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mahāvastu avadāna VOL.-III
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bauddha-saṃskṛta-granthāvalī-14
mahāvastu avadānaṃ 
[tṛtīya: khaṇḍa:]
mithilāvidyāpīṭhapradhānena parkāśitam
śakābda: 1926
saṃvat 2061
aiśavīyābda: 2004
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Copies of this volume may be had of the Director, Mithila
Institute, Darbhanga, on pre-payment either in Cash, Postal
Order or M.O. Rs. 305/- (Thre hundred and five only)
Printed by : Vipul Shankar Pandya at Ratna Offsets Limited,
Kamachha, Varanasi. Ph. 2392820 and published by Dr.
Chandeshwar Prasad. M.A., Ph.D., Director, Mithila Institute
of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 
Darbhanga.
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mahāvastu avadāna
VOL.III
(Original Sanskrit Texts)
Introduction & Preface
by 
DR. RADHAGOVIND BASAK
Published by 
THE MITHILA INSTITUTE
OF
POST-GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH 
IN SANSKRIT LEARNING, 
DARBHANGA, 
2004
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FOREWORD
It is with great pleasure that I hereby announce the 
publication of the Third and last Volume of the great 
Buddhist Sanskrit Treatise, the mahāvastu-avadāna, edited 
with. Bengali translation and English Introduction by the 
veteran scholar, Dr. Radhagovind Basak, M.A., Ph. D.,
vidyāvācaspati, Chairman of the Board of editors for our
Research Publication Series.
The contents of the mahāvastu-avadāna are highly 
appreciated by scholars working in Buddhism and Buddhist 
Literature throughout the world. This avadāna is described 
in the Treatise itself that it belonged to the vinayapiṭaka
of the Buddhisht canons and was prepared according to the
text of the lokottaravādins of the mahāsāṃghikas of the 
madhyadeśa. Its contents generally relate to the biography 
of Gautama Buddha and are mingled at times with stories
and works of miracles of the Lord. It also contains many 
old and new jātaka stories as well as prose and poetry passages 
from the canonical texts. We sometimes find accounts herein
of the Buddha's receiving religious instruction from some of 
the most powerful previous Buddhas.
This book which was written by some unknown author 
or authors some fifteen-sixteen hundred years ago is of 
immense historical, religious and linguistic value. It is 
really a mine of information for Indological scholars interes-
ted in the study of the various aspects of ancient Indian life 
and culture.
I am indeed glad to say that Dr. Biswanath Banerjee, 
Professor and Head of the Department of Pali and
śrī Sukomal Chaudhuri, Lecturer in Pali of this College
have rendered ungrudging help in seeing the book through. 
Sanskrit College
Calcutta
2.11.68
K. C. SHASTRI
Principal & General Editor
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CONTENTS
Page
1.	Foreword ix
2.	Preface xv-xvi
3.	Introduction xvii
4.	Resume xix-xciii
5.	kuśajātakam (The jātaka of king kuśa, metrical version) 1-17
6.	vṛṣabhajātakam (The jātaka of the Bull) 17-18
7.	vānarajātakam (No. 1. The jātaka of the Monkey) .. 18-19
8.	vānarajātakam (No.2. The jātaka of the Monkey) .. 19-20
9.	puṇyavanta-jātakam (The jātaka of the puṇyavanta) .. 20-25
10.	vijitāvi-jātakam (The jātaka of vijitāvin, king of Videha) 25-28
11.	mahākāśyapasya vastu–pravrajyāsūtram (The sūtra on the history of the ordination of mahākāśyapa) 29-34
12.	śāriputra-maudgalyāyanayo: pravrayā (The ordination of śāriputra and maudgalyāyana) 35-42
13.	śāriputra-maudgalyāyanapramukhānāṃ pañcānāṃ bhikṣuśatānāṃ rākṣasa-
dvīpakṣiptānāṃ jātakam (The jātaka of five hundred monks led by śāriputra and maudgalyāyana, cast on the 
island of the Sirens) 43-54
14.	pitāputrasamāgama: (kapilavastunagare) (The meeting of the father and the son at Kapilavastu) 55-77
15.	kākajātakam (The jātaka of the Crow) 77-80 
16.	hastinikā-jātakam (The jātaka of the female Elephant) 80-85
17.	asurāṇāṃ bhagavatpūjā (The worship of the Lord by the Asuras ) 85-90
18.	rājakumārī nalinī-jātakam (The jātaka of nalinī, the king’s daughter) 90-94
19.	padmāvatyā: parikalpa: (pūrvayoga:) (The preliminary story of 
padmāvatī and her association in a former birth) 94-105
20.	rāhulabhadrasya pūrvayoga: (The story of a former birth of rāhulabhadra) 105-107
21.	śākyānāṃ upāleśca pravrajyā (The renunciation of the śākyas and upāli) 107-120
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22.	gaṅgapālasya jātakam (The jātaka of gaṅgapāla) 120-126
23.	mahāgovindīya-sūtram (bhagavata: pūrvenivāsasaṃprayuktam) (The
mahāgovindīya-sūtra with an account of a former
birth of the Lord) 127-135
24.	bahubuddhasūtram (The sūtra of many former Buddhas) 136-150
25.	sarvaṃdada: (The story of sarvaṃdada) 150-153
26.	rāhulasya pravrajyā (The renunciation of Prince rāhula) 153-160
27.	samyaksaṃbodhilābhāt paraṃ bhagavata: karma (The doings of the Lord after his enlightenment) 160-164
28.	dharmalabdhajātakam (The jātaka of Dharmalabdha) 165-179
29.	bhagavato nāgarājabhavanavāsa: (The story of the Lord at the
abodes of the nāga Kings) 179-180
30.	ajapālasya nyagrodhavṛkṣa: (The Banyan tree of ajapāla) 180-181
31.	trapusa-bhallikau sārthavāhau (The story of two merchants,
Trapusa and Bhallika) 181-184
32.	uruvilvāto vārāṇasīṃ yāvat bhagavato gamanam (The story of the incidents on the Lords way from uruvilvā to vārāṇasī) 184-190
33.	dharmacakrapravartanam (The turning of the wheel of Dharma) 190-208
34.	ājñātakauṇḍinyajātake (The two jātakas of ājñātakauṇḍinya) 208-211
35.	pañcakānāṃ bhadravargikānāṃ jātakam (The jātaka of the five Bhadravargikas) 211-213
36.	kṣāntivādī (The seer kṣāntivādin) 213-215
37.	sa(śa)rabhaṅga-jātakam (The jātaka of the Sage s(ś)arabhaṅga) 215-225
38.	triṃśagoṣṭhikānāṃ pravrajyā (The renunciation of the group of thirty monks) 225-226
39.	pūrṇasya maitrāyaṇīputrasya vastu (The story of pūrṇa, the son of maitrāyaṇī) 226-229
40.	nālakapraśna: (The questions of nālaka) 229-233
41.	sabhikasya vastupraśnā āśravakṣayā: pravrajyā cāsya (The story 
of Sabhika, his questions, the ending of his āśravas and his ordination) 233-240
42.	yaśodasya śreṣṭhiputrasya vastu (The story of yaśoda, the guild-president’s son) 240-247
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43.	yaśoda-jātakam (The jātaka of yaśoda) 247-248
44.	mārapralobhanam (The temptation by māra) 248-249
45.	piṇḍāya kīdṛśaṃ caritavyam (Instructions on begging for food) 249-252
46.	uruvilvākāśyapa-nadīkāśyapa-gayākāśyapānāṃ jātakam (The jātaka
of uruvilvā-kāśyapa, nadī-kāśyapa and gayākāśyapa) 252-260
47.	dharmapadeṣu sahasravarga: (The chapter of the thousand in the Dhammapadas) 260-262
48.	rājña: śreṇiyasya bimbisārasya dharmacakṣurlabha: (The attainment 
of dharma-eye by King śreṇiya bimbisāra) 262-268
49.	arindamarāja-jātakam (The jātaka of king Arindama) 268-277
50.	hastalikhitagrantha-lekhakasya granthasamāptisūcanā (The Colophon of the Bibliotheque Nationale Manuscript) 277-278
51.	Index 279-308
52.	Appendix 309-348
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PREFACE
The First Volume of our edition of the mahāvastu-
avadāna was published in March 1963, the Second Volume 
of it in January 1965 and the Third Volume is being 
published now. The plan of this Third Volume is the same 
as that of the previous two volumes. Although I completed 
my whole work a few years ago and the Press-copy of the 
Third Volume was placed with the press almost three years 
back, the delay in the publication is due mostly to the 
unexpected retirement of Principal G. N. Sastri and also to 
the departure of Professor Biswanath Banerjee, Professor and 
Head of the Department of Pali in the Calcutta Sanskrit 
College, to join his Professorial appointment in the
viśvabhāratī University (śāntiniketan). These two unforeseen 
circumstances hampered the work of the final proof-reading 
which was entrusted to Dr. Banerjee by Principal Sastri. 
