Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v2.c8.s7.4

v2.c8.s7.4

¹ The main theme of the story is as follows: ‘Queen Khemā, wife of Saṃyama, the Rājā of Benares, saw in a dream that some gold-coloured geese alighted at the Royal Palace, and with the most sweet voices preached the Law. The sermon of the miraculous birds charmed the queen, and when she awoke she expressed the rājā her anxiety to listen to the real preaching of the golden geese. The rājā took counsel with his ministers, who told him that there were golden geese on Cittakūṭa in the Himālaya, and that by a stratagem they would attract them to their city and catch them. The rājā was pleased to hear that, and at the suggestion of his ministers he had a beautiful lake dug in the north of Benares, and planted five kinds of lotus, and scattered different varieties of grain to ensnare the birds. He also appointed a fowler to watch over the lake, and to catch the golden geese when they alighted there. The news of the beauty of the lake and the safety of its waters spread among the bird world, and the flock of golden geese, when apprised of it, told their captain, Sumukha, to ask the king to go over to the lake and feed there. The goose-king, whose name was Dhata-raṭṭha, on hearing the request of his flock, observed, “The haunts of men are dangerous, let not this approve itself to you”. But as they importuned further, he agreed to their request and flew to the lake. On alighting from the air the goose-king placed his foot in a snare which the fowler had set to capture the bird. Sumukha, on noticing his chief’s plight, was much distressed, and addressed the fowler appealingly: