A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t2.240

v2.c19.s3.t2.240

This king was a great tyrant. When he died, the whole of Benares rejoiced—only the doorkeeper weeps. The Bodhisatta asks him the reason, and he replies: "I am not weeping because Mahāpiṅgala is dead, for every time he came down from the palace or went up, he gave me eight blows on the head, as with a sledge-hammer. Now I am afraid that, when he is in the other world, he will do the same to Yama, and Yama will send him back to earth, and then I will get my eight blows of the fist again, therefore I am weeping." The Bodhisatta consoles him : "The dead man will not return, he has been thoroughly burnt, the pyre has been extinguished with water, and the earth round about it has been well replaced."