Otherwise the Volume would have come out earlier. This is 
my apology to the Scholarly world for the delay in 
publication of this Volume. 
This edition of the Third Volume of this Buddhist 
Sanskrit Treatise is also a Tri-lingual one. It contains the 
text (generally based on Senart’s reading) and the Index 
of words in devanāgarī characters, the translation and the 
word-notes in the Appendix in Bengali language and in 
Bengali script, and the Preface and the Introduction in 
English language and Script. As usual it also contains an 
Index of proper names and important words printed in
devanāgarī Script. 
I cannot express too adequately my gratefulness to 
Dr. B. N. Banerjee and my pupil śrī Sukomal Chaudhuri, 
M. A., Lecturer in Pali in the Calcutta Sanskrit College
for their ungrudging and kind acceptance of the strenuous 
task of correcting all proofs, certainly out of compassion to 
me, now running my 84th year. 
I have got to note here that my word-notes in the 
Appendix were prepared long ago while I was engaged in 
studying all the three volumes published by the French 
savant, E. Senart, so the page-marks put therein were
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referred to the Paris Edition of Senart. But scholars will not 
find any difficulty in finding out in their proper places 
the words, noted upon from our edition of all the three 
volumes as we have inserted the page-marks of the Paris 
Edition throughout in our text also. 
My heartiest thanks are due to Dr. G. N. Sastri the 
then Principal of the Calcutta Sanskrit College and also
to his successor Principal Kalicharan Mitra Shastri for 
their solicitude for publishing this last volume during my 
life-time. I record here my sense of gratitude to our Editor, 
Pandit Nani Gopal tarkatīrtha, for his great assistance 
in looking after the whole business of publication of this 
volume. I am also very thankful to my two grand-sons,
śrī Anup Kumar Basak, B. Com, and śrī Asim Kumar Basak 
for offering very gladly their kind assistance to me in arranging 
the Index-slips. I should not omit to thank śrīmatī Minati
Kar, M. A., kāvya-vedāntatīrtha for preparing some Index-
slips on my behalf. I should never forget the encouragement 
given to me during my hard work of preparing my Transla-
tion and Introduction, by our National Professor of 
Humanities, Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee who kindly 
allowed me to use for more than a decade his own copies
of the three volumes of Senart. 
Lastly I cannot but praise the patience of Sree
Saraswaty Press Limited for their attempt to make the 
printing business of this work executed as excellently as 
possible. 
69, Ballygunge Gardens 
Calcutta-19
November, 1968. 
RADHAGOVINDA BASAK
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INTRODUCTION
Old age stands in my way to enter into any new aspects, 
such as literary merits and demerits or special linguistic
features, of the mahāvastu-avadāna. My main purpose was
only to help scholars for applying themselves to the study of 
this very important Buddhist Sanskrit Treatise, by using the 
edition of the three volumes published by the authorities of 
the Calcutta Sanskrit College. I reiterate my statement that 
in my Introduction to Volume I. I already dealt with the 
political, social and economic, and religious aspects of Indian 
life as we find delineated in this Treatise. So I give below, 
as in the edition of two previous volumes, a summary of the 
contents of the whole of volume III in English, to enable 
students, teachers and other scholars to comprehend easily 
the topics discussed in the Treatise. 
RADHAGOVINDA BASAK
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[BLANK]
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Resume
kuśajātakam (The jātaka of King kuśa)
The kuśa-jātaka, written mostly in prose, has been 
told fully and in great details in the last section of Volume 
II of the mahāvastu-avadāna. This version of the same jātaka
as told in the first section of Volume III of the treatise 
is mostly metrical. As its contents are mostly similar to 
those of the version in the second volume, it is not considered 
necessary to give a second summary of its contents. It may 
only be noted that in this version kuśa’s queen is named
prajāpatī and not sudarśanā. The contents in this version 
agree to a greater extent to those of the pāli jātaka of the 
same name. 
Another notable thing in this section of the jātaka
is the reference to the question of the monks to the Lord 
regarding the cause of kuśa’s ugly appearance and features. 
The Buddha explained to them that in a former birth kuśa
and his wife lived in the city of Kampilla in the province of
pañcāla. In that life kuśa was very jealous of his wife 
because in his absence she entertained a beautiful Pratyeka-
buddha with a bowl-ful of alms. kuśa through evilmindedness
spoke roughly to his wife for her suspicious conduct and 
calumniated the Pratyekabuddha who flew out of the house 
through the air. kuśa became repentant by thinking that 
the Pratyekabuddha was a seer of great parts. The Lord 
said to the monks that on account of the maturing of that 
wrong Karma, kuśa came to be ugly, because his suspicion
on his wife was un-becoming. The Lord then identified kuśa
with the man in the city of Kampilla and sudarśanā, the 
daughter of Mahendraka, with the wife of that man.
vṛṣabhajātakam (the jātaka of the Bull) 
The monks asked the Lord as to how māra followed
him closely during the period of his performance of austerities, 
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seeking a chance to tempt him but failed to do so. The Lord 
told them that in a former life also he was thus pursued by
māra and then related this jātaka story at the end of which 
the Lord identified himself with the bull in the story and 
māra with the jackal named Girika. the story briefly runs 
thus :-
Long long ago, there was a bull with his drooping and 
inert organs, pursuing closely for many years the herd of 
cows. One foolish jackal, named Girika, dwelling in a wood-
land tract closely pursued the terrible bull that some day he 
would fall a prey to him. Another jackal told Girika that he 
pursued the same bull for fifteen years, but his desire also 
could not be fulfilled. So the jackal had to retire unsuccessful 
in his attempt to tempt the bull, as māra failed to tempt 
the Bodhisattva.
vānarajātakam (No. 1.the jātaka of the Monkey)
The monks posed the same question to the Lord as to 
how māra was unable to get a chance to tempt him. The 
Lord told them that in a former life of his māra failed to 
tempt him. He then related this jātaka story and at its end
identified himself with the sagacious lord of the herd of the 
monkeys and māra with the water-demon of the lake. 
The story stands briefly thus :-
Long long ago, a sagacious monkey was in charge
of a large troop of monkeys in the himālayan region. In 
a lake there dwelt a water-demon who used to pull in 
monkeys when they went there to drink water. The lord of 
the monkeys understood from the foot-marks of his herd 
that they must have been dragged in and killed by the 
water-demon. So he devised a way out and ordered the 
monkeys not to drink water direct by the mouth, but 
through reeds gathered from the reed-thicket. They then 
drank water from a distance through those reeds and thus 
eluded the grasp of the water-demon. The lesson taught
is that the watchful has no cause for alarm. 
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vānarajātakam (No. 2. the jātaka of the Monkey)
The monks asked the Lord as to how he safely escaped 
from the dominion of māra by his unique wisdom attained 
by his supreme perfect enlightenment. The lord said to them 
that in a former life also, he thus escaped and put his feet 
on māra’s head. He then related this jātaka story at the 
end of which he identified himself with the lord of the 
monkeys and māra with the serpent in the lake. The story 
briefly runs thus :- 
Long long ago, there was a monkey-chief in the himā-
layas with a large herd of monkeys. In summer, one day 
he with his herd came to the precipitous bank of a lake where 
dwelt in a den a serpent. The serpent used to obtain food 
by killing whatever beasts and birds came down to drink
water in the lake. The monkey-chief accidentally fell 
down from the high banks and failed to get any support 
to reach the dry land. The serpent thought that he got a 
good prey. But the monkey-chief pointed out the crowd of 
monkeys for his prey and as soon as the serpent turned his 
neck towards the crowd, the lord of the monkeys set his 
feet on the serpent’s head and stepped out of the water
to the dry land. The lesson sought to be taught is that 
one can avert ill by means of energy, intelligence, mindful-
ness and wisdom.
puṇyavanta-jātakam (the jātaka of puṇyavanta) 
To the question of the monks to the Lord asking that 
he (the Lord) spoke in praise of merits only, the Lord told 
them this jātaka story and at its end he identified himself 
with puṇyavanta, the son of the king of kāśi, named añjana, 
his disciple śroṇakoṭiviṃśa with vīryavanta, his disciple
rāṣṭrapāla with śilpavanta, the elder Sundarananda with 
rūpavanta and śāriputra with prajñāvanta. The story 
runs thus :-
Long long ago, the powerful and virtuous king
añjanaka was the ruler of kāśi province ruling from the city
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of Benares. This king has a young prince named puṇyavanta 
who had four sons of counselors, named vīryavanta, 
śilpavanta, rūpavanta and prajñāvanta as his companions, 
who respectively spoke highly of energy or strength, of arts, 
of beauty and of wisdom. But puṇyavanta spoke to his com-
panions that there was nothing equal to merits. Puṇyavanta 
asked his friends that they should go to another kingdom 
to find out who of them excelled, the meritorious one, the 
energetic one, the artistic one, the beautiful one, or the 
wise one. They then left Benares and went to Kampilla to 
settle the point of their verbal dispute. 
