經律異相 32.6.4

32.6.4

"Kalyāṇamitra has not yet returned; how could you call a beggar the prince?" The girl replied, "No! If you do not believe me, you may come and take a look." The king then went to look, recognised that it was Kalyāṇamitra, and grew fearful, saying, "If the king of Vārāṇasī hears of this, his displeasure with me will be no small matter!" He immediately stepped forward and repented, "Prince Kalyāṇamitra, I truly did not know!" The prince said, "It is no trouble; as a gift to me, make a generous provision for this cowherd." The king at once gave him gold, silver, rare gems, clothing, bedding, food, and drink, as well as the five hundred cattle he had been grazing. That man rejoiced and praised him boundlessly, [saying], "And yet I have done so little to repay this kindness!" He proclaimed in a loud voice, "Verily, hidden giving receives open recompense, vast and boundless!" All among the great assembly who heard it gave rise to the aspiration to practice giving. Before Kalyāṇamitra went to sea, he had raised a white goose; in clothing, bedding, food, and drink, in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, they were always together. The queen said to this goose, "When the prince was here, he was always together with you. Now, with his life and death still unknown, do you feel no longing for the prince?" The goose at once cried sorrowfully, rolled about, wept, and answered, saying that it wished to seek the prince. The queen wrote a letter with her own hand and tied it to the goose's neck. It soared into the empty sky and flew away. It flew to the great ocean and searched for him, but did not see him. Proceeding further, it came to the kingdom of Rṣivadana. From afar, it saw Kalyāṇamitra in front of the palace. The goose flew towards him, crying sorrowfully and rejoicing. The prince took his mother's letter, bowed in reverence with it touching his head, opened the seal, unfolded it, and read it. He then knew that his parents wept sorrowfully and longed for him day and night, and that [he himself], the prince, was blind in both eyes. The prince wrote a letter with his own hand fully explaining the above events, tied the letter to the goose's neck, and sent it back to Vārāṇasī. When the parents received the letter, they leaped for joy and praised it boundlessly. They fully learned that the prince had been tormented by Pāpamitra and had his jewel stolen. The parents put Pāpamitra in fetters and locked him in prison. They sent an envoy to inform the king of Rṣivadana: "Why do you now detain the prince and cause us sorrow and anguish?" The king of Rṣivadana became fearful. He immediately adorned the prince with fine clothing, sent him to the border, and dispatched an envoy to announce that he had given his daughter to him as wife and sent him back to his kingdom. The parents rode a great renowned elephant, played music, swept and sprinkled the ground, burned incense, and hung silk banners and canopies, going far out to welcome the prince. Hearing that the prince had returned, the men, women, husbands, and wives of the kingdom all came out to welcome him. The prince came forward and bowed to his parents. His parents' eyes were dark and they could not see the prince; they felt him with their hands, [saying], "Are you Kalyāṇamitra? Because we longed for you, we suffered such sorrow and anguish!" After the prince had finished inquiring after his parents' well-being, the prince addressed his father the king, saying, "Where is Pāpamitra?" The king said, "He is now in prison." The prince said, "I pray that you release Pāpamitra so that I may meet with him," repeating this up to three times. The king could not bear to refuse and ordered him released. [The prince] at once went forward, embraced him, consoled him with kind words, and asked gently, "You must have suffered great hardship. Where is the jewel you took from me now?" He asked thus up to three times, and only then did [Pāpamitra] answer, "It is buried in the earth there." The prince recovered the jewel. Going before his parents, he knelt, burned various wonderful incenses, and made an oath, saying, "If this jewel is a wish-fulfilling jewel, let both eyes of my parents become bright and clear as before!" Instantly their sight was restored, and seeing their son, they rejoiced. On the morning of the fifteenth day of the month, the prince bathed himself cleanly, put on fresh, immaculate clothing, and burned exquisite, precious incense. On a high pavilion, holding a censer in his hands, he bowed with his head to the ground to the maṇi jewel and made a vow, saying, "For the sake of all sentient beings in Jambudvīpa, I endured this great suffering to seek this jewel!" At that time, a great wind arose from the east, blowing away the clouds and mist until all was clear and bright. All the filth, excrement, urine, ashes, dirt, weeds, and brush throughout Jambudvīpa were blown away and washed clean by the pure wind. Through the majestic power of the jewel, ripe, naturally grown non-glutinous rice rained down everywhere upon Jambudvīpa, fragrant, sweet, soft, and delicate, perfect in colour and flavour. The ditches and channels were filled, piling up knee-deep. Next, it rained down clothing, pearl rings, hairpins, and bracelets. Next, it rained down the seven treasures and various wonderful musical instruments. All that sentient beings needed was fully provided. Later, King Candrāvabhāsa passed away, and [the prince] succeeded to the throne. Pāpamitra addressed [him], saying, "I beg for food to sustain myself." The king said, "You shall guard my neck, and I will give you food." The king went back to sleep. [Pāpamitra] drew a sword intending to cut off the king's head, but his own head fell off on its own. The king awoke and asked him about it; he answered, "Heaven wrought its karma." The father of that time is now Śuddhodana; the mother of that time is now Lady Māyā; Pāpamitra is Devadatta; King Candra's daughter is Gopā; Kalyāṇamitra is myself. (Extracted from the fourth fascicle of the Sūtra on Repaying Kindness; also found in the second fascicle of the Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish; the Jātaka Sūtra is largely similar with minor differences.)