Reading guide
A story that starts one generation early
Unlike every other story in this chapter, this one does not open with the bodhisatta's own life. It opens with his mother Phussatī, granted ten boons by Sakka before her death and reborn as an aristocrat who ‘always delighted in giving’ while pregnant with Vessantara — explaining his character as something present before his own life even began.
A resolve made at eight years old
As a boy, Vessantara already declares he would give his heart, his eyes, his flesh and blood, if anyone asked — a resolve the text marks as cosmically significant: the earth quakes at the steadiness of his reflection alone, before he has given anything at all.
The same elephant-gift verses as Cp 3
The request from Kaliṅga brahmins for the royal elephant, and Vessantara's vow not to refuse a supplicant, reuse verses nearly identical to Cp 3's King Dhanañjaya — but here the gift has a consequence Cp 3 does not narrate: angry townsfolk banish Vessantara from his own kingdom for it.
Escalating gifts, each marked by the earth
Exile does not end the giving. Before leaving the city he performs one more great offering of wealth; on the road he gives up his chariot; in the forest he gives away his two children to a brahmin named Jūjaka, then his wife Maddī to a disguised Sakka. The text itself counts the pattern: by its own final line, the earth has quaked seven times at these gifts.
A gap this verse-only text does not fill
Between giving away his children and the family's eventual reunion, this text moves directly from the gift itself to ‘later on... we were reunited by my mother and father’, without narrating what happened to the children in between. The fuller prose Jātaka tradition supplies that part of the story; this verse-only Cariyapitaka text, like several others in this collection, does not.
The same denial, at the highest stakes yet
As with earlier stories in this chapter, Vessantara explicitly denies the obvious reading of his own actions: ‘I had no dislike of my children, nor for Queen Maddī’. The reason given is the same one that has closed story after story in this chapter — ‘because omniscience is precious to me’ — now carrying weight it did not carry when the gift was an umbrella or a plate of leaves.
Key terms
The text
Vessantara's mother, and his birth
§1“She who was my mother, the aristocrat lady named Phussatī, was Sakka’s beloved queen in past lives.
§2Knowing that she was at the end of life, the lord of gods said this: ‘I grant you ten favors, my dear, whatever favor you wish.’
§3When he said this the queen replied to Sakka: ‘In what way am I deficient? How am I displeasing to you? You send me from this lovely place, like the wind a feeble tree.’
§4When she said this Sakka replied to her: ‘You have done nothing wrong, nor are you not beloved to me.
§5But your life lasts only so long, your time of death will come. Accept the ten supreme favors I offer to you.’
§6She accepted the offerings of Sakka, full of joy and happiness. Having conceived me, Phussatī was blessed with the ten favors.
§7Then Phussatī, having passed from there, was reborn as an aristocrat in the city of Jetuttara, where she married Sañjaya.
§8Once I was conceived in the womb of my dear mother Phussatī, because of my power, my mother always delighted in giving.
§9She gave to the destitute, the ailing and aging, to beggars, travelers, and folk, to ascetics and brahmins, and the dispossessed, and to those who had nothing.
§10Having carried me for ten months, she was proceeding around the city when Phussatī gave birth to me in the middle of the peasant’s street.
§11My name was not from my mother’s side, nor from my father’s. I was born there in the peasant’s street, and that’s why I’m called Vessantara.
A resolve made as a child
§12When I was a boy of only eight years old, sitting in the stilt longhouse, I thought of giving gifts.
§13‘I would give my heart and my eyes, my flesh and blood too.’ I announced that I would give my body, if anyone asked me.
§14Reflecting on my state of mind, so undisturbed and steadfast, the earth quaked there, and Mount Sineru, wreathed in forests.
The gift of the royal elephant
§15Every fortnight, the fifteenth, and the sabbath when the moon was full, I mounted the tusker Paccaya and went to give gifts.
§16From the country of Kaliṅga, the brahmins came to me, requesting the royal elephant, that was lucky and deemed as auspicious.
§17‘Our nation is suffering from drought, food is scarce and famine abounds, please give the noble elephant the all-white supreme elephant.’
§18‘I give without hesitation what you ask of me, brahmins. I do not hide what I have, for my heart is happy to give.
§19When supplicants come to me it is unbefitting to refuse. Let not my vow be broken, I shall give the mighty elephant.’
§20Taking the elephant by the trunk, and a bejeweled ceremonial vessel, I sprinkled water on the hand, and gave the elephant to the brahmins.
