JATAKA TALES
The Jataka Tales are narratives about the previous lives of the Buddha before he was born for the last time
as the Enlightened One. There are more than five hundred stories of the Buddha’s previous lifetimes, of which
the final ten are regarded as the most important. These are called Dasajati Jataka, which means Ten Birth
Stories of the Buddha.
In all the Jataka Tales, the Bodhisatta (Buddha-To-Be) practiced one or more of the ten virtues, all of which
must be perfected in order to become a Buddha. The final ten birth stories show the culmination of his
countless lives in which all ten virtues are brought to the state of perfection. Each story depicts one of the Ten
Perfected Virtues.
Buddhists believe in the cycle of birth and death. According to Buddhist worldview, the life each person is
currently living represents merely one stage in an infinite series of births. Any person’s present life has
been preceded by countless other lives; at death, the process continues. The state of one’s existence is
determined by the Law of Kamma, whereby the good deeds performed in this life will result in rebirth in a
happy realm in the next life, and conversely, evil deeds will result in rebirth in an unhappy realm in the next
life. The happy realm includes heaven and the state of being human. An unhappy realm consists of hell, the
state of being a demon, and the state of being an animal. The destination and quality of rebirth is based on
the quality of deeds. The only way to end the rebirth cycle is for a person to tenaciously perform good deeds
and build perfect virtues (Parami, see page 19) until he reaches Nibbana. This is the ultimate state to which
all Bodhisattas aspire.
The Jataka Tales are stories from a time and place different from our own. The people in this time and place
are different from us in terms of their overall conditions, lifespan, and physical and mental abilities. Buddhists
believe in merit-power, a transcendental energy that makes wondrous things happen for those who have
accumulated abundant virtues, such as the Bodhisattas. This explains the reasons for many supernatural
phenomena and miracles that happen throughout the Jataka stories. We hope the reader will find these
stories interesting as well as inspiring.
Jataka Tales – Fact or Fiction?
The world seen in the Jataka tales may appear fanciful and magical, but to many Buddhists, especially
those who have reached a higher degree of mental development and meditation skill, they do not perceive
these tales as totally unrealistic or illogical. In their view, incredible things do happen on earth from time to
time. What is considered incredible in one time period may be common place in another.
For example, people in the last century would have thought that the ability to talk to one another across town,
or to see images of actual events in another part of the world in the palm of one’s hand, a fantasy or miracle,
yet we can do so today through the use of smart phones. In the same manner, we may consider the ability
to recall one’s past life or communicate with angels a fairy tale. But the only difference is the advancement of
science while the other is the advancement of mind.
According to Buddhist worldview, life has existed for eons, even before the current age we live in today.
We cannot say that the humans who lived in the ages before our own shared the same physical and mental
attributes as humans today. There were times when earth was closer to heaven and men were closer to
gods1. For us, it sounds incredible that people in past eons could communicate with angels. Likewise, it may
seem incredible for them to think that people of the modern day can travel through space or video-talk to one
another across the world.
It may be close-minded for us to take the position that what we cannot see, prove or perceive has to be
unreal. But remember, people used to be imprisoned for believing that the earth was round
Buddhist Worldview
When reading the Jatakas it is important to note that the Buddha’s
previous rebirths took place in different world eras long before our
time. The environment, cultures, lifespan, physical and mental faculties
and abilities, and the way of thinking of the people during
those eras do not resemble our own. It is beneficial for a reader
to familiarize himself or herself with the Buddhist cosmology and
worldview to fully appreciate what took place in these stories.
Buddhists accept the view of the Universe that time is not linear but
circular. Consequently, the Universe is not created out of nothing
at a particular point, nor will it be completely destroyed at another.
It has always existed and will always exist. In the meantime, however,
it goes through endless cycles of creation and destruction,
creation and destruction over and over and over.
All beings born into this cyclic universe is the result of a preceding
cause or willed action (kamma). This is the doctrine of creation
by causes. In turn, when any being dies, he, she or it creates the
conditions for the birth of a new being. This is not precisely
reincarnation or transmigration, for it is not exactly the same
being that commutes from body to body down through the
procession of the ages. The appropriate word to describe this
process is ‘rebirth’.
Rebirth, therefore, is a process of endless and uncontrollable circulation
through a variety of mostly unpleasant situations.
The Law of Kamma
Buddhism discusses the Law of Kamma2 (in Sanskrit, Karma), also
known as the Law of Cause and Effect. According to this law no one
can salvage us from our sins, nor can anyone pass his sins to us. An
action, good or bad, produces a result. Good actions produce good
results, and bad actions produce bad results. A person is
directly responsible for his or her own deeds and is also the direct
recipient of their kamma.
Samsara – Cycle of Rebirths
Another aspect of Buddhism is samsara, the cycle of rebirths.
The term samsara has been translated as ‘eternal wandering,’ ‘cyclic
existence,’ and ‘ocean of suffering.’ According to the Buddha, the
beginning point of samsara is not evident, just as there is no beginning
point to a circle. All beings have been suffering in samsara for
an unimaginable length of time, and they continue to do so until
the attainment of Nibbana. The only way to escape the cycle of
rebirths is through Enlightenment.
Nibbana
Nibbana (in Sanskrit, Nirvana) is the transcendental state of
ultimate happiness, the highest spiritual attainment. This is not the
sense-based happiness of everyday life; nor is it the concept of heaven
as interpreted by Western culture. It is an enduring, transcendental
happiness integral to the calmness attained through Enlightenment.
Once a person has attained Nibbana, he has reached the end of the
cycle of rebirths.
Happy Realms
Happy realms consist of heavens and the state of being human.
A person who lives a life of good conduct will be reborn in a happy
realm. There are altogether sixteen levels of heaven.
Unhappy Realms
Unhappy realms consist of hells, the state of being a demon, a
the state of being a hungry ghost, and the state of being an animal.
A person who lives an evil life will be reborn in an unhappy realm.
Buddhist Cosmology
Buddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of
the universe according to the Buddhist scriptures and commentaries.
The picture of the world presented in Buddhist cosmological
descriptions cannot be taken as a literal description of the shape
of the universe. It is not intended to be a description of how
ordinary humans perceive their world. Rather, it is the universe as
seen through the divine eye by which a Buddha or an Arahant who
has cultivated this transcendental faculty can perceive.
In the vertical cosmology described by Buddhist scriptures, the
universe is comprised of many worlds stacked one upon the next in
layers. Each world corresponds to a mental state or a state of being.
A world is not a location; rather it is composed of and sustained by
the beings that inhabit that world through their kamma. Humans
and animals, for example, though they partially share the same
physical environments, still belong to different worlds because their
minds perceive and react to those environments differently
Our earthly realm (as well as other realms) undergoes many cycles
of creation and destruction. Each earth cycle lasts billions of years
(eons). Humans also undergo cycles of their own evolution. During
the beginning of the human race, when humanity was pure and
perfect, a human could live as long as 80,000 years or more. But as
humans are overtaken by greed, hatred and delusion, which give rise
to crimes, corruption and total disregard for the welfare of others,
their lifespan declines. During the age of decline, which includes
our present era, human lifespan decreases at the rate of one year
for every one hundred years3. When lifespan declines to 10 years,
a new cycle evolves, and humans begin to live progressively longer
lives again.
Our human world is a part of the ‘Realm of Desire,’ symbolized
by the celestial mountain of Sumeru. Sumeru and its surrounding
oceans and mountains are the home of many supernatural beings.
On top of Mount Sumeru is Tavatimsa Heaven, also known
as Realm of the Thirty-three Gods, a wide flat space filled with
the gardens and palaces of the devas. Its ruler is Sakka, lord of the
devas, who often comes to the Bodhisatta’s aid in a time of
distress. The celestial beings inhabiting this world are 1,500 feet
tall and live for 36,000,000 years.
On the lower slopes of Mount Sumeru is Catumaharajika Heaven.
Its inhabitants include devas (angels), gandhabas (celestial
musicians), nagas (serpent-like beings), yakkhas (ogres, earth
sprites), and other celestial creatures.
At the foot of Mount Sumeru is the realm of the asuras (demonic
titans), former devas that have been cast away due to wrongdoings
while in heaven.
The mountains that encircle Mount Sumeru are surrounded by a
vast ocean. In this ocean there are four continents4 inhabited by
humans and human-like beings. One of these continents is Jambudvipa,
which is the dwelling of ordinary human beings. All Buddhas
appear in Jambudvipa. The people here are five to six feet tall and
their length of life varies between 10 and 80,000 years.
The other three continents are: Purvavideha, where the human
inhabitants are about 12 feet tall and have a lifespan of 250 years;
Aparagodaniya, where the human inhabitants are about 24 feet
tall and have a lifespan of 500 years; and Uttarakuru, where the
inhabitants are about 48 feet tall and live for 1,000 years. Because
of the vast expanse of the celestial ocean, the inhabitants cannot
travel between the four continents (think of inter-planetary travel
as a comparison).
Then there is the world of the animals. This world comprises all
members of the animal kingdom that are capable of feeling pain
and suffering.
Amongst the dwellers of earth, there is the world of hungry ghosts
(peta). These are beings that cannot be seen by humans. They live
in wastelands.
Below Jambudvipa are the hellish realms, or purgatory. Inhabitants
here are beings that have committed various degrees of wrongdoings
while they were humans and were sent here for punishment for a
finite length of time. This is the realm of intense suffering.
There are more levels of higher heavens not mentioned here, the
highest of which are the Brahma heavens. Brahmas have the longest
lifespan of any celestial beings, but they are still subject to rebirth.
Who is the Buddha?
The name Buddha is a title, not a
proper name, meaning “Awakened,”
thus “Enlightened.”
Gotama was the Buddha, the historical
founder of Buddhism whose teachings, the
Dhamma (Skt., Dharma), form its core. The
historical Buddha was born in 623 B.C. as
Prince Siddhattha Gotama in Lumbini Park
at Kapilavatthu, near the present day border
of India and Nepal. He was the son of King
Suddhodana and Queen Maya of the kingdom
of the Sakyans, a tribe of the Aryan race
that lived in the northern region of present
day India.
At age 16 Siddhattha married Yashodhara
who gave birth to their only son, Rahula. At
the age of 29 Siddhattha renounced worldly
life and left the palace to find an answer
to the problem of suffering and a path to
liberation from cyclic existence. Siddhattha
attained Enlightenment and became a
Buddha at the age of 35. He spent forty five
years wandering up and down the Ganges
Valley expounding the doctrine that he
has found and establishing the Sangha, the
Order of Buddhist monks and nuns, which
still exists today. The Buddha died at age 80
in the year 543 B.C. in Kushinagara, not far
from his birthplace at Lumbini.
Besides the fully-enlightened Buddha who
teaches Dhamma to the world (Samma-
Sambuddha) there is the ‘Private Buddha’
(Pacceka-Buddha), who is enlightened but
does not teach. Buddhas appear between
vast intervals of time. There are countless
number of past, present and future
Buddhas. Anyone can become a Buddha if
he or she pursues all the virtues to
perfection, although this may take many
lifetimes to accomplish.
Bodhisatta
A Bodhisatta is someone on the path towards
Enlightenment, a being who is bound to
become a Buddha. A Bodhisatta is motivated
by a great compassion and the wish to attain
Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient
beings.
Due to abundant virtues (paramis) cultivated
over many lifetimes, a Bodhisatta is
endowed with a transcendental merit-power
which makes him more advanced physically
and mentally beyond an ordinary human.
A Bodhisatta possesses a perfect physical
appearance and strength, as well as wisdom,
and is often protected by heavenly beings.
Brahma
Brahma is the most superior form of
celestial being with the longest lifespan than
any other deities. Brahmas are a class of
supra-celestial beings who abide purely by
the pleasure derived from meditation rather
than the sensual pleasure enjoyed by beings
of lower realms. There are two types of Brahmas,
the lower type is called Rupa Brahmas
(Form Brahmas), and the higher type Arupa
Brahmas (Non-Form Brahamas). Brahma
heavens are the highest level of heavens in
Buddhist cosmology.
Sakka
Sakka (sometime referred to as Indra) is the
ruler of the Tavatimsa heaven, the second
celestial realm which is in direct contact with
the human world. Like the other deities of
this heaven, a Sakka is long-lived but mortal.
When one Sakka dies, his place is taken by
another deity who becomes the new Sakka.
Deities of the Tavatimsa heaven, including
Sakka, often interact with humans. Sakka
often comes to the Bodhisatta’s aid at the
time of need.
Celestial Beings
Celestial beings are former human beings,
who have accumulated abundant merit
through good deeds. After death they are
reborn into heavenly realms to enjoy the
fruits of their merit. The length of their
existence in heaven and the magnitude
of their celestial wealth depend upon the
magnitude of their merit. They are forever
young and do not experience any illnesses,
although they are still subject to rebirth.
Brahmins
Brahmins are individuals belonging to the
priestly caste of ancient India who practiced
Brahmanism, a predecessor of modern Hinduism.
The religious practices centered on
a clergy administering rites and sacrifices.
The mode of worship was worship of the
elements (e.g., fire and rivers), numerous
gods, chanting of hymns, and performance
of sacrifices. In some cases, certain persons
were born into other castes but dedicated
themselves to such an austere life that
they were also recognized as Brahmins in
ancient India.
Nagas
Nagas are serpent-like beings that live in the
lower celestial realm known as Catumaharajika.
They possess great supernatural powers
and can change their physical forms at will.
Although nagas are known for their powers
and supernatural abilities, they are no match
for garudas, who are their arch enemies.
Yakkhas, Yakkhinees
Yakkhas (male), yakkhinees (female), are
earth sprites (ogres) with gigantic bodies
and fearsome appearances. They live in the
lower celestial realm of Catumaharajika, and
are often projected as bad characters in Buddhist
cosmology.
Garudas
Garudas are a type of celestial being that
appears half-bird, half-human, with the
face and lower body of a bird and the upper
body of a human. They live in the celestial
forest of Himavanta and feed on nagas. They
possess supernatural powers and can change
their physical forms at will
Kinaris and Kinaras
Kinaris (female) and kinaras (male) are a
type of celestial being that appear half-bird,
half-human, with a face and upper body of a
human and a the lower body of a bird. They
are gentle creatures that live in the celestial
forest of Himavanta.
Himavanta
Himavanta is a celestial forest which surrounds
the base of Mount Sumeru. It is
the home of an assortment of supernatural
creatures, such as the nagas, the kinaris and
the garudas.
Jambudvipa
Jambudvipa is one of the four continents
that surround the celestial mountain
Sumeru. It is the region where the humans
live, and is the only place where a being may
become enlightened and attain Buddhahood.
Jambudvipa is shaped like a triangle
with a blunted point facing south. In its
center is a gigantic Jambu tree (rose apple)
from which the continent takes its name. It
is in Jambudvipa that one may receive the
gift of Dhamma and come to understand
the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold
Path and ultimately realize the liberation
from the cycle of life and death.
Mount Sumeru
Mount Sumeru is a celestial mountain
considered to be the center of all the physical,
metaphysical and spiritual universes.
Sumeru and its surrounding oceans and
mountains are the home of many extraordinary
beings. On top of Mount Sumeru
is Tavatimsa Heaven. On the lower slopes
is Catumaharajika Heaven. At the foot of
Mount Sumeru is the realm of the Asuras
(demonic titans). The mountain range that
encircles Mount Sumeru is surrounded by a
vast ocean. In this ocean there are four continents
(or worlds) inhabited by humans and
human-like beings. One of these continents
is Jambudvipa, which is the dwelling of ordinary
human beings.
Parami: Ten Perfected Virtues
Parami is a spiritual perfection achieved by a Bodhisatta on his
path to Buddhahood, or by those who are determined to
attain Enlightenment. Parami is a Pali5 word meaning
transcendental virtues, perfected virtues, or Perfections. These
virtues are cultivated as a way of self purification, purifying
kamma and helping the aspirant to live an unobstructed life,
while reaching the goal of Enlightenment. What distinguishes
the Bodhisatta from other aspirants is the degree to which
virtues must be cultivated and the length of time they must be
pursued.
The following are Ten Perfected Virtues exemplified by each of the
Bodhisattas whose names appear on the right. They form the basis
for the stories of this book.
1. Renunciation Temiya
2. Perseverance Mahajanaka
3. Loving-kindness Sama
4. Resolution Nimi
5.Wisdom Mahosatha
6. Morality Bhuridatta
7. Forbearance Canda
8. Equanimity Narada
9. Truthfulness Vidhura
10. Charity Vessantara
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5 Pali: an ancient language used in India, now no longer an active language; the original Buddhist scriptures were written in Pali; Pali texts are used by the Theravada school of Buddhism.
01 Temiya Jataka-PERFECTING THE VIRTUE OF RENUNCIATION
One day, in the Hall of Truth, in the Jetavana Grove, the Buddha’s disciples were
discussing their Master’s great renunciation and praising his great sacrifice for leaving
the pomp and vanity of palace life to assume the simple life of an ascetic. On
hearing the discussion, the Buddha said, “O monks, this renunciation of mine was
not so wonderful when I had fully exercised the Perfections, for before, even when my
wisdom was still immature, I left my kingdom and renounced the world.”
At the disciples’ insistence, the Buddha then told them stories of his past lives.
Temiya Jataka is the first of the final ten birth stories of the Buddha. This is the story
of a Bodhisatta prince who pretended to be crippled, deaf and dumb. He did
this to avoid inheriting the throne so he could be free to live the pure meditative
life of an ascetic. For sixteen years he endured great suffering with unwavering
determination to achieve his goal of renunciation.
This is the story of one who would rather perish than live in an environment that was
filled with temptation to wrongdoings.
A Prince is Born
Once there reigned a king called Kasikraja in the city of
Benares, in the kingdom of Kasi, who ruled his people
righteously. Despite having great wealth and numerous wives,
the king had neither son nor daughter. The people of Banares
were concerned about the future of the kingdom should the
king pass away without leaving an heir to continue his line. They
assembled in front of the king’s palace and begged the king to
pray for a son.
The king, unable to bear offspring, commanded his wives to ask
their gods for help. All the royal ladies made supplications and
offerings to their various deities, but no son or daughter was born
to any one of them. His chief queen, Candadevi, known for her virtues,
prayed to the great god Sakka, ruler of the Tavatimsa Heaven,6
“O glorious Lord, by the virtue of my merit, if through my life
I have never broken any moral precepts, please let a son be born
to me.”
Thereupon, through the power of the queen’s merit, Sakka’s throne
became warm, a sign of distress in the human world requiring his
intervention. Sakka, realizing that he had overlooked the good
virtues of Queen Candadevi, proceeded to fulfill her prayer. Among
all the angelic entities in heaven he chose the Bodhisatta as the
worthy one, and sent him down to earth to be conceived in the
womb of Queen Candadevi.
Now the Bodhisatta, in a lifetime before he became a deva7
in Tavatimsa, had reigned in Benares for twenty years, and
owing to some bad actions imposed upon him as king, had
suffered in hell for eighty thousand years. The suffering in hell
was so intense and severe that the Bodhisatta vowed to never again
go back there at any cost. At this moment the Bodhisatta’s time in
Tavatimsa was about to expire and he was due to be reborn to a
higher existence.
However, seeing the opportunity to build up additional virtues, the
Bodhisatta consented to Sakka’s wish, whereupon, he passed from
Tavatimsa to take birth in the womb of Queen Candadevi. On
the day of his birth, an auspicious rain fell upon the city, a sign of
fertility and great happiness. At the same time, five hundred nobles
gave birth to infants who were to grow up with the Bodhisatta and
serve him. The infant Bodhisatta was given sweet milk from sixtyfour
wet nurses selected for their flawless beauty and good health.
The Prince Who was Terrified of Hell
On the occasion of the naming of the infant prince the Brahmins,
who were skilled in omens, proclaimed that the royal son possessed
signs of future greatness and ought to be a universal ruler. The king
named him “Temiya-Kumaro”, meaning “Prince Drenched with
Water,” because at the time of his birth he brought auspicious rain
to the entire city.
When Temiya was one month old, the nurses dressed him up and
brought him to the king to sit on his knee. Just then, four thieves
who had been arrested were brought before the king. The king sentenced
one robber to a thousand strokes from thorn-laced whips,
another to imprisonment in chains, a third to be put to death by
spears, and a fourth to be impaled.
Though still an infant, the prince understood and was terrified at
his father’s apparent cruelty and thought to himself, “Ah, a king, and
so my father must perform cruel actions every day. By condemning
men to death or torture, he will himself be condemned to hell. If,
through enjoying my father’s royal estate I fall into hell by committing
bad acts, the burden will be too heavy for me.8”
The next day, the infant began to think of what it would mean to
be king. He recalled a previous existence, in which he himself
had reigned as king of Benares, and due to bad actions
committed by him as king, was condemned to hell for eighty
thousand years. His suffering in hell was so intense that the mere
thought of it terrified him. Now he was destined to become king
again, and would likely suffer the same fate, again.
