Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v4.c16.s17.3

v4.c16.s17.3

¹ A summary of the story as told in the *Jātaka* (v, 38-41) is as follows: Once, a Brahman farmer in a village in Kāśī after ploughing his fields unyoked his oxen and began to do some other work. The oxen strayed little by little and escaped into the forest. The Brahman as day declined looked round for his oxen, and in searching for them wandered into the forest and lost his way. He remained without food for several days, and finally, when he found a fruit-tree he fell down into a deep pit in trying to get at the fruit. At that time the Bodhisattva, who was living in the forest as a monkey, noticed the Brahman's predicament and rescued him. Later, when the benevolent monkey was asleep, the ungrateful Brahman tried to split open his head with a large stone. But the Great Being sprang up and perched on a tree, and bearing no malice towards the Brahman showed him the way out of the forest and disappeared. The Brahman because of his sin against the Great Being was afflicted with leprosy. See also *Jātaka-mālā*, No. 49, and Chavannes, *Cinq Cents Contes et apologues extraits du Tripitaka Chinois et traduits en français*, No. 47.