Speaker 1: Vishaka from the Tibetan Mergadara, the first minister of King
Prasenajit of Cossala, after he had married a wife of
birth like unto his own, had seven sons. To six
of these he gave names at his pleasure, but the
youngest one he called Vishaka. After his wife's death, he
arranged marriages for his six elder sons, but they and
their wives gave themselves up to dress and troubled themselves
in no wise with household affairs. The householder Mergadhara was
sitting one day absorbed in thought, resting his cheek upon
his arm. A brahmin who was on friendly terms with him,
saw him sitting thus absorbed in thought and ask him
what was the cause of his behavior. He replied, My
sons and their wives have given themselves up to dress
and do not trouble themselves about household affairs, so that
the property is going to ruin. Why do you not
arrange a marriage for Vishaka, who can tell whether he
will make things better or bring them to still greater ruin.
If you will trust to me, I will look for
a maiden for him. The minister consented, and the Brahmin
went his way. In the course of his researches, he
came to the land of Champa. In it there lived
a householder named Balamitra, whose daughter Vishak, was fair to see,
well proportioned in the bloom of youth, intelligent and clever.
Just as the Brahmin arrived, she and some other girls
who were in quest of amusement were setting out for
a park. On seeing the girls, he thought that he
would like to look at them a little, so he
followed slowly after them, occupied in regarding them. The girls,
who were for the most part of a frivolous nature,
sometimes ran, sometimes skipped, sometimes rolled about, sometimes laughed, sometimes
spun around, sometimes sang, and did other undignified things. But Vshake,
with the utmost decorum, at an even pace, walked slowly
along with them. When they came to the park. The
other girls, undressed at the edge of the tank, entered
it and began to sport. But Vashak lifted up her
clothes by degrees as she went into the water, and
by degrees let them down again as she came out
of the water. So circumspect was she in her behavior.
After their bath, when the girls had assembled at a
certain spot. They first partook of food themselves and then
gave to their attendants to eat. But Vshak first of
all gave food to the persons in attendance, and then
herself began to eat. When the girls had finished their
eating and drinking and had enjoyed the charm of the park,
they went away. As there was water to be waded
through on the road. The girls took off their boots
and walked through it, but Vshak kept her boots on.
They went a little farther and came to a wood.
Into this armrah wood she entered, keeping her parasol up,
though the others had discarded theirs. Presently, a wind arose.
Together with Rain and the other girls took shelter in
a temple, but Vshak remained in the open air. The Brahmin,
who had followed her and had noted her characteristics and
her behavior, marveled greatly and began to question her, saying, oh, maiden,
whose daughter are you? I am Valamitra's daughter, Oh maiden,
be not angry if I ask you a few questions.
She smiled at first, and then said, oh uncle, why
should I be angry? Please to ask them. While these girls,
as they went, were all running, skipping, rolling, turning round, singing,
and doing other undignified things, you wended your way slowly, decorously,
and in a seemly manner, reaching the park together with them.
Vshak replied, All girls are merchandise which their parents find.
If in leaping or rolling I were to break an
arm or a leg, who then would woo me? I
should certainly have to be kept by my parents as
long as I lived. Good, o maiden, I understand, he
said to her. Next, these girls took off their clothes
in a certain place and went into the water and
sported in it unclothed. But you lifted up your clothes
by degrees as you went deeper into the water. Oh uncle,
it is necessary that women should be shamefaced and shy,
So it would not be well that any one should
look upon me unclothed, Oh maiden, who would see you there?
Oh uncle, you would have seen me there yourself. Good,
o maiden, that also I comprehend, he said to her. Further,
These girls first took food themselves and then gave to
the persons in attendance, But you first gave food to
the persons in attendance, and then took your own, Oh uncle,
that was for this reason. We reaping the fruits of
our merits constantly have feast days, but they reaping the
fruits of their trouble very seldom obtained great things. Good,
oh maiden, I comprehend this also, he asked her. Moreover,
while all the world wears boots on dry land, why
did you keep yours on in the water? Oh uncle?
The world is foolish. It is precisely when one is
in the water that one should wear boots. For what reason?
On dry land one can see tree stumps, thorns, stones, prickles,
fragments of fish scales, or shells of reptiles. But in
the water none of these things can be seen. Therefore,
we ought to wear boots in the water, and not
upon dry land. Good, oh maiden, this also I am understand. Then,
he asked her this question. These girls kept their parasols
up in the sun, you kept yours in the wood
under the shade of the trees. What was the meaning
of that, Oh uncle? The world is foolish. It is
precisely when in a wood that one must keep a
parasol up for what reason? Because a wood is always
full of birds and monkeys. The birds let fall their
droppings and pieces of bones, and the monkeys their mock
and scraps of fruit they eat. Besides, as they are
of a wild nature, they go springing from bow to bow,
and bits of wood come falling down. When one is
in the open, this does not happen, or if it
takes place, it is but seldom. Therefore, a parasol must
be kept open in a wood in the open. It
is not necessary to do so good, Oh maiden, This
I also comprehend. Presently, he said, These girls took refuge
in a temple when the wind arose with rain, but
you remained in the open air, Oh uncle. One certainly
ought to remain in the open air, and not take
refuge in a temple. Oh maiden, what is the reason
for that, oh uncle? Such empty temples are never free
from orphans, the low born, the sharpers. If one of
them were to touch me on a limb or joint
as I entered such a temple, would not that be
unpleasant to my parents? Moreover, it is better to lose
one's life in the open than to enter an empty temple.
