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 518 <strong>Vessantara</strong>-Jåtaka<br />
[Fausbøll, Jåtaka, vol. VI, p. 518]<br />
then st<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g at the enter<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> of the wood, they told of the fifteen leagues which yet<br />
rema<strong>in</strong>ed of his journey.<br />
"Yes, we will tell you how a k<strong>in</strong>g who leaves the world may be<br />
Good, peaceful by his sacred fire, <strong>and</strong> all tranquillity.<br />
That rocky mounta<strong>in</strong>, mighty k<strong>in</strong>g, is G<strong>and</strong>hamādana,<br />
Where with your children <strong>and</strong> your wife together you may stay.<br />
The Ceta folk, with faces all bewept <strong>and</strong> stream<strong>in</strong>g eyes,<br />
Advise you to go northward straight where high its peaks uprise.<br />
There you shall see Mount Vipula (<strong>and</strong> bless<strong>in</strong>g with thee go),<br />
Pleasant with many a grow<strong>in</strong>g tree that casts cool shade below.<br />
When you shall reach it, you shall see (a bless<strong>in</strong>g with thee still)<br />
Ketumatī, a river deep <strong>and</strong> spr<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g from the hill.<br />
Full of all fish, a safe resort, its deep flood flows away:<br />
There you shall dr<strong>in</strong>k, <strong>and</strong> there shall bathe, <strong>and</strong> with your children play.<br />
And there, upon a pleasant hill, cool-shaded, you will see,<br />
Laden with fruit as honey sweet, a noble banyan tree.<br />
Then you will see Mount Nālika, <strong>and</strong> that is haunted ground:<br />
For there the birds <strong>in</strong> concert s<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> woodl<strong>and</strong> sprites abound.<br />
There further still towards the north is Mucal<strong>in</strong>da Lake,<br />
On which the lilies blue <strong>and</strong> white a cover<strong>in</strong>g do make.<br />
Then a thick forest, like a cloud, with grassy sward to tread,<br />
Trees full of flowers <strong>and</strong> of fruit, all shady overhead,<br />
Enter: a lion seek<strong>in</strong>g prey wherewith he may be fed.<br />
There when the forest is <strong>in</strong> flower, a shower of song is heard,<br />
The twitter here <strong>and</strong> twitter there of many a bright-w<strong>in</strong>ged bird.<br />
And if those mounta<strong>in</strong> cataracts you follow to their spr<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
You'll f<strong>in</strong>d a lily-covered lake with blossoms 1 flower<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
Full of all fish, a safe resort, deep water without end,<br />
Foursquare <strong>and</strong> peaceful, scented sweet, no odour to offend:<br />
There build yourself a leafy cell, a little to the north,<br />
And from the cell which you shall make <strong>in</strong> search of food go forth."<br />
1<br />
karañja (Pongamia Glabra), kakudha (Term<strong>in</strong>alia Arjuna).