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330
VII, 4, 8.
'Just, O king, as the old male jackal, whatever kind of food he finds, feels no disgust, but eats of it as much as he requires; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, eat without disgust such food as he receives with the sole object of keeping himself alive. This, O king, is the first quality of the old male jackal he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by Maha Kassapa, the Elder:
THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES
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Leaving my dwelling-place, I entered once Upon my round for alms, the village street. A leper there I saw eating his meal,
And, as was meet, deliberately, in turn, I stood beside him too that he might give a gift. He, with his hand all leprous and diseased, Put in my bowl-'twas all he had to giveA ball of rice; and as he placed it there A finger, mortifying, broke and fell. Seated behind a wall, that ball of food I ate, and neither when I ate it, nay, Nor afterwards, did any loathing thought Arise within my breast 1."
8. 'And again, O king, as the old male jackal, when he gets any food, does not stop to examine it; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, never stop to find out whether food given to him is bitter or sweet, well-flavoured or ill -just as it is should he be satisfied with it. This, O king, is the second quality of the old male jackal
1 Thera Gâthâ 1054-1056. The reading pakkena hatthena seems to me to be quite correct. Compare pakka-gatto, also of a leper, at M. I, 506; and above, p. 357 of the Pâli.
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