Sixteen Years of Misery
The following day, while lying half awake under a royal umbrella,
still tormented by the troublesome thought and wondering how he
could escape his fate, a deity who had been his mother in a former
life appeared and said to him, “Temiya my child, if you really desire
to escape from this pomp and vanity, do not disclose your abilities,
but simulate feebleness. Though you are not weak, appear to
be weak; though not deaf, feign deafness; and though your mouth
is perfect, pretend to be dumb. Keep up these appearances with
determination. Then the people will refuse to crown you, and you
shall be free.”
Temiya vowed to heed the deity’s advice.
From then on, he pretended to be a crippled deaf-mute, never uttering
a sound, never moving nor listening. His mother and the wet
nurses tried to force a sound from him by withholding milk for the
whole day hoping that he would cry, but to no avail. They tempted
him with various cakes and sweets, all kinds of foods and fruit, and
toys, but he remained silent.
By the time he was five, court ministers began to apply harsher
methods to test him. From that time on, until age sixteen, they
devised various tricks to terrify him into speaking. They would set
fire around him, let a fierce elephant loose at him, allow serpents to
coil about him, smear him with molasses and allow flies to cover and
bite him, and let fearsome men put a sword at his neck as if to cut
him, but he did not flinch. Pans of fire were placed under his bed,
causing blisters to break out on his body, but he endured, muttering
to himself, “Hell was a hundred thousand times worse.”
His parents refused to believe Temiya was disabled. They pleaded,
“Dear son, we know that you are not any way crippled by birth, for
cripples have not such perfect feet, face, or ears as you have.” They
implored him to speak, but he lay still, motionless, as if he heard
nothing.
At sixteen, the age when he would have been named heir apparent,
the ministers thought, at this age of puberty, surely the boy would
give in to sensual desires. So they sent some of the most sumptuous
and beautiful maidens to seduce him. But he held his breath and
remained rigid. The maidens left in disgust.
At last, the king summoned his Brahmins and asked them why at
his son’s birth did they not mention any threatening signs of this
affliction. Not understanding why and unwilling to admit their
ignorance, they explained that they had not dared cast a shadow on
the king’s joy of finally having a son after so many years of trying.
The king bemoaned, “What will it be best to do?” The Brahmins
advised, “O King, if this ill-omened one should be allowed to
remain in the palace, some terrible sickness or calamity will
come upon you and the queen, or maybe even the whole country.
Therefore, let him remain in the palace no longer, but be put
into an ill-omened chariot drawn by ill-omened horses toward the
west gate to a charnel ground outside the city and have him buried
there.”
The king, frightened by these words and fearing for the safety of his
country, sadly complied.
Path of Freedom
The king ordered Sunanda the charioteer to take Temiya to a charnel-
ground far from the city, where he would be killed and buried.
As the charioteer worked at digging a grave, Temiya thought, at
last he was freed. Whereupon he arose, walked back and forth and
exercised his limbs, testing whether his strength remained after
sixteen years of not using it. By the virtue of his merit, not only did
his strength not leave him, but, miraculously, he had so much power
that he could even lift the chariot as if it were a toy cart. He put on
the royal attire which had been removed from him and laid aside by
Sunanda. The jeweled attire and his golden complexion made him
look like a demigod.
Temiya walked over to Sunanda to call his attention. Looking up
from the grave he was digging, Sunanda saw the Bodhisatta with
all the glory of an angel, not knowing whether it was a man or
deity. After an exchange of dialogue, Temiya finally convinced the
charioteer that he was not crippled, deaf or dumb, but was
acting in this way to avoid inheriting the throne so that he could
be free to lead a pure meditative life of an ascetic. He relayed to
Sunanda the time he spent in hell, and of his father’s acts of
cruelty he had witnessed when he was one month old, which
prompted him to take up the life of an ascetic.
After hearing the Bodhisatta’s story, the charioteer was profoundly
touched. He knelt at the Bodhisatta’s feet and asked that he be
allowed to join him as a hermit. Temiya advised Sunanda to
clear up his obligations before renouncing the world and
instructed him to return to the palace and tell his royal parents the
truth about their son.
Now, as soon as Sunanda had gone, Temiya determined that it
would be better for his parents to find him in the garb of a recluse,
and by the power of his merit Sakka had a hermitage built for him.9
Upon hearing the news from Sunanda the king and queen were
so overcome with joy that the king said, “I will myself go forth to
the forest and bring him back, and I will relinquish my
sovereignty to my son.” So he ordered all the chariots, elephants,
and men-at-arms to be prepared, along with his nobles, courtiers
and musicians, and set out for the forest.
A Conversation with the King
When the king and his entourage arrived at Temiya’s hermitage
they found him garbed as a hermit and living on a diet of leaves.
The king exclaimed, “Dear son, I am filled with wonder that you
should dwell in this forest alone, and eat only these leaves without
even salt to flavor them and yet have so handsome an appearance,
even more beautiful than you were before.” To which, the
Bodhisatta replied:
“Father, that which is called beauty belongs to those who have peace
of mind. The beauty of those who are discontented is destroyed.
Those who care for what has passed or what is about to be, are like
those who throw straws into the air. I, who sleep on this rough bed
of grass, find it softer than a couch. I do not care or fear for these
simple articles. I need no guards with swords or spears. Though I
have lived like an ascetic for sixteen years, I look healthy, and I have
no dread on account of what I may have done. The food one eats
always tastes good if his mind is beautiful. This day I have eaten and
have no thoughts as to what I shall eat or what I shall put on the
next day. I am content with what I have today and with what I may
obtain hereafter.”
The king tried to persuade Temiya to come back to the city. He
pleaded: “Dear son, with a great company of elephants and chariots
I have come to take you back to the inheritance of your ancestors,
and now hand them to you with sixteen thousand virgins as your
handmaids, and bring you back to the city as its ruler.” To which
the Bodhisatta replied:
“All things that exist must also expire. Riches must one day come
to an end. If loss must be the end, why take up the royal estate?
Women and beauty, like wealth, also come to an end; why does my
father offer this to me? As the fruit that is ripe falls to the earth from
its stalk, so do all beings decay and perish.
If beauty will be destroyed by old age, why should one be attached to
beauty? All beings are born to perish, where, then, is the advantage
of youth, beauty and wealth, which are existing but for a moment?”
Then he added: “We ought therefore to seek with all diligence for
the release from hell and to overcome all spiritual enemies. And we
should strive to be full of that merit which is the result of charity
properly directed.”
Path of Liberation
Profoundly impressed by these enlightening words, the royal family
and all of those who came with them determined to embrace the
ascetic life.
The king ordered his palace be open to the public and his treasures
be made available to any one that wanted them. He relinquished
all his possessions and renounced his kingdom. Then he sent
for the city magistrates and said, “Return to the city of Benares,
and let it be proclaimed that the King of Kasi, who has overcome
all his enemies, makes known to all his subjects that he, having
overcome all his spiritual enemies at the feet of his son, Temiya, has
renounced his wealth and his kingdom to live a holy life of an
ascetic. The King desires that all who wish to partake of this
holy path should renounce all their worldly possessions and come
out and do so.”
So the magistrates did as they were ordered. The people of Kasi saw
what the king did with his treasures and possessions, but no one
desired to take advantage of them. In fact they were so impressed
with the king’s spiritual pursuit that they, too, came to the realization
that spiritual wealth was more important than worldly possessions.
So, with one accord, they threw open all their belongings and
concealed treasures, left them and came out into the forest. A few
drunkards and incompetents, however, remained behind.
Thus they dwelt, living on fruit that fell from the trees, meditating
and listening to the preaching of moral law, following the moral
precepts, and living a life of purity. In due time, all of them achieved
spiritual attainment. Upon their deaths, they were all reborn unto
the Brahma heavens.
02 Mahajanaka PERFECTING THE VIRTUE OF PERSEVERANCE
Mahajanaka Jataka is the second of the final ten birth stories of the Buddha before he
became the Enlightened One.
This is the story of a Bodhisatta prince whose father was killed in battle and lost his
kingdom before he was born. Upon discovering the truth of his birth the prince vowed
to regain his father’s kingdom. He set out on a seafaring voyage to build a fortune
in a distant land so he could use the wealth to build an army. The ship sank and all
on board were killed except him. He drifted in the ocean for seven days without
food, but survived through the sheer strength of his determination and
perseverance. He finally regained his kingdom in the most unusual way.
Thereafter, he discovered the truth of life and left his kingdom to pursue spiritual
attainment.
This is the story of one who would rather perish than give up.
Brothers at War
There once was a king, Mahajanaka of Mithila, in the kingdom
of Videha. He had two sons, Aritthajanaka and Polajanaka. When
the king died, Aritthajanaka became the new king and the younger
brother became his viceroy.
One day a close attendant of the king, jealous of the viceroy’s
popularity with the people, informed the king that the viceroy
was scheming to take the throne away from him. At first the king
did not believe him, but after hearing the same story repeatedly he
began to believe and had Polajanaka chained and put in prison.
From his prison cell Polajanaka implored to the deities, “If throughout
my life I have never thought of betraying my brother, let the
chains come loose and let me be free.” Miraculously his chains fell
off and he escaped to a frontier village. The people of the village
knew him and gave him help. Because of his charisma and leadership
skill, soon he attracted many followers.
The village people quietly formed an army and trained themselves
in weapons and warfare. Impressed with their newly developed
martial skills, a radical unit of the village army, unbeknownst to
their commanders, raided the king’s troops who were encamped in
the forest nearby. They killed many of the king’s soldiers. The commanders
were alarmed after this incident was reported to them, for
they knew the king would come after them and punish them. They
went to Polajanaka to seek his counsel.
“My Lord,” said the commanders, “Our people have committed
a terrible mistake by killing the king’s soldiers. It is inevitable that
the king will come after us and raid our village. Many of us will be
slaughtered.”
The head commander said, “War with the king cannot be avoided,
but we are outnumbered. A wise general once told me, ‘The best
defense is a good offense.’ Why not attack them first and catch
them off guard before they have a chance to mobilize? This may be
the only chance we can defeat them. Because our army is small, we
should get help from other clans as well. You have many soldiers
who are still loyal to you; perhaps we can persuade them to join us.”
After some deliberation, Polajanaka agreed with the plan. He proclaimed,
“I have never done anything against my brother. Now I am
forced to declare war upon him.”
They sent emissaries to several towns and villages to persuade
them to join in the campaign. Many of them participated. As they
marched toward the city of Mithila, some of the inhabitants of
Mithila also came out to join them. Polajanaka’s army now grew to
a formidable size.
From his encampment on the outskirt of Mithila, Polajanaka sent a
message to his brother: “I was not your enemy before, but because
of what you have done to me, I am your enemy now. Either give up
the kingdom or give battle.”
The King is Killed
By now the king had realized the wrong he had done to Polajanaka.
He was unhappy with the situation, for he knew that his chance
of winning the war was dim. Having been the king’s own
commander-in-chief before he was exiled, Polajanaka knew all the
generals and their strategies. The king was reluctant to go to battle,
but if he chose not to do so his people would not think of him as a
brave man.
As if knowing his fate, the king bade farewell to his pregnant queen
and said to her, “My beloved, the outcome of war is unpredictable.
If anything happens to me I want you to leave Mithila and take
refuge in the city of Kalacampa so you can protect our
unborn child.” He gave her instructions on how to do so and then
went off to the battle field.
On the first day of the battle the king was shot with arrows from
Polajanaka’s archers and died on his elephant’s back. Without their
leader, the king’s army went into disarray. Seeing no hope of winning
and to prevent more bloodshed, the king’s ministers opened
the city gate and let Polajanaka’s army enter.
Queen on the Run
Upon hearing news of the king’s death, the queen gathered her most
precious valuables into a basket, spread a cloth on top and covered
them with rice grains. She put on some worn and ragged garments
and soiled her face with soot so that she would not be recognized.
Then, lifting the basket onto her head, she went unnoticed out of
the city by the northern gate.
Now, in the queen’s womb was no ordinary child, but a Bodhisatta.
The merit-power of the unborn child drew the attention of Sakka,
god of Tavatimsa Heaven, who came to protect the queen. Sakka
disguised himself as an old man driving a covered wagon. Meeting
the queen upon the road, he asked her where she was headed. The
queen said she wanted to go to the city of Kalacampa but did not
know the way. The old man offered to take her there.
In Kalacampa, the unrecognized queen was met by a wise and compassionate
Brahmin teacher who had five hundred students.
Upon finding out who she was and what she had been through the
Brahmin said, “Do not be miserable. I am a Brahmin of a good
family and a teacher of great fame. I will watch over you as if you
were my sister.”
So the good Brahmin and his wife took her into their family and
looked after her. A short time later the queen gave birth to a son
whose skin was as radiant as gold. She called him Mahajanaka,
after his grandfather’s name. The boy grew up to be handsome and
strong. The queen withheld the secret of his birth for many years,
until one day she was forced to reveal to him his real birthright.
Who is My Father?
“My child,” she said, “you are the son of King Aritthajanaka
of Mithila. Your father was killed in battle by his brother and I
fled to this city to save the both of us. The good Brahmin has
treated me as his sister and taken care of me.”
Upon learning the truth of his birth, Mahajanaka’s outlook on life
changed. He behaved maturely and became more mindful of his
purpose in life. By the time he was sixteen he had mastered all the
arts and sciences of his time. The thought of regaining his
father’s kingdom was always on his mind. One day he
announced to his mother, “It is now time that I must regain my
father’s kingdom.” His mother understood and gave him her
blessing.
“Mother,” he said, “I have been thinking of a plan. To regain
my father’s kingdom I must have an army. To build an army I must
have good financial resources. With some help from you I will
build my fortune through trade. How many valuables have you
put aside?”
His mother said, “I have put away some gold and jewels of great
value knowing that one day they will be needed. These valuables are
more than enough to build an army with. There is no need for you
to seek fortune through other means.”
“Mother,” he said, “I will only take half of your valuables and I will
go to Suvannabhumi where I will make my fortune in trade, then I
will use that fortune to build an army and go to Mithila to seize the
kingdom.”
After purchasing some goods for trading using his mother’s precious
jewels, he boarded a vessel bound for Suvannabhumi, the golden
land of the east. The ship was loaded to full capacity with seven
caravans of goods along with seven hundred merchants.
His mother pleaded for him not to go. “My son,” she said, “the sea is
full of dangers. I have seen many ships that left and never returned.
Please do not go. The valuables I have are more than enough for you
to build an army.” But Mahajanaka had made up his mind. He bade
farewell to his mother and promised to return to get her. Then he
embarked onboard the ship.
That same day his uncle Polajanaka, the new king of Mithila, fell ill.
Shipwreck
The ship sailed over the ocean at full speed. After seven days of
plunging through heavy seas, the overloaded ship began to founder.
Its planks gave way. The water leaked into the ship and rose higher
and higher and the ship began to sink. All on board panicked except
Mahajanaka. Some wept and wailed, and some prayed for their
different gods to save them.
Mahajanaka stayed composed. He did not implore any deities for
help. Knowing that the vessel was doomed he prepared himself for
the ordeal by eating a full meal and covered himself with sugar and
ghee to protect his body from the water, and smeared his two clean
garments with oil and put them tightly on him. Then he stood
leaning against the mast.
When the ship went down, men and animals were devoured by
sharks and other sea creatures that infested the area. Mahajanaka
managed to get himself on the top of the mast and, facing the direction
of Mithila, gathered all his strength and threw himself a far
distance from the ship, away from the feasting sharks and swirling
water caused by the sinking ship.
That very day King Polajanaka was at his deathbed surrounded by
his ministers and priests.
Mahajanaka drifted in the ocean for seven days without food and
fresh water. Exhausted and pale but with great determination, he
kept swimming toward the direction of Mithila. His body was worn
out but his mind remained strong. Many times he thought of giving
up, but each time he reminded himself that his mission had not
yet been accomplished. This gave him strength and he strove on.
Conversation with a Goddess
Now at that time the goddess Manimekhala, guardian of the seas,
took notice of the Bodhisatta. She flew over to him and asked, “Here
in this deep and boundless water where no shore is in sight, why do
you keep swimming?”
Looking into the air, Mahajanaka replied, “Knowing my duty,
I must strive while I can. Here in mid ocean far from land I do my
utmost like a brave man.”
“Your strivings are in vain,” said Manimekhala. “Here in mid
ocean you are bound to die.”
The Bodhisatta replied, “He who thinks there is no more hope to
win, so he gives up, is not a man of courage. He who does everything
that a man can do is free from guilt. If I perish while I strive
to do my best, I shall not be blamed but shall be admired.”
“But if you know that the effort is bound to yield no good results,
it is an effort fully wasted.”
“It is my unyielding efforts that got me to this day. Do you not see
that all the others have perished and I am still alive? As long as there
is breath in me and my strength still holds, I will persevere. I will not
yield until I reach shore,” he responded.
She commended him, “You are truly a man of courage. Your bravery
is remarkable, your sense of duty admirable, and your efforts unparalleled.
You are indeed an example for all to follow. I will help you.”
Then she asked him where he was headed, to which he replied,
“To the city of Mithila.”
She lifted him from the water, laid him in her arms as if he were her
dear child, and sprang up in the air. Delighted with the heavenly
contact, Mahajanaka fell into a trance. The goddess flew with him
until they reached a mango grove in the royal park of Mithila. She
laid him on the ceremonial stone in the middle of the park and
wished him well.
Find Me the Worthy One
Back in the court of Mithila, King Polajanaka was at his deathbed
surrounded by his ministers and royal priests. The ministers
appealed to him, “O king, to whom shall we give the kingdom when
you have departed?”
In his dying breath the king said, “Find a worthy one who can win
my daughter Princess Sivali’s heart; or an intelligent one who can tell
the head of the mysterious square bed; or a powerful one who can
string the bow which requires the strength of a thousand men; or a
wise one who can solve the riddles leading to the sixteen treasures.”
And the king gave the riddles and the clues to the chief minister.
Many ambitious men, from generals to courtiers to commoners,
were desirous of winning the princess’ hand and the king’s throne.
They went out of their way to compete for her affection. Each one,
in an effort to win Sivali, obeyed her every whim. The more they
tried to please her the more she scorned them and sent them away
ridiculed.
The ministers declared, “No one is able to please the princess. Give
the throne to him who is able to string the bow which requires the
strength of a thousand men.” But no one could string it.
“Give the throne to him who knows which is the head of the
mysterious square bed.” But no one knew it.
“Then give the throne to him who is able to draw out the sixteen
great treasures.” But no one could draw them out.
Feeling hopeless the ministers bemoaned, “This is bad news for
Mithila. The kingdom cannot be preserved without a king. What
should we do?”
Whereupon, the head of the royal priests came forth and said to
them, “Do not lose hope; there is one more way. We now must leave
this to the gods to lead us to the worthy one who has enough merit
to become a good and righteous king. We must send out the festive
carriage drawn by four auspicious horses, adorned with auspicious
decorations, and pray to the deities to lead us to the ‘chosen one’.”
And so they decorated the city, harnessed four glorious white steeds
to the handsomely decorated royal carriage, and called for a band of
musicians to stand ready. After performing the ceremonial rites and
rituals, they invoked the carriage to begin the quest.
The Chosen King
Followed by a great crowd, the carriage went solemnly around the
palace and proceeded up the road. It went around the city, left the
city by the eastern gate, then picked up speed and headed toward
the royal park. The carriage entered the park and went straight
to the ceremonial stone where the Bodhisatta lay sleeping. After
circling the stone three times, the carriage came to a stop as if ready
to be mounted by its master.
The head priest saw the Bodhisatta lying on the ceremonial stone
and wondered if this indeed was the worthy one. He inspected the
Bodhisatta and uncovered his feet to look for auspicious signs. To
his delight he saw the marks that confirmed the signs of greatness
according to celestial knowledge. He declared, “This is indeed a day
of happiness for our kingdom. Not only is this Great One worthy
of ruling our nation, he is worthy of ruling the Four Continents.”
The head priest then joined his palms together in a gesture of reverence,
bent down and said to the Bodhisatta, “Rise, my Lord, the
kingdom of Mithila belongs to thee.”
Mahajanaka rose. “Where is the king?” he asked.
“He is dead.”
“Has he left no son or brother?”
“None, my Lord.”
With everything clear to his satisfaction, Mahajanaka accepted
the kingdom.
During the course of the event, Mahajanaka was able to solve all
the riddles and drew out the locations of all sixteen hidden treasures;
and through his extraordinary physical strength he was able to
string the great bow with ease. His charms and intellect captivated
Princess Sivali, who fell in love with him more and more each day. So
Mahajanaka fulfilled all the conditions to become king. The people
also came to find out that he was the son of their previous monarch,
King Aritthajanaka. This made them even more overjoyed.
King Mahajanaka married Princess Sivali and made her his queen.
