Vol. X, No. 7.J Spirit Belief in the Jataka Stories. 259 



[N.S.] 



First about the spirits living in houses and cities, etc. We 

 s . . d lr . find in the introduction of the Khadi- 



P1 houses , e etc g m rangara Jataka 1 that a spirit lived in 



the portal of the 4th gate of the house of 

 Anathapindika. The house of the merchant was constantly 

 visited by the Buddha and his followers. Whenever thev 

 passed that particular gate the god had to alight from h\> 

 place and to stand on earth. It was extremely troublesome, 

 and he tried a remedy. Anathapindika nearly exhausted his 

 wealth in his liberality towards the Buddhist monkhood. 

 The god thought of advising Anathapindaka not to spend any 

 more on the monkhood to save himself from penury and thus 

 to put an end to the constant visits of the monks. So one night 

 while Anathapindika was sleeping in the chamber he appeared 

 before him assuming a bright radiant form. The banker awoke 



asked 



He said 



that he was the god dwelling in the 4th gate of the house and 

 he came there to advise him not to spend any more on the 

 monkhood, for by doing so he would bring ruin on himself and 

 his family. At this the banker was highly incensed and ordered 

 him to quit his house at once. One peculiar characteristic of 

 _ . . .. . the gods is this, that thev are always 



the epTc gldl t0 afraid of the Buddha andhis blowers. 



In this respect they are similar to the 



epic gods who are in constant fear of men practising austerities. 

 Now the banker was a follower of the Buddha and reached the 

 first stage of perfection. The god became highly afraid of him 

 and had no other course but to leave the house. Holding his 

 children by their hands he went out of the house and not 

 finding retuge anywhere thought of appeasing the anger of the 

 banker. With this object he went to the guardian deity of the 

 town and requested him to intercede on his behalf. But he 

 was not bold enough, so he went to the four Maharajas, the 

 guardian deities of the quarters. They too dared not, and he 

 went to Sakka, who pointed out to him the way in which he 

 could appease the wrath of the banker. In the Mugapakkha 

 Jataka 2 and in the Vidhurapandita Jataka, there is mention of 



deities dwelling in the royal umbrella. 

 P £ fl 1n U K g n the These deities were in their previous births 



Royal Umbrella. ^^ Qf ^ kingg> Tfa are 



presented as ~.~ & 



In the 



Vidhurapandita Jataka, 8 the king «»lays dice with a Yakkha. 

 He is being guided by his guardian deity. The Yakkha per- 

 ceiving this easts threatening looks at the deity, whereupon she 

 fled to the top of the Cakkavala mountain and stood trembling 

 there. Besides these domestic spirits we meet with another 



1 Jataka, Vol. I. p 227. * Jataka, Vol. VI, p. 4. 



3 Jataka, Vol. VI, p. 255. 



