The Jataka tales [English], Volume 1-6

by Robert Chalmers | 1895 | 877,505 words | ISBN-13: 9788120807259

This is the Mittavinda-jataka (English translation) including a glossary and notes. The jatakas (buddhist birth history) are a category of literature within buddhism and narrate the previous births of the historical Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama). They include various obstacles which a Buddha-character encounters and must overcome. Alternative title: Mittavinda-jātaka.

Jataka 82: Mittavinda-jātaka

"No more to dwell."--This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a self-willed Brother. The incidents of this Birth, which took place in the days of the Buddha Kassapa, will be related in the Tenth Book in the Mahā-Mittavindaka Jātaka[1].

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Then the Bodhisatta uttered this Stanza:—

No more to dwell in island palaces
Of crystal, silver, or of sparkling gems,—
With flinty headgear thou’rt invested now;
Nor shall its griding torture ever cease
Till all thy sin be purged and life shall end.

So saying, the Bodhisatta passed to his own abode among the Devas. And Mittavindaka, having donned that headgear, suffered grievous torment till his sin had been spent and he passed away to fare according to his deserts.

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His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth, by saying, "This self-willed Brother was the Mittavindaka of those days, and I myself the King of the Devas."

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

No. 439. See No. 41, and Divyāvadāna, p. 603, &c.

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