The Guilty Dogs

Once on a time when Brahinadatta was reigning in
Benares, the result of a past act of the Bodhisatta was
that he came to life as a dog, and dwelt in a great cemetery
at the head of several hundred dogs.

Now one day, the king set out for his pleasaunce in his
chariot of state drawn by white Sindh horses, and after
amusing himself all the day in the grounds came back to
the city after sunset. The carriage-harness they left in
the courtyard, still hitched on to the chariot. In the
night it rained and the harness got wet. Moreover, the
king's dogs came down from the upper chambers and
gnawed the leather work and straps. Next day they told
the king, saying, "Sire, dogs have got in through the
mouth of the sewer and have gnawed the leather work
and straps of your majesty's carriage." Enraged at the
dogs, the king said, " Kill every dog you see." Then began
a great slaughter of dogs ; and the creatures, finding that
they were being slain whenever they were seen, repaired
to the cemetery to the Bodhisatta. " What is the meaning,"
asked he, " of your assembling in such numbers ? " They
said, "The king is so enraged at the report that the
leather work and straps of his carriage have been gnawed
by dogs within the royal precincts, that he has ordered all
dogs to be killed. Dogs are being destroyed wholesale,
and great peril has arisen."

Thought the Bodhisatta to himself, "No dogs from
without can get into a place so closely watched ; it must
be the thorough-bred dogs inside the palace who have
done it. At present nothing happens to the real culprits,
while the guiltless are being put to death. What if I
were to discover the culprits to the king and so save the
lives of my kith and kin?" He comforted his kinsfolk by
saying, "Have no fear; I will save yon. Only wait here
till I see the king."

Then, guided by the thoughts of love, and calling to
mind the Ten Perfections, he made his way alone and
unattended into the city, commanding thus, " Let no hand
be lifted to throw stick or stone at me." Accordingly,
when he made his appearance, not a man grew angry at
the sight of him.

The king meantime, after ordering the dogs' destruc-
tion, had taken his seat in the hall of justice. And straight
to him ran the Bodhisatta, leaping under the king's throne.
The king's servants tried to get him out ; but his majesty
stopped them. Taking heart a little, the Bodhisatta came
forth from under the throne, and bowing to the king, said,
"Is it you who are having the dogs destroyed?" "Yes, it
is I." "What is their offence, king of men?" " They have
been gnawing the straps and the leather covering my
carriage." " Do you know the dogs who actually did the
mischief? " " Xo, I do not." " But, your majesty, if you do
not know for certain the real culprits, it is not right to
order the destruction of every dog that is seen." " It was
because dogs had gnawed the leather of my carriage that
I ordered them all to be killed." "Do your people kill
all dogs without exception ; or are there some dogs who
are spared?" "Some are spared, the thorough-bred
dogs of my own palace." " Sire, just now you were saying
that you had ordered the universal slaughter of all dogs
wherever found, because dogs had gnawed the leather of
your carriage ; whereas, now, you say that the thorough-
bred dogs of your own palace escape death. Therefore you
are following the four Evil Courses of partiality, dislike,
ignorance and fear. Such courses are wrong, and not
kinglike. For kings in trying cases should be as unbiassed
as the beam of a balance. But in this instance, since the
royal dogs go scot-free, whilst poor dogs are killed, this
is not the impartial doom of all dogs alike, but only the
slaughter of poor dogs." And moreover, the Great Being,
lifting up his sweet voice, said, "Sire, it is not justice that
you are performing," and he taught the Truth to the
king in this stanza :

The dogs that in the royal palace grow,

The well-bred dogs, so strong and fair of form,

Not these, but only we, are doomed to die.

Here's no impartial sentence meted out

To all alike; 'tis slaughter of the poor.

After listening to the Bodhisatta's words, the king-
said, "Do you in your wisdom know who it actually was
that gnawed the leather of my carriage?" "Yes, sire."
"Who was it?" "The thorough-bred dogs that live in
your own palace." " How can it be shewn that it was
they who gnawed the leather ? " "I will prove it to you."
"Do so, sage." "Then send for your dogs, and have a
little butter-milk and kusa-grass brought in." The king
did so.

Then said the Great Being, " Let this grass be mashed
up in the butter-milk, and make the dogs drink it."

The king did so ; with the result that each several
dog, as he drank, vomited. And they all brought up bits
of leather! "Why it is like a judgment of a Perfect
Buddha himself," cried the king overjoyed, and he did
homage to the Bodhisatta by offering him the royal
umbrella. And the Bodhisatta taught the Truth in the
ten stanzas on righteousness in the Te-sakuna Jataka 1 ,
beginning with the words:

Walk righteously, great king of princely race.


Then having established the king in the Five Com-
mandments, and having exhorted his majesty to be
steadfast, the Bodhisatta handed back to the king the
white umbrella of kingship.

At the close of the Great Being's words, the king
commanded that the lives of all creatures should be safe
from harm. He ordered that all dogs, from the Bodhisatta
downwards, should have a constant supply of food such
as he himself ate ; and, abiding by the teachings of the
Bodhisatta, he spent his life long in charity and other
good deeds, so that when he died he was re-born in the
world of gods. The 'Dog's Teaching' endured for ten
thousand years. The Bodhisatta also lived to a ripe
old age, and then passed away to fare according to his
deserts.