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Bandhanamokkha Jātaka (No.120)
The Bodhisatta was once chaplain to King
Brahmadatta. While the king was absent, quelling a frontier rebellion,
his queen sinned with all the messengers sent by the king to inquire after her
welfare. On the day of the king's return, the chaplain, while decorating the
palace, entered the queen's apartments, and she asked him to satisfy her lust.
When he refused the queen (feigning illness) charged him with having ill treated
her. Thereupon the king ordered that the chaplain be beheaded, but the latter
begged to be brought before the king, where he protested his innocence and
proved, by the testimony of the king's messengers, the queen's wickedness. The
king wished to put to death the queen and all the messengers, but the chaplain
interceded on their behalf and they were pardoned. He himself retired to the
Himāya, where he became an ascetic.
The story was told in reference to the attempt of
Cińcā to bring calumny upon the
Buddha.
The queen is identified with Cińńcā and the king with
Ananda. J. i.437ff.

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