BURLINGAME. — BUDDHAGHOSA's DHAMMAPADA COMMENTARY. 509 



"Give me battle or rny kingdom." Then he cried out again, "I am 

 the king's son ; " and held up the mantle and the ring, that all might 

 see them ; whereupon the citizens opened the gates, and hailed him as 

 their king. (166-9) 



lb. Rise and Career of the Treasurer Ghosaka. 



Once upon a time there was a famine in the kingdom of Ajita, and a 

 certain man named Kotuhalaka took his wife and infant son and set 

 out for Kosambi in search of food. When the provisions for the jour- 

 ney failed, the father proposed to the mother to cast the child away, 

 but the mother protested vigorously, and suggested that they carry 

 the child by turns. While the father was carrying the child in his 

 arms, the child fell asleep ; whereupon the father, allowing the mother 

 to precede him, laid the child on a couch of leaves under a bush, and 

 went on his way. When the mother discovered what had happened, 

 she begged her husband to restore the child to her, and he did so. (In 

 consequence of having cast his child away on this occasion, Kotuhalaka 

 was himself cast away seven times in a later existence. Let no one 

 regard a sinful deed as a small matter.) (169-170) 



Continuing on their journey, they arrived at the house of a herds- 

 man. One of the herdsman's cows had just calved, and a festival was 

 being held in honor of the event. The herdsman received the visitors 

 hospitably, set abundant food before them, and then sat down to eat 

 his own meal. Kotuhalaka watched the herdsman feed a bitch that 

 lay under his stool, and thought to himself : " How fortunate is that 

 bitch to get food like that to eat ! " During the night Kotiihalaka 

 died of indigestion, and was conceived in the womb of the bitch whose 

 lot he envied. (170-171) 



Now a Private Buddha was accustomed to take his meals in the 

 house of the herdsman ; and Kotuhalaka's widow, realizing what an 

 opportunity she had to store up merit for the future, bestowed alms on 

 him faithfully every day. By and by the bitch gave birth to a single 

 pup. The herdsman reserved the milk of one cow for the pup, and in 

 a short time the latter grew to be a fine big dog. The Private Bud- 

 dha fed him every day with his own hand, and the dog became so fond 

 of the Private Buddha that he performed all manner of services for 

 him. Some time later the Private Buddha took leave of the herdsman, 

 and setting his face towards Gandhamadana, soared into the air. 

 Thereupon the dog set up a howl of grief, and when the Private Bud- 

 dha passed out of sight, his heart broke, and he died. (Dogs, they 

 say, are straightforward ; men think one thing with their heart, but say 



