The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [473]
10. “So too, Aggivessana, Prince Jayasena is obstructed, hindered, blocked, and enveloped by a still greater mass than this—the mass of ignorance. Thus it is impossible that Prince Jayasena, living in the midst of sensual pleasures,…could know, see, or realise that which must be known through renunciation, seen through renunciation, attained through renunciation, realised through renunciation.
11. “Aggivessana, if these two similes had occurred to you [with reference] to Prince Jayasena, he would have spontaneously acquired confidence in you, and being confident, would have shown his confidence to you.”
“Venerable sir, how could these two similes have occurred to me [with reference] to Prince Jayasena as they occur to the Blessed One, since they are spontaneous and have never been heard before?”
[132] 12. “Suppose, Aggivessana, a head-anointed noble king addresses his elephant woodsman thus: ‘Good elephant woodsman, mount the king’s elephant, enter the elephant wood, and when you see a forest elephant, bind him by the neck to the king’s elephant.’ Having replied ‘Yes, sire,’ the elephant woodsman mounts the king’s elephant, enters the elephant wood, and when he sees a forest elephant, binds him by the neck to the king’s elephant. The king’s elephant leads him out into the open. It is in this way that a forest elephant comes out into the open; for the forest elephant clings to the elephant wood.
“Then the elephant woodsman informs the head-anointed noble king: ‘Sire, the forest elephant has come out into the open.’ The king addresses his elephant tamer thus: ‘Come, good elephant tamer, tame the forest elephant. Subdue his forest habits, subdue his forest memories and intentions, subdue his distress, fatigue, and fever over leaving the forest. Get him to take delight in the town, inculcate in him habits congenial to human beings.’ Having replied ‘Yes, sire,’ the elephant tamer plants a large post in the earth and binds the forest elephant to it by the neck in order to subdue his forest habits…and to inculcate in him habits congenial to human beings.
“Then the elephant tamer addresses the elephant with words that are gentle, pleasing to the ear, and loveable, as go to the heart, are courteous, desired by many, and agreeable to many. When the forest elephant [133] is addressed by such words, he listens, gives ear, and exerts his mind to understand. The elephant tamer next rewards him with grass-fodder and water. When the forest elephant accepts the grass-fodder and water from him, the elephant tamer knows: ‘Now the king’s elephant will live!’
“Then the elephant tamer trains him further thus: ‘Take up, put down!’ When the king’s elephant obeys his tamer’s orders to take up and put down and carries out his instructions, the elephant tamer trains him further thus: ‘Go forward, go back!’ When the king’s elephant obeys his tamer’s orders to go forward and go back and carries out his instructions, the elephant tamer trains him further thus: ‘Get up, sit down!’ When the king’s elephant obeys his tamer’s orders to get up and sit down and carries out his instructions, the elephant tamer trains him further in the task called imperturbability. He ties a giant plank to his trunk; a man with a lance in his hand sits on his neck; men with lances in their hands surround him on all sides; and the elephant tamer himself stands in front of him holding a long lance pole. When the elephant is being trained in the task of imperturbability, he does not move his forelegs