Once all the five friends went out of Kampilla to 
bathe in the Ganges and four of them asked the other friend
vīryavanta to show his energy or strength by pulling out a 
tree-trunk (a Sandal-wood tree) from the river in whose 
stream it was being carried down. vīryavanta succeeded by 
his bodily power to pull out the tree-trunk and sold it to 
perfume-makers and earned a good store of wealth which he 
gave to his friends. While doing so he told them that 
there was nothing superior to energy or strength in the 
world. 
Then they wanted to see the fruit of śilpavanta’s art. 
He was skilled in the lute and none in Kampilla could beat 
him for playing the lute. While śilpavanta was playing his
seven-stringed lute, one by one six strings gave way and 
only one was left. All people felt astonished when the lute- 
player produced the same music from one string only. 
Reward of gold from all sides was won by him and the lute- 
player gave the money to his companions telling them that 
there was nothing superior to art in the world. 
Then the friends wished to see the fruit of rūpavanta’s
beauty. Seeing him in a stall in the market a leading courtesan 
fell in love with him because of his charming and stately 
beauty. The courtesan took rūpavanta to her house where 
she served him with costly food and other high luxuries. 
In course of his conversation with the courtesan rūpavanta
told her that she should summon his four friends from his
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house and give them a good quantity of her wealth so that 
they might not kill her. The courtesan at once gave 
rūpavanta sufficient money to take the same to his com-
panions, who saw their friend so fortunate. rūpavanta
told his friends that there was nothing superior to beauty
in the world. 
Then the friends sought to see the fruit of prajñāvanta’s
wisdom. One day prajñāvanta went to a market stall and 
there he saw a rich merchant’s son wrangling with a leading 
courtesan before a large crowd. The merchant’s son was 
refused an engagement with the courtesan who was, as she 
said, already hired by another that night and she offered 
to accept her fee of a hundred thousand gold pieces from 
him for the next night. Next morning the courtesan went 
to his house to entertain him, but the merchant’s son did 
not want her, as on the previous night he enjoyed her fully in 
an impure dream to his heart’s content. The courtesan 
demanded her fee from the merchant’s son, for his own 
confession was that he enjoyed her the previous night in a
dream. So a dispute arose between the two and none of the 
crowd could solve it. prajñāvanta was standing by and the 
townspeople of Kampilla appealed to him to give his own 
verdict in the dispute. He asked the merchant’s son to bring 
a box containing her high fee of money and place the box in 
front of a mirror. The courtesan was then asked to take 
the reflection in the mirror of the box containing the 
money as her fee. People present there approved the solution 
made by prajñāvanta and they presented him with good 
money which he gave to his four companions and told 
them that there was nothing superior to wisdom in the 
world. 
Lastly, the friends wanted to see the power of merit 
of puṇyavanta. Prince puṇyavanta settled near the royal 
palace. A counsellor’s son made friends with him and one 
day entertained him at night with a good dinner. Owing to 
lateness of night puṇyavanta took shelter in a carriage in 
the royal coach-house and fell deeply asleep. Meanwhile
@xxiv
the King Brahmadatta’s daughter came out of the palace 
distracted by thoughts of love and she climbed into the 
carriage where puṇyavanta was lying asleep, to take her 
pleasure with him. But puṇyavanta did not wake up to her 
expectation. Owing to excessive influence of night she also 
fell asleep there. Next morning she was seen by some coun-
sellors to come down from the carriage and enter the palace. 
They suspected her character. They then seized puṇyavanta 
when he was coming down from the carriage. Being led 
before the King puṇyavanta told him why because of 
lateness of the hour he slept the previous night in the coach-
house and when the king asked his daughter as to what had 
happened the princess said to the king that puṇyavanta’s
statement was true. Brahmadatta was pleased with puṇya-
vanta and when he learnt that the handsome man was the 
son of King añjana of kāśI he conceived an affection for the 
prince, as he himself had no son of his own. He then gave 
his daughter in marriage with puṇyavanta and established 
him on his own throne and treated the son-in-law as his 
own son and successor. Then Prince puṇyavanta told his 
companions that there was nothing superior to merit in the 
world and by his truthful merit he had won a kingdom and 
a king’s daughter.
vijitāvi-jātakam (the jātaka of vijitāvin, the king of Videha)
The Lord told the monks that on another occasion in 
his former life he spoke in praise of merits (puṇya). He then 
related this jātaka story at the end of which he identified 
himself with vijitāvin who spoke in praise of merits. The 
story briefly runs thus :-
vijitāvin was a virtuous and generous king ruling from
Mithilā in Videha. There was nothing which he would refuse 
to give as a gift to śramaṇas, brāhmaṇas, the poor people and 
beggars. Whoever wanted a thing from him he gave that 
to him and he never regretted his gifts afterwards. Because 
the king gave excessive largesses, his coffers failed and he was 
@xxv
banished from his kingdom by his ministers and his people. 
He then went to the himālayas and settled in a forest grove 
where he first fed other seers by gathering roots and fruits and 
only afterwards he took food himself. Wishing to dissuade the 
king of Videha from his liberality, śakra came to him and 
trying to test his mind said that liberal persons are doomed to 
be reborn in hell because of their gifts. The king of gods con-
jured up a great hell and gave vijitāvin a visual proof by 
showing human beings suffering from woes in a blazing hell 
and telling vijitāvin that such was the bourne of their being 
charitable in the world. vijitāvin, however, told the men 
in hell that this could never be the case because people as a 
result of their gifts are reborn in heaven and never in hell. 
He also added that he should persist in giving charity even 
if he were to be reborn in hell. śakra then became pleased 
and told the king that he came there only to test him. Finding 
that since the departure of king vijitāvin to the forest grove 
his whole kingdom suffered from shortage of food and 
oppression by robbers and enemies, the ministers and 
people of Videha went to the forest grove and asked for 
pardon to the king and gave him back his own kingdom. 
Blessed is the fruit of merits, said the Lord.
mahākāśyapasya vastu-pravrajyāsūtram (the sūtra of the history of the ordination 
of mahā-kāśyapa) 
This sūtra narrates an episode on the ordination of
mahā-kāśyapa. The tradition is this :-
On one occasion, ānanda, the pupil, servitor and 
attendant of the Lord, being accompanied by a crowd of five 
hundred monks, reached, after a tour in Magadha, to rājagṛha
and stayed at kalandakanivāpa. There mahā-kāśyapa asked 
ānanda’s opinion as to why the tathāgata prohibited his 
disciples from eating in a crowd (gaṇabhojana) and prescribed 
that they should eat in groups of three (Trikabhojana). ānanda
replied that he himself thought of asking him on the very 
topic. mahā-kāśyapa’s interpretation was that this arrange- 
@xxvi
ment by the tathāgata conduced to two advantages, viz.
the protection and safeguarding of families approached for 
alms and the breaking up of cliques of wicked persons bent 
on schismatic activities. Then he made a pungent remark 
that ānanda was but a youngster knowing no moderation 
and that he seemed to him like one destroying the harvest 
by his leading those troops of fellow-students who had no 
guard on the doors of their senses, who knew no moderation 
in food and who were irresponsible. ānanda felt disturbed 
by mahā-kāśyapa’s remark because there were grey hairs 
growing on his head and yet he was being treated as a 
youngster. But mahā-kāśyapa thrice uttered the same re-
mark. The nun sthulanandā resented the remark on behalf 
of ānanda and reminded mahā-kāśyapa that the vene- 
rable ānanda received all rules direct from the tathāgata, 
whereas he himself belonged to another sect. mahā-
kāśyapa told ānanda that that sister was speaking out of 
thoughtlessness and conceit. ānanda begged pardon of 
mahā-kāśyapa and asked him to forgive him for his own 
foolishness.
mahā-kāśyapa then related to ānanda the history of 
his entry into religious life and his ordination to Buddhism. 