He sent his senior ministers in a grand procession to invite his
mother and the good Brahmin and his wife to take residence at his
palace. Festivities were held in their honor.
Soon Queen Sivali bore him a son endowed with auspicious marks,
and they called him Dighavu-Kumara. This was a time of happiness
for everyone.
Power of Perseverance
King Mahajanaka was cognizant of the fact that his prosperity
was due to merit-results from charitable deeds performed by him
during his previous lifetimes. He was also aware of the fact that previously
accumulated merit could be exhausted if new merit was not
cultivated. So he had six alms halls built throughout the city to feed
the hungry and to help the poor. He performed charitable giving
without missing a day. His kindness and generosity was known
throughout the land. For seven thousand years he ruled his kingdom
righteously according to the Ten Royal Duties10 required of a
righteous monarch. The people of Mithila enjoyed a period of peace
and prosperity throughout his reign.
One day he was on top of his palace looking out at the vast expanse
of his kingdom and its wealth. He reflected on his good fortune and
recalled the time he spent struggling in the ocean:
“My success is truly due to my perseverance, without which I would
have perished along with the other seven hundred men in the ocean.
To succeed in any endeavor, one must pursue his goal with courage,
determination and perseverance. These are the ingredients for
success, the absence of which no task can be accomplished.”
A wise person should have hope and aspiration. He should strive to
fulfill his hope with diligence and perseverance.”
Lesson from the Mango Trees
One day King Mahajanaka was riding on his elephant to tour the
royal garden, followed by his ministers and a large entourage. Upon
entering the garden he noticed two great mango trees, one full of
mangoes and the other without any fruit. The mangos looked ripe
and inviting. His attendants were tempted to pick them but no one
dared to do so before the king.
From the back of his elephant the king picked one mango and
tasted it. The flavor was so divine that the king thought to himself,
“Um… this mango is truly delicious. On my way back I will eat
some more.” Then he continued on.
Seeing that the king had eaten his fruit and moved on, the ministers
and courtiers proceeded to help themselves to the mangoes that
were hanging low. After the low-hanging mangoes were all taken,
the people who followed behind climbed up the tree in a hurry to
wrangle for the rest of the fruits. In the commotion they broke the
limbs and ravaged the leaves until that tree stood all broken and
battered.
As for the tree without fruit, it stood glorious and green and
unblemished, and its leaves were flowing with the breeze as if it
were smiling.
On his way back the king was startled at what he saw. He asked his
ministers what had happened.
“The crowd saw that Your Majesty had eaten the first fruit, so they
plundered and ravaged the tree,” they replied.
“But this other tree stands strong and has not lost a leaf.”
“It has not lost a leave because it had no fruit. No one bothered it.”
The king was amazed. He thought to himself, “This tree stands
green and whole because it has no fruit; this other tree is broken and
battered because of its fruit.”
This served as an awakening for him as he realized the following
truths:
“A tree is plundered for its fruits; an elephant is slain for his ivory, a
leopard for his skin, a rich man for his money. It is possessions that
cause fears and worries.
One who possesses nothing of his own has no cause for worries.
One without possession is like the tree without fruit; no danger will
come to him. Life of an ascetic, one who possesses nothing, is a life
free of worries.
We kings are like that fruitful tree, constantly exposed to dangers.
His heart, his mind, is never free. Why should I be like the fruitful
tree? These two mango trees are my teachers; from them I learn a
lesson of life.”
Spiritual Pursuit
With this awakening, the Bodhisatta resolved to put aside his
kingdom and take up the life of an ascetic. He returned to his palace,
summoned his chief minister and said to him, “My good minister,
from this day on no one should see me except the servants who
bring me meals. I ask you, with the help and counsel of all who are
wise and capable, assume the duty of governing my kingdom on
my behalf. I will henceforth live the life of a recluse in the private
quarters of my palace.”
For four months King Mahajanaka lived like an ascetic on the
top floor of his palace, not allowing even his queen to see him.
He contemplated spiritual attainment. The more he contemplated
the more it became clear to him that the worldly life was a life full
of suffering. To gain spiritual freedom he must relinquish everything
and live a holy life of an ascetic, in the forest. Arriving at this
conclusion, he shaved his head, put on the robes of an ascetic and
left the palace.
Queen Sivali was distraught when she learned that King Mahajanaka
had left her. She, accompanied by court ladies and soldiers,
set out to find him. They caught up with him in a forest path
and followed him, pleading for him to return. Despite the king’s
pleas to leave him alone, they kept following him for several days.
Until one day, the king finally managed to leave them without a
trace. Queen Sivali accepted her husband’s decision and found
peace with herself, and she rejoiced in his merit.
Mahajanaka found his way to the Himavanta forest and was never
again seen in the world of men. He found his peace and tranquility
and was able to settle his mind. In the course of seven days he was
able to perfect his faculties and spiritual attainments. Upon death he
was reborn unto the Brahma heaven.
03 Sama Jataka PERFECTING THE VIRTUE OF LOVING-KINDNESS
During the time of the Buddha, a young man from a wealthy family wished to be ordained as a monk but
his parents would not let him. They told him that, as their only son, it was his responsibility to carry on the
family lineage and to look after them during their old age. Having made up his mind to follow the path of
purity by becoming a monk, the young man told his parents he would fast to death unless they agreed to
let him ordain. Still, they would not let him. So he fasted for several days until he became weak and pale.
Fearing that their son would die they finally gave in.
So the young man became a monk and lived a life of austerity for several years. One day he received news
that his parents had fallen into hard times and had lost all of their wealth and possessions. They became
homeless, clothed in rags and wandered around begging for food. Saddened by the news he went to see
them. The sight of his parents made him miserable. He felt responsible for what had happened to them.
Thereafter, he stayed close to his parents to watch over them and would give them the food from his alms
gathering. He would not eat his alms food unless there was leftover from his parents. Some days there was
not enough food to go around and he had to starve.
This went on for a while until he became so thin and pale that his fellow monks thought he was suffering
an illness. After learning the real reason from the young monk they told him that it was wrong to give
offerings from faithful donors to laypeople. They brought the matter up to the Buddha. Upon hearing the
reason behind what the young monk had done, the Buddha complimented him for being a good son.
He said to the monks, “It is an immemorial custom with the wise to cherish and support their parents.
Parents are worthy of respect and gratitude from their sons and daughters above all things.” Then
the Buddha went on to tell them a story of his past lives, now known as Sama Jataka.
Families of Hunters
Once there were two villages of hunters on the opposite banks of
a river not far from the city of Benares. Their village chiefs were
the best of friends who had made a pact with one another, if
one of them had a son and the other had a daughter, that they
would marry them. One chief had a boy and named him Dukulaka;
the other had a girl and named her Parika.
Though Dukulaka and Parika grew up with hunters they refused
to harm any living creature. When they reached the age of sixteen
their parents married them against their will, but secretly they determined
to live as brother and sister. They felt obliged to abstain
from any intimacy and deny themselves all pleasures of the
senses. In the course of time the two decided to leave their
villages and lived like hermits in the forest. They headed for the
forest of Himavanta, where they hoped to find peace, tranquility
and solitude.
Upon reaching Himavanta they settled down in a hermitage.
There, they led a pure and meditative life of ascetics. They
meditated regu-larly and extended loving-kindness to all living
beings. The effect of their loving-kindness was felt by all the
birds and beasts. No danger ever came upon them from any of
the animals … until one fateful day.
One day, Sakka, ruler of Tavatimsa Heaven and protector of virtuous
people, foresaw that a grave misfortune was about to come upon
them. Sakka came down to earth and warned them of the danger.
He tried to convince them that they should bear a son so there will
be someone to care for them when affliction strikes. They refused to
go along saying that this was not the way of asceticism. Then Sakka
advised them that an immaculate conception would be possible if,
during Parika’s period of fertility, Dukulaka would place his hand
on her belly and rub on it. To this, Dukulaka and Parika agreed.
A Bodhisatta is Born
Nine months later, a great being, the Bodhisatta, was born unto
them. His skin was as radiant as gold. They named him
Suvana-Sama (Sama the Golden).
Sama grew up in the Himavanta Forest populated by ordinary
and supernatural creatures. Graceful kinaris11 who lived in a secret
part of the forest came to nurse him and look after him while his
parents were away looking for fruits and berries in the forest. They
cherished him as he grew up year after year.
Sama, was a kind and compassionate young boy. His character
and mannerism was gentle and refined. He moved about gently,
radiating loving-kindness around him. Even animals, timid of other
men, felt at ease around him. They played with him and followed
him wherever he went.
Retribution from a Bad Kamma
When Sama was sixteen, as predicted, a misfortune befell his
parents. As they were making their way home after a day of
gathering fruits, it suddenly began to rain. They took shelter under
a big tree and unwittingly stood on an anthill under which a poisonous
snake lived. As they huddled there, the rain washed their sweat
down onto the snake’s nostrils which made it angry. It puffed out
its deadly breath at them and blinded them instantly. Unable to see
anything, Dukulaka and Parika were horrified. They cried out at
their misfortune.
In a former existence, Dukulaka and Parika had been born as
husband and wife who practiced medicine. The husband had treated
a wealthy patient with an eye disease that blinded him. The patient
had promised to pay the doctor handsomely if he was able to cure
his blindness. The doctor did cure him from blindness, but instead
of paying the doctor as promised the rich patient made all sorts of
excuses to avoid paying. This greatly upset the doctor. He asked
his wife what he should do. The wife, overcome by anger, told the
doctor to put poison in the patient’s eyes as a way to teach him a
lesson. When the patient showed up for a subsequent visit he mixed
the medicine with poison and dropped it in the patient’s eyes which
blinded him. This grievous deed gave rise to a bad kamma that
followed Dukulaka and Parika to the present lifetime.
The Law of Kamma is a universal law that applies to everyone with
no exceptions. An action, good or bad, produces results. Actions
that bring goodness to oneself and others produce good karmic
consequences, while actions that cause suffering to oneself or
others, whether justified or not, bear negative karmic consequences.
Karmic retributions, both positive and negative, can follow the
doers through many lifetimes. It is unpredictable when these
retributions will take effect, but they never go away, and will bear
fruit in their own time.
For Dukulaka and Parika, their negative karmic retributions had
now caught up with them and made them suffer the consequences.
A Perfect Son
When Sama noticed his parents failed to return at the normal
time, he went out to look for them. When he finally found
them they were in a distressed state, unable to see anything.
He cried bitterly at his parents’ suffering but soon regained his
mindfulness and told himself that this was a chance for him to
fulfill his gratitude towards his parents and to look after them. He
led them back to the hermitage before nightfall.
From this time onward Sama looked after his parents with the
utmost dedication. He bathed them, washed their feet, collected
food for them, fed them succulent fruits, swept their dwelling clean,
comforted them, and went everyday to a pond to fill a water pot for
them. He tied ropes and bamboo poles in all directions for them
to navigate their whereabouts. Sama’s gentle loving care made
the lives of his blind parents more bearable.
A King with a Cruel Heart
At that time in Benares reigned a young king named Piliyakkha.
He was a heartless king who took great pleasure in hunting and
killing wild animals for their flesh. His craving for eating the flesh
of wild animals was insatiable. Over the years he and his hunting
mates had hunted and killed so many animals in his area that the
animals all migrated away into other forests.
One day his royal chef came to him and informed him that they
could no longer find any large animals in the area. The king was
annoyed as his craving for the flesh of wild animals grew stronger by
the day. Finally, he decided to take time off from his kingdom to go
hunting by himself on an extended journey. He asked his mother to
look after the kingdom on his behalf, then equipped himself with all
kinds of weapons, and rode off into the forests. He would hunt and
kill animals everywhere he went. This turned out to be a fulfilling
adventure for him.
Soon he wandered into the region of Himavanta forest. Venturing
deeper and deeper he came upon a river that was crystal clear and
surrounded by lush green trees and vegetation. He finally reached
the glade where Sama came to fetch water every day. There he saw
a great number of animal footprints. He was excited. “This is
going to be a good day; here is where I will take my trophy,” he
exclaimed joyfully. He looked around for a strategic spot to
conceal himself in ambush. He found a perfect spot and put up a
hidden shelter there. Then he got his bow and arrows ready and he
waited.
Poisoned Arrow
That afternoon, after taking care of his parents for the day, Sama
made his trip to the river to fetch water. As usual, many animals
followed him.
The king hiding in his secret place saw Sama and was fascinated
by the sight of what appeared to be some divine being by his
golden complexion and the ability to tame the animals of the
forest. He thought to himself, “All the time that I have been wandering
here I have never seen a human; is he a deity or a naga? Now if I
go up and ask him, he will fly up into heaven if he is a deity; and if
he is a naga he will sink into the earth and disappear. If he is indeed
a non-human I will capture him and take him home to show my
people. They will be fascinated by my accomplishment.”
Having been so used to killing as a habit, he thought nothing of
causing suffering to others. King Piliyakka drew back his bow
and shot a poisoned arrow at Sama. The arrow went into the right
side of Sama and came out the other side, inflicting terrible pain.
The animals fled in terror. The water pot tumbled over and
Sama fell onto the sand. Blood poured out of his body and his
mouth as he spoke these words:
“I have no enemies in this forest and I have no enmity against anyone;
my dear friend, why do you wish to kill me. My flesh cannot
be eaten; my skin is of no use to anyone; what is there to gain for
killing me? Who are you? Please tell me your name. Why did
you shoot me and why are you hiding in the bush?”
When the king heard this, he thought to himself, “Though he has
been gravely wounded by my poisoned arrow, yet he neither scorned
nor blamed me, but spoke to me in such a kind tone. I must go
up and face him.” So he went up and stood near him. Even
while Sama was writhing in pain, the king felt no remorse. He
said proudly, “I am King Piliyakkha of Benares. I am well-trained
in the art of weapons and I am a skilled archer. Even a large
elephant could not escape death from my arrows. I took time off
from my royal duties to hunt for wild animals.”
Then he lied to Sama that he was aiming for a deer, but Sama
approached and scared the deer away; so he was angry and shot at
him. To which the Bodhisatta said, “Why are you speaking thus? In
all of Himavanta, there is not a deer or any other animal that will
run away when they see me. They are all my friends.”
The king thought to himself, “I have wounded this innocent being
and told a lie. This is not the way of a brave man.” So he admitted
the truth. Still the Bodhisatta did not scold him. Instead, he grieved
aloud for his parents.
Who Will Look After My Parents?
“Both of my parents are blind. Who will look after them now?
Who will find food for them? Who will bring them water each day?
Who will bathe them? They will die without me.”
On hearing Sama’s lamentation the king’s conscience began to
trouble him. He came to an awakening: “This is a man who cherishes
his parents. He is a virtuous son. Even amidst all his pain he
does not think of himself but only of his parents. By harming such
a man I have committed a grave sin. Hell will no doubt await me.
What good will my kingdom do me if I end up in hell? What must
I do to correct my sin?”
There upon a celestial being by the name of Suntaree, who
had been Sama’s mother in a previous life, witnessed the incident
and came out to intervene. She spoke to the king, “O King, you
have committed a grievous act. An innocent family has been
ruined by your cruel deed. You will suffer a heavy guilt because of
your selfish heart. Do some good deed; go and look after his blind
parents. Let the good deed compensate for your sin. Have a
charitable heart and you will reach heaven.”
The king looked around to see who was speaking, but he saw no
one. He surmised that the voice must have come from a god or an
angel. He solemnly obeyed.
Sama was bleeding badly; his hands and feet became stiffened
and his breathing had stopped. The king lamented loudly: “I have
murdered an innocent soul; hell is where I will be doomed.”
After a burst of bitter tears the king slowly got up, lifted the water
pot and started walking toward the hermitage. There he confessed
his crime to Sama’s parents.
At first, Dukulaka and Parika refused to believe what they heard as
it was too terrible to bear, and then they broke down in tears. Their
hearts were shattered with grief. Dukulaka tried to comfort his wife
with these words: “Hatred leads to more hatred. My dear wife, we
must be strong. We have been practicing loving-kindness for so
long; don’t allow our grief to take away our kindness. We must not
allow the cycle of bad kamma to continue.” They suppressed their ill
feelings and harbored no hatred toward the king. They asked merely
that the king lead them to their son’s body. The king complied.
Power of Loving-Kindness
Upon reaching their son, the two ascetics knelt down and wept
loudly, unable to control their agony. After their grief had
subsided they regained their composure, recalled the merit of
Sama, and prayed: “If it was true that throughout his times Sama
always lived a virtuous life, spoke only the truth, and looked after
his parents night and day, then may the power of his good deeds
overcome the poison in his veins and make it harmless.”
At the same moment, the celestial being Suntaree, who was
watching over Sama’s body the whole time, asserted the virtue of
Sama and prayed for his restoration.
Through the strength of their prayers and the merit power of Sama’s
virtues, something wonderful happened: Sama began to regain his
consciousness and began to move his body. His wound disappeared,
and his limbs were no longer stiffened. It was also a wondrous day
for Dukulaka and Parika, for they have regained their eyesight. Their
blindness has ended along with their penance from a previous life.
As the sun began to rise they could see with their own eyes their son’s
restoration. The morning air was filled with bliss. Dukulaka,
Parika and Sama embraced each other heartily as tears of joy
flooded their eyes.
Sama appeared as radiant and beautiful as he ever was. He paid
homage to his parents and expressed words of kindness to the king.
The king exclaimed, “This is a miracle! How is such a thing possible?”
The Bodhisatta said to him, “Miracles do happen. For mortals who
obey the law of righteousness and nurse their parents in distress, the
angels praise their deed and come to heal their sickness. The power
of merit is transcendental and profound.”
The king said to Sama, “You are a man of virtue; please be my
refuge. Teach me how to reach heaven.”
The Bodhisatta gave him the following teaching:
“If you wish to reach the world of heaven and enjoy divine happiness,
you must practice the Ten Virtues of the Ruler and rule your
kingdom with generosity, morality, self-sacrifice and integrity; and
you must treat your subjects with kindness and non-violence.
Further, you must fulfill your duty towards your parents, your
family and your friends, your towns and villages, and also your duty
to nature and to birds and beasts.
In addition, you must practice the Five Moral Precepts by
not killing, stealing, engaging in sexual misconduct, lying or
involving in any form of intoxicants.
By so doing, you will elevate your human quality and will be assured
of a happy afterlife destination.”
The king listened attentively and accepted the Bodhisatta’s teaching
whole-heartedly. He expressed his sincere appreciation and thanked
him gratefully for showing him the right path. With tears in his
eyes he knelt before the three and asked for their forgiveness. Then
he bade farewell to them and began his journey to return to his
kingdom. From that day onward, King Piliyakkha was a changed
man. He gave up killing completely and was no longer cruel to
anyone. He ruled his kingdom righteously and performed charitable
acts regularly until his last day. Upon his death he was reborn in a
heavenly realm.
Sama and his parents continued to live peacefully in the Himavanta
forest. They meditated regularly and extended loving-kindness
to all living beings. In the course of time all of them perfected their
faculties and achieved spiritual attainment. Upon their death they
were reborn unto the Brahma world.
04 Nimi Jataka PERFECTING THE VIRTUE OF RESOLUTION
In this story, the Bodhisatta was born as a king in an era where people lived as long
as 400,000 years. By enjoying such a long lifespan, many people tended to lose touch
with reality and allowed their time to pass without doing something worthwhile
spiritually. The Bodhisatta was different. Even though he could live a very long life,
he was aware of the fact that nothing was permanent and that one day old age and
death would be upon him. So he was determined to seek spiritual fulfillment before
he became too old. He made the resolution that, as soon as a strand of gray hair
appeared on his head, he would renounce the world and take on the life of an ascetic.
He also resolved that all of his descendents would follow this same tradition.
Here, the Bodhisatta displayed the Virtue of Resolution more firmly than in any of
his other previous lives.
In this story, we are given a glimpse of the various afterlife realms where bad people
are punished and good people are rewarded after they die.
Tale of the First Gray Hair
Once, a Bodhisatta from the Brahma’s world was reborn into the
human realm to become King Makhadeva of Mithila. This took
place in the time when people could live as long as 400,000 years.
Makhadeva spent his first 84,000 years as a young prince, living a
carefree lifestyle. He became king, ruling for the next 168,000 years.
Although life was good for him, something inside him told him
that he should not be reckless and should make room for spiritual
development and to cultivate his virtues before he became too old.
So he made a resolution that as soon as a strand of his hair turned
gray, he would renounce his kingship and become an ascetic. For
him, this first strand of gray hair would be a messenger from heaven
to tell him that old age was just around the corner and that death
would soon find him.
He told his barber to watch for the first gray hair and to
inform him the moment he spotted it. A few hundred years had
passed and finally the barber spotted the first strand of gray hair
on King Makhadeva’s head. He plucked it and placed it on King
Makhadeva’s palm.
