Vessantara-Jataka in Pali and English - MyWebSpace

Translation 572 Vessantara-Jåtaka
[Fausbøll, Jåtaka, vol. VI, p. 572]
"Sir, now I give you Maddī back, your fair and lovely wife,
A pair well-matched, and fitted for a most harmonious life.
Like the inevitable bond ’twixt water and a shell,
So you with Maddī; mind and heart are both according well.
Of equal birth and family on either parents' side
Here in a forest hermitage together you abide,
That ye may go on doing good where in the woods you dwell."
This said, he went on, offering a boon:
"Sakka the King of Gods am I, here come thy place to see:
Choose thou a boon, O royal sage, eight boons I give to thee."
As he spoke, he rose into the air ablaze like the morning sun. Then the Bodhisatta said,
choosing his boons:
"Sakka, the lord of all the earth, has given me a boon.
Prithee my father reconcile, let him recall me soon
And set me in my royal seat: this the first boon I crave.
May I condemn no man to death, not though he guilty be:
Condemned, may I release from death: this second boon I crave.
May all the people for their help look only unto me,
The young, the old, the middle-aged: this the third boon I crave.
May I not seek my neighbour's wife, contented with my own,
Nor subject to a woman's will: this the fourth boon I crave.
I prithee, Sakka, grant long life to my beloved son,
Conquering the world in righteousness: this the fifth boon I crave.
Then at the end of every night, at dawning of the day,
May food celestial be revealed: this the sixth boon I crave.
May means of giving never fail, and may I give alway
With hearty gladness and content: this the seventh boon I crave.