He informed ānanda that when he first embraced the reli-
gious life he did not acknowledge any master other than the 
tathāgata himself. He said also that when he renounced 
his prosperous home life he took only one patched cotton 
cloth with him and wandered in quest of whatever arhans 
there might be in the world. He then narrated how after
a full year’s time he happened to meet the all-knowing and 
all-seeing perfect Buddha to whom he said “Lord, you are 
my Master and I am your disciple” and the Lord said to him 
in return “Even so, O kāśyapa, I am your Master and 
you are my disciple”. mahā-kāśyapa then told ānanda
that the Lord claimed to be perfectly enlightened, all-
knowing and as having absolute knowledge and insight 
and that the Lord told him that he preached to his disciples 
the well-grounded and reasoned dharma. mahā-kāśyapa
@xxvii
then told ānanda as to what kind of exhortation the Buddha
himself fully gave him regarding one’s training the mind in 
discipline and learning the lesson of the pratītya-samutpāda
doctrine and other philosophical themes. He addressed 
ānanda saying that when he had been given that exhorta- 
tion by the Lord, he was a probationer student for eight 
days and then on the ninth day he attained perfect know-
ledge. mahā-kāśyapa also told ānanda of the incident of 
the former’s spreading out his patched cotton under-robe
for the Lord to sit upon and of the Lord’s gift to him of his 
own under-robe made of hempen rags. Thus, he said, he 
was treated by the Lord as a genuine son of the Lord born 
of the dharma. He then requested ānanda to believe that he 
had acquired mastery of the three knowledges, six super-
knowledges and all the powers. No monk in ānanda’s
following harboured any doubt or mistrust of mahā-kāśyapa, 
who then received greater honour and obedience from them.
But the nun sthūlanandā remained unreconciled and 
when she uncovered herself before the venerable mahā-
kāśyapa she died immediately and was reborn in a 
great hell.
śāriputra-maudgalyāyanayo: pravrajyā (the ordination of śāriputra and maudgalyāyana) 
In the Introductory portion in Volume I of this edition 
I have already referred to in some details on this topic of 
the conversion of śāriputra and maudgalyāyana. So the 
statement here now will be rather a succinct one. 
There were two flourishing villages of the name of 
nālandagrāmaka and Kolita, both situated within half 
a yojana from the Magadhan capital, rājagṛha. In the 
first village there was a very wealthy and rich brāhmaṇa
whose wife’s name was śāri. This pair had seven sons, six
of whom were established in life, the seventh and the 
youngest was named upatiṣya, yet un-established. He was 
a student of the Vedic mantras in a gurukula. In the second
@xxviii
village there was another wealthy and rich bhrāhmaṇa who 
had a son named Kolita (probably after the name of the 
village). He also was a Vedic student and he and some 
five hundred other brāhmaṇa youths were studying in the 
same gurukula with upatiṣya. Both upatiṣya and Kolita
were close friends. It is needless to say that upatiṣya was
śāriputra and Kolita was maudgalyāyana. 
The occasion arose when both the friends went to attend 
the festival called giriyagra-samāja at rājagṛha. By that time 
both of them had acquired all attributes entitling them to 
initiation into the Buddhistic doctrines in virtue of their 
long-standing root of goodness. Seeing the crowd there
engrossed in revelry śāriputra became aware of the im-
permanence of things (anitya-saṃjñā) and there arose in
maudgalyāyana’s mind the idea of all things being nothing 
but bones (asthi-saṃjñā). Yet maudgalyāyana asked śāriputra
to be in love with life and not to be downcast with sorrow. 
But śāriputra replied to his friend saying that those people 
would have to die with their desires unsatisfied. It was time, 
said he to his friend, to live by dharma, because religious life 
appealed to him and he should embrace it.  maudgalyāyana
too desired to do the same. 
They both then approached the famous head of the 
Wanderer Sect, named vairaṭīputra sañjayin who was 
dwelling then at rājagṛha with a company of fifty wandering 
disciples and embraced the religious life under him. śāriputra
mastered all the rules of the wanderers within a week and 
maudgalyāyana within a fortnight. They soon realised that 
this was not the true way to cessation of all ills. So they went 
out to separately seek out the well-preached discipline
of the dharma that might conduce to cessation of ills. But
they stipulated between themselves that whoever would be 
the first to attain dharma-vinaya would preach it to the other. 
They then went to the city by different ways. 
At that time the Buddha was residing with a very large
number of monks at kalandakanivāpa in the Bamboo-
grove. One of Buddha’s disciples, Upasena by name, was
@xxix
seen by śāriputra, dressed in yellow robe with a begging 
bowl in his hand, but with a serene deportment. tiṣya
enquired about Upasena’s Master’s doctrine, teaching and 
exhortation. Upasena said to śāriputra that his Master
enjoins renunciation with reference to the arising of things 
from a cause. śāriputra then and there came to acquire pure 
dharma-insight into things. He returned to maudgalyāyana
with a calm and serene look and the latter inferred that 
his comrade must have obtained the amrta, the immortal 
and learnt the way that leads to it. śāriputra informed his 
friend that there had arisen the Light of the World, the rare 
Buddha who taught the following dharma-formula-“Of all
those phenomena which are born of causes, the tathāgata
has preached of those causes and He has also preached of 
their cessation. The mahā-śramaṇa is the holder of such 
a doctrine.” At once did maudgalyāyana attain the 
dharma-insight into things and became fit for realising the 
nirvāṇa.
Then after a conversation maudgalyāyana agreed to 
go back to their former preceptor, sañjayin, to take farewell 
of him by telling him that they both were going to live the 
religious life under the Buddha. They then made for the 
Bamboo-grove taking with them the whole body of five 
hundred wandering disciples of sañjayin at the time. 
The Buddha intuitively knew that śāriputra and 
maudgalyāyana were approaching Him for ordination and 
so He asked the monks to prepare seats for them and their 
company in advance. He also declared before his disciples 
that the two leading men would be his chief pair of disciples, 
the one (śāriputra) eminent for his wisdom and the other 
(maudgalyāyana) for his supernatural powers. From a 
distance śāriputra saw the Lord in his majestic glow sur- 
rounded by his disciples, all released from bondage. He 
and maudgalyāyana accompanied by the five hundred 
wanderers approached the Lord and śāriputra told him 
that they so long dwelt among false sectarians and they had 
now turned from the wrong ways and crossed over to his 
@xxx
(Buddha’s) way. Then both of them prayed to the Lord to 
admit them as recluses and to ordain them. The Buddha
granted their prayer by uttering the formula “Come, monks,
(ehibhikṣukāye)” and “Come, monks, live the religious life 
under the tathāgata”. All the other followers of the two 
friends were also so ordained. At once all the marks of their 
former sect disappeared and there appeared before them 
the three robes of the Buddhist monks and their bowls 
and they adopted the ascetic’s hair and wandering method 
of life. Such is the story of their renunciation (pravrajyā), 
ordination (upasampadā) and entry into the monk’s status 
(bhikṣubhāva). 
After their formal ordination śāriputra put forward
some metaphysical queries to which the Master said that 
four constituent parts of a being (dhātus) are predicated 
about and they exist, disappear and reappear by a new 
birth. In reply to further questions the Lord replied that 
ignorance (avidyā), desire or craving (tṛṣṇā) and action
(karma) are the causes of birth. He also said that time 
(āyus), work (karma) and food (āhāra) are the causes of 
existence. Disappearance or death is caused by the termina- 
tion of time, the end of actions and the elimination of food 
and a being’s rebirth is caused by non-escape from ignorance 
and domination exercised by desire. The cessation of rebirths 
takes place only when a being escapes from nescience and 
succeeds in totally annihilating his desire. The Lord also ex-
plained to the monk how pleasurable sensation are produced 
in the sense organs by the so-called attractive appearance 
of object-forms. He also referred again to the law of causation 
as producing all phenomena which, according to him, were 
non-soul, nor partaking of anything belonging to any soul. 
On hearing this discourse the new converts became bereft 
of all miseries. Within one week maudgalyāyana acquired 
all supernatural powers and within a fortnight did śāriputra 
acquire intuitive knowledge and perfect wisdom. Thus 
they all crossed over the deep forest of birth, decay, death
and rebirth. 
@xxxi
śāriputra-maudgalyāyanapramukhānāṃ pañcānāṃ bhikṣuśatānāṃ rākṣasadvīpakṣiptānāṃ jātakam 
(The jātaka of the Five Hundred Monks led by śāriputra and 
maudgalyāyana cast on the island of the Sirens)
In reply to the monks' query as to how the Lord saved
śāriputra and maudgalyāyana from all ills of life i.e. 
birth, death and old age, the Lord replied that in a former 
life also he saved them from the hands of the Sirens in their 
terrible island and led across to jambudvīpa. He then related 
this jātaka and at the end of the story identified himself 
with keśin, the king of horses and the five hundred monks 
with the five hundred merchants saved from the hands of 
the Sirens. The story briefly runs thus :- 
Long long ago a party of five hundred merchants left
jambudvīpa (India) by a sea-going vessel to seek for wealth. 
The vessel was wrecked by a monstrous fish in mid-ocean. 
