________________
284
THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES
VII, 1, 8.
* And this too, O king, has been said by Sariputta, the Elder, the Commander of the Faith: “The elephant distinguishes good food
From bad, he knows what gives him sustenance, And even when asleep he guards his trunk - So let each Buddha's son, earnest in zeal, Never do violence to the Conqueror's word, Nor injury to his self-possession, best of gifts 2.”'
3. THE SQUIRREL. 8. 'Venerable Nâgasena, that one quality of the squirrel which you say he ought to take, which is that?'
'Just as the squirrel, O king, when an enemy falls upon him, beats his tail on the ground till it swells, and then with his own tail as a cudgel drives off the foe; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, when his enemy, sin, falls upon him, beat the cudgel of his self-possession till it swells, and then by the cudgel of self-possession drive all evil inclinations off. This, O king, is the one quality of the squirrel which he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by Kulla Panthaka, the Elder: “When sins, those fell destroyers of the gains Gained by the life of recluse, fall on us, They should be slain, again and yet again, By resolute self-possession as a club 3."
· As he does in war, according to Magghima I, 415.
* Not traced as yet. It is not included in the collection of Sâriputta's verses preserved in the Thera Gåthå.
• Not in the published texts.
Digitized by Google
