Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism

Sūtrālaṅkāra – 161
sacrifice the narrative, he chooses his subjects in every direction. He
treats of all the strata of tradition and every class of society.
Sometimes the Buddha himself is a hero of his story. Sometimes it is
one of his disciples, or a simple monk, or an outcast caṇḍāla, or a
courtesan, or a servant, or a robber, or an emperor.
How can one read without emotion the conversion of Niti, the
scavenger, in the 43rd story? He sees the Buddha coming into a street
in the town of Śrāvastī, and seized with shame at the sight of his
superhuman majesty, flies from street to street and everywhere the
Buddha appears before him collected and serene! At last he is caught
in a blind alley. Here the Buddha calls him by his name. Could the
Buddha call by his name a vile creature like himself? Could it not be
that there was another person of the same name with himself?
Perhaps the Buddha called the other one. His doubts are set at rest by
the Master himself calling upon him to enter religious life, which he
does, and the scene ends with the powerful king Praśenajit
prostrating himself at the feet of the Buddha and the lowly sweeper,
the new convert to Buddhism.
Equally powerful dramatic effect is produced by the 20th story.
Frightened and menaced by the success of a Buddhist preacher who
captivated crowds and who preached against the joys of the world,
“a daughter of Joy” goes with a sumptuous retinue to exercise her
charms upon an assembly that had gathered together to hear an
exposition of the Law. At her sight the attention of the listeners
relaxes. They waver. The preacher, the master of the law, espies the
courtesan. No sooner does his glance fall on her, than the skin and
the flesh of the woman drop from her. There remain only white
bones and discovered intestines. Disgust seizes hold of the spectators.