The merchants prayed to their various gods they believed 
in and by use of float of various kinds reached an island 
of the Sirens (rākṣasīs). They saw hundreds of women 
dressed in fine garments but they were mere sirens in 
human guise. These deceitful women welcoming the 
merchants implored them to become their husbands and 
live comfortably with them and enjoy their company and 
they told the merchants that they should live there as devas 
in Nandana in that island of precious stones. The merchants, 
however, at first wept, grieved and lamented by thinking of 
their near and dear kinsfolk in India. But the sirens took 
the merchants, one each, to their mansions and they were 
supplied with all sorts of garments, garlands, costly food of
meat and other condiments and also entertained by them 
with sweet songs accompanied by play on musical instru-
ments. The sirens only warned the merchants against 
going along the way lying south of the city. The leader of 
the five hundred merchants was clever and shrewd and 
he thought within himself as to why they were interdicted 
from going towards the southern way. When the sirens 
fell asleep after heavy food and drink taken by them, he 
@xxxii
made for that southern way alone with a sword in hand. 
As he approached a stronghold of iron encircled by walls of 
copper he heard a sound of the wailing of many men and 
he proceeded following the direction of that sound. He 
could not find out any gate leading to that stronghold. He
then found out a tall acacia tree (śirīṣa) growing close against 
the wall on the north side. He climbed that tree and saw 
within the stronghold hundreds of famished persons, 
suffering from hunger and thirst and having their nails, hair
and beards long. On seeing the merchant on the tree the 
captive men took him for a deva and turned to him for 
refuge, so that they might be reunited with their own people
after release from that cruel bondage. The men within told 
the merchant on the tree that they were ship-wrecked and 
rescued by those very women who at first diverted, delighted 
and amused themselves with them. But later out of their 
party numbering five hundred in all, the younger ones,
two hundred and fifty in number, were devoured and the 
rest of them kept imprisoned in that stronghold. They clearly 
informed the merchant on the tree that those women were 
not human, but they were sirens. On hearing this the leader 
of the merchants got terrified and asked the imprisoned 
merchants if there were a means of his and his followers’
escape in safety. They answered saying that on the full moon-
day of the month kārttika the winged king of horses, keśin
by name, comes to that island from Uttarakuru and cries
out three times in human voice telling people wishing to 
cross the ocean in safety, for, he as their refuge can take 
them across to jambudvīpa, but they shall have to cling
to his manes and various limbs and to give up those whom
they treated as wives. Some of whom may have given birth to 
children. They also told him that in case they thought of 
their wives and children they would drop down from the 
carrying horse. The leader of the merchants asked the 
imprisoned merchants to take their own chance of escape 
along with them, but they pointed to him that there was 
no possibility for them to leap out of that terrible stronghold.
@xxxiii
They only requested him to greet their relatives in their 
name and ask them never to cross the ocean where such 
peril existed and to remain in jambudvīpa even if they 
might have to beg from house to house. 
The leader of the merchants climbed down from the 
tree and returning by the same way lay down on the bed 
provided. He then sought an opportunity to tell his fellow-
merchants about this plan of escape without the sirens 
getting to know of this. He kept the secret to himself until 
the full-moon day came and when he gathered the merchants 
in a hidden place he told them all about the plan. When 
the particular day came they saw keśin the king of horses 
standing on the sea-shore and shouting to offer refuge to 
those who wanted to cross the ocean. They all obeyed the 
instructions of keśin to forsake the women and children 
and also the island of precious stones. Those who yearned 
for their wives and children fell from the horse’s back and 
others safely escaped from that island to jambudvīpa, keśin
flying swiftly in the air. 
Then follows the metrical version of this story in the 
book, but the contents were similar to those in the foregoing 
prose version, with this exception that therein the king of 
horses is named valāha instead of keśin. The gods greeted 
the horse saying that before long he would become a Master
leading all men across to the shore beyond the ocean of old 
age and death. 
pitāputrasamāgama: kapilavastunagare (The meeting of the father and the son at Kapilavastu city)
The Lord as teacher of devas and men was staying 
at rājagṛha after having attained enlightenment and given 
his first sermon at mṛgadāya. The śākyas heard of this 
news and requested king śuddhodana to send messengers 
to the Lord asking him to show his compassion on his own 
people. On the people’s suggestion Chandaka and udāyin
(kālodāyin), the Lord’s comrades, were commanded by the 
@xxxiv
king to go to the Lord and ask him to show compassion to 
the people of Kapilavastu by a visit and the king also directed 
the messengers to do whatever the Lord told them to. 
The messengers arrived at rājagṛha and both Chandaka 
and kālodāyin were asked by the Lord whether they would 
take up the religious life and they agreed to do so against 
their will, because the king directed them to do what the 
Lord told them to. They then got ordination by the Buddha
who addressed them with the simple formula of “come, 
monks”. The Lord did not know his native place for seven 
years since he had left home. He was asked by some devas 
who are long were his near relations that the Lord should 
show compassion on his own people and he silently intimated
his assent to those devas. The Lord’s eagerness to take
compassion on Kapilavastu was understood by udāyin 
when the Lord arranged his seat facing his native place.
kālodāyin then implored the Lord to graciously start on his 
way to kapilavastu so that the Koliyans and the śākyans 
might behold the face of the Lord. To śāriputra the Lord then 
described the journey of the former Buddha śikhin and 
the monk said to the Lord that as He also possessed all the 
attributes, morality, wisdom and powers, of śikhin, his own 
journey would also be like his and it would be for the welfare 
and happiness of devas and men. The Lord then set out 
and went on his journey to take compassion on all. After 
having completed his journey and converted many people 
on the way the Saviour of the world reached Kapilavastu. 
The Lord lived with a very large body of disciples in the 
Banyan Grove. śuddhodana caused a proclamation to be 
made in the capital city announcing that no one was to go 
to the Lord before he goes to him. Then on seeing a company 
of monks amongst whom were uruvilvā-kāśyapa, nadi-
kāśyapa, gayā-kāśyapa, śāriputra and maudgalyāyana, 
lean of body, mortified by austerities, shaven and holding 
bowls in their hands to beg for alms, he felt troubled and 
thought that if his own son had not left home he would 
have become a universal king on earth. So śuddhodana
@xxxv
asked his men to send away the company of monks whom
he did not like to see. The king's counselors asked them to 
turn back to the Banyan Grove. This was reported to the 
Lord who asked the chief monks who insisted on their 
going to the king to placate him, not to do so. But the Lord
thought within himself that kālodāyin might go to the king 
for the purpose. mahā-maudgalyāyana through his deva-eye
perceived this and he asked kālodāyin to prepare to go to 
the king to placate him, but kālodāyin declared to the great 
monk that it was exceedingly difficult to approach a king 
for security reasons. The Lord told kālodāyin that no one 
else would succeed in such work but himself. The Lord then 
related to him of the very past event in the life of a mighty 
king, named Satyavardhana who asked his son, matisāra, 
who always paid heed to the Buddhas and intent on a host 
of merits, that he should remain at home and enjoy all 
kinds of sensual pleasures. But matisāra renounced without 
regret his kingdom and pleasures, but he indulged in divine 
meditation. A son of the household priest of that king, 
Somadatta by name, went forth also from home and took 
to the religious life. King Satyavardhana took the whole 
affair hard. The Lord then asked udāyin to think that He 
himself was matisāra and his father śuddhodana was 
Satyavardhana and he (udāyin) was the devoted Somadatta 
who appeased the king. So the Lord asked udāyin to 
quickly go to and placate king śuddhodana for the good 
of the world. Meanwhile śuddhodana became sorely 
stricken in mind and dejected. He turned back from the 
gates of Kapilavastu and addressed the śākyan men and 
women as to how they would be deprived of the lordship of 
a mighty realm because of his son’s taking up the religious 
life. To his utter amazement the king happened to see 
udāyin perform the miracle on flying in the air from the 
Banyan Grove, standing in the air before him and re-
counting to him the many noble qualities of his son, the
Buddha, who could irradiate the whole world by his splendour. 
Having dispelled all doubts from the king’s mind about
@xxxvi
the sterling merits of the Buddha who could make his own
clan happy and prosperous, he congratulated śuddhodana 
as being the Conqueror’s father. He told the king in reply
to his query that his Master lived the life of brahmacarya
in faith, unmoved by censure or praise and being a Leader
himself and not led by others. The king then fed the monk
udāyin and consented to go to see the Buddha and his
company. The monk informed the Buddha that his father
and his own people were going to see him. The king then
issued a proclamation to his people that they should all
proceed to the Grove near Kapilavastu to see Prince
sarvārthasiddha come there twelve years after being
now awakened to the supreme perfect enlightenment.
