Jataka 431
Hārita Jātaka
The Story of Hārita
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
This is one of the most iconic stories in the Jātaka literature. That is because the Bodhisatta, even though it is to his disadvantage and could lead to severe consequences, is unable to lie. This shows the importance of speaking the truth in the Buddhist tradition. As the text says:
“In certain cases a Bodhisatta may destroy life, take what is not given him, commit adultery, or drink strong drink, but he may not tell a lie.”
“Friend Hārita.” The Master told this story while he was living at Jetavana. It is about a discontented monk. Now this monk—after seeing a smartly attired woman—grew discontented. He allowed his hair and nails to grow long, and he wished to return to the world. He was brought by his teachers and preceptors— against his will—to the Master who asked him, “Is it true that you are a backslider, and if so why.” He said, “Yes, your Reverence. It is due to the power of sensual desire that was aroused by seeing a beautiful woman.” The Master said, “Sense desire, brother, is destructive of virtue and weakness. It causes a man to be reborn in hell. So why should this passion not prove to be your destruction for the hurricane that strikes Mount Sineru is not ashamed to carry off a withered leaf. Because of sensual desire, even those who walk according to knowledge and wisdom, those who have acquired the five Faculties (faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom) and the eight Attainments (jhānas), even though they were great and holy men, were unable to temper their thoughts, and they fell away from mystic meditation.” And then he told this story from the past.
Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born in a certain village into a brahmin family. The family was worth 80 crores (800 million rupees). Because he had a golden complexion, they called him Harittacakumāra (Young Goldskin). When he had grown up and been educated at Takkasilā University, he established life as a householder. And on the death of his father and mother, he made an inventory of his treasures and thought, “The treasure only continues to exist, but they who produced it cease to exist. I, too, must be reduced to nothing by means of death.” And so, alarmed by the fear of death, he away his gifts, and entering the Himālaya country, he adopted the holy life.
In only seven days he entered upon the Faculties and Attainments. There he lived on wild fruit and roots for a long time. The one day he left the mountain to obtain salt and vinegar. In due course he reached Benares. There he lived in the royal park. One day he was on his alms round when he came to the door of the King’s palace. The King was so glad to see him that he sent for him, and he made him sit on the royal couch beneath the shade of the white umbrella. He fed him all types of delicacies. As he prepared to leave, the King—who was exceedingly pleased—asked him, “Reverend sir, where are you going?” “Great King,” he said, “I am looking for a dwelling place for the rainy season.” “Very well, Reverend Sir,” he said, and after the meal, he went with him to the park. The King had quarters built for him for both for the day and night. He assigned the keeper of the park to be his attendant. Then he saluted him and left. From that time on, the Great Being ate continually in the palace. He lived there for 12 years.
Now one day the King went to subdue an uprising on the frontier. He left the Bodhisatta in the care of the Queen, saying to her, “Do not neglect our ‘Field of Merit.’” And from then on, she ministered to the Great Being with her own hands.
Now one day she prepared his food. He was delayed in arriving, and so she bathed in scented water. She put on a soft tunic of fine cloth, lay down on a small couch, and let the wind play upon her body. The Bodhisatta arrived later on in the day, dressed in a good inner and outer robe. He took his alms bowl, and walking through the air, he came to the window. The Queen rose up in haste at the rustling sound of his bark garments. Her robe of fine cloth fell off of her. An extraordinary beauty struck the eye of the Great Being. Then the sensual desire that had been living for countless eons in his heart rose up like a snake lying in a box. It put his mindfulness to flight. Being unable to subdue his thoughts, he went and seized the Queen by the hand. They drew a curtain around them. After misconducting himself with her, he ate some food and returned to the park. And every day from then on he acted in the same way.
His misconduct was broadcast throughout the whole city. The King’s ministers sent a letter to him, saying, “Hārita, the recluse, is acting in this way.”
The King thought, “They say this just to create a division between us,” and he did not believe them. Once he had pacified the border country, he returned to Benares. And after marching in triumphant procession around the city, he went to the Queen and asked her, “Is it true that the holy recluse Hārita misconducted himself with you?” “It is true, my lord.” But he did not believe her, either, and thought, “I will ask the man himself.” So he went to the park, saluted him, and sitting respectfully on one side, he spoke the first stanza in the form of a question:
Friend Hārita, I now have heard it said
A wicked life is by your Reverence led.
I trust there is no truth in this report,
And you are innocent in deed and thought?
He thought, “If I say that I am not indulging in immoral conduct, this King would believe me. But in this world there is no better ground than speaking the truth. Those who forsake the truth, even if they sit in the sacred enclosure of the Bodhi tree, cannot attain to Buddhahood. I must simply speak the truth.” In certain cases a Bodhisatta may destroy life, take what is not given him, commit adultery, or drink strong drink, but he may not tell a lie. Deception violates the reality of things. Therefore, speaking the truth, he uttered the second stanza:
In evil ways, great King, as you have heard,
Caught by the world’s delusive arts, I erred.
Figure: Oops. My bad.
Hearing this the King spoke the third stanza:
Vain is man’s deepest wisdom to dispel
The passions that within his bosom swell.
Then Hārita pointed out to him the power of desire and spoke the fourth stanza:
There are four passions in this world, great King,
That in their power are over-mastering.
Lust, hate, excess, and ignorance their name.
Knowledge can here no certain footing claim.
On hearing this, the King spoke the fifth stanza:
Endowed with holiness and intellect
The saintly Hārita wins our respect.
Then Hārita spoke the sixth stanza:
Ill thoughts, with pleasant vices if combined,
Corrupt the sage to saintliness inclined.
Then the King, encouraging him to throw off wicked passion, spoke the seventh stanza:
The beauty that from purest hearts does shine
Is marred by lust, born of this mortal frame.
Away with it, and blessings shall be thine,
And multitudes your wisdom shall proclaim.
Then the Bodhisatta recovered the power to restrain his thoughts, and observing the misery of wicked desire, he spoke the eighth stanza:
Since blinding passions yield a bitter fruit,
All growth of lust I cut down to the root.
So saying, he asked the King's leave. And having gained his consent, he entered his hermit hut, fixed his gaze, and entered into samadhi. Then he left the hut, and sitting cross-legged in the air, he taught the King the true Dharma. He said, “Great King, I have fallen from grace in the midst of the people because of my living in a place where I should not be. But be vigilant. Now will I return to some forest free away from the temptation of womankind.” And amidst the tears and lamentations of the King, he returned to the Himālaya Mountains. And without falling away from samadhi, he was reborn in the Brahma world.
The Master, knowing the whole story, said:
Thus Hārita for truth right stoutly did contend,
And lust forsaking did to Brahma world ascend.
And having spoken this stanza in his Perfect Wisdom, he taught the Four Noble Truths. At the conclusion of the teaching, the worldly-minded brother becamean arahant. The then Master identified the Birth: “At that time the King was Ānanda, and I was Hārita.”
