sleeps uneasily, though on a luxurious bed.
21.55
Anger makes him forget how to be happy.
Traveling along the wrong path instead,
he loses his fame and welfare, like the moon
loses its luster in the dark half of the month.
21.58 [33] 21.61 [35] 21.62 21.62
Anger makes him fall into a precipice of ruin,
however his friends try to hold him back.
He often becomes senseless with hatred,
his wits slow in judging good from bad.
Anger makes evil ingrained in him
and he grieves for centuries in hell.
Can enemies do any worse than this,
even when enraged by bitter injuries?
This much I know:
anger is a foe inside us.
Who can endure
its haughty advance?
That is why I did not release my anger,
though it throbbed in my mind,
for who would be indifferent
to such a harmful enemy?”
21.60
The king was gladdened by the Bodhi·sattva’s virtuous serenity and by his words that so captivated the heart and said:
“Your words suit
your tranquility.
But why be longwinded?
Blind to you, I was led astray.”
Eulogizing the Bodhi·sattva this way, the king went forward, prostrated himself at his feet and confessed his transgression. Begging forgiveness from the ascetic woman, he released her and offered himself to the Bodhi·sattva as a servant.
21.63 21.63
In this way, by conquering anger, enemies are quelled. By doing the opposite, enemies are increased. One should therefore strive to quell anger.
This story should be narrated when dealing with discourses that praise forbearance in ways such as the following: “By feeling no hatred enmities are appeased, and by restraining oneself hatred does not accumulate. A man without anger thereby acquires benefit in both regards.”* And it should also be narrated when discussing the faults of anger and the magnificence of the Tatha·gata.*
STORY 22 THE BIRTH-STORY OF THE GOOSE
22.1 22.3 22.4 22.4 22.4 22.5 22.5 22.5
22.1
Even when they are in trouble, the virtuous behave in ways that cannot be imitated by the bad, let alone when their situation is good.
Tradition has handed down the following story.
The Bodhi·sattva is said to have once lived as a royal goose named Dhrita·rashtra. Ruling over a huge flock of geese, numbering several hundreds and thousands, he lived in the large lake called Manasa, “Mind Lake.”
Dhrita·rashtra had a general called Sumukha. Expert in discerning right policy from wrong, Sumukha was vigilant over a wide area of land. Like an ornament on the forehead of his exemplary family, he was adorned by cleverness, skill and decency. His conduct was constant, pure and moral and he was able to endure fatigue and was never negligent. Brave, he was skilled in the ways of war and was devoted to his master. This general was the noble venerable Ananda at that time.*
22.5
The virtue of these two geese blazed all the more brightly because of the remarkable love they showed each other. Just as a teacher might train his other pupils with his chief disciple, or a father might train his other sons with his eldest son, so they duly guided the flock of geese in matters leading to their increased welfare in both this world and the next, filling the onlooking gods, nagas, yakshas, vidya·dharas, and ascetics with utter wonder.*
The two worked as one in upholding
the body of bliss for the flock of geese,
just as two wings work as one in upholding
the body of a bird as it flies in the sky.
22.10 22.13 22.13 22.13
The flock of geese prospered under their favor, just as the world prospers through a profusion of virtue and wealth. And as a result the lake bore an appearance of great beauty.
The flock of geese roaming
like a floating bed of lotuses,
crooning softly like tinkling anklets,
made the lake look radiant.
As the geese spread out here and there,
clustered in groups of varying size,
the lake took on the beauty of the sky
dappled with pieces of broken cloud.
22.10
Amazed by the power of the exceptional virtue shown by the king of geese and also by his general, who was intent on the welfare of all beings, troops of siddhas,* seers, vidya·dharas and gods delighted in discussing the fame of the two geese:
“Their glorious bodies are like refined gold.
They speak using articulate words.
Their modesty and judgment arise from virtue.
Whatever they are, they are geese only in guise.
Unjealous beings proclaim their virtue,
spreading their fame in every direction
until it roams through assemblies like an offering,
becoming an object of faith for kings.”
At that time a king called Brahma·datta ruled in Varanasi. This monarch had repeatedly heard trustworthy ministers and brahmin elders in his assembly eulogize the exceptional virtues of the royal goose and his general and had ________
22.14 22.19
become increasingly curious to see the two creatures. He therefore addressed his counselors, who were clever and experienced in numerous teachings, saying:
“Well, sirs, devise a clever way for me at least to catch sight of these two fine
