Garland of the Buddha's Past Lives (Volume 2). Aryashura

      The fine sage felt neither grief nor anger

      when the sharp sword fell on his body.

      For he knew his body’s machinery must end

      and had long practiced forbearance toward people.

      (28.93 [55])

      While such gory depictions may suggest a tendency toward self-mortification or toward the notion of pain as having a purificatory effect, it is important to recognize that pain is usually portrayed negatively in such tales. Indeed it is precisely because the victim does not experience pain that forbearance is demonstrated.

      Despite seeing his body being chopped up,

      his mind stayed firm in undiminished patience.

      He felt no pain but kindness made the saint

      suffer at seeing the king’s fall from morality. (28.94 [56])

      In the “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives,” however, forbearance does not merely involve the overcoming of pain or the control of emotions such as anger. It also involves feeling compassion toward an aggressor or toward people _______

      by whom one has been wronged. In ‘The Birth-Story of the Sharabha Deer’ (25), the Bodhi·sattva thus rescues a king from a pit, even though the king had earlier tried to harm him:

      Compassion meant he forgot of him as a foe

      and he shared in the king’s pain instead. (25.20 [8])

This compassionate type of forbearance can take various forms. In ‘The Birth-Story of Kshanti·vadin,’ it involves pitying an aggressor for their violation of morality and for the bad karmic effects they are bound to suffer (see 28.94 [56] above).2 By contrast, in “The Birth-Story of the Elephant’ (30), the Bodhi·sattva’s forbearance involves no aggressor at all. Instead, it rests on his compassionate willingness to sacrifice his body for others in distress.3 The story’s maxim thus states: “If it results in the welfare of others, even pain is esteemed by the virtuous as a gain” (30.1).

      However, while some stories define forbearance in this extended sense of compassion toward an aggressor or self-sacrifice for others, it would be difficult to argue that for-bearance, even under such extended definitions, represents a major theme in every one of the ten stories (21–30) considered to portray the third perfection. The ‘Larger Birth-Story of Bodhi’ (23) and “The Birth-Story of Brahma’ (29) are, for example, far more concerned with the issue of defeating false doctrines than they are with forbearance, although a minor theme of the former story is that the Bodhi·sattva shows compassion toward a king despite his betrayal of their friendship. Similarly, in ‘The Birth-Story of the Goose’ (22), although the protagonists do act compassion- ________

      ately toward a traditional enemy (a hunter), the major focus of the story is not on forbearance but on devotion and the need to develop good friendships and virtue (see especially 22.150 [93]-156 [99]). While one might argue that the protagonists’ preservation of virtue in a testing situation represents a type of forbearance, or that the geese show for-bearance by offering friendship to those who have tried to wrong them, there seems no particular reason why the story should primarily reflect forbearance rather than virtue. It is also noteworthy that the term ksanti (“forbearance”) is never mentioned in the narrative itself, including the epilogue’s discussion of topics covered by the tale. While forbearance is therefore an important theme in stories 21–30, it is not central to all the narratives and the perfection structure appears weaker here than in the first twenty tales.

      Friends, Enemies and Virtuous Company

      Connected to the notion of forbearance is the theme of friendship and its related motifs of gratitude, treachery and proper companionship. In numerous stories, friendship and gratitude are extolled while treachery is criticized. ‘The Birth-Story of the Great Monkey’ (24) offers a typical example, in which a man, inflicted with the karmic punishment of leprosy for betraying the Bodhi·sattva (a monkey), explains to a king the reason for his grotesque appearance: __________________________

      What you see before you is only

      the flower of my betrayal of friendship.

      The fruit will surely be different,

      something far worse than this.

      You should regard treachery

      toward friends as a foe

      and look affectionately on friends

      who are affectionate to you. (24.62 [38]—63 [39])

      The Bodhi·sattva’s virtue is often the factor that enables enmity to be overcome. In ‘The Birth-Story of the Great Monkey’ (27), a king’s army attacks a tree inhabited by monkeys, “as if eager to attack the inaccessible fortress of an enemy” (27.23). This aggression is dispelled when the king witnesses the Bodhi·sattva’s self-sacrifice for his troop of monkeys, giving the following maxim to the story: “Those who act morally can influence the hearts even of enemies.” Similarly, in ‘The Birth-Story of the Sharabha Deer’ (25), a king marvels that a deer whom he tried to kill is still willing to save him from a pit:

      How can he show me compassion

      when I have clearly treated him as a foe? (25.26 [13])

In some stories the “enemy” is so impressed by the Bodhi·sattva’s virtue that he declares not only friendship but also a willingness to offer his life in gratitude: “My life is yours!” (25.40 [21], 26.17 [9]).4

      However, while enemies are often transformed into friends through virtue, several stories stress the value of proper companionship (rather than just any companionship), since an immoral friend can easily lead a person astray. The notion that moral company facilitates the cultivation of virtue reflects the Buddhist notion of a “good (spiritual) friend” kalyana/mitra) and is expressed, for example, by two verses in “The Birth-Story of Suta·soma’ (31): __________________

      Even randomly meeting

      a virtuous person just once

      creates something firm and enduring,

      requiring no constant attention. (31.138 [71])

      Never roam far from virtuous people.

      Modest in conduct, frequent the good.

      For their flower-like virtues spread pollen

which easily touches those nearby.5 (31.140 [72] )

      The importance of other people is also relevant to the Bodhi·sattva himself. Although the primary focus of the “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives” is usually on the Bodhi·sattva and his deeds, his achievement of virtue is not always an entirely solitary task. In the introduction to the first volume, we already had cause to mention the important role played by the Bodhi·sattva’s wife, Madri, in ‘The Birth-Story of Vishvan·tara’ (9). By giving her approval to her husband’s extreme gifts, Madri’s devotion not only assists the Bodhi·sattva in fulfilling the perfection of giving but also offers a resolution to the conflict between renunciate and social values brought about by the Bodhi·sattva’s absolutist moral outlook. The depth of intimacy between the Bodhi·sattva and his wife is highlighted in that story by the god Shakra, who describes their relationship as one of inseparability and interdependence:

      I give you back

      Madri, your wife.

      For moonlight should not

      exist apart from the moon. (vol. 1, 9.184 [99])

      Such participation by others in the Bodhi·sattva’s lives is also emphasized in other stories. In some cases it is expressed in the instrumental or catalytic sense of providing a context for the Bodhi·sattva’s performance of virtue. In “The Birth-Story of the Buffalo’