me my son, and I will take good care of you.”

Amazed by such a wonder, all the others in the court put out their arms. They too asked the floating little boy to come to them. But he went directly from mid-air into his father’s arms. With his son seated on his lap, the king announced that he would be the crown prince, and his mother would be the number one queen.

In this way, the king and all his court learned the power of truth. Benares became known as a place of honest justice. In time the king died. The grown up crown prince wanted to show the people that all deserve respect, regard-less of birth. So he had himself crowned under the official name, “King No-father!” He went on to rule the kingdom in a generous and righteous way.

The moral is: The truth is always stronger than a lie.

8, 462

The One-hundredth

Prince

[Obedience to a Wise Teacher]

Once upon a time, there was a king who had one hundred sons. The youngest, the one-hundredth, was Prince Gamani. He was very ener-getic, patient and kind.

All the princes were sent to be taught by teachers. Prince Gamani, even though he was the one-hundredth in line to the throne, was lucky enough to have the best teacher. He had the most learning and was the wisest of them of all. He was like a father to Prince Gamani, who liked, re- spected and obeyed him.

In those days, it was the custom to send each educated prince to a different province.

There he was to develop the country and help the people. When Prince Gamani was old enough for this assignment, he went to his teacher and asked which province he should request. He said, “Do not select any province. Instead, tell your father the king that if he sends you, his one-hundredth son, out to a province, there will be no son re-maining to serve him in his home city.” Prince Gamani obeyed his teacher, and pleased his father with his kindness and loyalty.

Then the prince went again to his teacher and asked, “How best can I serve my father and the people, here in the capital city?” The wise teacher replied, “Ask the king to let you be the one to collect fees and taxes, and distribute benefits to the people. If he agrees, then carry out your duties honestly and fairly, with energy and kindness.”

Again the prince followed his teacher’s ad-vice. Trusting his one-hundredth son, the king was glad to assign these functions to him. When he went out to perform the difficult task of collecting fees and taxes, the young prince was always gen-tle, fair and lawful. When he distributed food to the hungry, and other necessary things to the needy, he was always generous, kind and sympa-thetic. Before long, the one-hundredth prince gained the respect and affection of all.

Eventually, the king came to be on his deathbed. His ministers asked him who should be the next king. He said that all his one hundred sons had a right to succeed him. It should be left up to the citizens.

After he died, all the citizens agreed to make the one-hundredth prince their next ruler.

Because of his goodness, they crowned him King Gamani the Righteous.

When the ninety-nine older brothers heard what had happened, they thought they had been insulted. Filled with envy and rage, they prepared for war. They sent a message to King Gamani, which said, “We are all your elders. Neighbour countries will laugh at us if we are ruled by the one-hundredth prince. Either you give up the kingdom or we will take it by war!” After he received this message, King Ga-mani took it with him to his wise old teacher, and asked his advice.

It just so happened that this honourable gentle teacher was the reborn Enlightenment Be-ing. He said, “Tell them you refuse to wage war against your brothers. Tell them you will not help them kill innocent people you have come to know and love. Tell them that, instead, you are dividing the king’s wealth among all one hundred princes.

Then send each one his portion.” Again the king obeyed his teacher.

Meanwhile the ninety-nine older princes had brought their ninety-nine small armies to sur- round the royal capital. When they received the king’s message and their small portions of the royal treasure, they held a meeting. They decided that each portion was so small it was almost meaningless. Therefore, they would not accept them.

But then they realized that, in the same way, if they fought with King Gamani and then with each other, the kingdom itself would be divided into small worthless portions. Each small piece of the once-great kingdom would be weak in the face of any unfriendly country. So they sent back their portions of the royal treasure as offerings of peace, and accepted the rule of King

Gamani.

