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JÄtaka Stories of Past Lives 55
EkakanipÄta The Book of the Ones
ÄsÄ«savagga Hope
5. PaƱcÄvudhajÄtaka Prince Five-Weapons: a past life story
āYo alÄ«nena cittena, He whose heart is not stuck, A prince is named āFive-Weaponsā after a prophecy when he was born. The prophecy was fulfilled when, on returning from his studies in TakkasilÄ in GandhÄra, he encountered a ferocious native spirit (yakkha) in a forest and fought it with five weapons. Each attack only stuck him tighter to the monsterās shaggy coat. The monster, recognizing his courage, let him go. | The five weapons are the arrow (sara), sword (khagga), javelin (kaį¹aya), hammer (muggara), and lance (kunta). But his real weapon is the vajira (ādiamondā or āthunderboltā), which is the weapon of knowledge.
alÄ«namanaso naro; a man of intrepid mind, The warrior gets āstuckā or āboundā (allÄ«na) to his adversary, in what can be read as a metaphor for violence: one who lives by the sword is āboundā to the kamma of killing, becoming the same as those who they fight. The otherwise unrelated verse is linked to the story through the contrasting image of the mind that is ānot boundā (alÄ«na), a word that can also mean āintrepid, unwearying, braveā. In this verse and the next, the double meanings are intended by the poet, so I use the different meanings in each line.
BhÄveti kusalaį¹ dhammaį¹, develops skillful qualities
yogakkhemassa pattiyÄ; for the sake of sanctuary from the yoke.
PÄpuį¹e anupubbena, Gradually he would attain
sabbasaį¹yojanakkhayanāti. the ending of all fetters.
PaƱcÄvudhajÄtakaį¹ paƱcamaį¹.