Upon seeing his first gray hair, King Makhadeva realized the time
had come for him to renounce the world and to live the life of an
ascetic. He passed his kingdom over to his son and advised his son
to live a virtuous life and to rule his kingdom righteously. He told
his son to follow the family tradition established by him that upon
noticing his son’s first gray hair that he should abdicate and assume
the life of an ascetic just like his father has done. He also told his son
to tell his descendants to uphold this tradition for all their future
generations. He made the resolution: “May my family line carry
on the tradition of asceticism from generation to generation
until reaching Nibbana.” Then he left the kingdom to become an
ascetic. He lived on for another 84,000 years. After death, he was
reborn in the Brahma’s heaven.
Reborn from the Brahma’s World
From his place in Brahma’s heaven he saw that 84,000 of his descendants
had followed his example and had preserved their tradition of
asceticism after their first gray hairs appeared. “Will any of us attain
Nibbana?” he pondered. Through his insight he saw that the state of
Nibbana was not within the reach of any of his line. This being the
case, he decided to descend to earth one more time in order to be
reborn as the son of his descendant12, the present king of Mithila, so
that he would become the one who would round off his family line
without letting the tradition of asceticism break.
He was conceived in the womb of the chief queen of Mithila. At
the time of naming the infant, the king summoned his soothsayers
to inspect the infant for auspicious signs. After examining, the
soothsayers declared that the infant prince would eventually become
an ascetic and would be the one to round off the family line. The
king was pleased. He named him Nimi-Kumara (Prince Hoop),
meaning “the Prince Who is the Wheel That Keeps Turning and
Repeating its Cycles.”
Upon noticing his first gray hair, true to family tradition, Nimi’s
father renounced the throne to become an ascetic and passed the
kingdom to Nimi. As king, Nimi was righteous and without fault.
He ruled by example, giving alms, caring for the poor, and upholding
moral precepts. This was a time for peace and prosperity in the
kingdom. King Nimi’s reputation spread far and wide. His name
was synonymous with that of goodness. Indeed, he inspired his
subjects to lead such virtuous lives that upon death most of them
reached the realms of heaven.
Almsgiving vs. Holy Life
One day, after coming out of a deep meditation, King Nimi yearned
to know the answer to one great question: which is more fruitful,
the holy life or faithful almsgiving? So strong was his desire to learn
the truth that Sakka, king of Tavatimsa Heaven, felt compelled to
come down in person to King Nimi’s chamber and gave him the
answer. “Good King Nimi,” said Sakka, “the holy life, in which a
man lives as an ascetic, is by far the more fruitful. By embracing the
meditative life of an ascetic, one can go to higher heavens and the
Brahma’s world, and sometimes beyond, to Nibbana. Nevertheless,
almsgiving is right and befits a great man and a king such as you.”
Upon his return to Tavatimsa Heaven, Sakka spoke of King Nimi’s
goodness to the deities there. Many of the deities at Tavatimsa were
former subjects of Nimi, who, through his good example and teachings,
were able to attain heaven. They were overjoyed to hear of him
and wished to see him again. They persuaded Sakka to bring him to
Tavatimsa so they could see him and listen to his discourse. Sakka
consented. He summoned Matali, his charioteer, to take the celestial
chariot for a journey to earth to invite Nimi to visit his heaven.
Matali guided the chariot to the eastern window of the palace,
where King Nimi was seated. “King Nimi,” said Matali, “the
celestial beings of Tavatimsa Heaven are well pleased with you and
are longing to see you. I am sent by the King Sakka himself to
invite you and to escort you to his realm. Please come with me.”
Witnessing the Hell Realms
King Nimi accepted graciously. On the way to Tavatimsa Heaven,
Matali asked if Nimi would like to tour the different realms
of heaven and hell, and if so, which one he would like to be
shown first. Nimi suggested that he be shown the realms of hell
first as he knew he would eventually see the realms of heaven
anyway.
Matali plunged the chariot into the blackness of the various
worlds of hell. Nimi shook and shuddered at the horrific sights
of these hells where hell creatures were mercilessly punished and
tortured. The sufferings of these hell creatures were so horrific
that it made Nimi weep. He cried out to Matali, “What have these
creatures done to be cast into such fearsome places?” Matali told
Nimi what wrongdoing each had done that lead them to each one
of these hells and the punishment that befitted each offense. Some
hells were for those who were mean and selfish, some for
tormenting the weak, some for harming the virtuous, some for
lying, some for cheating, some for stealing, some for slaying
animals, some for killing people, some for committing adultery,
some for acting and behaving according to wrong belief, some
for practicing false religions, and so on. Each hell was horrifying
beyond words. Nimi was deeply distraught by the sights he
witnessed.
Visiting the Heavenly Realms
In the meantime, the celestial beings at Tavatimsa became anxious
that Nimi had taken too long to arrive. So Sakka sent a fast messenger
to rush Matali there. Matali quickly rounded up the tour
of the hell realms and turned the chariot heavenward. On the way
to Tavatimsa Nimi saw several spectacular celestial mansions and
crystal palaces that sparkled like gems floating in the air. He also
saw magnificent gardens with beautiful trees and flowers. Heavenly
fragrances and cool celestial music filled the air. Nimi caught sight
of many celestial beings, all of them so beautiful, radiant and happy.
Each heavenly abode seemed more beautiful than the last. Nimi
wondered, what good deeds had these heavenly beings performed
as humans to have gained such a happy, celestial state? Matali
explained, “While human, some of these angels gave alms to the
needy, some gave shelter to ascetics, some gave food to holy men,
some practiced moral precepts, some observed abstinence during
holy days, some provided parks and wells to the cities; all of them
have been kind and generous.”
The carriage rose upward, past the seven celestial mountains
surrounding the great Mount Sumeru13, past the heaven of the Four
Great Kings (Catumaharajika14), until at last arriving at the gateway
to Tavatimsa heaven. Matali pointed out the magnificent, eightsided
columns made of rare gems that supported the palace and
announced to Nimi, “This is Tavatimsa, the heaven of the Thirtythree;
here the gods assemble, with their master Sakka. It is a most
beautiful and magnificent place.”
that Nimi had taken too long to arrive. So Sakka sent a fast messenger
to rush Matali there. Matali quickly rounded up the tour
of the hell realms and turned the chariot heavenward. On the way
to Tavatimsa Nimi saw several spectacular celestial mansions and
crystal palaces that sparkled like gems floating in the air. He also
saw magnificent gardens with beautiful trees and flowers. Heavenly
fragrances and cool celestial music filled the air. Nimi caught sight
of many celestial beings, all of them so beautiful, radiant and happy.
Each heavenly abode seemed more beautiful than the last. Nimi
wondered, what good deeds had these heavenly beings performed
as humans to have gained such a happy, celestial state? Matali
explained, “While human, some of these angels gave alms to the
needy, some gave shelter to ascetics, some gave food to holy men,
some practiced moral precepts, some observed abstinence during
holy days, some provided parks and wells to the cities; all of them
have been kind and generous.”
The carriage rose upward, past the seven celestial mountains
surrounding the great Mount Sumeru13, past the heaven of the Four
Great Kings (Catumaharajika14), until at last arriving at the gateway
to Tavatimsa heaven. Matali pointed out the magnificent, eightsided
columns made of rare gems that supported the palace and
announced to Nimi, “This is Tavatimsa, the heaven of the Thirtythree;
here the gods assemble, with their master Sakka. It is a most
beautiful and magnificent place.”
The celestial beings came happily to greet Nimi. Sakka invited him
to stay in his heaven but Nimi politely declined, explaining that
he still had to complete certain worldly duties and that his people
needed him. For seven days Nimi charmed the company of heaven
with his discourse. Nimi was profoundly impressed with all the
beauty and magnificence of life in the heavens. Finally, the time had
come for him to depart.
Once again, the chariot was prepared and Matali was summoned to
take Nimi home. Nimi bade a friendly farewell to all of them and
began his journey back to Mithila.
Do Good, Avoid Bad
Upon his arrival back to earth, his subjects spotted their celestial
chariot which came ablaze with brightness from the sky. They were
overjoyed to see their king after having been gone for a long time.
They surrounded him and anxiously waited to hear of his adventure.
Nimi told them of the wonders he had seen and of the magnificent
existence of all who dwell in heaven. He also told them the horrors
he had witnessed in the underworld. He gave them the following
insight:
“Every action that you do brings about retribution, pleasant and
unpleasant.
Merit, the fruit of good deeds, and demerit, the fruit of bad deeds,
do exist and are real.
Do good, be charitable, have a kind heart; one day you will be
reborn into such a wonderful place of heaven.
Beware of evildoing, for I have seen in the worlds of hell more
suffering and torture than my tongue can describe.”
The people of Mithila expressed their gratitude for Nimi’s advice
and promised to do good and avoid evil.
Years later, when the king’s barber showed Nimi his first gray hair,
Nimi knew it was time to give his kingdom to his son. From then on,
he lived as an ascetic in a mango grove at Mithila. Upon his death he
was, again, reborn in the Brahman realm, surpassing Sakka’s heaven
Thus, Nimi, the Bodhisatta, rounded off King Makhadeva’s line.
And with the death of his son, he ended the cycle in the 84,000th
generation
05 Mahosadha Jataka PERFECTING THE VIRTUE OF WISDOM
Mahosatha Jataka is the story of the Bodhisatta who applied wisdom in everything
he did. His great wisdom did not result from luck or from a miraculous gift, but was
due to his having pursued the Virtue of Wisdom for many lifetimes.
Through the power of his wisdom the Bodhisatta was able to solve difficult problems,
settle disputes for others, outsmart his enemies, and defend his state from invading
armies. In the process, he managed to win the love and respect of everyone including
his enemies, and brought peace and prosperity to the entire continent.
This story teaches us that wisdom is indeed more important than wealth and power,
that the wise always studies ahead and prepares ahead, that gratitude is a virtue of the
wise, and that wealth gained through immoral means leads to eventual misfortune.
It is beneficial for us to employ wisdom in everything we do. We gain wisdom
by associating with the wise and avoid ignorance by staying away from fools –
those who are morally underdeveloped.
Kingdom of Vedeha
In a land that was great and vast and abundant with produce and
grains, laid the great kingdom of Vedeha. This was a region populated
with a large number of people and merchants who came from
surrounding states to engage in trade. Its capital city was called
Mithila. Mithila was a wealthy city teeming with people. Its houses,
buildings and palaces were as beautiful and grand as those in the
celestial realm.
The ruling monarch of this kingdom was King Vedeha. He was
revered by his people. In his court were four royal sages who advised
him in the affairs of the land. The most senior of these sages was
Venaka. From the time the king ascended the throne, the kingdom
of Vedeha had been peaceful and prosperous. Its virtues were well
known throughout the land.
A Fantastic Dream
At dawn one morning, the king woke up from a fantastic dream.
In his dream he saw the four corners of his royal courtyard ablaze
with fire that rose as high as the city walls. Amidst the four fireballs
emerged a fifth fire. At first it appeared as little as a firefly, then grew
in height and glory until it consumed all the other four fireballs. Its
brightness pervaded the whole universe and spread all the way to the
Brahma world. Yet this great fireball gave a cool, soothing light, and
multitudes of people passed through it without harm. They brought
garlands and fragrant blooms to pay homage to the huge fireball.
Frightened by this dream, the king summoned his four sages to interpret
the meaning of it. The four sages considered the content of
the dream, then checked the astrology of the king and the fortune of
the city. After having done so, Senaka, the chief advisor, said to the
king, “Fear not, Your Majesty. The dream is indeed a good omen.
There is no harm that will come to you and your kingdom.”
The king implored anxiously, “Check again carefully and explain to
me in detail why such a horrific dream is a good omen.”
Senaka and the other three, after checking again carefully according
to their training of the art of prediction, turned to the king and said,
“Indeed, Your Majesty, this is a good omen. It is signifying that not
too far in the future there will be a sage blessed with great wisdom
far wiser than the four of us. He will come into Your Majesty’s services
in his youth. Once he is here he will be widely respected by the
masses. His wisdom and glory will be incomparable.”
After hearing this revelation, the king’s heart was filled with joy.
From that time on, he often spoke of the coming of this new sage
with anticipation.
A Genius is Born
At the four gates of Mithila there were four market towns, and in
the East Market town there dwelt a rich man named Sirivaddhaka
and his wife, Lady Sumana.
Indeed, on the same day of the king’s dream, the Bodhisatta was
conceived in the womb of Lady Sumana. In his hand he clasped
a medicinal herb15 which, when ground, could cure all kinds of
illnesses. The medicinal herb had caused a painless birth for his
mother and cured his father’s chronic headache which had lasted for
seven years. The story of this magical herb went far and wide. People
with sicknesses came from all places looking to be cured by this
magical herb, and indeed all of them were cured. His father named
him Mahosatha, which meant “One Who Possesses a Medicine
That Benefits All Men.”
Sirivaddhaka perceived that his son must have been a blessed being
to have been born with such virtuous power. According to tradition,
someone so blessed would not come into being alone, but would be
accompanied by a retinue of attendants. So he had his people search
around to find out whether there were any infants born on the same
day as his child. Indeed, his people reported that there were a total
of one thousand infant boys born to wealthy families on the same
day. Well pleased, Sirivaddhaka sent gifts and other amenities to
these families and saw to it that they grew up with good health.
These boys became Mahosatha’s playmates and loyal friends until
their adult days.
The Pavilion
Mahosatha’s wisdom grew as he got older. At age seven16, he saw
that the area he and his friends were playing in and where the travelers
were passing through was often disturbed by wild animals and
exposed to rain and harsh sun. He proposed to his friends that they
should build a pavilion to provide resting areas and shelters for the
people and part of it to be used as playgrounds. His friends agreed
with the idea. They also agreed to each come up with one thousand
gold pieces to build the facility; any shortages would be made up
by Mahosatha. All of their parents supported their idea and helped
come up with their shares accordingly.
Mahosatha hired a contractor and his crew to construct the building
but ended up having to supervise the project himself as the crew
failed to do it in the right way. The pavilion and its various buildings
that Mahosatha designed and supervised were remarkable. The
building was a multi-purpose facility that served to provide shelters
for travelers, merchants, holy men and needy people. It also served as
a venue for community meetings and religious assemblies, a court of
justice, and a sporting area. It was surrounded by beautiful gardens,
ponds and streams. And near this pavilion he established a public
place for the distribution of alms to holy men and needy people.
The pavilion became a popular resting place for travelers and merchants
and a good meeting place for the people. Crowds gathered
there daily to participate in Dhamma discussions and other civic
activities.
Even at this young age, Mahosatha’s wits and wisdom were so well
known that people came to him for advice on both spiritual and
mundane matters, and also to present their cases of dispute to him
for judgment.
Go Find That Young Sage
Back at the city of Mithila, for seven years King Vedeha remembered
how the four sages had said that a fifth sage would be born, who
would surpass them in wisdom. “Where is he now?” he wondered,
“It’s time I send someone out to look for him.”
He sent out his ministers by the four gates of the city, ordering them
to find the young sage. When they went out by the first three gates
they saw no sign of the Bodhisatta, but when they went out by the
fourth gate they came upon the pavilion and its various buildings,
they knew at once that only someone with a superior intellect could
have built such a remarkable place. After inquiring, they found
out that this place was conceived of and built at the direction of a
seven-year-old genius by the name of Mahosatha, son of the wealthy
merchant of Mithila. They reported their findings to the king.
The king was elated. He consulted Senaka, his chief adviser,
whether he should send for the boy to his court.
Venaka, remembering his own prediction of the king’s dream, knew
that the presence of the boy would do him and the other three sages
no good as their glory would be dimmed by the boy’s. So he plotted
to delay the king’s actions in every way he could. He told the king
that the task of building a nice pavilion was not something special
and did not require someone with extraordinary wisdom to do it.
He suggested that the king should send his ministers to observe
Mahosatha’s behavior and report their findings back to him on a
regular basis.
Following Senaka’s advice, the king sent three ministers out to
secretly observe Mahosatha. Through their observations they
witnessed Mahosatha’s various activities that exhibited his unusual
intelligence and wisdom. The following are a few examples:
An Ox Thief
A man purchased an ox in a neighboring village and was walking it
back home when he became tired and fell asleep. As he was sleeping,
he allowed the ox to graze. Another man saw the opportunity to
steal this ox and he walked away with it. The owner woke up, saw
the thief in the distance with his ox and chased after him. When
he caught up, the thief refused to let go of the ox claiming that it
belonged to him. The two men wrangled until they came upon the
location of the pavilion.
A great crowd collected after hearing the dispute. When Mahosatha
heard the noise, he sent for them both. Each man accused the other
of being a thief. Mahosatha offered to settle the dispute if they
would abide by his verdict. They agreed to do so.
When he saw their behavior he knew right away which one was the
thief and which one was the real owner, but thought to himself that
he needed to show how he reached his conclusion so that his verdict
would be accepted by the crowd.
He asked both men how they took possession of the ox, what they
fed the ox with, and what they gave the ox to drink.
The thief replied, “This ox was born in my home. I fed him with
sesame flour and kidney beans and let him drink rice gruel.”
Then he asked the same question to the real owner, who said,
“I purchased this ox from another town. I fed him on grass.”
So Mahosatha let the people bring the food that the thief described
and also the grass. The ox refused to eat the other food, only the
grass. With this finding, the thief had no choice but to confess to
his crime. The crowd was angry at the thief and started to beat him.
Mahosatha stopped them from beating the thief and gave the thief
a moral lesson:
“Your misdeed not only will bring misfortune to you in this present
life, but in the future life you will suffer great torment in the various
hells. Therefore, from now on, you must abandon such practices.
There are five basic offenses that a decent man should not engage in:
killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxication. These
are called the Five Precepts. They are the basics of human
quality. Do good, avoid bad. Live a virtuous life and you will
find peace and happiness.” The thief repented. From then on, he
went about his life in an honest way.
The Mother and the Baby
After travelling a long journey, a woman with a newborn baby went
to rest at Mahosatha’s pavilion. She went to the stream to wash her
baby. After she finished washing the baby, she placed the baby on
the bank. A yakkhinee (ogress with supernatural power) saw the
baby and desired to eat him. The yakkhinee transformed itself into
the shape of a young woman and came to befriend the mother of the
baby. She talked the mother into letting her hold the baby, then ran
off with him. The mother ran after her and seized her.
As they wrangled they passed by the door of the pavilion. Mahosatha
heard the commotion and asked them what the argument was
about. Each of the women declared that the baby belonged to her.
When he heard their story, he asked them whether they would let
him be the judge and that they would abide by his verdict. On their
promising to do so, he drew a line on the ground and placed the
baby in the middle of the line, feet on one side of the line and hands
on the other side. Then he said to them, “Grab hold of the baby and
pull. The child is yours who can pull him over the line.”
The two women pulled hard causing the baby to cry in pain.
The mother’s heart was torn apart each time the baby cried. She
could no longer stand the baby’s suffering and decided to let go of
him. She stood there and wept pitifully.
Mahosatha turned to the crowd and asked, “Is it the heart of the
mother which is tender towards the child, or the heart of her who
is not the mother?” They answered, “The mother’s heart.” “Is she
the mother who kept hold of the child or she who let it go?” They
replied, “She who let it go.” The crowd pointed to the woman who
let go of the baby and declared, “She is the real mother.”
Mahosatha noticed the other woman looked less than human, for
her eyes were red and did not blink, and she cast no shadows. After
his questioning, the woman confessed that she was indeed a yakkhinee
disguised as a woman.
Mahosatha gave her a lesson:
“How foolish you are. Don’t you realize that the reason you were
born a non-human was because of your bad kamma? If you continue
to commit more evil deeds you will suffer worse retribution
and be reborn in a more miserable state.
To overcome your bad kamma you must do more good deeds and
avoid the bad ones. You must no longer kill, or steal, or lie, or cause
harm to anyone. By doing good deeds regularly you will have a
better rebirth in your next life.”
The yakkhinee reflected on Mahosatha’s words and realized that
everything he said was true. She began to feel remorse and shame.
Then she said, “I want to free myself from this unfortunate
condition. From now on, I will heed your advice, uphold the moral
precepts and redeem myself.” And she solemnly walked away.
An Ugly Man with a Beautiful Wife
A short and ugly man fell in love with a beautiful girl. His passion
for the girl was so great that he was willing to labor hard for her
father in order to win her love. He served her father diligently for
seven full years. The father was impressed with the man’s dedication
and agreed to give his daughter to him as his wife. The girl, however,
found it hard to love someone so ugly.
One day the man planned to visit his parents in a nearby village
with his wife. He asked his wife to cook him some sweetmeats and
other food to take on their trip. After having taken some provisions
and a present, he set out on a journey with her. On the way to
their destination, they came upon a river but were afraid to cross it
because neither of them could swim.
Another man was walking along the bank and came upon them.
