Makaranda Madhukar Anand Mahendale Festshrift

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

Page 232

Valāhassajātaka and Telapattajätaka
221
horse. Only the head witch and the eldest merchant, moreover, stand out as individuals clearly identifiable as such, though the role of the latter in the Nepalese tradition and in the versions of the Kāranda- and Ganakārandavyuha is no longer anonymous, but has crystallized into the figure of Simhala, the young, handsome and pious son from a rich merchant's house. It is worth noting that the pretext of being widowed merchants' wives, and as such objects of pity, is obviously meant to excuse the lust of the Ceylonese witches, but this psychologically quite subtle nuance, which figures only in the Pāli version, was no longer held to be so important in the later periodo.
The narrative of the Valāhassajātaka extends up only to the rescue of the eldest merchant and according to this version also half of his followers. A story which presumably represents the pattern used for the fable's continuation spun out in the other versions is recounted, surprisingly in another reincarnation story in Pāli, the Telapattajātaka', whose hero, however, appears not as a seafaring merchant but as the Bodhisattva, i. e. the future Buddha, in his former existence as one of the hundred sons of King Brahmadatta of Benares. It has been prophesied to the young prince that he would never ascend his father's throne, but rather would be crowned · king of Taksasilā in the far-off land of Gandhāra. The prophesy, however,
would only be fulfilled if the prince was able to defy the dangers lying in wait for all sojourners on the road to Gandhāra : in a large forest live witches? who, able to infatuate men with their charms, continuously invite weary travellers for a refreshing drink. Once they have seduced their guests, they murder them and devour their barely cold corpses.
The prince fares forth. He is accompanied by five men of the court who, in spite of his warning, want to go along at all costs. The first of them is a savorer of beauty, the second a music enthusiast, the third a connoisseur of select aromas, the fourth a gourmet and the fifth a lover of great comforts. When they reach the witches' villages together with the prince, all five fall victim in turn to the witches' seductive arts. Only the king's son remains steadfast. But when he moves on, one of the witches follows him. She tells the people living in the forest that she is the prince's spouse, and though the prince denies this, the forest dwellers give her a ready ear. She even produces a son later and, child in arm, follows in the tracks of the prince. When the