No. 28. — 1884.] fiust fifty jatakas. 



173 



men came by their death" ; and then he told the story of the past. 

 In past time, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, in a 

 certain village was a Brahmin who knew the charm called 

 Vedabbha. That charm, men say, is a precious and most valuable 

 one. Having observed the proper conjunction of the heavenly 

 bodies, he went through this charm and looked* up to the sky, and 

 thereupon a rain of the seven gems would rain from the sky. At 

 that time the Bddhisat was learning science under that Brahmin. 



One day the Brahmin took the Bddhisat and went out of his 

 own village for some purpose or other, and went into the Cetiyan 

 country. On the way thither, in a forest place, there were five 

 hundred " sending thieves," as they are called, engaged in highway 

 robbery. These robbers caught the Bddhisat and the Brahmin 

 Vedabbha. The reason they are called " sending thieves" is this. 

 They catch two people and " send" one to fetch treasure —from 

 this they are, called i( sending thieves." When they catch father 

 and son, they say to the father, " You bring us treasure and then 

 you may take your son and go ;" in the same way, when they 

 catch mother and daughter, they let the mother go ; when they 

 catch elder and younger brothers,! they let the elder go ; when 

 teacher and pupil, they let the pupil go. So this time they seized 

 the Brahmin Vedabbha and let go the Bddhisat. The Bddhisat, 

 after making obeisance to his master, said, " I shall come back in 

 one or two days ; fear not, and do what I say. To-day it will be 

 the conjunction of the heavens for producing the rain of treasure ; 

 but do not grow impatient and go through the charm and produce 

 the rain of treasure ; if you do, you will come to destruction and 

 so will these five hundred robbers." After giving this warning 

 to his master, he went for treasure. The robbers, when the sun 

 went down, bound the Brahmin and lay down. At that very 

 moment from the Eastern quarter the full moon rose. The 

 Brahmin observing the constellation (in which she rose) said to 

 himself : a It is the proper conjunction for the rain of treasure ; 

 why need I endure (this) suffering ? I will recite the charm and 

 bring down the rain of treasure, give the treasure to the robbers, 

 and go where I please." And so he said to the robbers, " Good 

 robbers, what are you seizing me for ?" " For treasure, sir." 

 " Then, if it is treasure you want, make haste and release me 



* Ullokl It is not unlikely, as the text of this Jataka is more corrupt than 

 others, that this should be ulloketi : "One" (the person, whoever he may be, who 

 uses the charm) " looks up, &c." 



f Jjetthakakanitthe. Read Jetthakanitthe. B. has no doubt of this correction in 

 spite of jetthakabhdtikam. 



