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19. — ON OFFERINGS GIVEN UNDER A VOW.
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But the tree-god, standing in a fork of the tree, uttered this stanza:
Would you be free, you first must die!
Seeking for freedom thus, is being bound!
Not by such deeds as these are the wise made free:
Salvation is the bond of fools!"[1]
Thenceforward men refrained from such life- destroying deeds, and living a life of righteousness filled the city of the gods.
The Teacher, having finished this discourse, made the connexion, and summed up the Jātaka: "I at that time was the Genius of the Tree."
END OF THE STORY ON OFFERINGS GIVEN UNDER A VOW.
- ↑ That is, in seeking after what they think is salvation (safety from the wrath of a god), fools practise rites and harbour delusions which become spiritual bonds. Death to oneself, and spiritual rebirth, is the only true salvation. The whole parable is a play on the word "Mutti," which means both salvation, and the performance of, the being delivered from, a vow.
