Āsaṇkā Jātaka

Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was the King in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born into a brahmin family in a village of that country. When he grew up, he learned the arts at Takkasilā University. After that, he became a recluse living on roots and fruits in the Himālaya Mountains. He developed all the Faculties (1) faith/confidence, 2) energy, 3) mindfulness, 4) concentration/samadhi and 5) wisdom/insight) and the Attainments (jhānas).

At that time a being of perfect merit fell from the Heaven of the Thirty-three (the Tāvatiṃsa heaven, which is the second of the deva realms). This being was conceived as a girl inside a lotus in a pool. And when the other lotuses grew old and fell, that one grew great and strong. The recluse went there to bathe one day and saw it. He thought, “The other lotuses fall, but this one is great and strong. Why is that?” So he put on his bathing dress and went over to it. When he opened the lotus, he saw the girl. His feelings toward her were as a father to a daughter. He took her to his hut and cared for her.

When she turned 16 years old, she was beautiful. In her beauty she excelled the hue of man, but she did not attain the hue of gods. Sakka went to wait on the Bodhisatta. He saw the maiden and asked how she was found. Then Sakka asked the Bodhisatta, “What should she receive?”

“A dwelling place and supply of clothing, jewels, ornaments, and food, oh, sir.”

He answered, “Very well, lord.” He created a crystal palace for her. He made a bed for her. He gave her clothing, jewels, ornaments, food and divine drink. The palace descended and rested on the ground when she was going up. When she had gone up, it ascended and stayed in the air. She did various services for the Bodhisatta as she lived in the palace. A forester saw this and asked, “What is this person to you, lord?”

“My daughter.”

So he went to Benares and told the King. “Oh King, I have seen in the Himālaya a certain recluse’s daughter of great beauty.”

The King was intrigued when he heard this. So using the forester as his guide, he went with an army of the four divisions to that place. He made camp, then he took the forester and his retinue of ministers and entered the hermitage.

He saluted the Bodhisatta and said, “Lord, women are a hindrance to the holy life. I will tend to your daughter.”

Now the Bodhisatta had given the maiden the name “Āsaṅkā” because she was brought to him by his crossing the water owing to his doubt (“āsaṅkā” means “doubt”) “What is in this lotus?” He did not say to the King directly, “Take her and go.” Instead he said, “If you know this maiden’s name, oh great King, then you can take her and go.”

“Lord, if you tell it to me, then I will know.”

“I will not tell it, but when you know it, you can take her and depart.”

The King agreed. He conferred with his ministers, asking them “What might be her name?” He put forward all the names that were hard to guess. He talked with the Bodhisatta, saying, “Such and such will be her name.” But the Bodhisatta said “no” and refused him.

So a year passed while the King was considering all this. Lions and other beasts seized his elephants and horses and men. There was danger from snakes, danger from flies, and many died worn out from the cold. Finally the King said to the Bodhisatta, “What need do I have of her?” and he prepared to leave.

The maiden Āsaṅkā stood at an open crystal window. The King, seeing her, said, “We cannot determine your name. So live here in the Himālaya. We will depart.”

“Great King, if you go you will never find a wife like me. In the Heaven of the Thirty-three, in the Cittalatā garden (the garden of Sakka), there is a vine named Āsāvatī. In its fruit a divine drink is born, and they who drink of it once are intoxicated for four months and lie on a divine couch. It bears fruit only once every thousand years, and the sons of the gods, even though they long for strong drink, bear with their thirst for that divine drink saying, “We shall reap fruit from this.” They come constantly throughout the thousand years to watch the plant saying, ‘Is it well?’ But you grow discontented in one year. He who wins the fruit of his hope is happy. Do not be discontented yet.” And so she spoke three stanzas:

In heavenly garden grows Āsāvatī.

Once in a thousand years, no more, the tree

Bears fruit. For it the gods wait patiently.

Hope on, O King, the fruit of hope is sweet.

A bird hoped on and never own’d defeat.

His wish, though far away, he won complete.

Hope on, O King. The fruit of hope is sweet.

The King was enticed by her words. He gathered his ministers again and guessed at the name. They made ten guesses each time until another year had passed. But her name was not among the ten, and so the Bodhisatta refused him. Again the King said, “What need do I have of her?” and he prepared to leave. She showed herself at the window, and the King said, “You stay. We will depart.”

“Why depart, great King?”

“I cannot determine your name.”

“Great King, why can you not find it? Hope is not without success. A crane staying on a hilltop won his wish. Why can you not win it? Endure, great King. A crane had its feeding ground in a lotus pool, but flying up, he landed on a hilltop. He stayed there that day and the next day, and he thought, ‘I am happily settled on this hilltop. If without going down I stay here finding food and drinking water and live out this day, oh, it would be delightful.’ On that very day Sakka, King of heaven, had crushed the Asuras. And now that he was the lord in the heaven of the Thirty-three, he was thinking, ‘My wishes have come to fulfilment. Is there anyone in the forest whose wishes are unfulfilled?’”

“So considering that, he saw the crane and thought, ‘I will fulfill this bird’s wishes.’ Not far from the crane there was a stream. And Sakka sent the stream in full flood to the hilltop. So the crane—without moving—ate fish and drank water and lived there that day. Then the water fell and went away. So, great King, the crane won fruition of that hope of his. Why will you not win it? Hope on.” she said.

The King, hearing her tale, was caught by her beauty and enticed by her words. He could not go away. So he gathered his ministers, and guessed a hundred names. He spent another year trying those hundred names.

At the end of three years he went to the Bodhisatta and asked, “Will her name be among the hundred, lord?”

“No. You do not know it, great King.”

He saluted the Bodhisatta, and said, “We will go now.” And once again, he prepared to leave.

The maiden Āsaṅkā again stood by a crystal window. The King saw her and said, “You stay. We will depart.”

“Why, great King?”

“You satisfy me with words, but not with love. Caught by your sweet words, I have spent three years here, but now I will leave.” And he uttered these stanzas:

You please me but with words and not in deed.

The scentless flower, though fair, is but a weed.

Promise fair without performance on his friends one throws away,

Never giving, ever hoarding, such is friendship’s sure decay.

Men should speak when they will act, not promise what they cannot do.

If they talk without performing, wise men see them through and through.

My troops are wasted, all my stores are spent,

No doubt my life is spoiled. It’s time I went.

The maiden Āsaṅkā, hearing the King’s words said, “Great King, you know my name. You just said it. Tell my father my name, take me, and go.” So talking with the King, she said:

Prince, you have said the word that is my name.

Come, King, my father will allow the claim.

The King went to the Bodhisatta, saluted him, and said, “Lord, your daughter is named ‘Āsaṅkā.’”

“Now that you know her name, take her and go, great King.”

The King saluted the Bodhisatta, and going to the crystal palace he said, “Lady, your father has given you to me. Come now.”

“Great King, I will take my father’s leave,” she said. She went down from the palace, saluted the Bodhisatta, got his consent, and went to the King. The King took her to Benares and lived happily with her. They had many sons and daughters. And the Bodhisatta continued in unbroken meditation and was reborn in the Brahma world.