All people including princes, counselors, army officers,
brāhmaṇas with priest, the community of tradesmen of
the eighteen guilds, the host of musicians and the craftsmen 
gathered quickly before the palace-gate and then started
for the Banyan Grove to see the Buddha. A reflection came
into the mind of the Buddha as to whether he as son should
or should not stand up to greet his father. For he knew that
there was chance of the heads being split into parts of those
before whom the tathāgata stands up to greet him.
So he decided to rise up into the air to the height of a man
and take a long walk there. śuddhodana was thrilled with
wonder on seeing such a marvel. He then invited all to look
at the omniscient lord of men. Approaching the Lord with
all his men and women, he bowed at the feet of his son, the
Lord. He informed the Lord that this was his third bowing
at his feet, the other two bowings had taken place when the
soothsayers fortold of his coming Buddhahood and when
the roseapple tree’s shade did not desert him during his
first meditation. Then the Lord performed various kinds
of miracles of twin nature i.e. of double appearance. 
yaśodharā bathed the eyes of mahāprajāpatī gautamī 
with the jets of water from the body of the Lord walking in
the air and her blind eyes regained their sight. The Lord
established many thousands of beings in āryan states of 
@xxxvii
dharma and sat down on his seat. śuddhodana, mahāprajāpatī
gautamī, yaśodharā and other śākyan men and women
bowed at the feet of the Lord. The Buddha and his father
met together. The king asked his son whether it was well or
ill with him and the son replied that he knew no feelings as
he was all-conquering and all-knowing, a renouncer of every
thing. Then followed a conversation between the father
and the son, in which the father feelingly referred to the
son’s various comforts regarding his food, bed, conveyance,
clothings, living in palace etc. The son told the father that he
had the whole earth for his domain and had many sons
(i.e. his disciples). śuddhodana asked the Buddha to show
him the way of release and he felt that he was rid of all
āsravas. The Buddha inspired his father with knowledge and
advised him to always pay regard to monks when he saw
them. Such was the thrilling meeting of the Lord and his
father.
kākajātakam (The jātaka of the Crow) 
In reply to the question of the monks as to how
śuddhodana was reconciled by udāyin, the Lord told the
monks that in a former life also udāyin did the same thing and 
related to them this jātaka of the Crow. At the end of the
story he identified himself with supātra, the king of the
crows, yaśodharā with supārśvā, the wife of that crow,
kālodāyin with the crow who was the minister over the
large flock of crows, and śuddhodana with king Brahmadatta
of the story. The story briefly stands thus:-
Long long ago, Brahmadatta was the mighty and virtuous
king of kāśi ruling from Benares. There dwelt in kāśi, a king
of crows, named supātra, whose wife’s name was supārśvā.
This female crow expressed to her husband that she conceived
a longing for the king’s food. The king-crow told this matter to
his minister who ordered the crows in the flock to bring food
for the queen-crow from the royal kitchen. All crows pleaded
inability because the king’s kitchen was a protected area,
@xxxviii
where the guards were ready with bows and arrows. The 
minister then offered himself to do the job in execution of 
his king’s order and promised his king to bring the queen
food from the kitchen of Brahmadatta. He used to bear in his 
beak some of the king’s food, unnoticed by the guards. The
king ordered for a net to be spread over the kitchen against
the trespasser. The minister-crow watched the road along
which the king’s food was taken to the palace and he used
to take some food in his beak. The servitors were then
ordered to put covers over the dishes of food. So the crow
could no longer steal any food. But he thought of snatching
some food from the hands of the serving-maids through
whom the king sent morsels of food to the queens. There
came the order from the king to use coverings put over all
the serving-maids. By that time king Brahmadatta be-
coming very impatient issued an order saying that he would
give a rich reward to any one catching that insolent crow
and bringing him alive to him (the king). A certain serving-
maid was taking a morsel to his queen and on
seeing her the minister-crow held on to her nose which
he scratched and cut. The maid succeeded in seizing the
crow in both her hands. The king was highly pleased with
the maid for her smart piece of work. The king scolded the
crow for his act of trespassing. The crow told the king that
he had done the behest of the king of crows and thus honoured
him. In order to reward his faithfulness to his king,
Brahmadatta directed that the crow should have some
of his own food daily for himself and for his king and the
king also ordered that no one should molest the crow in
any way.
hastinikā-jātakam (The jātaka of the female Elephant)
The monks asked the Lord as to how mahā-prajāpatī
gautamī who became blind through grief for him got her
eye-sight restored by him. The Lord told the monks that
on a former occasion also such an event had taken place
@xxxix
and he then related to them this jātaka story. At the end
of the story the Lord identified himself with the young
elephant and mahāprajāpatī with that elephant’s blind
mother and his step-brother Nanda with the king of kāśi.
The story briefly runs thus:-
In the slopes of the himālayas in the hill, named caṇḍagiri,
there was a wood where dwelt a herd of six-tusked elephants one
of whom was very fine and young. This young elephant was
always tending his blind mother with reverence and affection.
But unfortunately for him he was caught by the king of kāśi
and brought to Benares and kept in the royal stable. Remem-
bering sorrowfully his blind and aged mother the young
elephant did not take any food given him at the Benares stable,
and began to waste away. On the king’s asking him about the
cause of his sorrow and abstinence from food-taking the young
elephant told the king in human voice all about his infirm
and blind mother who required his constant care and nursing.
The king was astonished to know of his deep devotion to-
wards his mother, so rare a quality even in many human
beings and by his command the young elephant was set
free on the borders of his forest and he met his mother after
a difficult search. After she was washed by her son and her
eyes were bathed and all mire on her body wiped off, she
regained her sight. The mother elephant blessed the king
of kāśi for his kindness.
This jātaka story does not occur amongst the pāli
jātakas. In the mahāvastu we have hereafter a metrical
version of it which seems to be a more primitive one.
asurāṇāṃ bhagavatpūjā (the worship of the Lord by the Asuras)
When the Buddha was living in the Banyan Grove
of Kapilavastu the Asura lords, rāhu, Vemacitrin and
Mucilinda accompanied by a very large number of Asuras
came there and paid worship and honour to the Buddha.
The Lord smiled when he became aware of the Asuras’
@xl
aspiration for becoming Buddhas themselves in some future 
time. In explaining the cause of his smile, the Buddha told
aśvakin (of the bhadravargīya monks-known in other 
texts as aśvajit) that the dānavas aspired for supreme 
enlightenment which they would surely attain after their 
births in many thousands of kalpas. A lord of the Asuras
named Sambara is also mentioned in this connection. 
King śuddhodana, his wife mahāprajāpatī gautamī, 
yaśodharā (Gautama’s wife), the women of the King’s court 
and the general body of the śākyans entertained the Buddha
on various days with good meals. On the day of yaśodharā’s
entertainment she wanted to serve the Buddha with some 
excellent sweetmeats of her own preparation and thereby to 
attempt to entice the Lord. The monks pointed out to the 
Buddha yaśodharā’s overtures. Then the Lord related a
jātaka story from which he showed that even once in a 
previous birth yaśodharā sought to entice Him.
rājakumārī-nalinījātakam (the jātaka of nalinī, the King’s daughter)
After having related this jātaka story, the Buddha
identified śuddhodana with the seer kāśyapa in it, mahā-
prajāpatī gautamī with the doe, Himself with the young 
seer ekaśṛṅga, and yaśodharā with nalinī, the royal princess
of kāśi. The story in an epitomised from runs thus :- 
In the slopes of the himālayas to the north of Benares 
in the province of kāśi, there was a peaceful hermitage named
sāhañjanī where dwelt the powerful seer kāśyapa. Once
in summer this seer fell ill after eating too many ripe fruits 
and he passed urine mixed with some semen in a stone pot 
from where a thirsty doe drank the same under the impression
that it was drinking water. The doe, however, conceived
and gave birth to a human child. The seer took the child to 
be his issue and named it ekaśṛṅga, who later, became
meditative in nature and achieved super-knowledges. There 
in kāśi the king had no son, but had some daughters one of 
@xli
whom was named nalinī. The king wished to give nalinī
in marriage with the seer’s son, ekaśṛṅga, so that he might
be a son to him as well as a son-in-law. nalinī was sent by 
the king to sāhañjanī hermitage along with the royal priest 
who was directed to take a good quantity of food, drink and 
sweetmeats. When ekaśṛṅga, the seer’s son, saw her he
took her to be a seer, because he had no knowledge of the 
sex to which she belonged. nalinī enticed the young seer 
by embrace and inspired him with love. She also gave him 
the costly sweetmeats to eat, the like of which the young
seer never experienced before. kāśyapa was informed by his 
son that on seeing a new seer (meaning nalinī) he felt a thrill 
and became sad for his (i.e. her) departure from the hermi-
tage. kāśyapa understood that his son must have seen a 
woman who must have tried to seduce his son, ekaśṛṅga.