The king was pleased, and invited his brothers to the palace to celebrate the peace and unity of the kingdom. He entertained them in the most perfect ways – with generosity, pleasant conversation, providing instruction for their bene-fit, and treating all with even-handed courtesy. In this way the king and the ninety-nine princes became closer as friends than they had been as brothers. They were strong in their sup-port of each other. This was known in all the sur- rounding countries, so no one threatened the kingdom or its people. After a few months, the ninety-nine brothers returned to their provinces.

King Gamani the Righteous invited his wise old teacher to live in the palace. He honoured him with great wealth and many gifts. He held a celebration for his respected teacher, saying to the full court, “I, who was the one-hundredth prince, among one hundred worthy princes, owe all my success to the wise advice of my generous and understanding teacher. Likewise, all who follow their wise teachers’ advice will earn prosperity and happiness. Even the unity and strength of the kingdom, we owe to my beloved teacher.”

The kingdom prospered under the remain-der of the generous and just rule of King Gamani the Righteous.

The moral is: One is rewarded a hundred-fold for following the advice of a wise teacher.

9

The King With One Gray Hair

[Ordination]

A very very long time ago, there were peo-ple who lived much longer than they do today. They lived many thousand years. At that time, the Enlightenment Being was born as a baby named Makhadeva. He lived 84,000 years as a child and crown prince. At the time of our story, he had been a young king for 80,000 years.

One day, Makhadeva told the royal barber, “If you see any gray hair on my head, you must tell me immediately!” Of course, the barber prom- ised to do so.

Another 4,000 years passed, until Mak-hadeva had been a young king for 84,000 years. Then one day, while he was cutting the king’s hair, the royal barber saw just one little gray hair on all the king’s head. So he said, “Oh my lord, I see one gray hair on your head.” The king said, “If this be so, pull it out and put it in my hand.” The barber got his golden tweezers, plucked out the single little gray hair, and put it in the king’s hand. At that time, the king still had at least an-other 84,000 years left to live as an old king! Looking at the one gray hair in his hand, he be-came very afraid of dying. He felt like death was closing in on him, as if he were trapped in a burn-ing house. He was so afraid, that the sweat rolled down his back, and he shuddered.

King Makhadeva thought, “Oh foolish king, you have wasted all this long life and now you are near death. You have made no attempt to destroy your greed and envy, to live without hat-ing, and to get rid of your ignorance by learning the truth and becoming wise.”

As he thought this, his body burned and the sweat kept rolling down. Then he decided once and for all, “It is time to give up the kingship, be ordained as a monk, and practice meditation!”

Thinking so, he granted the income of a whole town to the barber. It amounted to one hundred thousand per year.

Then the king called his oldest son to him and said, “My son, I have seen a gray hair. I have become old. I have enjoyed the worldly pleasures of great wealth and power. When I die, I want to be reborn in a heaven world, to enjoy the pleasures of the gods. So I will be ordained as a monk. You must now take the responsibility of ruling the country. I will live the life of a monk in the forest.”

Hearing of this, the royal ministers and the rest of the court rushed to the king and said, “Our lord, why do you suddenly want to be ordained?” The king held up the gray hair in his hand and said, “My ministers and subjects, I have real-ized that this gray hair shows that the three stages of life – youth, middle age and old age – are com-ing to an end. This first gray hair was the messen-ger of death sitting on my head. Gray hairs are like angels sent by the god of death. Therefore, this very day is the time for me to be ordained.” The people wept at the news of his depar-ture. King Makhadeva gave up his royal life, went into the forest, and was ordained as a monk. There he practised what holy men call the ‘Four Heav-enly States of Mind’. First is loving-kindness, tender affection for all. Second is feeling sympa-thy and pity for all those who suffer. Third is feel-ing happiness for all those who are joyful. And the fourth state is balance and calm, even in the face of difficulties or troubles.

After 84,000 years of great effort meditat-ing and practising these states as a humble forest monk, the Bodhisatta died. He was reborn in a high heaven world, to live a life a million years long!

The moral is: Even a long life is too short to waste.

10