more from Joe Campbell
Nov. 2nd, 2002 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsyche"There is an astonishing fable in the Hindu Panchatantra, where an awesome reflection of the pain-bearing aspect of the Bodhisattva principle appears in a strange adventure that throws light on the meaning and background of the Maimed King of the Grail. It is of four friends, Brahmins, stricken with poverty, who determined to try to get rich. They set forth together and in the Avanti country met a magician named Terror-Joy, whom they asked for assistance. He gave to each a magic quill, with instructions to go north, to the northern slope of the Himalayas [i.e., to Buddhist Tibet]; and wherever a quill dropped, the owner would find treasure. The leader's quill dropped first, and they found the soil to be all copper. So he said, 'Look here! Take all you want!' But the others decided to go on. The first took his copper and turned back. Next the second leader's quill dropped; he dug, found silver, and was the second to return. The next quill yielded gold. 'Don't you see the point?' said the fourth. 'First copper, then silver, then gold. Beyond, there will surely be gems.' And he went on.
"And so this other went on alone. His limbs were scorched by the rays of the summer sun and his thoughts were confused by thirst as he wandered to and fro over the trails in the land of the fairies. At last, on a whirling platform, he saw a man with blood dripping down his body; for a wheel was whirling on his head. Then he made haste and said: 'Sir, why do you stand thus with a wheel whirling on your head? In any case, tell me if there is water anywhere. I am mad with thirst.'
"The moment the Brahmin said this, the wheel left the other's head and settled on his own. 'My very dear sir,' said he, 'what is the meaning of this?' 'In the very same way,' replied the other, 'it settled on my head.' 'But,' said the Brahmin, 'when will it go away? It hurts terribly.'
"And the fellow said: 'When someone who holds in his hand a magic quill, such as you had, arrives and speaks as you did, then it will settle on his head.' 'Well,' said the Brahmin, 'how long have you been here?' The other asked: 'Who is king in the world at present?' And on hearing the answer, 'King Vinabatsa,' he said: 'When Rama was king, I was poverty-stricken, procured a magic quill, and came here, just like you. And I saw another man with a wheel on his head and put a question to him. The moment I asked a question (just like you) the wheel left his head and settled on mine. But I cannot reckon the centuries.'
"Then the wheel-bearer asked: 'My dear sir, how, pray, did you get food while standing thus?' 'My dear sir,' said the fellow, 'the god of wealth [Kubera = Hades-Pluto], fearful lest his treasures be stolen, prepared this terror, so that no magician might come so far. And if any should succeed in coming, he was to be freed from hunger and thirst, preserved from decrepitude and death, and was merely to endure this torture. So now permit me to say farewell. You have set me free from a sizable misery. Now I am going home.' And he went."
--Creative Mythology, pp. 413-14.
"And so this other went on alone. His limbs were scorched by the rays of the summer sun and his thoughts were confused by thirst as he wandered to and fro over the trails in the land of the fairies. At last, on a whirling platform, he saw a man with blood dripping down his body; for a wheel was whirling on his head. Then he made haste and said: 'Sir, why do you stand thus with a wheel whirling on your head? In any case, tell me if there is water anywhere. I am mad with thirst.'
"The moment the Brahmin said this, the wheel left the other's head and settled on his own. 'My very dear sir,' said he, 'what is the meaning of this?' 'In the very same way,' replied the other, 'it settled on my head.' 'But,' said the Brahmin, 'when will it go away? It hurts terribly.'
"And the fellow said: 'When someone who holds in his hand a magic quill, such as you had, arrives and speaks as you did, then it will settle on his head.' 'Well,' said the Brahmin, 'how long have you been here?' The other asked: 'Who is king in the world at present?' And on hearing the answer, 'King Vinabatsa,' he said: 'When Rama was king, I was poverty-stricken, procured a magic quill, and came here, just like you. And I saw another man with a wheel on his head and put a question to him. The moment I asked a question (just like you) the wheel left his head and settled on mine. But I cannot reckon the centuries.'
"Then the wheel-bearer asked: 'My dear sir, how, pray, did you get food while standing thus?' 'My dear sir,' said the fellow, 'the god of wealth [Kubera = Hades-Pluto], fearful lest his treasures be stolen, prepared this terror, so that no magician might come so far. And if any should succeed in coming, he was to be freed from hunger and thirst, preserved from decrepitude and death, and was merely to endure this torture. So now permit me to say farewell. You have set me free from a sizable misery. Now I am going home.' And he went."
--Creative Mythology, pp. 413-14.