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ja.82 Jataka

Mittavinda Jātaka

“No more to dwell.”—This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana, about a self-willed Brother. The incidents of this Birth, which took place in the days of the Buddha Kassapa, will be related in the Tenth Book in the Maha-Mittavindaka Jataka.


Then the Bodhisatta uttered this Stanza—

No more to dwell in island palaces
Of crystal, silver, or of sparkling gems,—
With flinty headgear thou’rt invested now;
Nor shall its griding torture ever cease
Till all thy sin be purged and life shall end.

So saying, the Bodhisatta passed to his own abode among the Devas. And Mittavindaka, having donned that headgear, suffered grievous torment till his sin had been spent and he passed away to fare according to his deserts.


His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth, by saying, “This self-willed Brother was the Mittavindaka of those days, and I myself the King of the Devas.”

- Translator: Robert Chalmers

- Editor: Bhikkhu Sujato