________________
286
THE QUESTIONS OF KING MILINDA. IV, 4, 21.
the Bodisat was a monkey called “the broad earth." Here again we have the difference between an animal and a man, and the Bodisat was inferior in birth to Devadatta !!'
21. And again, when Devadatta became a man, by name Sonuttara, a Nesâda (one of an outcast tribe of aborigines, who lived by hunting), and was of great strength and bodily power, like an elephant, then the Bodisat was the king of elephants under the name of the “ Six-tusked." And in that birth, the hunter slew the elephant. In that case too Devadatta was the superior ?'
22. 'And again, when Devadatta became a man, a wanderer in the woods, without a home, then the Bodisat was a bird, a partridge who knew the Vedic hymns. And in that birth too the woodman killed the bird. So in that case also Devadatta was the superior by birth 8.'
23. “And again, when Devadatta became the king of Benares, by name Kalábu, then the Bodisat was an ascetic who preached kindness to animals, And the king (who was fond of sport), enraged with the ascetic, had his hands and feet cut off like so many bambą sprouts “. In that birth, too, Deva
1 I cannot unfortunately trace this story among the Gâtakas. . I do not know which Gâtaka is here referred to.
* This must be the 438th Gâtaka, there called the Tittira Gâtaka. In the summary Devadatta is identified with the hypocritical ascetic who killed and ate the wise partridge.
• This is the 313th Gâtaka, there called the Khanti-vadi Gâtaka. The royal sportsman has first the skin, and then the hands and feet of the sage cut off, to alter his opinions. But the sage simply says that his love to animals is not in his skin, or in his limbs, but in his heart. Then the earth swallows up the cruel monarch, and the citizens bury the body of the sage with all honour. In the summary Kalábu, the king, is identified with Devadatta.
Digitized by
Diglized by Google
