16. Then the Blessed One thought thus: 'This Ambattha is very set on humbling the Sâkyas with his charge of servile origin. What if I were to ask him as to his own lineage.' And he said to him:
'And what family do you then, Ambattha, belong to?'
'I am a Kanhâyana.'
'Yes, but if one were to follow up your ancient name and lineage, Ambattha, on the father's and the mother's side, it would appear that the Sâkyas were once your masters, and that you are the offspring of one of their slave girls. But the Sâkyas trace their line back to Okkâka the king{2}.
'Long ago, Ambattha, King Okkâka, wanting to divert the succession in favour or the son of his favourite queen, banished his elder children--Okkâmukha, Karanda, Hatthinika, and Sinipura--from the land. And being thus banished they took up their dwelling on the slopes of the Himâlaya, on the borders of a lake where a mighty oak tree grew.
And through fear of injuring the purity of their line they intermarried with their sisters.
'Now Okkâka the king asked the ministers at his court: "Where, Sirs, are the children now{1}?"'
'There is a spot, Sire, on the slopes of the Himâlaya, on the borders of a lake, where there grows a mighty oak (sako). There do they dwell. And lest they should injure the purity of their line they have married their own (sakâhi) sisters.'
'Then did Okkâka the king burst forth in admiration [93]: "Hearts of oak (sakyâ) are those young fellows! Right well they hold their own (paramasakyâ){2}!"
'That is the reason, Ambattha, why they are known as Sâkyas. Now Okkâka had a slave girl called Disâ. She gave birth to a black baby. And no sooner was it born than the little black thing said, "Wash me, mother. Bathe me, mother. Set me free, mother, of this dirt. So shall I be of use to you."
'Now just as now, Ambattha, people call devils "devils," so then they called devils "black fellows" (kanhe). And they said: "This fellow spoke as soon as he was born. 'Tis a black thing (kanha) that is born, a devil has been born!" And that is the origin, Ambattha, of the Kanhayanas s. He was the ancestor of the Kanhâyanas{3}. And thus is it, Ambattha, that if one were to follow up your ancient name and lineage, on the father's and on the mother's side, it would appear that the Sâkyas were once your masters, and that you are the offspring of one of their slave girls.'
17. When he had thus spoken the young Brahmans said to the Blessed One: 'Let not the venerable Gotama humble Ambattha too sternly with this reproach of being descended from a slave girl. He is well born, Gotama, and of good family; he is versed in the sacred hymns, an able reciter, a learned man. And he is able to give answer to the venerable Gotama in these matters.'
18. Then the Blessed One said to them: 'Quite so. If [94] you thought otherwise, then it would be for you to carry on our discussion further. But as you think so, let Ambattha himself speak{1}.'
19. 'We do think so; and we will hold our peace. Ambattha is able to give answer to the venerable Gotama in these matters.'
20. Then the Blessed One said to Ambattha the Brahman: 'Then this further question arises, Ambattha, a very reasonable one which, even though unwillingly, you should answer. If you do not give a clear reply, or go off upon another issue{2}, or remain silent, or go away, then your head will split in pieces on the spot{3}. What have you heard, when Brahmans old and well stricken in years, teachers of yours or their teachers, were talking together, as to whence the Kanhâyanas draw their origin, and who the ancestor was to whom they trace themselves back?'
And when he had thus spoken Ambattha remained silent. And the Blessed One asked the same question again. [95] And still Ambattha remained silent. Then the Blessed One said to him: 'You had better answer, now, Ambattha. This is no time for you to hold your peace. For whosoever, Ambattha, does not, even up to the third time of asking, answer a reasonable question put by a Tathâgata (by one who has won the truth), his head splits into pieces on the spot.'
21. Now at that time the spirit who bears the thunderbolt{1} stood over above Ambattha in the sky with a mighty mass of iron, all fiery, dazzling, and aglow, with the intention, if he did not answer, there and then to split his head in pieces. And the Blessed One perceived the spirit bearing the thunderbolt, and so did Ambattha the Brahman. And Ambattha on becoming aware of it, terrified, startled, and agitated, seeking safety and protection and help from the Blessed One, crouched down beside him in awe{2}, and said: 'What was it the Blessed One said? Say it once again!'
'What do you think, Ambattha? What have you heard, when Brahmans old and well stricken in years, teachers of yours or their teachers, were talking together, as to whence the Kanhâyanas draw their origin, and who the ancestor was to whom they trace themselves back?'
'Just so, Gotama, did I hear, even as the venerable Gotama hath said. That is the origin of the Kanhâyanas, and that the ancestor to whom they trace themselves back.'
22. And when he had thus spoken the young Brahmans fell into tumult, and uproar, and turmoil; and said: 'Low born, they say, is Ambattha the Brahman; his family, they say, is not of good standing; they say he is descended from a slave girl; and the Sâkyas were his masters. We did not suppose that the Samana Gotama, whose words are righteousness itself, was not a man to be trusted!'
23. And the Blessed One thought: [96] 'They go too far, these Brahmans, in their depreciation of Ambattha as the offspring of a slave girl. Let me set him free from their reproach.' And he said to them: 'Be not too severe in disparaging Ambattha the Brahman on the ground of his descent. That Kanha became a mighty seer{1}. He went into the Dekkan, there he learnt mystic verses, and returning to Okkâka the king, he demanded his daughter Madda-rûpî in marriage. To him the king in answer said: "Who forsooth is this fellow, who--son of my slave girl as he is--asks for my daughter in marriage;" and, angry and displeased, he fitted an arrow to his bow. But neither could he let the arrow fly, nor could he take it off the string again{2}.
'Then the ministers and courtiers went to Kanha the seer, and said: "Let the king go safe, Sir; let the king go safe{3}."
"The king shall suffer no harm. But should he shoot the arrow downwards, then would the earth dry up as far as his realm extends."
"Let the king, Sir, go safe, and the country too."
"The king shall suffer no harm, nor his land. But should he shoot the arrow upwards, the god would not rain for seven years as far as his realm extends{4}."
"Let the king, Sir, go safe, and the country too; and let the god rain."
"The king shall suffer no harm, nor the land either, and the god shall rain. But let the king aim the arrow at his eldest son. The prince shall suffer no harm, not a hair of him shall be touched."
'Then, O Brahmans, the ministers told this to Okkâka,
and said: "Let the king aim{1} at his eldest son. He will suffer neither harm nor terror." And the king did so, and no harm was done. But the king, terrified at the lesson given him, [97] gave the man his daughter Madda-rûpî to wife. You should not, O Brahmans, be too severe to disparage Ambattha in the matter of his slave-girl ancestress. That Kanha was a mighty seer:
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