Blessing Eighteen:
Blameless Work
Blameless Work
E. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
E.1 Ex. The Father, the Son and the Donkey
Once there were a father and a son who went to the market in a distant town and bought a donkey. They led the donkey back towards their home on a rope. On the way back from the market, they passed through the first village and all the villagers exclaimed, “What a stupid father and son, they have spent good money on a donkey and now they lead it along the road instead of riding it”. The father and son thought, “What they say is true,” and so the father sat the son on the donkey and they went on their way. They passed through the second village and all the villagers exclaimed, “What an ungrateful son to ride the donkey and leave his poor father to walk — if the son were to walk and let his father ride, it would show that the son at least repays his debt of gratitude to his father”. The father and son thought, “What they say is true,” and so the father sat on the donkey and the son walked and they went on their way. They passed through the third village and all the villagers exclaimed, “What a cruel father! He has hardly any more years of life in him, and he lets his poor son walk along the road in his place”. The father and son consulted one another, ”What they say is true,” and so both the son and the father sat on the donkey and they went on their way. They passed through the fourth village and all the villagers exclaimed, “What a cruel father and son! Both of them together weigh more than the donkey itself and they are both riding the donkey — they’re not interested even if they break the donkey’s back”. The father and son consulted one another, “What they say is true,” — if they ride the donkey singly, together or lead the donkey, they get criticized — what can they do? They found a rope and tied the donkey so that it hung on the pole by its feet. The father took one end of the pole and the son the other and they went on their way. They passed through the fifth village and all the villagers exclaimed, “This father and son must be mad. What could be the reason they have bought a donkey to carry around like that. Wouldn’t it be better just to walk empty-handed?” This story only goes to show that if you want to find something to criticize, you can always find something. However, unfortunately, those who spend their whole time criticizing others are very numerous in the world. The moral of the story is that you cannot rely on others’ criticism to tell you the truth of a situation — you must have principles which are tried and tested to use as a rule of thumb.
E.2 Ex. Serivā Jātaka (J.3)
The bodhisattva was once a hawker of Seriva and was called Serivā. Once, in the company of a greedy merchant of the same name, he crossed the Telavāha and entered Andhapura. In that city was a family who had fallen on hard times, the sole survivors being a girl and her grandmother. The greedy merchant went to their house with his wares. The girl begged her grandmother to buy a trinket, and suggested that they should give the hawker the golden bowl from which they ate. The bowl was a valuable heirloom, but it had lost its luster and the woman didn’t know its value. The hawker was called in and shown the bowl. He scratched it with a needle and knew it was solid gold, but wishing to have it for nothing, he bluffed saying it was not worth half a farthing — so he threw it aside and left. Later, the bodhisattva came to the same street and was offered the same bowl. He told them the truth, gave them all the money he had and his stock too, leaving only eight pieces of money for himself. These he gave to the boatman and boarded the boat to cross the river. Meanwhile, the greedy merchant went again to the old woman’s house, hoping to get the bowl in exchange for a few trinkets. When he heard what had happened, he lost command of himself, and throwing down all he had, ran down to the river to find the bodhisattva’s boat in mid-stream. He shouted to the boatman to return, but the bodhisattva urged him on. The merchant, realizing what he had lost through his greed, was so upset that his heart burst and he fell down dead.
E.3 Ex. Sūci Jātaka (J.387)
The bodhisattva was once a very clever smith of Kasi, but was very poor. The principal royal smith had a beautiful daughter and the bodhisattva, wishing to win her, made a needle so delicate that could pierce anvils and float on water. For this needle, he made seven sheaths. He then went to the village of the head smith, stood outside the house and sang the praises of the needle. The smith’s daughter, who was fanning her father, told the bodhisattva to go elsewhere as no-one in that village wanted needles. The bodhisattva answered that his needle was extraordinary and the head-smith asked him to show them. The bodhisattva suggested that all the smiths be summoned and in their presence, he gave the needle-tube to the head-smith. He thought it was the needle itself, because he could find no end or tip. The tube was handed back to the bodhisattva who took out the first sheath. In this way the seven sheaths were removed and when the needle was at last revealed, he made it pierce an anvil and float on water. The whole assembly was filled with envy and admiration and the head-smith gave his daughter to the bodhisattva.
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