Makaranda Madhukar Anand Mahendale Festshrift

Author(s): M A Dhaky, Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre

Page 162

Sāra, A-sāra, Sam-sāra
151
(6-1) A Brahmin boy decided to offer himself in order to save the life of the king, persuading his parents as follows:
Tad etenātyasārena sukstam yad upārjyate tad eva sāras saṁsāre kịta-buddhibhir ucyate ||
(KSS. 94. 107)
“So wise men say that the only solid and permanent thing in a fleeting universe is that merit (sukrta) which is acquired by means of this very frail and perishable body." (Tawney and Penzer)
(6-2) In Buddhist texts which relate the self-sacrifice of the Bodhisattva, we often meet passages of a similar purport. In the story of Jimūtavāhana who decided to sacrifice his life to save Sankhacūda, we read :
Ity uktvā sa mahāsattvo hrdi cakre manoratham reņa dehena sāram atrāpnuyām aham ||
(KSS. 90. 111)
"When the noble-hearted one had said this, he formed this wish in his heart : May I obtain the one essential object in this world by the sacrifice of my unsubstantial body."24
(6-3) In the story of the great monkey, who tried to save a man with no regard for his own body, the monkey addresses the man as follows:
Ehi prstham mamāruhya sulagno 'stu bhayān mayi yavad abhyuddharāmi tvāṁ svadehāt sāram eva ca (11)
Asārasya śarīrasya sāro hy esa matah satām yat paresām hitārthesu sādhani-kriyate budhaih ||
(JM. 24. 12) "Come, climb upon my back and cling fast to me, while I bring out both thee and the usefulness of my body.
For the pious pronounce this to be the usefulness of the body, otherwise a worthless thing, that it may be employed by the wise as an instrument for benefitting our neighbour."
(Spejer) The Mahāyāna Buddhist texts which speak of the great deeds of the Bodhisattva are full of these stories.25