The husband asked the man whether the river was deep. The man,
dishonest by nature, said that the river was deep and dangerous and
full of crocodiles, but that he knew his way around and was an
expert at crossing it. The husband asked if the man would agree to
carry them across in exchange for some food. The man agreed. After
eating the food, the man asked who he should carry first, and the
husband said to carry his wife first.
The man carried the wife, who took the food with her, on his
shoulder and went into the river. Having bodily contact with such
a beautiful woman he immediately felt a desire for her and began to
court her. The woman easily gave in to the man. She agreed to go
with him and leave her husband behind. A little way into the river
the man crouched down and pretended to sink deep into the water
as if the water was very deep to scare off the husband so he would
not dare follow them. After they reached the opposite bank they lay
down on the bank, ate the food, and courted each other.
Seeing what had happened, the husband was beside himself. He
ran forward and backward on the bank like a mad man, running
a little into the water and drawing back again in fear. Then, in his
desperation, he thought, “I have given up my life and worked hard
for seven years to gain this woman. I am not about to lose her this
easily. What good is my life without her? I would rather die than
accept such disgrace.” So he made a desperate leap into the water.
Once there, he found out how shallow the water was. So he crossed
it and hurried after them. He finally caught up with them near
Mahosatha’s pavilion. The two men fought and struggled while the
woman looked on.
A great crowd gathered. Mahosatha heard the commotion and asked
them what happened. Each man claimed he was the husband of the
woman. Mahosatha offered to settle their case for them. He asked
if they would abide by his decision once the judgment was made.
They all agreed.
More Tests
Mahosatha spoke to each of them privately. He asked for their
names, the names of their parents, and the names of their in-laws.
He asked the stranger what the name of the woman was. Since
the man never found out the name of the woman, he made up a
random name. The same thing happened to the woman. Since she
never found out the name of the other man, she made up his name.
Their statements were clearly contradictory.
Then Mahosatha asked the husband the same questions, and
the husband was able to answer the correct names of the woman,
her parents, and everyone else. Thus, it was clear who the real
husband was.
The crowd was furious at the dishonest man and wanted to punish
him. Mahosatha did not let this happen, but instead taught the
man some lessons about ethics and virtues. The man repented and
promised not to do wrong again.
The husband was very happy with the final outcome. He expressed
sincere thanks and gratitude to the Bodhisatta. His wife realized
what she had done wrong and apologized to the husband. Thus, the
man regained his wife and the wife learned a lesson about virtue.
Stories like these, plus many more, which demonstrated Mahosatha’s
extraordinary intelligence, were noted by the ministers and
reported back to the king. The king had no doubt in his mind that
Mahosatha was the sage that was foretold in his dream. He told
Senaka that it was time to invite Mahosatha into his court.
Again, due to jealousy, Venaka discouraged the king from doing
so stating that these examples were not enough to use as a norm to
measure someone’s wisdom, and that a man’s true wisdom must be
proven by his accomplishments. He suggested to the king that he
come up with various trials and riddles for Mahosatha to solve. The
king agreed. He sent a messenger to Mahosatha’s East Market town
and ordered the people there to solve one puzzle after another, and
threatened to impose a big fine should they fail to solve each of these
puzzles.
The following are some examples of the puzzles presented by
the king:
Which End is Up
The king ordered a stem of arcadia wood to be cut into a short stick,
fully rounded and polished so that it looked even, smooth and equal
at both ends, and then sent the short stick to the East Market town
with a message: “The people of the East Market town are known for
their wisdom. Tell us which end of this stick is the top and which
end is the root. Failure to give the right answer will result in a fine
of one thousand gold pieces.”
No one in the town could tell the difference between which end
was the top and which end was the root. The head of the townsfolk
suggested that they take the problem to Mahosatha.
Mahosatha looked at the stick and hinted to the people that a tree
grew from the bottom up, so the bottom section would have been
denser and heavier than the upper section. He asked for a large bowl
of water and placed the stick onto the water. One end of the stick
sank deeper than the other end. With this demonstration, it was
clear which end was the bottom and which end was the top. The
people declared, “The end that sinks deeper is the bottom and the
other end that floats higher is the top.”
The answer was then brought to the king, who was impressed with
their quick solution. When he found out who was behind this clever
answer he was delighted.
A Bull with Horns on His Legs
The king sent a message to the East Market town and presented the
people there with another puzzle: “Send us a white bull with horns
on his legs, and a hump on the head, which utters his voice three
times each day unfailingly. Otherwise you must pay a fine of one
thousand gold pieces.”
The townsfolk were perplexed with this silly request. A man
exclaimed, “How on earth do we find such a strange animal?
It does not exist.” Another man said, “Let us bring this problem to
Mahosatha, our genius. If he cannot solve it, no one else can.”
After hearing the puzzle Mahosatha said to them, “There is no such
animal. The king means for you to send him a white rooster. This
creature has horns on his feet, the spurs; a hump on his head, the
crest; and utters his voice, crows, three times each day unfailingly.
Then send him a white rooster such as he described.” So they sent
the king a white rooster.
Again, the king was duly impressed when he found out Mahosatha
was the one behind the solution.
Let the Ants Solve the Problem
The king had a precious gem that was passed on to him from his
forefathers. The gem was octagonal. In the center was a tiny hole
with twisting grooves. Inside the hole was a broken thread that no
one could remove to put in a new thread.
The king sent this gem to the people of the East Market and told
them to take out the old thread and to put in a new one. Failure to
accomplish this would subject them to a fine of one thousand gold
pieces.
The towns people tried every which way to remove the old thread
but were unable to do so because the thread was rotten and trapped
inside the twisted hole. Before they lost their hope someone suggested
that the problem be brought to their resident genius, Mahosatha.
Mahosatha inspected the gem, then asked for some honey.
He smeared the honey on both ends of the hole, and a little of it at
the tip of the new thread and placed the end of the new thread as
far as it could go inside the hole. Then he placed the gem in a place
where tiny red ants were passing. Attracted by the honey the red
ants ate away the rotten thread, then pulled the honey-smeared end
of the thread through the hole. Mahosatha tied knots on both ends
of the thread and had the gem brought to the king.
The king was astonished at what he saw. He asked the people who
came up with such a quick solution. They told him it was their
young genius, Mahosatha. The king uttered, “Oh, Mahosatha, you
are indeed a sage!”
A Pregnant Bull
Next, the king had a bull fed until its stomach became as big as
a pregnant cow. He had his horns polished and his body painted
yellow, turning him into a strange-looking creature. It was difficult
to tell whether it was a bull or a cow. Then he sent the bull to the
East Market town and ordered the people to tend to this “pregnant”
bull until it gave birth to a calf. Failing to do so would cost them one
thousand gold pieces. The people knew full well that the animal was
a bull and that it was impossible to make him give birth to a calf.
Again, the townsfolk turned to Mahosatha and asked him for help.
This time Mahosatha knew that the problem could not be solved
using a practical method. The only way to deal with this problem
was to come up with a scheme to outsmart the king.
He asked for someone courageous to volunteer for a difficult task.
A tough-looking man volunteered. Mahosatha coached the
man thoroughly on what to do and then sent him to the king’s
court. Once arriving at the king’s court, the man made a big
commotion. He cried and wailed so loudly that his voice
irritated the king. So the king sent for him and asked why he
was wailing so loudly. The man, his face full of anguish,
lamented that his father was suffering with great pain trying to
give birth to a baby but was not able to deliver.
The king laughed out loud, “How can a man give birth to a baby?
You must be insane!” The man looked at the king with a sad face
and said, “If a man cannot give birth to a baby, then how can a bull give birth to a calf?”
The king stopped laughing suddenly, looked
at the man, and asked, “Are you from the East Market town?”
The man said yes. The king realized he had been outsmarted.
At first he was angry at the man’s trick, but after finding out who
was behind it, he exclaimed, “Oh, it is my little genius again,
Mahosatha!”
The Ultimate Sage
Over the course of time, many more trials and riddles were put
upon Mahosatha. Each of the four sages tried to come up with
difficult problems designed to prevent Mahosatha from reaching
the king’s presence. However, one after another, the boy was able to
solve whatever was set before him with great cleverness.
Finally, the king decided this was enough. He stopped listening to
the four sages’ oppositions and sent an invitation to Mahosatha
and his father, Sirivaddhaka, to meet him in his throne hall. When
there he asked Sirivaddhaka’s permission to let Mahosatha stay at his
court and become his royal sage. He promised to treat Mahosatha
as if he was his own son. Mahosatha’s father consented to the king’s
request. So, Mahosatha, the Bodhisatta, was formally appointed by
the king as his Royal Sage.
Senaka and his three sages were unhappy at what had transpired
but knew that they could no longer do anything about it. The only
thing for them to do was bide their time and wait for the right
opportunity to take action. They plotted and schemed quietly.
Over time, Mahosatha became the favorite to both the king and his
queen. They both treated him as if he were their own son. For many
years Mahosatha advised the king in all matters both spiritual and
civic. At the same time, he had to be on guard constantly against the
devious tricks of the other four sages.
Wisdom vs. Wealth
One day, when Mahosatha and the four wise men had come to wait
upon the king, he asked them, “Which is better: a wise man without
wealth, or wealthy man without wisdom?”
Senaka replied at once: “O King, wealth is certainly better than
wisdom. A wise man is useless without money. He will end up
working for a wealthy man. A rich man without wisdom can always
hire a wise man to advise him. There is no question, money is more
important than wisdom. A fool with money is better than a wise
without money.”
The king listened to this answer, then turned to Mahosatha and
asked the same question.
Mahosatha replied:
“A man without wisdom is ignorant of the truth of life. He looks
at this world and not at the next, and he commits sinful acts.
The wise, although not wealthy in the material sense, is rich in
the spiritual sense, for he knows that this life is not the end of his
existence.
The wise knows that spiritual wealth is more lasting than material
wealth, and he prepares himself for the future. He will stay clear
from actions that cause him to suffer in the afterlife.
Therefore, it is better to be a wise man without wealth than a wealthy
man without wisdom.”
Senaka said, “Your majesty, Mahosatha is only a child. What can he
know about the truths of life?”
Then, he continued his argument.
“In the forest, birds gather from all directions to the tree which has
sweet fruit. In the world of men, crowds flock to the rich man who
has treasure and wealth.
Even if one is with great wisdom, but without rice or grain or
money, his word has no weight amongst his kinfolk. Prosperity does
not come to a man for his knowledge.”
A wealthy man in high position may lack knowledge or good
demeanor, but if he says anything to others, his word has weight
amongst his kinsfolk. Wisdom is useless without wealth.
Elephants, horses, jewels, women, and servants are found in rich
families. These are for the enjoyment of the rich man.
All the various streams pour themselves into the Ganges; they lose
their names and kind. The Ganges falling into the sea is no longer
to be distinguished. The world is devoted to wealth.
As you see, my Lord, we are five wise men all waiting upon you
with gestures of respect; and you are our lord and master. This is the
living proof that wisdom is inferior, wealth is superior.”
For which, Mahosatha responded:
“When a fool receives his wealth, he is carried away by his good fortune.
He exposes himself to temptations. Wealth without wisdom
can cause one to misstep into the wrong path leading to disaster.
When struck by misfortune he becomes stupefied and helpless.
Lacking wisdom, a fool gains his wealth through immoral means.
Upon death, he pays for it in hell.
No matter how mighty, the ocean that keeps beating the shore can
never pass over it. So is the boasting of the wealthy fool; his prosperity
cannot surpass the wise.
A rich man who speaks without wisdom, his words bring shame
amongst his company.
A poor man who speaks with wisdom, his words bring honor and
respect amongst his company.
The wealthy fool, who does thoughtless acts and speaks foolish
words, is devoid of a happy afterlife.
The wealthy fool who cannot act on his own, who is dependent on
the advice of the wise, is enslaved to the wise.”
With these words from the Bodhisatta, Senaka became quiet,
his face looking down. The king was profoundly impressed with
Mahosatha’s answers.
Find Him a Wife
When Mahosatha turned sixteen, Queen Udumbara said to
the king that it was time they found him a wife. The king agreed
and she told Mahosatha so. Mahosatha said to the queen “Give me
a few days, and I will go seek a wife that will suit my taste.”
“Do so, my young brother,” the queen replied.
He took leave of the queen and went to his house. Disguised as
a tailor, he went out by the northern gate and headed toward the
North Town. On the way, he came upon a beautiful girl who was
carrying rice gruel to her father who was working in the field nearby.
When Mahosatha saw her coming near he thought, “Such a graceful
lady; if she is unwed, I sure would like to marry her.” The girl saw
Mahosatha and thought, “Such a handsome man, if I marry him
I would restore my family.”
They introduced themselves to each other and began a friendly
conversation. She told him her name was Amara. Judging from
her refinement and grace, Mahosatha assumed that she must have
come from a well-to-do family that might have fallen into difficult
times. During their conversation they observed each other’s intellect
and demeanor, and were impressed by each other. Mahosatha asked
her permission to visit her home. She gladly gave him the directions
to it.
When he got to her house, Mahosatha met with Amara’s mother,
who invited him to come in and also offered him some rice
gruel. He saw the inside of the house and noticed how poor
her family was. He told her he was a tailor and offered to
mend her old clothes. The woman said she had nothing to pay
him with, butMahosatha said she did not have to pay him anything. She brought
him some old clothes and Mahosatha mended them with the skills
of a master tailor. He asked the woman to announce to the villagers
that a skilled tailor has come to town and to bring their clothes for
him to fix. Many villagers quickly became his customers. Within
a short time Mahosatha earned himself a good sum of money for
his services.
Amara’s parents invited Mahosatha to stay at their house, which he
accepted. During this time Mahosatha tested Amara for her intelligence
and her morality. At times he purposely treated her rudely to
find out how she would react, but she responded only with kindness
and never showed resentment. She recognized that there were four
types of wives worthy of a husband’s love; namely:
A wife like a mother: Such a wife is loving and compassionate. She
looks after the husband with the same care as a mother would look
after her own child. She will forgive the husband for anything he
does wrong, just like a mother who would forgive her child for his
mistakes. When the husband suffers a misfortune, or becomes sick
or disabled, this wife will stay faithful and look after him until his
last breath. If the husband dies when she is still young, she will not
think of remarrying.
A wife like a little sister: Such a wife may be playful, moody or
emotional at times, but she is truthful and loyal to the husband.
She gives respect to the husband. Her love for the husband is
long-lasting. Such a wife tends to look up to the husband like an
older brother.
A wife like a friend: Such a wife has the same taste and liking as the
husband. She will get along well with the husband. She may think
of herself as an equal to the husband. She is earnest, and she will
stand by the husband during good times and bad, just like a true
friend would. Their level of morality will be similar and they can
live quite happily together.
A wife like a servant: Such a wife tends to behave like a servant to
the husband. She is honest and loyal, and she will do her utmost
to satisfy the husband. Such a wife tends to be content even
when she is dominated or abused by the husband.
Mahosatha was convinced that Amara was the right woman for
him. He proposed to marry her and she accepted. He asked her
parents for their permission to marry their daughter and they gave
their permission, and so the two became husband and wife. When
it came time to leave, Mahosatha gave them all the money he had
brought and earned, and comforted them. Then Mahosatha and
Amara bade farewell and set out for the journey to Mithila.
Throughout this time, Mahosatha never revealed his true identity to
Amara. Upon their arrival at Mithila he let her stay at the gatekeeper’s
house. He told her he had something to do and would come back to
fetch her in a day or two. Then he sent some of his friends to seduce
her in order to test her chastity. None of his friends succeeded, for
Amara was genuinely faithful to Mahosatha. Mahosatha was very
pleased with her. His love for her increased day after day.
The following morning, Mahosatha went to see the queen and
introduced Amara to her. Amara was perplexed at what unfolded.
She realized for the first time that she had married someone very
special. Mahosatha told her the truth of his identity. This was the
happiest day of her life!
The king and queen gave Mahosatha and Amara a magnificent
wedding reception. A grand procession consisting of decorated
elephants, horse-drawn chariots, musicians and dancers, and a
retinue of colorfully costumed attendants marched through the
city showing off the bride. The people of Mithila all came out
to celebrate. Those who laid eyes on Amara were captivated by
her beauty. They brought flowers and gifts to give to the bride.
Amara divided these gifts and distributed them among the people.
Her generosity won their hearts.
From that time Mahosatha lived with Amara in happiness.
Sage on the Run
Mahosatha continued to serve the king with great wisdom and
ability. But his life was not completely free of obstacles. As he grew
in greatness, the four sages grew in jealousy.
One day, Senaka said to the other three, “Before now we only had
one Mahosatha to contend with who we could not even shine
his shoes. Now that he has married a woman even cleverer, we
have to contend with two of them. Before, the king used to treat
us like celebrities, now he doesn’t even know we exist. We must
find a way to separate this rascal from the king.”
“What do we do now?” asked the other three. “There is a way.
We will portray Mahosatha as a traitor. I will steal the king’s jewel
from the royal crest; you each will steal the golden necklace, the
royal robe, and his golden slippers, and we will get them into Mahosatha’s
house without him knowing. Then we will let the king
know that Mahosatha has stolen these items from him, and we will
convince the king that Mahosatha is scheming against him.” After
working out all the details, the four went to work with their respective
assignments. They managed to steal these items from the king’s
quarters, and, one by one, got them into Mahosatha’s house with
the help of their servants.
Their devious schemes did not escape Amara’s knowledge. She
found out their moves through her keen instincts. She took note
of their every move and kept records of them as evidence, and then
devised a counterattack.
When the king found out that his personal valuables were missing
from his private quarters, the four sages made up stories to convince
the king that Mahosatha had stolen them. The king, being insecure
by nature and vulnerable to manipulation, believed them without
bothering to investigate the facts. He imagined that Mahosatha’s
growing popularity and power must have corrupted his sense of
equity.
When the news of the king’s accusations was heard by Mahosatha,
he asked for an audience with King Vedeha, but the king refused to
see him. Instead, he gave the order to have him arrested. Mahosatha
figured the king’s rationality had been clouded by his anger, much
so that it would do him no good to try to reason with him under the
circumstances. He knew that if he put up a fight in defense it would
result in chaos, and if the king punished him unjustly, it would
cause an uprising. For the sake of maintaining harmony, he resolved
that it would be better if he left the city.
He bade farewell to Amara, put on a simple garb and then escaped
through the south gate. When he arrived at the South Town,
he took shelter in the house of a local potter and soon ended up
working for him as an assistant potter.
Upon seeing that Mahosatha was gone, the four sages began to set
their eyes on Amara, whose beauty had captivated them. Without
the knowledge of the other, each devised a way to seduce her. Amara
took advantage of their desire and lured them into her traps. She
made each of them fall into a feces-filled pit that she prepared for
them in an area of her house. There, she made them confess their
crimes, tied them up, and shaved their heads to disgrace them.
Then she asked for an audience with the king, and she presented
her evidence along with the four disgraced sages wrapped in sacks.
The king listened to her testimony. He appeared to believe her, but
showed no interest in reprimanding the four sages. Instead, he let
them go free.
Divine Intervention
Several months went by, whereupon, a guardian deity residing at
the king’s court saw the injustice that was done to Mahosatha and
decided to intervene. One night, the deity appeared in the king’s
bedroom and ordered him to solve four riddles. It gave the king two
days to come up with the correct answers, or he would be severely
punished.
The king was frightened and feared for his life. He asked the four
sages for help, but none of them was able to solve the riddles. The
king begged the deity to give him more time. It told him there was
only one person in his kingdom that had the intelligence to solve
these riddles, and if he wished to live, he had better find this person
in time. The king knew right away to whom the deity was referring.
He summoned four capable courtiers and ordered them to look for
Mahosatha in all the four directions.
The courtiers went out through each of the four city gates.
The one who went out through the southern gate finally came upon
the South Town. He stopped and asked the people of the South
Town if they knew of any newcomer who came to their town in
the past four months. They told him indeed they knew of one
such newcomer, a young man who worked for the local potter. The
courtier went to the potter’s house and saw a young man; his entire
body was soiled with potting mud. The courtier could not recognize
him at first, but upon looking closer he realized this was indeed
Mahosatha.
Surprised by his dirty appearance, the courtier asked Mahosatha,
“You preached that it is wisdom that overpowers everything. With so much wisdom, how come you ended up in such dire conditions?”
Mahosatha replied, “The king suspected me of treason. I chose a
lowly lifestyle to show that I have no undue ambition.”
The courtier: “If you were honest, why then did you run away?”
Mahosatha: “I ran away to avoid conflict and unrest. The king’s
anger clouded his good judgment. If I made audience with the king,
the king would not have a clear mind to give justice. So I preferred
to avoid injustice.”
The courtier: “If you ran away, don’t you think the king would be
suspicious?”
Mahosatha: “I am confident that in the end the king will side with
wisdom. Dhamma protects those who practice it.”
Having established the truth, the courtier handed him one thousand
gold pieces from the king and asked him to come back to Mithila
with him. After learning who Mahosatha really was, the potter was
alarmed, for fear that he might have offended him. Mahosatha comforted
him and thanked him for his courtesy. He gave him all
his money and bade him farewell.