The king of kāśi again sent the royal priest in a ship up 
the Ganges taking nalinī and her companions in it. There 
was a happy meeting with the seer’s son and nalinī this 
time also, and she gave him sweets, drinks and other kinds of 
food. Thus seduced by nalinī ekaśṛṅga came away by ship 
to Benares where they were married. But the young seer 
could not at all understand that nalinī, the princess, was 
given to him to be his wife. They then both reported them-
selves to kāśyapa who found them both bound in love and 
he then permitted him to go with nalinī to Benares where
ekaśṛṅga was anointed by the king of kāśi as his heir to the 
throne. After the King’s demise the young seer ascended 
the throne of Benares. 
padumāvatīye (padmāvatyā:) parikalpa: pūrvayogaśca (the preliminary story of padmāvatī
and her association in a former birth)
The monks asked the Lord to explain śuddhodana’s
dismissal of yaśodharā without trial and examination. 
The Lord related the story of padmāvatī to the monks. 
After the story was told, the Lord identified yaśodharā
@xlii
with Queen padmāvatī, Himself with the seer māṇdavya
and śuddhodana with king Brahmadatta of Kampilla 
(in pañcāla), who punished innocent padmāvatī with-
out trial and examination. The story briefly stands
thus :-
padmāvatī was the daughter of the great seer māṇḍavya
living in a hermitage on the slopes of the himālayas, born 
from a doe in the same manner as nalinī of the previous story 
was born. When grown up padmāvatī, as a result of good 
karma in past lives, produced lotuses springing up in her 
footsteps. Brahmadatta, king of Kampilla, going a-hunting 
saw her near the hermitage of her father and enticed her away 
by offer of sweet-meats and drinks, and drinks, and she, with her father’s
permission for a marriage between the two, was brought to 
Kampilla. The king being infatuated with her neglected 
the other queens who blindfolded padmāvatī at the time of 
delivery of twins (two sons), and they besmeared her face 
with the dregs of her womb. Later they showed her the 
two cauls which, they said to her, were brought forth by her.
But the other queens put the two handsome new-born 
children in a chest and sealed it with the royal seal and 
threw it into the Ganges water, of course, without any- 
body’s knowledge. They declared to the king that padmāvatī
was not a human being, but she was an ogress (rākṣasī)
and she devoured her own children as soon as they were born. 
On hearing this account of padmāvatī’s delivery the king 
ordered his counselors to turn her out of the palace and 
have her put to death. padmāvatī told the counselors 
that she was fully innocent in the charge brought against her 
and also informed them that at the time of delivery she was 
blindfolded by the other queens and she did not know 
whom and what she gave birth to. The wise counselors 
understood that padmāvatī had been deceived by the other 
queens out of jealousy. The counselors then concealed her 
in the house of one of them while telling the king that she 
had been put to death, their intention being to save the 
@xliii
king from any future remorse and sorrow for her. The 
other queens became highly pleased to hear of the death of 
padmāvatī and they entertained the king with various kinds
of enjoyments. Then king Brahmadatta was told by a certain 
female deva well-disposed towards padmāvatī’s father, 
the seer māṇḍavya, coming to the king by flying through
the air, that the king acted on a false report, sent away 
innocent padmāvatī to be killed and forgot the good words 
of the seer. On hearing distinctly this oracular words of the 
devī, the king asked the other queens about the truth and 
they then confessed their own guilt. The king was sore
distressed for the loss of his innocent chief queen. Just then 
came some fishermen with the chest sealed with the king’s
seal and they told the king that they got the chest while 
netting fish. It was made over to the king who got it opened 
with the help of his counselors who found therein the two 
lovely and handsome sons of the king. The king fell to the 
ground in a swoon remembering padmāvatī. The coun-
sellers then asked the king not to mourn for his wife whom 
they produced before their king. The king rejoiced at the 
reunion and asked her what treatment she now wanted 
him to mete out to her enemies, the other queens. padmāvatī
forbade the king from dealing harshly with them saying 
that she herself reaped the fruits of her own Karma both 
during the king’s favour and disfavour. The king then 
asked her to forgive him for the wrong done to her and 
wished to make over the whole realm to her. padmāvatī
refused that offer and wanted to take up once again the 
religious life of an ascetic with her father. She then went to 
her father’s hermitage, but the seer māṇḍavya was already 
dead. Wandering hither and thither as a nun she then 
came to Benares, the city of king kṛkin who tried his utmost 
to seduce her, but she sternly rejected the king’s wish to 
make love to her, because she was by then established in 
dharma. She threatened the king with her power of 
austerities to burn him if he applied force in any way. Then 
disguised as a brahmaṇa king Brahmadatta came to the 
@xliv
house of the king of kāśi, and declared himself a skilful
dice-player. During dice-playing he revealed to the kāśi
king that he was king Brahmadatta of pañcāla and the
lady there was padmāvatī, his wife. The king of kāśi then
sent away the pair with full honour to the city of Kampilla.
It may be noted that lotuses stopped springing up in
padmāvatī’s foot-step when she was sent away by Brahma-
datta to be killed, but the same marvel of lotus-springing
commenced again when she was brought from Benares
to Kampilla.
The monks asked the Lord why lotuses sprang up in
the foot-prints of padmāvatī and later stopped to do so.
The Lord then related the story of a former birth of
padmāvatī. The story is simply this:-
Long long ago, there was a girl in the city of Benares who,
when entering the city with a pitcher of water from a lotus pool,
carried a lotus in her hand. She met a certain Pratyekabuddha
leaving the city after collecting alms. The girl’s heart was
filled with serenity when she saw him and she out of devotion
gave the lotus to him. She found the lotus to shine exceedingly
bright in the Pratyekabuddha’s hand and also felt her own
hand withering. She took back the lotus and her hand shone
brightly, while the Pratyekabuddha’s hand was seen wither-
ing. Feeling remorseful she gave back the lotus to him and
realised that her action was wrong in taking back a
thing already given. It was then received by the Pratyeka-
buddha.
The Lord then told the monks that it was Padmāvatī
who, in a former birth, was the girl of Benares. As a matur-
ing of her good karma in giving the lotus to the Pratyeka-
buddha lotuses sprang up in Padmāvatī’s foot-prints and as
a maturing of her wrong karma in taking back the lotus
from the Pratyekabuddha the lotuses stopped springing up
in her foot-prints. Again as the lotus was once more given
to the Pratyekabuddha, as a maturing of that karma lotuses
again sprang up in her foot-prints when king Brahmadatta
took her from Benares to Kampilla.
@xlv
rāhulabhadrasya pūrvayoga: (the story of a former birth of rāhulabhadra)
On the monks’ asking the Lord the cause of rāhula’s
remaining in the womb, the Lord attributed the incident
to the maturing of an old karma done by rāhula. The 
Lord then related to the monks the story of a former birth
of rāhula. At the end of the story the Lord identified him-
self with sūrya, the seer, and rāhula with Candra, the
king and also told them clearly that sūrya was kept confined
by Candra in the aśoka grove for six nights and as a maturing
of that karma Prince rāhula had to stay in the womb for
six years long. The story in brief is this:-
Long long ago there was a brāhmaṇa king in Videha
ruling from his capital at mithilā. He had two sons,  sūrya, the
elder one and Candra the younger. Candra wanted to leave
home for taking up the wandering life of a seer and to see sūrya
rule the kingdom because their father had been dead. sūrya
in the role of a king ordered the younger brother, Candra,
to become the king and himself wanted to leave home to 
take up the religious life of a seer. sūrya as a seer became
highly accomplished in meditation, acquisition of super-
knowledges and power. His attendants also followed him by
taking up the religious path. After achieving high religious
powers sūrya resolved not to drink water which was not 
given him by any one. But on one occasion the seer out of 
lapse of mindfulness drank water from another seer’s jar
when it was not given to him. He then remembered his vow
and thought himself a thief and guilty of wrong-doing.
He even did not like to be greeted by others as he considered
himself a thief. sūrya then went to his brother, Candra,
the king at mithilā and asked the king to impose on him the
penalty of a thief, as he drank another man’s water. The
king wished to impose a punishment because the seer could
not shake off his guilty feeling and sent the seer in a grove of
aśoka trees with provisions of good food and other comforts
and kept him there for six nights. On the seventh day the
king proclaimed a general amnesty and thus the seer’s
@xlvi
punishment was remitted. sūrya being thus rid of his
feelings of guilt returned to his hermitage.
