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Art. XI.—Vidhūra Jātaka (No. 548 . of Ceylon List.) [From the Burmese.]

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Extract

One day, when the disciples were discussing the various forms of wisdom peculiar to the Buddha, the Lord came into the hall and inquired what they were discussing. On being informed, he said: “Rahans, there will be no difficulty in understanding how I can now so easily overcome the opinions of Brahmans, princes, and others, bringing them to a right frame of mind, when you hear how, in a former existence as the high-born Vidhūra, on the summit of Mount Kāḷāgiri, I overcame and subdued the virulence of the Rakshasa Puṇṇaka.”

Type
Original Communications
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1896

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References

page 444 note 1 Irandhatī: is this a form of Arundhatī, one of the stars, and said to be the wife of the seven Rishis ?

page 445 note 1 The gāta of Irandhatī's song have been left out, except the first line, and only the Bur. translation given.

page 449 note 1 The ruby was not a red one, but a Veḷuriyam.

page 449 note 2 Dohaḷa, “longing for”; more especially applied to that of women in a certain condition.

page 450 note 1 The description of what may be seen in the ruby is too long to translate.

page 451 note 1 These words are not given in the Bur. Dictionary, but according to the text thé = 8, than = 6, einzé = 4, and nguzon = 2.

page 452 note 1 See Jātaka No. 62.

page 454 note 1 Antojāta, dhanakkita, sayamdāsupagata, karamarānita.

page 456 note 1 Kuñjara, “elephant.” Mayura, “peacock.” Piyaka, “a spotted deer.” But these names are also connected with certain plants.

page 457 note 1 I do not find this combination in Childers. According to the Burmese, saṅkhāra means “mutability,” but here it seems to indicate the stages of existence both in this life and the next.

page 457 note 2 This consists of 46 couplets, beginning—

1. Ethayyo rājayasatim | nisīditya sunātha me |

Yathā rājakulam patto | yasam poso nigacchati |

I am indebted to Mrs. M. Bode for her valuable assistance in translating these Pāli gāta.

page 461 note 1 That is to say, “he should not look at the king's face, but stand with averted eyes.”

page 461 note 2 The first line of 44 runs thus: “Kumbhaññhi pañjalim kayirā | cātañcāpi padakkhiṇaṁ.” The meaning is obscure, and the Burmese translation is: “On beholding pots full of water, kingfishers and other birds, though they can give no advantages, yet we salute them with raised hands.”

page 463 note 1 “Gaccheyya duggatim.” But Buddhists believe that they will be tortured by devils in hell.

page 465 note 1 See Childers, under “Kappo.”

page 466 note 1 Vidhūra either had the power of omniscience, or Puṇṇaka thought aloud.

page 475 note 1 Both Rūpa and Moggali are here called “Puṇṇēma,” the fem. form of “Puṇṇā," used by the Burmese to denote a Brahman. Stevenson has made no attempt in his dictionary to explain the word. The fem. is evidently Puṇṇī + ma, the Burmese fem. affix. The word is probably a very old one, and derived rather from Sanskrit than Pali.