A Lesson for the King
The king was pleased to receive Mahosatha. He asked Mahosatha,
why with all his intelligence and wisdom, he ended up working as
a lowly potter. Mahosatha explained that he did so to exhibit his
innocence. The king then asked, “With all your capability and with
the love and respect that the people have shown you, why did you
not usurp my throne? You have all the power and means to do so,
if you chose.”
For which Mahosatha replied:
“A wise does not seek his gains through evil means.
When suffering misfortune, a wise does not abandon his morals.
A man who receives shade from a tree should not ravage it, because
a person who harms his friend is a villain.
The wise will not betray those from whom he has learned
something.”
After having reestablished the king’s trust, he proceeded to give the
king a moral lesson:
“A householder who is lazy cannot be successful.
It is not fitting for an ordained person to lack composure.
It is not fitting for the wise to be quick to anger.
It is not fitting for a king to be imprudent.
A prudent king who considers everything before executing his decision
will be honored and renowned beyond his kingdom.”
The king listened attentively to Mahosatha’s words. His eyes were
mild and yielding.
Four Riddles from a Deity
Then the king presented the four riddles to Mahosatha and said,
“My life is in jeopardy unless these riddles are solved today. You are
the only one who can do it.”
Then he recited the first riddle: “He strikes her with hands and feet,
he beats her face, yet he is dear to her.”
The Bodhisatta knew the answer right away. “Listen, O King!” he
said, “It indicates a baby who is loved by his mother. When a child
on the mother’s lap is happy and playfully beats his mother with
hands and feet; he pulls her hair, beats her face with his fist, and
then she says, ‘Little rascal, why do you beat me?’ And then she
presses him close to her breast and kisses him. He is dear to her.”
The second riddle: “She abuses him harshly, yet wishes him to
be near.”
The Bodhisatta said, “Sire, it signifies a mother’s child who disobeys
when told what to do; she curses at him with angry words, but she
does not mean them, and she loves him dearly.”
The third riddle: “He reviles her without cause, and reproaches her
without reason, yet he is dear to her.”
The Bodhisatta said, “Sire, it signifies lovers teasing one another:
‘You don’t care for me, Your heart is elsewhere, etc.’ They know it is
untrue and they love each other dearly. That is the meaning of this
question.”
The fourth riddle: “One takes food and drink, clothes and lodging,
and then carries them off, yet he is dear to her.”
He replied, “Sire, this question refers to a mendicant holy man.
Pious families that believe in this world and the next give alms to
them and delight in their giving.”
After hearing these answers, the guardian deity was well pleased.
She praised the Bodhisatta and gave him blessings. The king
was happy and relieved. He rewarded Mahosatha handsomely.
Henceforth, the Bodhisatta continued to gain glory and recognition.
Forgive Thy Enemy
As time went on, Senaka and the other three sages cooked up more
scandalous stories that caused the king to mistrust Mahosatha.
But, repeatedly, Mahosatha was able to clear his name with the
king and successfully thwarted the four sages’ jealous maneuvering.
At one point, the four sages convinced the king to believe that
Mahosatha was plotting against him. Again, the insecure king
believed in their accusations without seeking the facts. This time the
king became angry enough to order Mahosatha’s execution. He gave
the royal sword to Senaka and told him to use it to kill Mahosatha
that next morning.
That night the king was restless, unable to sleep. He reflected
on Mahosatha’s goodness and thought to himself, “Mahosatha
has worked for me since he was seven years old. Throughout this
time he has served me marvelously and has never done anything
wrong nor caused me any harm.” It pained him to think that
Mahosatha was about to be killed. Lying next to him, the queen
noticed her husband’s anguish and asked him what happened.
The king told her.
The queen was alarmed and saddened. She hid her tears, waited
until the king fell asleep then slipped out to see Mahosatha at his
house, then broke the news to him. With this information, Mahosatha
went to spy on the four sages to find out what secrets they were
hiding from the king. After learning their hidden secrets he went to
the king and told him all of them.
The king was outraged, for these secrets had to do with their dishonesty
and disloyalty toward him. The king summoned the four
to see him and got them to confess their respective secrets. After
learning the truth, the king was so enraged that he ordered them
beheaded. Mahosatha pleaded for the king’s mercy. Seeing the kindness
and generosity of Mahosatha, the king calmed himself. But in
view of their wickedness, the king felt that they should be banished
from his kingdom. Again, Mahosatha pleaded for the king to pardon
them. Looking at Mahosatha, he thought to himself, “Here is
a man, repeatedly victimized by his ferocious enemies to the point
of almost losing his life, yet he still has the strength to forgive his
enemies. Such a man is rare. For his sake, I will pardon the four fools.”
Thus, the king ordered his executioner to free them.
The four sages realized that it was Mahosatha who saved their lives.
For the first time, they began to feel some remorse. They knelt
before Mahosatha with tears in their eyes and asked for his forgiveness.
From that time on, they went about their duties obediently
and never raised a finger against the Bodhisatta again.
Mahosatha continued to serve the king to the best of his abilities.
In due time, the king made him a Regent, with the complete
authority to rule the kingdom on his behalf.
Continent at War
As Regent of Vedeha, Mahosatha worked to improve the security
and welfare of the state and its people. He renovated the entire
city of Mithila, built irrigation systems to bring water supply from
the rivers into the city, improved their agricultural systems to
increase crop output, and fortified the defense systems of the capital.
He ordered higher and stronger city walls to be constructed around
the outer perimeters of Mithila in addition to the existing ones.
His instincts told him that one day a war would come.
At that time, Jambudvipa was inhabited by one hundred and one
kingdoms in addition to the Kingdom of Vedeha. Mahosatha,
aware of the existence of these other kingdoms, sought to establish a
good relationship with all of them. He asked the traders from these
various states what their kings were like and what gifts they favored.
After learning each of the various kings’ favorite objects, he had
these gifts crafted with the best material and workmanship and had
all of them inscribed with his insignias on them.
He handpicked one hundred and one of his most capable and
trusted attendants, who were born on the same day as him, and said
to them, “My men, take these gifts to the hundred and one
royal cities and offer them to their kings as tokens of friendship.
Offer your services to them; gain their trust. Live there, listen
to their actions and plans, and send me your words. I will
care for your wives and children.”
And he sent with them his various gifts according to each of the
king’s fancy: earrings for some, rings for others, bracelets for some,
golden necklaces for others, and golden slippers for others. Each
of these items bore his insignia. The men went on their ways to
each of these other kingdoms and paid homage to their kings. They
presented them their gifts and offered their services. They told
the kings they had come from various places other than Vedeha.
The kings were delighted to receive their favorite gifts and accepted
each of the men’s offers to be in their service. They remained there
and made themselves trustworthy.
King Culani of Kampilla
In the kingdom of Kampilla, there reigned an ambitious king named
Culani in his capital city of Panacea. He was advised in affairs of the
state by a wise and learned Brahmin named Kevatta. Although wise
and learned, Kevatta was a wicked man.
Kevatta woke up in his chamber one morning and said to himself,
“What a magnificent environment I have here. With all the glory
and splendors that king Culani has given me, I ought to repay his
kindness by finding a way to make him the king of all kings in Jambudvipa.”
He considered all the possibilities and concluded that this
ambition could be realized without much difficulty. Pleased with his
ideas, he went to the king and told him his plans.
“My Lord” he said, “We have eighteen great armies in our command.
We will attack and surround all the other regions one by one.
We will first besiege a small city. Then I will enter the city and will
say to their king, ‘We have no desire for your throne but to share
some of your wealth. There is no use in your fighting; join us and
your kingdom will be spared. But if you fight with our mighty force,
your city will be ravaged and your people will be destroyed. It is
best that you surrender in order to avoid the loss of life.’ After the
first city surrenders we will detain its king and use its army. With
the combined armies we then go to take another city, and another.
After victory we will invite these kings to drink a cup of victory at
our city and poison them. Thus we will get the hundred and one
royal capitals into our hands and you will become the emperor of
all of Jambudvipa.”
The king asked, “What if they don’t surrender?”
Culani in his capital city of Panacea. He was advised in affairs of the
state by a wise and learned Brahmin named Kevatta. Although wise
and learned, Kevatta was a wicked man.
Kevatta woke up in his chamber one morning and said to himself,
“What a magnificent environment I have here. With all the glory
and splendors that king Culani has given me, I ought to repay his
kindness by finding a way to make him the king of all kings in Jambudvipa.”
He considered all the possibilities and concluded that this
ambition could be realized without much difficulty. Pleased with his
ideas, he went to the king and told him his plans.
“My Lord” he said, “We have eighteen great armies in our command.
We will attack and surround all the other regions one by one.
We will first besiege a small city. Then I will enter the city and will
say to their king, ‘We have no desire for your throne but to share
some of your wealth. There is no use in your fighting; join us and
your kingdom will be spared. But if you fight with our mighty force,
your city will be ravaged and your people will be destroyed. It is
best that you surrender in order to avoid the loss of life.’ After the
first city surrenders we will detain its king and use its army. With
the combined armies we then go to take another city, and another.
After victory we will invite these kings to drink a cup of victory at
our city and poison them. Thus we will get the hundred and one
royal capitals into our hands and you will become the emperor of
all of Jambudvipa.”
The king asked, “What if they don’t surrender?”
Kevatta replied, “Then we will kill every one of them.”
Eyes widened with excitement, the ambitious King Culani
exclaimed, “Brilliant, my teacher. I see no flaws in your plans.”
King Culani did as Kevatta had proposed. He went with his army
and laid siege to a small city. Kevatta, as he had suggested, went
into the city and explained matters to their king and won him over.
Then joining the two armies, Culani went on to another city, and
then another.
In seven years, seven months and seven days Culani waged war and
conquered all the other states, except Vedeha.
Mahosatha had not been idle. He had rebuilt Mithila’s defenses and
had sent spies to live among Kevatta’s men. These spies reported
Culani’s every move to Mahosatha.
Culani said to Kevatta, “We have conquered all of Jambudvipa
except Vedeha. Now let us lay siege upon Mithila.”
Kevatta said, “Mithila has a wise and capable sage famed for his
wisdom and cleverness. With him as a leader, it would not be easy
for any army to overcome Mithila. There will be too many casualties
if we face an outright war. The exchange would not be worth it, now
that we have won great fortune. I advise Your Majesty that we now
return to our city to drink a cup of victory and we proceed with
our other plans.” Culani saw the merit of Kevatta’s wisdom and he
concurred. Thus, the great armies of Culani left Mithila alone and
returned home to Kampilla.
As they settled back in the city of Pancala, Kevatta and Culani
proceeded with their next move to assassinate the other kings. They
announced a date of celebration to drink their cups of victory and
invited all the kings to attend. They adorned the park and told the
servants to prepare food of all sorts and to set out thousands of jars
of wine and liquor, and they put poison in them.
This news got to Mahosatha through his spy. He thought to
himself, “It is not right that so many kings should be killed while a
wise man like myself lives. I will help them.” He sent for ten thousand
warriors and his birth-fellows and instructed them to go to Kampilla
to thwart Culani’s plan. They disguised themselves as King Videha’s
entourage who came to pay homage to Culani, then they went to
the park where the ceremony was to be held, destroyed all the wines
and liquors and ravaged everything in the party
Time for War
Culani’s plan was thwarted. He was angry beyond control. The other
kings were angry because they had been deprived of their cups of
victory; and their soldiers were also angry for having lost the chance
to a free feast. Culani said to the other kings “Come, friends, let us
go to Mithila and cut off King Vedeha’s head and trample it under
our feet, and then come back and drink the cup of victory! Go tell
your armies to get them ready.”
Kevatta said to Culani, “Sire, Mahosatha is very powerful. Guarded
by him, as a lion guards his den, Mithila can be taken by no one.”
But the king, mad with a soldier’s pride, no longer listened to him.
Back at Mithila, Mahosatha was well prepared. All storehouses
were stockpiled with foodstuff, corn and grain, fuel and supplies,
and seeds for planting. He had three layers of moats dug outside
surrounding the city walls. He set up a barricade and fortification in
all the strategic points within and around the city. And he brought
all the people inside the city walls and sheltered them in areas which
he provided and in the various compounds of wealthy citizens. Large
banks were dug up and were made reservoirs for water. Soldiers were
deployed in all the strategic positions. Battle plans and war strategies
were perfected. With all these provisions and preparations, Mithila
was impenetrable, and its people could subsist within the walls
without provisions from the outside for years to come.
Finally, the mighty armies of Culani arrived. They surrounded
Mithila from all sides. King Vedeha and the four sages trembled
at the sight of such mighty armies. But Mahosatha and his soldiers
were unmoved.
In the months that followed, battles of wits between Culani,
Kevatta and Mahosatha ensued. Kevatta masterminded various
moves to overtake Mithila, but their every move was foiled by
Mahosatha and his men. They attempted to cut off food supply
and starve the inhabitants inside the walls, deprived them of water
and fuels, and attacked them with all their might, but none of their
efforts yielded any results. Mahosatha’s spies informed him of every
move they planned to make and Mahosatha outsmarted them in
every one of those moves.
King Culani became more and more frustrated. He said to Kevatta,
“None of your strategies is working. Our soldiers are discouraged.
Their morale is low. There is no hope of victory. Mithila is impenetrable.
To keep fighting is no use. We should return to our city.”
Kevatta said, “My Lord, this would not be a good idea. If we do
this we will become a laughing stock. People will say, ‘The great
king Culani, with his eighteen great armies and the armies of
the hundred and one kings could not take Mithila.’ We shall be
disgraced. Mahosatha is not the only wise man, for I am another.
I have another plan.”
“Battle of the Law”
Kevatta explained, “I will challenge Mahosatha to come out and
engage with me in the Battle of the Law.”
“What do you mean by that?” the king asked.
“The Battle of the Law is the battle of wits between the wise.
It was practiced in the olden days to avoid bloodshed. No army shall
fight. The two sages of the two kings shall appear in one place, and
of these men, whichever shall make a salute to the other, shall mean
admittance of defeat, and shall be conquered. This is the way of the
war which is respected by honorable kings. Mahosatha is aware of
this way of war, but he does not yet know my trick. It is a custom
that when a younger sage meets an older sage he is to salute the
older sage. I am older and he is younger, and when he sees me he
will salute me. Thus we shall conquer Vedeha, and, with this done,
we shall return home. So we shall not be disgraced. That is what is
meant by a Battle of the Law.”
“A stroke of genius, my teacher,” Culani exclaimed.
Again this tactic was reported to Mahosatha by his spy.
Culani wrote a letter and sent it to Vedeha by a messenger to this
effect: “Tomorrow there shall be a Battle of the Law between the
two sages, and he who refuses to fight shall be declared vanquished.”
Upon the receipt of this, Vedeha sent for Mahosatha and told him
of this challenge. “Good, my Lord,” he answered, “Send word to
prepare a place for the Battle of the Law by the western gate and
to assemble there.” Vedeha did so and sent his letter with the messenger
to Culani.
Mahosatha chose the site for the Battle of the Law outside the western
gate so that Culani’s armies would be facing the afternoon sun
which would blur their vision. He asked king Vedeha to let him
borrow his precious octagonal gem which he would use to defeat
Kevatta. Then he set off to the battle site with a thousand warriors.
At the other side, Kevatta, surrounded by his guards, saw Mahosatha
coming and advanced to meet him. He said, “Sage Mahosatha, we
are both sages and I am a guest of your city. How come you never
showed the courtesy from one sage to another and never sent me
even a small gift?”
Mahosatha replied, “Wise sir, I was looking for a gift which should
not be unworthy of you and today I have found such a gift. This is a
priceless gem given to King Vedeha by his grandfather. It is the pride
of Mithila. There is not one like it in this world.” Kevatta saw the
gem ablaze in Mahosatha’s hand, his eyes wide open, and he could
not restrain his excitement.
“Oh, such glorious gem! Give it to me then.” He held out his hand.
“Here, take it,” said Mahosatha, and dropped the heavy gem upon
the tips of the fingers of Kevatta’s outstretched hand. But the gem
was too heavy and Kevatta could not support its weight with the
tips of his fingers. It slipped down and rolled toward Mahosatha’s
feet. In his greed for the gem, Kevatta stooped down to Mahosatha’s
feet. Mahosatha seized his shoulder blade with one hand and his
neck with another and pressed him down towards the floor and said
out loud, “Rise teacher, rise; I am much younger than you, young
enough to be your grandson; please do not bow to me.”
He said this again and again, as he rubbed Kevatta’s face and
forehead against the ground until it was all bloody. Then with
these words, “Old fool, you think you can outsmart me?” he threw
Kevatta away from him. Thinking Mahosatha would kill him,
Kevatta got up and ran off.
With the sun upon their faces, Culani’s soldiers could not see what
actually took place, but they saw Kevatta bowed at Mahosatha’s feet
then got up and ran away. Mahosatha’s words, “Rise up, rise,
do not bow to me!” echoed in their ears. They exclaimed aloud
with one voice, “Brahmin Kevatta bowed to Mahosatha’s feet!”
Culani and all the kings saw Kevatta bowed before the feet of
Mahosatha. “Our sage has bowed to Mahosatha. Now we are
defeated!” they exclaimed. Fearing for their lives all the kings
mounted their horses and began to flee.
Mahosatha’s men yelled, “King Culani and all the other kings
are running away. Let’s capture them and kill them all!” Hearing
this, the hundred and one kings became even more frightened.
They hurried away without looking back. Kevatta mounted upon a
horse, galloped fast and caught up with the fleeing soldiers. He
cried, “Do not run, do not run! I did not bow to the rascal!
Stop, stop!” But the soldiers would not stop. They yelled back at
Kevatta in disgust. Some of them even wanted to give him a
beating for the disgrace he gave to all of them. Kevatta rushed
away from them to avoid being mobbed by the angry soldiers. He
left them in frustration and went looking for Culani.
After catching up with King Culani, Kevatta explained to him
what really happened and begged for him to regroup and to
reattack the city. The king was equally angry for having been out smarted in such a ridiculous way.
He swore revenge and ordered
the army to turn around and surround Mithila.
The battle went on. Culani and his generals were determined to
fight them to the end.
Send Them a Spy
Mahosatha strived to come up with a way to put an end to this war
once and for all. After some deliberation he came up with a plan.
He asked his people to look for someone with good distinction who
had the wit and the courage to carry out a difficult assignment.
They found a wise Brahmin that fit such a description and brought
him to Mahosatha. After having established the Brahmin’s intelligence
and courage, Mahosatha gave him the assignment to feign a
defection, telling him that if he accepted the assignment he would
have to subject himself to a great deal of pain and suffering in order
to convince the enemy. The Brahmin willingly accepted the assignment.
He said, “It would be my honor. For the sake of the livelihood
of the people of Mithila, there is nothing that I would not do. I am
willing to lay down my life for this worthy cause.”
Mahosatha had the Brahmin whipped until he was covered with
blood. Then he had him banished out of the city. Culani’s soldiers
found the mutilated Brahmin and brought him to their king.
The Brahmin expressed his deep hatred against Mahosatha and
swore revenge. Culani examined the Brahmin’s sincerity and
determined that his bitterness was genuine and that he could trust
him. The Brahmin made it known to Culani that he was familiar
with the internal affairs of Mithila, the logistics of the city and the
knowledge of its strengths and weaknesses, which Culani could take
advantage of in order to defeat Mithila.
Culani was convinced of the Brahmin’s story. To take advantage
of the Brahmin’s inside knowledge of the enemy, he had him
appointed as his army commander. The Brahmin deliberately led
Culani’s army to several treacherous places where they were slaughtered
by vicious animals and crocodiles and the arrows and spears of
Mahosatha’s soldiers. After several repeating casualties, Culani’s men
lost their will to fight. They refused to follow the Brahmin into
further disasters.
The Brahmin then reported to Culani that his kings had been bribed
by Mahosatha and that was the reason why they would not fight
for him. At first Culani did not believe it. But the Brahmin then
revealed that each of the hundred and one kings owned valuable
gifts bearing Mahosatha’s insignia. King Culani was shaken by this
revelation. He asked the Brahmin what to do next. The Brahmin
told him that he could be assassinated by his traitors at any given
moment and that the only smart thing for him to do was to escape
without the knowledge of the others. Culani saw no other way out
but to take the Brahmin’s advice and so he fled with him in the
darkness of the night.
After they were a good distance away from their camp, the
Brahmin turned around and went back to Culani’s men. Upon
arrival he shouted at the top of his voice, “King Culani has fled,
King Culani has fled!” Adding to the momentum, Mahosatha’s
spies all cried out in unison, “King Culani has run away! He has
deserted us! The enemies are routing us.We have to run.”
Mahosatha’s soldiers on the towers and at the gate beat their
drums and banged their armor as loud as they could while shouting
a fierce battle cry. The whole city was roaring with angry sounds to
further terrorize them.
