Ja 199 The Story about the Householder
(Gahapatijātaka)
In the present one monk is tempted to go back to the lay life by the sight of a woman in her finery. The Buddha tells a story of how a brahmin’s wife cheated on him with a headman, how he caught them, and punished them for their behaviour.
1. Ubhayaṁ me na khamati, ubhayaṁ me na ruccati,
Yācāyaṁ koṭṭham-otiṇṇā, ‘Nāddasaṁ’ iti bhāsati.
I do not agree with either, I do not delight in either, having descended to this granary, ‘I did not give,’ she says.
2. Taṁ taṁ gāmapati brūmi, kadare appasmi’ jīvite,
Dve māse saṅgaraṁ katvā, maṁsaṁ jaraggavaṁ kisaṁ,
Appattakāle codesi, tam-pi mayhaṁ na ruccatī ti!
I say this and this, village-lord, in this miserable little life, after agreeing to two months, you gave an old skinny bull’s meat, before the time has arrived you scold me, I don’t delight in that!
In this connection, I say this and this, village-lord, dear village elder, for this reason I say this.
In this miserable little life, normally our life is miserable, hard, coarse, tough, little, dull, limited, we are living such a life as this.
After agreeing to two months, you gave an old skinny bull’s meat, our meat being taken from a skinny old bull, while giving a weak, old ox, you said: “You should return two months from the beginning,” thus you have broken this two month agreement.
Before the time has arrived you scold me, before the time has been reached, along the way, you scold me.
I don’t delight in that! This is wickedness, unvirtuous, knowing the absence of rice paddy inside the granary, becoming like one who doesn’t know that, having descended into the granary, standing at the granary door, I will not give, this is what she says, you scold me at the wrong time, this pair I neither agree with, nor delight in.