On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c20.38

v2.c20.38

This ridiculous story of the intoxicated elephant is told with variations in several of the Buddhist books. According to one of these¹ a rich layman of Rājagaha had invited the Buddha and his disciples to breakfast. Devadatta with the consent of Ajātaśatru hires men to make the king's elephant Dhanapāla mad with wine, and then let him loose on the morning of the breakfast to trample Buddha to death. The Buddha, who is staying in the Bamboo Park, is warned, but he sets out for the house of his host in the city. The drunken elephant rushes towards him. The Buddha thereupon produces five lions from the tips of the fingers of one hand: at the same time, according to some versions,² he also causes a wall, and pit, and great fires to appear. The elephant is cowed and sobered, and becomes a devoted follower of the Buddha. Julien in his translation of the pilgrim's account gives "gardien du trésor" as the meaning of the author's *Hu-ts'ai* (護財), but this is a proper name. It translates the Indian *Dhanapāla* "wealth-guarding", the name given to the savage elephant owned by king Ajātaśatru,¹ and another rendering is Shou-ts'ai (守財) with the same meaning. In some older versions of the story there are no magic lions, or fires, and the Buddha sobers and tames the elephant by gentle words.² Fa-hsien differs from others in making the king himself send a black elephant to murder Buddha.³