Hearing the thundering, angry noises of their enemies, all the
hundred and one kings fled in terror. Seeing their leaders fleeing in
cowardice, all the soldiers followed suit and fled in such a hurry that
they left their valuables, weapons, armors and all their provisions
behind. Within hours the whole camp was empty.
The next morning, the Mithila soldiers opened the city gates,
went forth and saw the great booty, which they reported to
Mahosatha. It took them four months to remove all the valuables,
weapons, armor, articles and provisions from the field.
King Vedeha was overjoyed with their success. Mahosatha and all
the soldiers were well rewarded. The enemy spoils were distributed
among the soldiers and the people of Mithila. Mahosatha’s fame
went far and wide. Mithila was free from the siege and the kingdom
of Vedeha became even more prosperous.
Use the Princess as Bait
Now, one year had passed, and Culani and the hundred and one
kings were settling down in their respective kingdoms. One day,
while Kevatta was looking upon his face in a mirror, he saw the
scar on his forehead and it reminded him, “This is the doing of
that miserable merchant’s son. He made me the laughingstock
before all those kings! I must have my revenge.”
Days and nights he dreamed of his revenge. Then one night an idea
came to him: “A fisherman catches his fish with his bait. No fish in
the world will refuse an easy meal. I will draw Vedeha to Pancala
with a sensual desire. My great king Culani has a daughter whose
beauty is second to none. I will use her as bait to get King Vedeha.”
After having perfected his plan, Kevatta went to see King Culani
and said to him, “Your Majesty, I have devised a perfect way to
dispose of King Vedeha and his sage.”
The king was skeptical, “Teacher, the last time you had a good
idea, I did not have even as much as a rag to cover me. What is it
this time?”
“Your Majesty, none of those ideas can match this one. It cannot
fail,” Kevatta replied.
“Go on, I’m listening,” said the king.
Kevatta continued, “Your Majesty, a fisherman catches his fish with
his bait; a hunter catches his prey with his trap. We will lure King
Vedeha to Pancala by using a sensual desire as bait. Your Majesty
has a daughter whose beauty is beyond compare. We will use her as
bait to get the king to come to Pancala. We will have the Princess’
charms and accomplishments celebrated in verses by poets and singers,
and have those poems sung throughout Mithila and beyond.
King Vedeha will hear them, be enchanted by them, and will not be
able to help himself but fall in love with the Princess.
“We will then spread the word that Princess Pancalacandi’s beauty
is beyond compare and no one is worthy of her hand except for
King Vedeha, and that King Culani intends to give the Princess to
him to forge a bond of friendship. When the king hears about it he
will not be able to resist his desire for the beautiful princess.
“Then I will go to Mithila as Your Majesty’s emissary and present a
friendly message from Your Majesty offering the hand of the Princess
to him in matrimony to forge a bond of friendship between
our two kingdoms. King Vedeha, like a fish that has swallowed the
hook, will come forth to Pancala City. As a close royal adviser, it is
natural that Mahosatha would accompany the king. When they are
here, they will be like little sheep in our lion’s den. We will capture
them and kill them both, and we will have our cup of victory.”
King Culani thought for a minute and said, “It sounds reasonable,
but have you forgotten the fact that the king already has a queen
who is also beautiful and clever?”
To which Kevatta replied, “His queen may be beautiful but she is an
old dish that can hardly compare with a delicious new dish. Besides
his current queen is someone he has picked up from nowhere. By
birth she is only a commoner, and up until now she still could not
bear him an heir. On the contrary, Princess Pancalacandi is royalty
through and through. King Vedeha will no doubt be like a foolish
fish that is pursuing a juicy bait.”
Culani’s own vengeful anger was still fresh in his heart. He was ready
to listen to any scheme that would help him to avenge himself. After
hearing Kevatta’s elaboration, King Culani agreed to go along with
his evil scheme.
Marry My Daughter
And so the king sent for the most celebrated poets, singers and
musicians in the land, showed them his daughter, and asked them to
compose poems and songs about her beauty; and they made exceedingly
beautiful verses and sweet songs and then recited them to the
king. The king was thoroughly captivated by the beauty of their
verses and the sweetness of their song and music. He told them to
go to Mithila and to sing and perform in the same way. They went
to Mithila, singing and performing all along the way, and they sang
and performed in all public places of Mithila. Crowds of people
heard the songs, and amidst loud applause, they paid them well.
News of these celebrated poets and musicians caught the attention
of the gullible King Vedeha. He summoned them to his palace.
After hearing the verses and the songs the king was spellbound.
Befuddled with passion, soon King Vedeha was determined to have
the princess for his bride.
The musicians returned to Pancala and reported the news to King
Culani. Kevatta told the king, “The time is now ripe for me to go
to Mithila. I will complete the rest of the plan.” And the king let
him go.
Taking several precious gifts with him, Kevatta set out to the city of
Mithila followed by a large entourage. Upon his arrival, he asked
to see King Vedeha to pay him homage. “Your Majesty,” said
Kevatta, “My great King Culani wishes to restore the friendship
between our two kingdoms. He sends you his best wishes along
with these gifts as tokens of his friendship. He wishes for Your
Majesty to become united with him as one family and for the
people of Pancala and Vedeha to be like brothers and sisters. To show his sincerity, he offers the hand of his beautiful
daughter Princess Pancalacandi, to be joined in matrimony with
your Majesty. This marriage between our two royalties will foster
peace and prosperity throughout the entire continent. The king
extends his invitation for Your Majesty to come to Pancala City
and marry his daughter.”
Fish on the Hook
Happy beyond words, King Vedeha accepted King Culani’s
invitation right away and sent his affirmation of acceptance to
King Culani.
Mahosatha had a strange feeling about the whole thing. He thought
to himself, “There must be a hidden agenda. The wise always think
and prepare ahead. I must send a spy to Pancala to find out what
is behind all this.” And so he did. After some smart maneuvering,
the spy was able to find out the truth behind the scheme and came
back to report to the Bodhisatta.
The Bodhisatta warned the king of this trickery, but the king was
blinded with lust and dismissed Mahosatha’s warning. He then
told him he had made up his mind and no one could stop him
from going.
Seeing the king’s foolishness, Mahosatha spoke strongly to him
with these words: “A hunter uses a doe to lure a deer to his trap;
a fisherman puts bait on his hook to lure a fish to come up from
deep water; Culani uses his daughter to lure you to your death. The
deer anxious for mating does not recognize the trap; the fish greedy
for food does not recognize the hook hidden in the bait; and you,
O King, blinded by desire, do not recognize Culani’s daughter as
your deathtrap. Go to Pancala, and in a little time you will destroy
yourself just like a deer caught on the hunter’s trap and a fish that
swallowed the hook.”
The king, unaccustomed to such a heavy reproach by anyone, was
furious. He spoke angrily, “How dare you speak to me this way.
The great King Culani has offered me his daughter to restore our
relationship. Instead of giving me a few words of good wishes, you
portend that I shall be caught and killed like a silly deer or a dumb
fish! Nothing is going to change my mind. I will have you banished
from my kingdom!”
The king spoke out of anger, not meaning what he said. After
having calmed down he told Mahosatha that he should support his
decision and come to Pancala with him.
Seeing that the king was determined to go, Mahosatha thought to
himself, “The king won’t listen to me. He will perish unless I do
something to prevent it. A man should always work for the best
interests of his benefactor. I must do all that I can for him. I will get
him what he wants and also protect him from harm.”
He spent some time thinking about what he could do for the king.
After having formulated a plan he went to see the king and told
him, “I would like to make the trip before you so I can have a small
palace built within Pancala City to accommodate Your Majesty, and
also to see to it that everything is in order for your visit. After all
the buildings are completed then Your Majesty can make the trip.”
The king was pleased that Mahosatha did not abandon him.
He asked the Bodhisatta what he would need to complete his task.
The Bodhisatta told him that he needed workers, means of transportation,
building materials, tools and equipment. He asked the
king to give pardons to prisoners in the four prisons and release
them so he could use them to do construction projects for him.
The king granted every one of his requests.
The Bodhisatta ordered the prisoners to be released from the four
prisons. All of them were pardoned. They were so happy to have
their freedom once again. They all were grateful to Mahosatha and
would do anything he asked them to do. He selected artisans to head
the work in their respective fields. He engaged engineers, carpenters,
builders, stone workers, blacksmiths, bricklayers, painters, etc.,
all strong and healthy and who were experts in their respective fields.
He selected those that were strong and courageous and had combative
skills to become soldiers. Construction equipment, building
materials, and tools were gathered together. After everything was
ready, the convoy consisting of troops, artisans and workers began
its journey to Pancala City.
They built several resting points and camps along the path between
Mithila and Pancala to provide accommodation and protection for
the king and his entourage. A unit of soldiers and their captains
were provided at each of these camps. When the convoy arrived
at the great river Ganges, Mahosatha ordered three hundred large
boats to be built and filled the boats with timber to take across the
river into enemy lands.
After they arrived at the border of Pancala City, Mahosatha and
his crew surveyed the land and the terrain, measured the distance
between each point, and observed the weather patterns and everything
that was deemed to be important. A camp was built nearby to
shelter his soldiers, elephants, horses and chariots.
The Tunnel
At a strategic location across the river within the enemy’s land,
Mahosatha ordered his men to build a mile-long tunnel system that
would take them from the bank of the river Ganges to the center of
Pancala City.
When King Culani heard of the Bodhisatta’s coming, he was excited
and said to himself, “Now the time has come for me to finish my
old business. Mahosatha is coming, and soon Vedeha will follow.
I will kill them both and complete my dominion over the whole of
Jumbudvipa.”
King Culani welcomed Mahosatha and his entourage as they
arrived at his palace. He asked Mahosatha where King Vedeha was
and when he would be arriving. Mahosatha told him he came first
to build a suitable dwelling place for the king and as soon as the
building was completed, he would send word for the king to come.
King Culani gave him a house to stay in and ordered his people
to give him whatever he needed so he could finish his assignment
quickly. He also allowed Mahosatha to pick any land he wanted on
which to build King Vedeha’s dwelling place. Culani figured the
quicker Mahosatha could finish his job, the sooner Vedeha would
come, and the sooner he could have them killed.
Mahosatha and his men surveyed the entire city of Pancala in detail.
He chose a site outside the city to construct the dwelling. While
at King Culani’s palace he found a perfect spot under the staircase
at the entrance of King Culani’s private quarters to make a hidden
exit for his tunnel.
Mahosatha’s men worked day and night to build the tunnel.
The dirt they removed was dropped in the river and elsewhere.
The tunnel was built with mechanical doors that could be made to
open and close simultaneously. On either side of the tunnel walls there
were hundreds of lamp-cells also mechanically fitted so that when
one was opened all opened, and when one was shut all were shut.
The tunnel was beautifully constructed and decorated. The main
tunnel path was large enough for an elephant to walk through.
With thousands of men assigned to the task working day and night,
both the palace and the tunnel were completed in four months. Then
Mahosatha sent word to his king to begin his journey. Several days
later, King Vedeha arrived. The following day, he sent a message to
King Culani informing him of his arrival and requesting to see his
future bride. Culani sent back a message telling him that he would
deliver the princess soon. Instead, he sent signals to the hundred
and one kings and their soldiers to start mobilizing for an attack.
Then he had his mother, his queen, his son and daughter escorted
to a safe place inside his private quarters protected by palace guards.
Abduction
King Culani, the hundred and one kings, and their soldiers moved
quietly to surround King Vedeha’s newly constructed stronghold in
the middle of the night, ready to take it at dawn. Mahosatha had
already anticipated Culani’s move. His men were fully prepared. He
sent three hundred of his top soldiers to use the tunnel. Stealthily,
they entered Culani’s private quarters, subdued the guards, tied
them up and gagged them. Then they went to the room where the
royal family was hiding. They pretended to be Culani’s soldiers
and talked them into coming out, then escorted them through the
tunnel. The royal family went with them willingly, for they were
completely fooled by the ruse. The soldiers took them to one of
the most beautiful chambers and asked them to wait there. Other
soldiers stayed behind and ransacked the palace and plundered the
treasury. Then they sent word to Mahosatha.
King Vedeha and the four sages were terrified when they learned
that they had been surrounded by their enemy’s soldiers. Mahosatha
calmed them and took them through a secret path to the main
tunnel. He opened the gate and let them come inside the lit halls of
the tunnel. Then he reached for a hidden handle in a wall and turned
it, and all the doors inside the tunnel were opened. He reached
for a hidden pin nearby and pushed it, and all the lamps were lighted
throughout the tunnel. The king and the four sages were in awe
at everything they saw. They moved quickly through the tunnel
until they reached the main exit, which was near the bank of the
river Ganges.
As they emerged from the tunnel’s exit they were greeted by Mahosatha’s
soldiers. The soldiers took them to a nearby courtyard and
then brought out King Culani’s royal family to meet them. The royal
family members were all frightened when they saw King Vedeha and
Mahosatha. They realized they had been abducted by the enemy.
Mahosatha calmed them down, then placed Princess Pancalacandi
upon a heap of treasure and presented her to King Vedeha. With
the king and the princess side by side, Mahosatha administered
the matrimonial ceremony and proclaimed them husband
and wife. Then he had the soldiers brought out the three
hundred boats they had hidden. He led the king and the royal
family to the boats and embarked.
Before bidding farewell, Mahosatha pointed to the royal family and
said to the king, “My Lord, this is the king’s Mother, please treat her
like your own mother; this is Queen Nanda, your mother-in-law,
please treat her the same; this is Prince Pancalacanda, your brotherin-
law, please look after him like your own younger brother; and
this is Princess Pancalacandi, your wife and queen, please love her
with all your heart.”
The king vowed to do so.
He asked Mahosatha to come along, but the Bodhisatta said he
could not desert his men, that he must stay with them and protect
them. With these words, the Bodhisatta saluted the king and sent
him away.
The king and his attendants sailed at a great speed until they reached
the first camp that Mahosatha had prepared for them. There, they
disembarked and continued their journey on land by elephants,
horses and chariots. When they arrived at the next relay point, they
exchanged their transportation for fresh elephants and horses and
soldiers. They continued on this way until they arrived at the City
of Mithila without delay.
Let the Truth Be Told
After saying so, he opened the tunnel doors. All the lights came
ablaze. The people inside gave out sighs of relief and all the kings
with their retinues came out. They saw the Bodhisatta standing in
the wide courtyard with the king, both showing gestures of friendship.
Then those kings said, “Dear Sage, if the door had remained
shut for a little while longer the air would have run out and all of us
would have perished. You have given us our lives.”
“My Lords, you should know that this is not the first time I have
saved your lives,” said the Bodhisatta. “Do you remember when all
the kingdoms of Jambudvipa had been conquered except our city
and you went to the park of Pancala ready to drink the cup of victory?”
Then he told them how King Culani had planned to poison
them and how he saved them from being poisoned. They turned to
Culani and asked him, “Is this true?”
“It is true,” Culani admitted. “I acted on the advice of a bad man.
Mahosatha speaks the truth. I do regret what I have done.” They
look at King Culani with reprimand, then they all embraced the
Bodhisatta, and said, “Dear Sage, you have been the salvation of us
all. We owe you our gratitude for having saved our lives.”
The Bodhisatta said to Culani, “Fear not, Sire, fault lies here in association
with a false friend. Ask pardon from the kings.” The king
then said, “I believed in a bad man. It was my fault. Please pardon
me. Never will I do such a thing again.” He received their pardon.
They confessed their faults to each other and became friends. They
remained in the tunnel for several days to celebrate their friendship
and they gave great honor to the Bodhisatta.
Mahosatha’s wisdom and goodness made such a profound impact
on King Culani that he invited him to remain in his court: “I will
give you anything you want but please do not return to Vedeha.
What can he do for you?”
But the sage declined with these words: “When one deserts a patron
for the sake of gain, it is a disgrace to both oneself and the other. As
long as King Vedeha is still alive I shall not leave him.”
Then the king said to him, “Promise me then, when your king
passes away you will come to me.”
“If I still live then, I promise I will come.”
For days, King Culani treated him with great honor. As for Kevatta,
he had nothing else to say, for he knew he had lost the love and
respect of his king. At the time of parting, the Bodhisatta said to
Culani, “Dear King, please do not worry about your family. Before
my king went back to his kingdom, he made a pledge to me to treat
your mother as his own mother, your wife as his mother-in-law, and
your son as his younger brother. I married your daughter to him
with the proper matrimonial ceremony. I will soon send back your
mother, your wife, and your son.”
The king thanked him and presented him with a dowry for his
daughter. He gave him three hundred servants and slaves, precious
gifts, and decorated elephants and horses and chariots.
“Go, my dear Sage, let King Vedeha see you back in Mithila. And
send my regards to Vedeha, my son-in-law.”
Welcome Home My Sage
So the Bodhisatta left Pancala and headed for Mithila. As he approached,
King Vedeha ordered his citizens to decorate the city and
to welcome him, and the citizens did so. The Bodhisatta entered the
city and reached the king’s palace; the king rose and embraced him,
and returned to his throne. He gave him great compliments. Then
the king set the drums of festival beating around the city: “Let there
be a festival for seven days in honor of our great sage.”
At the end of the festival, the Bodhisatta went to the palace and said
to the king, “Sire, King Culani’s mother and wife and son should be
sent back at once.”
“Very good, my son, let us send them back.” King Vedeha paid
respect to the three and sent them back to King Culani with the
three hundred servants and slaves and the entourage that came with
Mahosatha from Pancala. When this great company reached the city
of Pancala, the king asked his mother, wife and son how they were
treated. They all replied that they were treated with the kindness
and respect as if they were Vedeha’s own family. This pleased the
king so and he sent a rich gift to King Vedeha.
From that time forward, King Culani and King Vedeha both lived
in friendship and harmony.
Virtue of Wisdom
Back at the palace of Mithila, Princess Pancalacandi became
very dear and precious to the king. In the second year after their
marriage, she bore him a son. When the boy reached ten years old,
King Vedeha passed away. Mahosatha, the Regent, gave the boy a
grand coronation and made him the new king.
Remembering the promise he made to King Culani, he asked the
young king to let him go to Pancala and serve his grandfather.
The boy and his mother, Queen Pancalacandi, both pleaded him
not to go, but the Bodhisatta told them, “My promise has been
given to the great king; I have to honor my promise.” So amidst the
lamentations of the queen, the young king, and the multitude, he
departed with his servants, and came to Pancala City. King Culani,
hearing of his arrival, came to meet him and led him into the city
with great pomp. He gave him great wealth and power.
Mahosatha served King Culani with great wisdom. He brought
prosperity to the kingdom and peace throughout the continent.
He was loved by all. In due time, King Culani made him Prime
Minister of Pancala with the full authority to administer affairs of
the Kingdom. Mahosatha enjoyed a life of happiness in Pancala
until his last breath.
06 Bhuridatta Jataka PERFECTING THE VIRTUE OF MORALITY
In this Jataka, the Bodhisatta was born in the realm of the nagas as the son of a naga king.
Nagas are celestial serpents that inhabit the hidden depths below the ocean, far below the fields
and woodlands of the world of men. Their kingdom glitters with rare jewels and precious
minerals. Nagas possess magical powers and can assume human form. From time to time,
they leave their realm and mingle with human beings who inhabit the surface of the earth.
The archenemy of the naga is the garuda, the powerful celestial bird that feeds on them.
When Bhuridatta, the naga prince, visited the Tavatimsa Heaven, he saw Sakka’s opulent estate
and the exceedingly delightful splendor of heaven. It inspired him to increase his store of merit
by observing moral precepts17 as a way to free himself from the physical form of the naga and to
fulfill his wish to be reborn among the angels. Henceforth, he dedicated himself to the pursuit
of the Virtue of Morality.
Morality is a virtue that can be developed through learning how to control one’s thought,
speech, and action, to do only good deeds and to avoid bad ones. Good deeds are defined
as acts of kindness and generosity. Bad deeds can be avoided through observation of moral
precepts, the most basic of which include abstention from killing, stealing, committing sexual
misconduct, lying, and intoxication. Those who cultivate the Virtue of Morality will be blessed
with a peaceful and happy life, free from illnesses. At the time of their death, they will be
reborn into a happy destination.
A Jealous King
There once ruled a king in Benares who had a son named
Brahmadatta-Kumara (Prince Brahmadatta). When the son grew up
the king appointed him regent. The regent was wise and
capable and was loved by the people of Benares. His reputation
grew far and wide. The king was very proud to have such a
talented son.
One day, the king went to the royal park accompanied by his close
attendants and concubines. As he was sitting alone enjoying himself,
he overheard two ladies-in-waiting talking about the prince.
One of them said, “The prince is so incredibly handsome. Not only
is he an expert in the art of warfare, but he is also incomparable
as a judge. No one in this kingdom, even the king, can match his
intelligence and glory. Once he ascends to the throne, our kingdom
will be much greater than it is now.”