śākyānāṃ upāleśca pravrajyā (the renunciation of the sākyans and upāli)
King śuddhodana called the śākyans together and
declared to them that Prince sarvārthasiddha belonging
to his kṣatriya family had left home having discarded his
future sovereignty and had now become awakened to per-
fect enlightenment. He considered that it was not quite
fitting that he would have a following of brāhmaṇas only
and that he should also have some kṣatriya śākyan young
men for his followers. Accordingly they cast votes to select
one man from each family to take up the religious life under
the Buddha. The result of such selection was that five
hundred śākyan young men were to go forth to the homeless
life. Devadatta, Nandana, Nandika and Anuruddha
(Aniruddha elsewhere) were to go forth. The last man,
Anuruddha, on being told clearly by his elder brother,
mahānāma about the duties of a householder and those of
one who renounces home-life chose for the latter kind of
duties and resolved to go forth to the religious life. An
astrologer on finding Devadatta’s diadem being knocked
down by the arch over the city-gate at the time of his setting
out on an elephant foretold that he would fail in his highest
object for which he was leaving home-life. upāli was a
śākyan barber, but though lowly born he had virtuous
roots in him carrying from his previous births and was in
his last existence offered himself before the Lord saying
that like the śākyan princes he would also like to go forth
to the religious life by giving up his profession with the
razor. The Lord admitted him to the religious life and gave
him ordination by the formula “Come, upāli the barber,
come monk and live the brahmacarya life under the tathāgata.”
upāli therefore took up the religious life ahead of the śākyan
princes who were yet taking leave of their kith and kin.
The princes then were similarly ordained with the usual
@xlvii
simple formula by the Lord who asked them all to treat
the monk upāli as senior to them and according to the
Lord’s direction they bowed first at the feet of the tathāgata
and of the monk upāli at whose feet king śuddhodana and
his retinue also bowed down. In this affair upāli addressed
the king by his name śuddhodana in course of welcoming
the monarch. The counselors and attendants of the king
got irritated by the lowly born upāli’s using the king’s
name in his address. But the king said to them that they
should no more speak of the āryan upāli as a lowly born
man.
gaṅgapālasya jātakam (The jātaka of gaṅgapāla)
The monks asked the Lord as to why at his command
śuddhodana’s attendants bowed at the feet of the monk, 
upāli though he was lowly of birth. The Lord told the
monks that such a bowing took place on a former occasion
also and he then related this jātaka. At the end of the story
the Lord identified himself with the seer Upaka, his father
śuddhodana with Brahmadatta, the king of kāśi and the
barber gaṅgapāla with upāli, and he said to them that as
on the former occasion the royal attendants by his orders
bowed at the feet of the barber, gaṅgapāla, on this occasion
too the royal attendants bowed at upāli’s feet. The whole
story briefly runs thus:-
Long long ago in Benares two poor boys were carrying
junket for food in their knapsacks, when they saw a
Pratyekabuddha of graceful deportment and they put the
junket in the bowl of the Pratyekabuddha who then flew
away through the air. One of the boys wished through this
root of merit to become a kṣatriya king, and the other to be
reborn in a rich brāhmaṇa family. They realised that no
offering, however insignificant, if made with a trusting
heart to a tathāgata or any disciples of his, cannot go in
vain. After their death one was born as a king’s son and
was given the name of Brahmadatta, and the other was
@xlviii 
born as the king’s priest’s son and was named Upaka. 
Brahmadatta became king after his father’s death, but the 
young Upaka became infatuated with a young girl who 
came to him wanting to be provided with perfume and 
garland for celebrating a full–moon festival. Upaka got a 
māṣa coin by begging and kept it concealed on the banks 
of the gaṅgā river. King Brahmadatta saw Upaka going 
out of the city in scorching sun of the noon, singing sweet 
songs. The king got him brought through messengers to 
himself and asked him the cause of his mental agitation. He 
told the king that he was bent on going after his hidden coin. 
The king wanted to give him one coin, two coins, and more 
māṣa coins, and said that he should not travel in the noon-heat 
for his hidden coin, but Upaka was not to forego his own 
coin. The king gave to Upaka half of his kingdom and they 
both ruled the same realm jointly. But the thought of killing 
Brahmadatta crossed Upaka’s mind, so that he could 
become the sole ruler of the kingdom and confessed his wrong 
thought to the king who, however, reminded Upaka that 
there was no end of desires. Upaka resolved to abandon 
all desires, even the one for ruling the realm, and go forth 
to the religious life. The king at last gave him permission 
to renounce the world. Upaka then became a recluse with 
the potter-seer of kāśi and attained various powers by his 
endeavour even to touch the sun and the moon while sitting 
cross-legged in the hermitage and to fly up to heaven. King
Brahmadatta out of envy towards Upaka continually recited 
a verse the purport of which was that Upaka has gained 
great profit by becoming a recluse by foregoing the delight 
of sensual pleasures. The ladies in the harem could not fully 
understand the King’s recital of the verse again and again. 
Once Brahmadatta being satisfied with the handiwork of 
his trusted barber, gaṅgapāla by name, wished to give 
him a village as reward. The women of the harem asked 
the barber not to accept the offer of a village from the 
king, but they advised him to ask the king the meaning of 
the verse he always recited. The king told gaṅgapāla, the
@xlix
barber, that the young brāhmaṇa Upaka renounced the 
half of the kingdom and became a great seer endowed with 
power and super-knowledge and so out of envy for him he 
was continually reciting the verse. The barber reported 
this to the women of the harem who rewarded him with 
gold, money, clothes and jewels. But the thought arose in 
gaṅgapāla’s mind that like Upaka he would also renounce 
the world and he declined to accept the reward from the 
ladies. He then took the permission of king Brahmadatta 
to go forth and live the religious life under the seer Upaka 
and he became a great seer himself. The king then told 
the counsellors that he wanted to go to visit and do homage 
to the three worthy seers, the potter, Upaka and gaṅgapāla. 
The counsellors asked the king that he should not go to 
them, but they of mean birth should be made to come to 
him. The king, however, told them that it was not dharma 
that those worthy men should be asked to come to him, but 
he (the king) ought to visit them personally. The king 
with his counsellors and attendants went to see the seers.
gaṅgapāla addressed the king Brahmadatta by name and 
the king’s men became irritated, but the king pointed out to 
them that through penance gaṅgapāla had risen above his 
birth. They then went to the seers and bowed at their feet.
gaṅgapāla’s wife was tested by her husband who appeared 
before her in the guise of a deva to attempt to seduce her, 
but she proved her extreme chastity by refusing to be seduced 
by the deva (i.e. her disguised husband).
mahāgovindīyasūtram (bhagavata: pūrvenivāsasaṃprayuktam)-(the mahāgovinda-sūtra
with an account of a former birth of the Lord)
There is also a Pali version of this famous sūtra in the
dighanikāya. The mahāvastu version seems to be an inde-
pendent one and it is stated in the book in a jātaka form and 
it lays stress on it as being an incident in the career of the 
Buddha but as recalling a similar event in a former life of the 
Lord.
@l
The monks asked the Lord as to how a large number 
of people accompanied him when he went forth to the 
religious life. The Lord told them that a similar event took 
place in a former life of his. He then related to them this
sūtra (rather a jātaka story in form) to them and at the end 
of the story he identified himself with the brāhmaṇa named 
Govinda. The story was related by the Lord to the monks 
when he was residing on gṛdhrakūṭa Mount at rājagṛha. 
pañcaśikha the Gandharva felt himself free of passion on hear-
ing this exposition to him by the Lord. The story runs thus :-
One day when the Lord was staying on Mount
gṛdhrakūṭa at rājagṛha, the Gandharva pañcaśikha
told the Lord that he wished to inform him what he had 
heard and learnt from śakra, brahmā and the trāyastriṃśa
devas as they sat and conversed in a Council-Hall. The Lord 
gave his consent to the proposal. pañcaśikha reported the 
whole thing thus to the Lord. Some of the trāyastriṃśa
devas were found to excel others though they were born 
there later, but they were so endowed with deva attributes 
because they were disciples of the Lord. śakra refuted 
the idea of some of the devas who wished to see four, three 
or at least two tathāgatas at a time for greater welfare of 
devas and men. śakra told the devas that they would be 
thrilled greatly to hear of the eight wonderful and marvel-
lous truths about the one tathāgata now existing on earth.
śakra said to the gods that (1) when this Buddha arose in 
the world, the hosts of Asuras wanted and the hosts of devas 
waxed, that (2) none so worked for the welfare of the multi-
tude, that (3) that his dharma and discipline were for the 
inward comprehension of those who were wise, that (4) he 
and his disciples live away from home in forests, that (5) he 
used to take good meals without indulgence, being aware 
of the peril in pleasures of sense, that (6) he taught the 
dharma out of his knowledge, that (7) he crossed the sea of 
doubt and that (8) the nirvāṇa and the Way leading to it 
as taught by him ran together and therefore according to 
śakra there was none like the present Buddha. The Great