Vessantara-Jataka in Pali and English - MyWebSpace
Vessantara-Jataka in Pali and English - MyWebSpace
Vessantara-Jataka in Pali and English - MyWebSpace
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Translation 488 <strong>Vessantara</strong>-Jåtaka<br />
[Fausbøll, Jåtaka, vol. VI, p. 488]<br />
"With hairy armpits, hairy heads, sta<strong>in</strong>ed teeth, <strong>and</strong> dust on poll,<br />
O brahm<strong>in</strong>s, stretch<strong>in</strong>g forth your h<strong>and</strong>s, what is it that you crave?"<br />
To this the brahm<strong>in</strong>s replied:<br />
"We crave a precious th<strong>in</strong>g, O pr<strong>in</strong>ce that dost thy people save:<br />
That choice <strong>and</strong> sav<strong>in</strong>g 1 elephant with tusks like any pole."<br />
When the Great Be<strong>in</strong>g heard this, he thought, "I am will<strong>in</strong>g to give anyth<strong>in</strong>g that is my<br />
own, from my head onwards, <strong>and</strong> what they ask is someth<strong>in</strong>g without me; I will fulfil<br />
their wish"; <strong>and</strong> from the elephant's back, he replied:<br />
"I give, <strong>and</strong> never shr<strong>in</strong>k from it, that which the brahm<strong>in</strong>s want,<br />
This noble beast, for rid<strong>in</strong>g fit, fierce tuskèd elephant";<br />
<strong>and</strong> thus consent<strong>in</strong>g:<br />
"The k<strong>in</strong>g, the saviour of his folk, dismounted from its back,<br />
And glad <strong>in</strong> sacrific<strong>in</strong>g, gave the brahm<strong>in</strong>s what they lack."<br />
The ornaments on the elephant's four feet were worth four hundred thous<strong>and</strong>, those on his<br />
two sides were worth two hundred thous<strong>and</strong>, the blanket under his belly a hundred<br />
thous<strong>and</strong>, on his back were nets of pearls, of gold, <strong>and</strong> of jewels, three nets worth three<br />
hundred thous<strong>and</strong>, <strong>in</strong> the two ears two hundred thous<strong>and</strong>, on his back a rug worth a<br />
hundred thous<strong>and</strong>, the ornament on the frontal globes worth a hundred thous<strong>and</strong>, three<br />
wrapp<strong>in</strong>gs 2 three hundred thous<strong>and</strong>, the small ear-ornaments two hundred thous<strong>and</strong>, those<br />
on the two tusks two hundred thous<strong>and</strong>, the ornament for luck on his trunk a hundred<br />
thous<strong>and</strong>, that on his tail a hundred thous<strong>and</strong>, not to mention the priceless ornaments on<br />
his body two <strong>and</strong> twenty hundred thous<strong>and</strong>, a ladder to mount, by one hundred thous<strong>and</strong>,<br />
the food-vessel a hundred thous<strong>and</strong>,<br />
1<br />
urūḷhavo?<br />
2<br />
vaṭṁsakā?