§21Then again when I was giving the all-white supreme elephant, the earth quaked again, and Mount Sineru, wreathed in forests.
Banished, giving once more before he goes
§22At the gift of the tusker, angry townsfolk gathered and banished me from my kingdom, saying: ‘Go to Crooked Mountain.’
§23While they were ejecting me, I was undisturbed and steadfast, I asked one favor: to perform a great offering.
§24When I asked, all the townsfolk granted me that one favor. Sounding the drums, I gave a great offering.
§25And as the sound went forth, there was a great tumult and upset. They drove me out because of giving, but I just gave again.
§26Elephants, horses, chariots, male and female slaves, cattle, and riches: after giving this great gift I then left the city.
§27After leaving the city, I turned back to look, at which the earth quaked, and Mount Sineru, wreathed in forests.
Into exile with Maddī and the children
§28Having given away my four-horse chariot, I was standing at the crossroads alone with no partner, and I said to Queen Maddī:
§29‘Maddī, you take Kaṇhā, for she, as the younger sister, is the lighter. I shall take Jāli, for he, as the brother, is heavier.’
§30Like a pink or white lotus, Maddī picked up Kaṇhājinā. Like a golden statue, I picked up Jāli, the aristocrat.
§31High-born and delicate, four aristocrat folk traveled ground even and uneven, going to Crooked Mountain.
§32Whenever men would come along, coming the other way along the road, we asked them in the middle of the street, ‘Where is Crooked Mountain?’
§33Seeing us there, they spoke to us kindly, ‘It will be hard for you,’ they explained, ‘for Crooked Mountain is far.’
§34If the children saw fruit on a tree in the forest, then for the sake of that fruit, the children cried.
§35Seeing the children cry, the tall, massive trees bent down of their own accord, within reach of the children.
§36Seeing this marvel, so astonishing and hair-raising, Maddī, beautiful in every limb, exclaimed in celebration:
§37‘Such a marvel in the world, so astonishing and hair-raising, due to the power of Vessantara, the trees bent down of their own accord.’
§38Native spirits, out of compassion, shortened the path, so that on the very day they set out, they arrived at the kingdom of Ceta.
A hermitage in the forest
§39Sixty thousand kings were living at Mātula then. All raised their cupped palms, and approached, weeping.
§40There they held conversation with the folks of Ceta and their children. Then, leaving that place, they arrived at Crooked Mountain.
§41The lord of gods addressed Vissakamma of great psychic power: ‘Build a hermitage, well-made and delightful, with a hall of leaves.’
§42After hearing Sakka’s words, Vissakamma of great psychic power built a hermitage, well-made and delightful, with a hall of leaves.
§43Having plunged into the forest, quiet and undisturbed, we four individuals lived there in the mountains.
§44Myself and Queen Maddī, with both Jāli and Kaṇhājinā, dispelling each other’s sorrow lived then in that hermitage.
§45While caring for the children, I was not idle in the hermitage. Maddī gathered fruit, and provided for three individuals.
Giving away the children
§46While I was living in the forest, a traveler came to me and asked for my children, both Jāli and Kaṇhājinā.
§47When I saw the supplicant approaching, I felt so full of joy. Taking both my children, I gave them to the brahmin then.
§48When I gave away my own children, to the brahmin Jūjaka, the earth quaked again, and Mount Sineru, wreathed in forests.
Giving away Maddī
§49And then Sakka descended in the guise of a brahmin. He asked me for Queen Maddī, virtuous, and devoted.
§50Taking Maddī by the hand, filling clasped hands with water, with a confident heart, I gave Maddī to him.
§51As Maddī was being given, gods applauded in the welkin, and the earth quaked again, and Mount Sineru, wreathed in forests.
§52Jāli and Kaṇhājinā my daughter, and Queen Maddī my devoted wife: I gave them up without a second thought, because it was solely for awakening.
§53I had no dislike of my children, nor for Queen Maddī. But because omniscience is precious to me, I gave my loved ones away.
Reunion and return
§54Later on in the mighty forest, we were reunited by my mother and father. Crying pitifully, they spoke of my happiness and sadness.
§55With deep conscience and prudence, I approached them, at which the earth quaked, and Mount Sineru, wreathed in forests.
§56Later on in the mighty forest, having left the forest with my family, I entered the delightful city Jetuttara, the capital city.
§57The seven gems rained down, raining forth from a mighty cloud, and the earth quaked again, and Mount Sineru, wreathed in forests.
§58Even this insentient earth, with no knowledge of happiness or sadness, quaked seven times at the power of my giving.”
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