Vessantara-Jataka in Pali and English - MyWebSpace

Translation 511 Vessantara-Jåtaka
[Fausbøll, Jåtaka, vol. VI, p. 511]
Then King Vessantara himself, his vow performed as bound,
Does reverence to his parents both, and passes rightwise round.
Then, mounting in the chariot swift, drawn by its team of four,
With wife and children off he sped where Vaṁka's peak did soar.
Then drove the King Vessantara where most the crowd did swell,
And cried—"We go! a blessing on my kinsfolk—fare ye well!"
Addressing these words to the crowd, the Great Being admonished them to be careful, to
give alms and do good deeds. As he went, the Bodhisat's mother, saying, "If my son
desires to give, let him give," sent to him two carts, one on each side, filled with
ornaments, laden with the seven precious things. In eighteen gifts he distributed to
beggars he met on the road all he had, including even the mass of ornaments which he
wore on his own body. When he had got away from the city, he turned round and desired
to look upon it; then according to his wish the earth cleft asunder to the measure of the
chariot, and turning round, brought the chariot to face the city, and he beheld the place
where his parents dwelt. So then followed earthquakes and other wonders; wherefore it is
said:
"When from the city he came forth, he turned again to look:
And, therefore, like a banyan tree great Mount Sineru shook."
And as he looked, he uttered a stanza to induce Maddī to look also:
"See, Maddī, see the lovely place from which we now have come—
The king of Sivi s dwelling-house and our ancestral home!"