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THE HISTORY OF GOSĀLA MANKHALIPUTTA
A.F. RUDOLF HOERNLE briefly translated from Bhagavati, saya XV, uddesa I.*
Gosāla Mankhaliputta was born in the settlement (sannivesa) Saravana, in the neighbourhood apparently of the town of Savatthi. His father was called Mankhali, because he was a 'mankha' or mendicant who went about getting his livelihood by showing a picture which he carried in his hand. His mother was called Bhaddä. Once on his wanderings Mankhali came to the settlement of Saravana, and failing to obtain any other shelter, he took refuge for the rainy season in the cow-shed of a wealthy brahman, called Gobahula (p. 1204). There his wife bore him a son, and as the child was born in a cowshed (gosāla), his parents gave him the name of Gosāla (p. 1205). When grown up, he also adopted the profession of a mankha. About that time Mahāvira, having shortly before, at the age of thirty years, adopted the ascetic life, was spending his second year in a weaver's shed in Nälandā, a suburb (bāhiriyā) of Rāyagiha (p. 1206). Gosāla, in his wanderings, also happened to arrive and put up there. One day, observing the extraordinary respect shown to Mahāvīra by Vijaya, one of the rich householders of Rāyagiha, he approached Mahāvira, as he came out of Vijaya's house, and asked to be admitted as his disciple. Mahāvira, however, declined his request (p. 1210a). The same circumstances were repeated on two successive occasions, when Mahāvira was honourably entreated by the householders Ānanda and Sudamsana (p. 1211a). The next time Mahāvira went to the settlement of Kolläga, at some distance from Nalanda, where he was hospitably entreated by the brāhman Bahula. Gosāla, thinking that Mahāvira had again gone into Rāyagiha, vainly sought him in the city and its suburbs. Failing to find any trace of him, he returned to the weaver's shed, gave away his clothes, vessels, shoes and pictures to a brāhman, shaved off his hair and beard, and in despair departed (p. 1212). On his way he passed Kollāga, which he reached at the very moment when a great crowd were applauding the liberality of Bahula towards Mahāvīra. He now recommenced his search and at last fell in with
In order to preserve the historic sequence of the events, I have, in the translation, slightly altered the sequence of the narrative as given in the Bhagavati. This will be seen from the references to the pages of the Calcutta print of that work.
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