Dhammapada 26.11.p2

26.11.p2

So kira vesālinagaradvāre ekaṃ kakudharukkhaṃ āruyha dvīhi pādehi rukkhasākhaṃ gaṇhitvā adhosiro olambanto ‘‘kapilānaṃ me sataṃ detha, kahāpaṇe detha, paricārikaṃ detha, no ce dassatha, ito patitvā maranto nagaraṃ anagaraṃ karissāmī’’ti vadati. Tathāgatassa bhikkhusaṅghaparivutassa nagaraṃ pavisanakāle bhikkhū taṃ brāhmaṇaṃ disvā nikkhamanakālepi naṃ tatheva olambantaṃ passiṃsu. Nāgarāpi ‘‘ayaṃ pātova paṭṭhāya evaṃ olambanto patitvā maranto nagaraṃ anagaraṃ kareyyā’’ti cintetvā nagaravināsabhītā ‘‘yaṃ so yācati, sabbaṃ demā’’ti paṭissuṇitvā adaṃsu. So otaritvā sabbaṃ gahetvā agamāsi. Bhikkhū vihārūpacāre taṃ gāviṃ viya viravitvā gacchantaṃ disvā sañjānitvā ‘‘laddhaṃ te, brāhmaṇa, yathāpatthita’’nti pucchitvā ‘‘āma, laddhaṃ me’’ti sutvā antovihāraṃ gantvā tathāgatassa tamatthaṃ ārocesuṃ. Satthā ‘‘na, bhikkhave, idāneva so kuhakacoro, pubbepi kuhakacoroyeva ahosi. Idāni panesa bālajanaṃ vañceti, tadā pana paṇḍite vañcetuṃ nāsakkhī’’ti vatvā tehi yācito atītamāhari.

This Brahman, so the story goes, used to climb a certain kakudha-tree that grew close to the gate of the city of Vesāli, grasp a branch with his two feet, and swing himself from the branch, head downwards. And hanging thus, he would cry out, “Give me a hundred kapilas! Give me pennies! Give me a slave-woman! If you don’t give me what I ask for, I will let myself drop from this tree and kill myself and make this city as though it had never been a city!”

As the Tathāgata, accompanied by the Congregation of Monks, entered the city, the monks saw this Brahman hanging from the tree, and when they departed from the city, still they saw him hanging there, just as he hung when they entered the city. The residents of the city thought to themselves, “This fellow has been hanging thus from this tree ever since early morning; should he fall, he is likely to make this city as though it had never been a city.” And because of fear that their city might be destroyed, they complied with all of his demands and gave him all that he asked for. “We have given you all that you asked for,” said they. Thereupon he descended from the tree and departed with the spoils.

The monks saw the trickster Brahman wandering about in the neighborhood of the monastery, bellowing like a cow, and immediately recognized him. “Brahman,” they asked, “did you get what you

asked for?" "Yes," replied the Brahman, "I got what I asked for." The monks reported the incident to the Tathāgata within the monastery. Said the Teacher, "Monks, this is not the first time this Brahman has been a trickster and a thief; he was a trickster and a thief in a previous state of existence also. But while in his present state of existence he deceives the simple-minded, in his previous state of existence he failed to confound the wise." Complying with a request of the monks, the Teacher related the following