KING PASENADI KOSALA 109
“A man may spoil another, just so far
As it may serve his ends, but when he’s spoiled
By others he, despoiled, spoils yet again.
So long as evil’s fruit is not matured,
The fool doth fancy ‘now’s the hour, the chance!’
But when the deed bears fruit, he fareth ill.
The slayer gets a slayer in his turn;
The conqueror gets one who conquers him;
Th’abuser wins abuse, th’annoyer, fret.
Thus by the evolution of the deed,
A man who spoils is spoiled in his turn.” 175
What the Buddha has said to King Kosala about women is equally
interesting and extremely encouraging to womankind. Once while the
king was engaged in a pious conversation with the Buddha, a messenger
came and whispered into his ear that Queen Malliká had given birth to a
daughter. The king was not pleased at this unwelcome news. In ancient
India, as it is to a great extent today, a daughter is not considered a
happy addition to a family for several selfish reasons as, for instance, the
problem of providing a dowry. The Buddha, unlike any other religious
teacher, paid a glowing tribute to women and mentioned four chief char-
acteristics that adorn a woman in the following words:
“Some women are indeed better (than men).
Bring her up, O Lord of men.
There are women who are wise, virtuous,
who regard mother-in-law as a goddess, and who are chaste.
To such a noble wife may be born a valiant son,
a lord of realms, who would rule a kingdom.” 176
Some women are even better than men. “Itthi hi pi ekacciyá seyyá”
were the actual words used by the Buddha. No religious teacher has
made such a bold and noble utterance especially in India, where women
are not held in high esteem.
Deeply grieved over the death of his old grandmother, aged one hun-
dred and twenty years, King Kosala approached the Buddha and said
that he would have given everything within his means to save his
grandmother who had been as a mother to him. The Buddha consoled
him, saying:
“All beings are mortal; they end with death, they have death in pros-
pect. All the vessels wrought by the potter, whether they are baked or- Ibid. p. 110
176.Kindred Sayings, part 1, p. 111. Saíyutta Nikáya, part 1, p.86.