Once the Bodhisatta lived in the foothills of
the Himalaya as a recluse. He lived on the wild fruits
and had developed great supernatural powers
among himself. Not
far from his hut there also lived a monster, who was
attracted to the teachings of the Bodhisatta and
often visited him to listen to his lectures.
Still,
the power of the sage did not convert his
basic character, and he continued to practice
killing men and eating them.
One day, there was a gorgeous young lady of Kashi
who was on
her way to her parents was moving from there. When she
was entering the
forest followed by her armed men, the monster
saw them; and attacked them by assuming a
terrible form. No sooner than the lady’s men saw
the monster they all ran by dropping their
weapons and leaving the lady and her carriage
behind. Attracted by the beauty of the maiden
the monster thought of marrying her; and not to
kill or eat her. So, he brought her to his cave
and married her and made her his wife. Since then, he fed her
ghee, honey, husked rice, fish and meat and so
on and brought her the costliest dress and
ornaments. But he did not trust her loyalty. So,
to keep her guarded, he placed her in a box,
which he swallowed it usually and kept inside his tummy.
One day, he went to a lake to take the bath. So, he
emitted the box out of his tummy and threw it on the shore. He
then took out his woman and rub her and
bathed her in the lake. Then he dressed her in a
pretty dress and let her move freely on the
shore to enjoy the fresh breath and went to the
lake for a dip.
When the monster was off to the lake the woman
saw the son of Vayu (Wind), walking through air
with a sword tied in his waist. He was a great
magician. Attracted to the magician’s
personality, she gesture him for amusement.
When the magician came down, she asked him to
enter the box quickly and hide there if he
wanted to have fun with her. And before the
monster could return, she herself went inside
the box and sat on top of him by covering him
with her dress.
When the monster returned, he swallowed the box
in a routine course and flew to the house of the
recluse to hear his lectures.
The recluse welcomed him and said, “I welcome you
three!.” Surprised the monster asked, “Why
‘three’ when I am only with my wife? we are only
two.” The recluse
then told him the truth and informed him that
the dangerous magician was also sitting inside
the box with the lady.
Knowing that the magician was inside his
tummy with a sword; and was likely to tear open
his tummy, he spit out the box instantly and
discovered what the recluse had said was true or
not.
Luckily, the magician had not fully drawn out
his sword by then though he had opened the box.
And no sooner than the box was dropped on the
ground Vayu Putta, which was the name of the
magician, float in the air with his sword and
dissolved into the air. Had the magician
remained a little longer in this tummy he would
have certainly killed the monster by his sword.
Thus saved by the ascetic’s knowledge the
monster bent before him and thanked him for
saving his life.
The Bodhisatta in turn advised him to set the
woman free; and walk towards the path of
intelligence.
