North Indian Inscriptions

PART B

   If the Jataka were to contain only the first two Gāthās, the prose narration would not offer any difficulty except in the concluding portion. But doubts about its originality are raised when one examines the stories put into the mouth of Takkāriya. They are clearly divided into two groups. At the beginning there are four short stories of men acting as foolishly as the Purohita. Each story contains a Gāthā ending with the words: ayaṁ pi attho bahu tādiso va ‘also this case is highly similar’. Next follows the long and very different story of the king and the kinnara-couple, already known to us, containing not less than seven Gāthās.

   The contents of the first four stories are as follows:
1. The courtesan Kālī in Benares has a brother named Tuṇḍila who spends the money she gave him on women, drinks, and games. One day after losing everything, he comes, dressed only in loin-cloth, to his sister and begs money of her. She refuses to aid him. Just when he stands weeping before the door, the son of a rich merchant comes to visit the courtesan. He asks Tuṇḍila cause of his grief and when he does not succeed in making the courtesan have pity on her brother, he gives Tuṇḍila his own clothes and himself puts on the garments usually given to the visitors in the house of the courtesan for the night. The next morning, when he wants to leave, these garments are taken away by female servants so that he has to move on the street naked and mocked at by the people. The Gāthā runs as follows:

kim ev’ ahaṁ Tuṇḍilam ānupuchchhe
kaṇeyyasaṁ bhātaraṁ Kālikāya^[1] |
nagga v’ ahaṁ vatthayugañ cha jīno
ayam pi attho bahu tādiso va ||

“Why shoul d I have inquired after Tuṇḍila, the younger brother of Kālikā? Now I am naked and deprived of both garments. Also this case is highly similar’.

   2. A Kuliṅka-bird tries to separate two fighting rams, as it fears that they will kill each other. When they do not listen to its words, it flies between the fighting ones and gets crushed by the heads of the clashing animals. The Gāthā reads:

ya yujjhamānānam ayujjhamāno
meṇḍantaraṁ achchupatī kuliṁko |
so piṁsito meṇḍasirehi tatha
ayam pi attho bahu tādiso va ||

   “The Kulṅka which, without fighting, flew^[2] between the contending rams was crushed there by the heads of the rams. Also this case is highly similar”.

    3. Cowherds from Benares wish to get fruits from a palm-tree^[3]. They make one of them climb up the tree and throw the fruits down. At the very moment a black serpent crawls up the trunk of the tree. Four of the men standing below hold a cloth at four corners and ask their companion to spring down on it. He does so, but comes down with such force that the four are not able to stand upright but strike their heads against each other, so that all come to death. The Gātha reads:

chaturo janā potthakam aggahesuṁ
ekañ cha posaṁ anurakkhamānā |
sabbe va te bhinnasirā sayiṁsu
ayam pi attho bahu tādiso va ||

___________________________
^[1]The edition reads : anupuchcheyyaṁ kareyya saṁ bhātaraṁ Kālikā yaṁ ; the emendation according to CPD, I, p. 201.
^[2]achchupati is explained in the CPD as metrical haplology for achchupapati from achchupa-patati. Differently, but not convincing, Kern, Toev. I, p. 61.
^[3]Read Bārāṇasivāsino va gopālakā phalitaṁ tātarukkhaṁ disva.

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