Jataka 420
Sumaṇgala Jātaka
The Story of Sumaṇgala
as told by Eric Van Horn
originally translated by H.T. Francis and R.A. Neil, Cambridge University
originally edited by Professor Edward Byles Cowell, Cambridge University
There is an important and wise lesson in this story, and that is that if you are ever angry, it is better to do nothing than to act from anger. This at least prevents you from potentially doing harm, which is the usual outcome when acting from anger.
It is also interesting that the King knows that if he acts unskillfully, he will have an inauspicious rebirth. In fact, the more powerful the person, the greater the likelihood of doing harm and having a poor rebirth. This is an important lesson for those who have great power in this life.
“Conscious of an angry frown.” The Master told this story while he was living at Jetavana. It is about the admonition of a king. On this occasion the Master, at the King’s request, told this story from the past.
Once on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born as the son of his chief Queen. When he grew up, he became King on his father’s death. He was very generous and gave abundant alms.
He had a park keeper named Sumaṇgala. A certain paccekabuddha left the Nandamūla cave on a pilgrimage for alms, and he went to Benares and stayed in the park. On the next day he went into the town to beg. The King looked on him with favor. He had him come up into the palace and sit on the throne. He served him various kinds of delicate food—both hard and soft—and received his thanks. Being pleased that the paccekabuddha should stay in his park, he exacted a promise from him and sent him back. And after his morning meal, he went there in person. He arranged a place for him to live, and he gave him the park keeper Sumaṇgala as attendant. Then he went back to the town.
After that the paccekabuddha had his meals in the palace, and he lived there a long time. Sumaṇgala respectfully attended to him. One day he went away, saying to Sumaṇgala, “I am going to another village for a few days, but I will return. Please inform the King.” Sumaṇgala did so.
After a few days’ stay in that village, the paccekabuddha came back to the park in the evening after sunset. Sumaṇgala—not knowing he had returned—had gone back to his own house. The paccekabuddha put away his bowl and robe, and after a little walk sat down on a stone slab.
On that day some strange guests had come to the park keeper’s house. To get them soup and curry, he had gone with a bow to kill a tame deer in the park. He was there looking for a deer when he saw the paccekabuddha, and thinking he was a great deer, he aimed an arrow at him and shot him. The paccekabuddha uncovered his head and said, “Sumaṇgala.” Greatly moved Sumaṇgala said, “Sir, I did not know you had returned and shot you thinking you were a deer. Forgive me.” “Very well, but what will you do now? Come, pull out the arrow.” He made homage to him and pulled it out. The paccekabuddha felt great pain and passed into nirvāna then and there.
The park keeper thought the King would not pardon him if he knew what had happened. So he took his wife and children and fled. By supernatural powers the whole city heard that the paccekabuddha had entered nirvāna, and everyone was greatly excited. On the next day some men entered the park, saw the body, and told the King that the park keeper had fled after killing the paccekabuddha. The King went with a great retinue, and for seven days he paid honor to the body. Then with all ceremony he took the relics, built a shrine, and—doing honor to it—went on ruling his kingdom righteously.
After a year, Sumaṇgala determined to find out what the King thought. He went and asked a minister whom he saw to find out what the King thought of him. The minister praised Sumaṇgala before the King, but the King did not respond. The minister said no more, but the old Sumaṇgala that the King was not pleased with him. After another year he once again returned, and again—in the third year—he brought his wife and children. The minister knew the King had made his peace, and setting Sumaṇgala at the palace door, told the King that Sumaṇgala had returned. The King sent for him, and after greeting him, he said, “Sumaṇgala, why did you kill that paccekabuddha through whom I was gaining merit?” “O King, I did not mean to kill him, but it was in this way that I did the deed,” and he told the story. The king told him to have no fear, and reassuring him, he made him a park keeper again. Then the minister asked, “O King, why did you not answer when you heard Sumaṇgala’s praises twice, and on the third hearing why did you send for him and forgive him?” The King said, “Dear sir, it is wrong for a King to do anything hastily in anger. Therefore, I was silent at first, and the third time when I knew I had made my peace, I sent for Sumaṇgala.” And so he spoke these stanzas to declare the duty of a King:
Conscious of an angry frown,
Ne’er let King stretch out his rod,
Things unworthy of a crown
Then would follow from his nod.
Conscious of a milder mood,
Let him judgments harsh decree,
When the case is understood,
Fix the proper penalty.
Self nor others will he vex,
Clearly parting right from wrong,
Though his yoke is on men’s necks,
Virtue holds him high and strong.
Princes reckless in accord
Ply the rod remorselessly,
Ill repute is their reward,
Hell awaits them when they die.
They who love the saintly law,
Pure in deed and word and thought,
Filled with kindness, calm and awe,
Pass through both worlds as they ought.
King am I, my people’s lord,
Anger shall not check my bent.
When to vice I take the sword,
Pity prompts the punishment.
So the King declared his own good qualities in six stanzas. His whole court was pleased and declared his merits in the words: “Such excellence in moral practices and qualities is worthy of your majesty.” Sumaṇgala, after the court had finished speaking, saluted the King. And after paying homage, he spoke three stanzas in the King’s praise:
Such your glory and your power,
Ne’er resign them for an hour.
Free from anger, free from fears,
Reign in joy a hundred years.
Prince, whom all those virtues bless,
Mild and bland, but firm in worth,
Rule the world with righteousness,
Pass to heaven when freed from earth.
True in word, in action good,
Take the means your end to gain.
Calm the troubled multitude,
As a cloud with genial rain.
Figure: Sumaṇgala pays homage to the wise King
After the lesson connected with the admonition of the Kosala King, the Master identified the birth: “At that time the paccekabuddha passed into nirvāna, Sumaṅgala was Ānanda, and I was the King.”