Full of delight at the demeanor of the maiden. The
brahmin betook himself to the dwelling of the householder of Alamitra,
and said, desiring to obtain the maiden, May it be well,
May it be good. The people of the house said, O, brahmen,
it is not yet the time for asking. But what
do you ask for? I ask for your daughter, on
whose on behalf of the son Vishaka by name of Mrgarara,
the first minister of Sravasti. They replied, it is true
that we and he are of the same caste, but
his country lies too far away. The Brahmins said, it
is precisely in a far country that a man should
choose a husband for his daughter. How So, if she
is married in the neighbourhood, joy increases when news comes
that she is prosperous. But if a misfortune occurs, a
man's property may be brought to not he being exhausted
by gifts, sacrifices and tokens of reverence. They said, this
being so, we will give you our daughter after Vashaki's marriage.
On one occasion, some country folks came bringing a mayor
in a foal. As they could not tell which was
the mayor in which the foal. The king ordered the
ministers to examine them closely and to report to him
on the matter. The ministers examined them both for a
whole day, became weary, and arrived at no conclusion after all.
When Murghadhara went home in the evening, Bishaki touched his
feet and said, oh master, wherefore do ye return so late?
He told her everything that had occurred. Then Bishaki said,
oh Master, what is there to investigate? In that fodder
should be laid before them in equal parts. The foal,
after rapidly eating up its own share, will begin to
devour its mothers also, But the mother, without eating, will
hold up her head like this. That is the proper test.
Murgadhara told this to the ministers, who applied the tests
according to these instructions, and after daybreak they reported to
the king, this is the mother, o King, and that
is the foe. The king asked how they knew that,
oh King, The case is surrenzo. How was it you
did not know that yesterday, Oh King, how could we
know it? Bushaka has instructed us, since, said the king,
the chomp A maiden is wise. It happened that a
man who was bathing, had left his boots on the bank.
Another man came up, tied the boots round his head
and began to bathe Likewise, when the first man had
done bathing and come out of the water, he missed
the boots. The other man said, hey, man, what are
you looking for my boots? Where are your boots? When
you have boots, you should tie them round your head
as I do before going into the water. As the
dispute arose between the two men as to whom the
boots belonged to, they both had recourse to the King.
The King told the ministers to investigate the case thoroughly
and to give the boots to the proper owner. The
ministers began to investigate the case and examined first the
one man and then the other. Each of the men
affirmed that he was the owner. While these assertions were
being made, the day came to an end, and in
the evening the minister's returned home, wearied out, without having
brought the matter to a satisfactory conclusion. Vishakh questioned Murgadhara,
and he told her all about it, whereupon she said, oh, master,
what is there to investigate? Say to one of them,
take one of the boots, and to the other man
take the other boot. The real learner will say, in
that case, why should my two boots be separated? But
the other, the man to whom they do not really belong,
will say, what good do I gain by this if
I only get one boot? That is the proper test
to apply. Murgadhara went and told this to the ministers,
and so forth, as is written above down to the
words the king said, the chompa maiden is wise. It
happened that some merchants brought a stem of sandal wood
to the king as a present, but no one knew
which was the upper end of it in which the lower.
So the king ordered his ministers to settle the question.
They spent a whole day in examining the stem, but
they could make nothing of it. In the evening they
returned to their homes. Mrgadhara again told Vishak all about
the matter, and she said, oh, Master, what is there
to investigate? Place the stem in water. The root end
will then sink, but the upper end will float upward.
That is the proper test. Murgadhara communicated this to the ministers,
and so forth, as written above, down to the words
the king said, the chompa maiden is wise. There was
a householder in a hill village, who, after he had
married in his own rank, remained without either son or daughter.
As he longed earnestly for a child, he took unto
himself a com coccubine. Thereupon, his wife, who was of
a jealous disposition, had recourse to a spell for the
purpose of rendering that woman barn. But as that woman
was quite pure, she became with child, and at the
end of nine months bore a son. Then she reflected thus,
as the worst of all enmities is the enmity between
a wife and a concubine, And the stepmother will be
sure to seek for a means of killing the child.
What ought my husband? What ought I to do? As
I shall not be able to keep it alive, I
had better give it to her. After taking counsel with
her husband, who agreed with her in the matter, she
said to the wife, O, sister, I give you my son.
Take him. The wife thought, as she who has a son,
ranks as the mistress of the house, I will bring
him up. After she had taken charge of the boy,
the father died a dispute arose between the two women
as to the possession of the house, each of them
asserting that it belonged to her. They had recourse to
the king. He ordered his ministers to go to the
house and to make inquiries as to the ownership of
the sun. They investigated the matter, but the day came
to an end before they had brought it to a
satisfactory conclusion. In the evening, they returned to their homes.
Vshak again questioned Margadhara, who told her everything. Vishak said,
what need is there for investigation? Speak to the two women, thus,
as we do not know to which of you the
boy belongs, let her who is the strongest, take the boy.
When each of them has taken hold of one of
the boy's hands and he begins to cry out on
account of the pain, their real mother will let go,
being full of compassion for him, and knowing that if
her child remains alive, she will be able to see
it again. But the other, who has no compassion for him,
will not let go. Then beat her with a switch,
and she will thereupon confess the truth as to the
whole matter. That is the proper test. Murgadhara told this
to the ministers and so forth, as is written above
down to the words, the King said that chompa maiden
is wise