Hearing this, the king felt slighted.
As time went on, the king saw an increasing number of his subjects
grow more and more loyal to his son. His admiration for his son
gradually turned into jealousy. As his jealousy grew more intense,
he began to feel paranoid, fearing that his son would overthrow
him. One day, the king summoned his son to the throne hall and
said to him, “Son, I begin to have questions about your loyalty.
It is best that you leave Benares, and return only after my death
to assume the kingdom.”
The prince had no idea why his father doubted him. He was
saddened by it, but as a good son he obeyed the king without
defiance. After saluting his father, he went out alone into the forest.
He trekked through the various forests, and upon reaching the shore
of the Yamuna River next to the sea, he exclaimed, “Oh, this is
such a beautiful place, I will settle down here and make a home for
myself.” He found an appropriate spot and built a hut of leaves on
it. Then he put on a garb made of tree bark and lived on roots and
fruits like a hermit.
A Naga Woman
In the hidden depths below the ocean, far below the fields and woodlands
of the world of men, dwell the nagas. At that time, a young
female naga had lost her husband. The life of a naga woman without
a husband was quite lonely. Wherever she went she saw happy naga
couples cuddling one another. She yearned to find a husband for
herself and decided to go to the human realm to look for one. As she
was wandering by the seashore, she found human foot-prints and
followed the tracks which led her to the hut of leaves.
Meanwhile, Brahmadatta-Kumara was away looking for food. She
entered into the hut, and as she saw a wooden bed and the empty
interior. She thought to herself, “This is the dwelling place of some
ascetic. I will find out whether this ascetic is from faith or not.
I will adorn his bed with flowers and perfume and if he is a lover at
heart and not a true ascetic, he will be drawn to the fragrance bed
and indulge in it. Then I will take him and make him my husband.”
So she went back to the naga world and collected divine flowers and
perfume and came back to the hut to prepare a bed of flowers and
adorned the hut with garlands. Then she departed to her abode at
the naga realm.
When the prince returned and entered the hut he was surprised by
what he saw. He wondered, “Who has adorned my bed and my hut
with these beautiful flowers and garlands?” Attracted by the sweet
scent of perfume, he laid down on the bed of flowers and fell asleep.
The next day he rose at sunrise and went off to collect fruits,
leaving the hut untidy. The female naga came up, and upon seeing
the withered flowers, she knew at once that this was a man of desire
and not a religious ascetic. She smiled and said, “I shall be able to
capture him and make him my husband.” She took away the old
flowers and brought new ones to spread on a fresh bed and adorned
the hut with garlands and perfume, and she scattered flowers on the
pathway as well. Then she returned to the naga world.
That night the prince slept soundly on the bed of flowers dreaming
sweet dreams. Upon waking up he said to himself, “I must find out
who adorns this hut?” So instead of going out for food, he stayed
concealed in a place not far from the hut. Then he noticed a woman
of great beauty coming along the path to the hermitage, her hands
carrying flowers and garlands. Captivated by her beauty the prince
fell in love with her at once. He quietly entered the hut as the naga
woman was preparing the bed.
“Who are you, dear lady?” asked the prince.
“My lord, I am a naga woman,” she answered.
“Why are you here and why do you adorn my hut with flowers and
garlands?”
“I am a widow without a husband. As I saw the happiness of those
naga women who had husbands, I longed to find myself a husband
to fulfill my own happiness. I saw your hut and I came in to find
out who was in it.”
The prince told her he was Brahmadatta-Kumara, the son of
the King of Benares, who came here in exile because his father
drove him away. He looked at her with loving eyes and told her, “I
will be happy to be your husband.” She looked at him and fell in
love with him and said, “I will be happy to be your wife.”
From that time on they lived together harmoniously in the
hermitage. By her naga power, she made the hermitage beautiful and
extravagant. Thenceforth, he feasted on divine food and drink
instead of roots and fruits from the forest. After a while she
conceived and brought forth a son whom they called Sagara-Brahmadatta.
Soon after, she brought forth a daughter and they called
her Samuddaja.
Return of the Prince
One day, a forester from Benares came upon their hermitage and
saw the prince and recognized him. The prince gave him water
and fed him. Meanwhile, the king of Benares had just passed away.
After the king’s burial the ministers got together and
deliberated; they said, “A kingdom without a king cannot
survive, we must find out whether the prince is still alive, and if so,
where to find him.” When the forester arrived back to the city and
heard the news of the king’s death, he went to the ministers and
told them that he had met the prince in the forest on the shore of
the Yamuna River.
The ministers rewarded the forester and asked him to take them to
the prince. They found him and invited him to come back in order
to assume the throne. The prince spoke to his naga wife and asked
her to come along with him and be his queen. The naga woman told
him it would not be appropriate because she was of a naga breed,
and as such, possessed deadly poison and would be unfit to live
among humans. The prince pleaded but the naga woman would not
change her mind. She then said to him, “You must go for the sake of
your people. I myself cannot go. But our children are of the race of
men and you should take them with you. But because they are of a
watery nature and therefore delicate, they would not survive a long
journey if they are exposed to the harsh weather. Have a tank built
and fill it with water and let them play in the water. When you get
them to the city, build a lake for them near the palace. In this way
they will not suffer.”
With tears in their eyes, the prince and his wife embraced one another
and bade farewell. The prince had a tank built and put it
on a cart and filled it with water so the two children could
refresh themselves during the long trip. Upon their arrival at
Benares the prince was crowned as the new king. He had a lake
built for his two children for them to play in.
A Tortoise Story
One day when the water was let into the lake, a large tortoise
entered and could not find his way out. While the prince and the
princess were playing about in the lake, the tortoise put his head
out of the water and looked at them. When the two saw him,
they were frightened. They rushed out of the water screaming
that a water demon was scaring them. The king ordered his men to
find the creature and capture it. After he was captured the king
ordered the tortoise to be thrown into the whirlpool of the
Yamuna as a way of punishment. The whirlpool sucked the
tortoise deep down until he was drawn to the dwelling of the
nagas where he was recaptured by some young sons of
Dhatarattha, the naga king.
Fearing for his life the tortoise devised a plan to get away from
the nagas. He said to them he was a messenger from the king of
Benares who sent him there to offer his daughter to the naga king.
The naga king was skeptical when he saw his ugly appearance.
The tortoise said the naga king should not be fooled by his
mean appearance and explained that his king has many
messengers; that men did his business on the dry land, birds in the
air, and he in the water.
The tortoise made up the story that the King of Benares had established
friendship with all the kings of Jambudvipa; he now
wished to make friendship with the naga king and had offered his
daughter Princess Samuddaja to be his wife as a way to bond their
friendship. The clever tortoise was so convincing in his manner of
speech that the naga king believed his story. He appointed four
naga youths as his emissaries to escort the tortoise back to
Benares, pay tribute to the king, and fix a date for the marriage
with his daughter.
On the way, the tortoise saw a lotus-pond, and wishing to
escape, he tricked the naga youths into letting him in the
pond to gather some lotus flowers for the royal family. The
naga youths let the tortoise in the pond and transformed
themselves into four hand-some young men before arriving at
Benares.
King Brahmadatta of Benares received the naga youths with
honor and upon finding out the purpose of their visit, the king
remarked, “Never has a man been known to wed his daughter
to a naga. We humans are of purer blood and a higher race.
Such a match is utterly unfit. How could anyone think of such
a thing?” T he naga youths were offended by the king’s
scornful remark. They were tempted to kill him on the spot with
their poison breath, but controlled their anger and departed back
to the naga realm.
Dhatarattha was enraged when he heard the report from the naga
youths. In his wrath, he ordered his naga army to assemble
and be ready to attack Benares. He told the naga army to scare
off its population until their king agreed to hand off his daughter
to him, but to harm no one. The nagas invaded every corner of
Benares. The population of Benares saw snakes coming out on
the streets, in the rivers and lakes, on the roofs, in their homes,
their bedrooms, and every corner of the city. The snakes flared
t heir hoods a nd threatened the trembling crowds, saying that
unless their king gave his daughter to the naga king, they would all
die.
In terror, King Brahmadatta gave in to the naga king’s demand. The
naga king retired his army and through his magical power, made a
glorious city of jewels to appear a good distance away as the place to
receive the king’s daughter. He dispatched a complimentary tribute
to King Brahmadatta and set a date for him to deliver his daughter.
The Naga Bodhisatta
Princess Samuddaja was taken up into the newly created palace
and led to a divinely adorned bed surrounded by naga women who
assumed human form. As soon as she had laid down on the divine
bed she fell into a deep sleep and the palace disappeared.
Samuddaja woke up in the naga kingdom and found herself in the
rich city glittered with jewels and precious stones. It was a sight so
beautiful and unlike anything she had seen in the human world. She
had no idea this was not the realm of men. The naga king wanted
to conceal this fact from her. He ordered all of his naga subjects to
assume human form; anyone who betrayed this and showed any
signs of his or her snake-nature to Samuddaja would be severely
punished. Therefore, not one naga dared to appear as a snake before
her. So she lived affectionately and harmoniously with him, not
knowing that he was a naga.
In the course of time Samuddaja conceived and brought forth
a son, and they named him Sudassana. Soon after, she bore a
second son, whom they called Datta. Datta was a blessed being, for
he was a Bodhisatta born into the world of naga in that lifetime.
Then Samuddaja bore another son whom they called Subhoga, and
a fourth whom they called Arittha. Yet though she had given birth
to these four sons, she still did not know it was the world of the
nagas that she lived in.
But one day the infant Arittha was told by some playful naga youths
that his mother was a human, not a naga. To prove this, Arittha
assumed a serpent’s form while being nursed by his mother. When
she saw his serpent form she uttered a great cry in terror and threw
him on the ground injuring one of his eyes. When the king learned
what Arittha had done he ordered him to be executed. Because
she loved her son, Samuddaja pleaded to the king to let him live.
Softened by her plea, the king consented. It was that day that Samuddaja
found out she had been living in the realm of the nagas all this
time. But by then, she was used to the happiness that everyone had
provided her and she found no reason to be resentful.
As the four naga princes grew up, their father gave them each a
kingdom. Once a month, the three sons went to pay respect to their
parents. But Datta, the Bodhisatta, went every fortnight.
In his previous lifetimes, Datta had accumulated abundant wisdom
and merit. So when he was born into the naga world, his wisdom
and knowledge of Dhamma and the truth of nature exceeded
everyone else’s. His fame went far and wide. Sakka, king of
Tavatimsa Heaven, heard of his reputation and invited him to
visit his heaven. During his visit one day Sakka asked his angels a
difficult question about Dhamma and none could answer it. Datta,
was the only one who was able to enlighten them with the answer.
Sakka was impressed with this and paid him great honor. He
addressed to him, “O Datta, you are endowed with a wisdom as
broad as the earth. Henceforth, you shall be called Bhuridatta
(meaning Datta the Wise One.” From then on, this was his name.
From that time forth he went to pay homage to Sakka regularly.
Upon seeing Sakka’s opulent estate and the exceedingly delightful
splendor of the angelic world, he thought to himself, “The world
of heaven is marvelous indeed. These divine treasures had been
brought about by the virtue of merit. What am I to do with this
frog-eating snake-nature? I must find a way to free myself from the
physical form of the naga and be reborn in the realm of the angels.
To achieve this, I must increase my store of merit by observing high
moral precepts.”
He made the following resolution:
“I resolve to keep my precepts pure. I will avoid all wrongdoings.
I will not kill, steal, engage in sexual misconduct, lie, or become
intoxicated. I will cause harm to no one. I will not give in to anger
and hatred. I will uphold the moral precepts even if it means giving
up my life to do so.”
After so vowing, he returned to the naga realm and told his parents
of his intention. His father advised him to observe his precepts
within the naga realm and not to venture outside, lest harm may
come to him. He took his father’s advice and began to practice
abstinence in the quiet places of the naga realm. But his naga
maidens kept seducing him and disrupting his concentration. So he
decided to leave the naga realm to find a peaceful place in the realm
of men to complete his mission. He emerged from the naga world
and came to the shore of the Yamuna River near the ocean. There,
he found a peaceful spot under a banyan tree and settled down on
an anthill to meditate. He made the following resolution:
“I will fulfill my precepts here. Should anyone have need for my
skin, or muscles, or bones, or blood, let him take them at will. I will
not react with anger or hatred.”
And he lay down and observed his precepts until dawn. The
Bodhisatta was thus able to successfully keep his precepts for a long,
long time.
A Vicious Brahmin
At that time there lived a Brahmin hunter by the name of Nesada.
He lived in a village not far from the city gates of Benares. Every day
he would go out into the forest with his son to hunt for animals.
One day they failed to find even the smallest animal, so they went
deeper and deeper into the forest until they reached a landing at the
bank of the Yamuna River. There, they saw footprints of animals
that went down to the river to drink. So they set themselves up in a
hiding place to wait for the animals to come by. By twilight, a deer
came to the river to drink and the Brahmin hunter shot an arrow at
it. The arrowed pierced through its leg and it fled in terror, leaving
a stream of blood on the ground. They pursued the deer and caught
up with it by nightfall and they killed it. By that time it was too dark
to travel. So they went back to the river bank, stopped at a banyan
tree and climbed up the tree to spend the night there.
When morning came, the Brahmin hunter woke early to hunt
more animals while his son still slept. Meanwhile Bhuridatta had
just completed his hibernation and left his naga form to assume the
form of a young man wearing jeweled attire. He came to the river
bank for a wash. The Brahmin hunter saw him and was captivated
by his glorious appearance. He asked him, “Who are you, my lord?
You look too magnificent to be a human. Are you a god, a yakkha,
or a naga?”
Bhuridatta’s first instinct was not to tell the Brahmin hunter the
truth for fear that the Brahmin hunter might bring danger to him.
But he thought, “I have taken my vow of precepts; I must speak
only the truth.” So he told the Brahmin hunter that he was a naga.
After having said so, he sensed the Brahmin hunter’s cruel nature
and worried that the Brahmin hunter would betray him to a
snake charmer and so hindered his practice of the precepts. He
anticipated that it would be wise if he talked the Brahmin
hunter into staying away from that area and leaving him alone
to contemplate his precepts.
So he told the Brahmin hunter of the glory and splendors of his
naga world, and invited him to come to the naga kingdom with
him and enrich himself with the wealth there. The Brahmin hunter
accepted his invitation with enthusiasm and he took his son along.
Bhuridatta led them to the naga kingdom and indulged them with
great luxury and pleasure. Bhuridatta was thus able to continue his
contemplation without interruption. Every fortnight he would go
to pay respect to his parents in the naga realm.
One year went by and the Brahmin hunter began to feel
discontent with his new lifestyle and longed to return to the
world of men. He talked his son into leaving the naga world
with him. The Brahmin hunter went to Bhuridatta and asked
for his permission to leave. He lied to Bhuridatta that he was
leaving to pursue a holy life so that he, too, would end up in the
heavenly realm after he died. Bhuridatta let him go and offered to
give a divine jewel to the Brahmin hunter as a gift. But the
Brahmin hunter turned it down to convince the Bodhisatta that
his intent to become an ascetic was genuine. So the father and son
returned home and continued their former way of life.
The Garuda
Although known for their powers and magical abilities, nagas are
no match for garudas, a type of celestial being that is half-bird, halfhuman,
with the face and lower body of a bird and the upper body
of a human. Garudas live in the celestial forest of Himavanta and
feed on nagas. Like nagas, garudas possess supernatural powers and
can change their physical form at will.
At that time a powerful garuda was flying over the naga region
hunting nagas for food. He saw a naga swimming in the ocean,
swooped down and seized it by the head. He then carried it into the
Himavanta forest. Nearby, a hermit was dwelling in a hut of leaves.
Not far from the hut stood a great banyan tree. The hermit relied on
the shade of the banyan tree during the day to meditate.
As the garuda flew closely over the banyan tree, the naga twined its
tail around the tree to try to escape. The garuda flew up to heaven
with its great strength and carried the naga with him and also
uprooted the banyan tree along with it. After having eaten the naga,
the garuda recognized the tree and was troubled by it, thinking,
“This tree was of a great service to the hermit who relies on its shade
for meditation. By destroying the tree would an evil consequence
follow me? I better go ask him.”
So he transformed himself into a young man and went to the
hermitage. There, he saw the hermit frantically smoothing down
the earth where the banyan tree used to stand. The garuda asked
him what had once grown in that spot. The hermit told him that a
banyan tree used to stand on that spot and was uprooted by a garuda
who was carrying off a naga that had twined its tail around the tree.
The garuda asked him what bad kamma would follow the garuda.
The hermit told him that if the garuda did it without intention it
would not cause any demerit; and if the naga did not seize the tree
with an intent to hurt it, he also would not attract demerit. The
garuda was pleased to hear this. He disclosed to the hermit that
he was in fact that garuda. To express his appreciation, he taught
the hermit a powerful spell for subduing nagas and snakes and for
making medicine to cure snakebites.
The Snake Charmer
At that time there lived in Benares a Brahmin by the name of
Alam-bayana who got himself deeply into debt. To flee from his
creditors, he left the city of Benares and went into the forest.
After traveling successive days and nights, he arrived at the
region of Himavanta and came upon the hermitage where the
banyan tree was uprooted. He met the hermit and asked to stay
with him and served him. The hermit let him stay and treated him
kindly. The Brahmin served the hermit diligently and the hermit
rewarded him with the knowledge of the garuda’s magic spell.
Soon after, the Brahmin left the hermitage and arrived at the bank
of the Yamuna River after a long journey. He sat down to take a rest
and began to practice his magical spell. At that very moment several
naga youths who came to wait on Bhuridatta were playing in the
water nearby. They carried with them the divine jewel that
Bhuridatta had offered to the Brahmin hunter earlier, the same
one that the Brahmin hunter declined to accept, and left the jewel
on the bank. Upon hearing the spell, the naga trembled with fear
thinking that a garuda was coming to attack them. They plunged
into the earth and fled in terror, forgetting to take the divine jewel
with them. Seeing what had happened, Alambayana exclaimed,
“This spell is truly wondrous!” Delighted with his good fortune, he
picked up the jewel and continued into the forest.
Nearby, the Brahmin hunter and his son were hunting near the river
bank. They saw Alambayana holding the jewel in his hands. The
father said to his son, “Is this not the jewel that Bhuridatta gave to
us?” The son observed the divine jewel and confirmed, “Yes, this is
the same one.”
The Brahmin hunter became jealous. He wanted to get the jewel
for himself. “After all, this jewel was supposed to be mine,” he exclaimed and scolded himself for having turned it down when the
jewel was offered to him by Bhuridatta. Then he devised a scheme
to cheat Alambayana out of his jewel. He approached Alambayana
and told him that the jewel was cursed and would bring bad luck to
the one who possessed it, unless the owner knew how to take care
of it in certain ways. He said he knew how to do so and he offered
to buy the jewel from Alambayana, but Alambayana refused to sell
it. After further conversations Alambayana said, “I will not sell this
jewel to anyone, but I will give it to the one who can show me where
to find a naga.” In his mind, a naga was much more valuable than
the jewel now that he had a spell to subdue it.
Greed struck the Brahmin hunter. He told Alambayana to follow
him for he knew where to find such a naga. When the son learned
of his father’s disgraceful motive he was ashamed by it. He reminded
his father, “Bhuridatta has done you nothing but good. How can
you betray a friend who has treated you so well? Your actions will
bring you retribution in hell.”
To which the Brahmin replied, “Don’t worry, my son. We are
Brahmins and Brahmins are the blessed ones. A Brahmin’s sin can
be forgiven if he makes sacrifices to the gods. I will make sacrifices
and my sin will be washed away.”
The son knew that this was wrong to do and kept pleading for
his father to give up the vicious deed, but the Brahmin would not
listen. Feeling disgusted, he said to his father, “I will not be a part
of such an evil deed and I will not associate with such an evildoer.”
Upon saying this, he left his father and never returned to see him
again from that day onward.
The Naga is Captured
Unaffected by his son’s protest, the Brahmin hunter took Alambayana
to where Bhuridatta was fasting and said, “Here is your naga.
Now give me the jewel.”
The Bodhisatta heard the voice and opened his eyes. Upon seeing
the Brahmin hunter, he thought sadly, “I took this fellow to my
naga home and gave him all the good things; he would not accept
my jewel and now he comes here with a snake charmer. I could
kill him with a blast of my poisoned breath, but if I become angry
with him my moral character would be jeopardized. My utmost
duty is to fulfill moral precepts until perfection. This must remain
inviolate. So whether this snake charmer cuts me into pieces or cooks
me or mutilates me, I must not be angry with him.” So, closing his
eyes and letting go of his emotion, he lay perfectly motionless.
Alambayana, being delighted at seeing the naga and caring not for
the jewel, threw the jewel into the Brahmin hunter’s hands. But the
jewel slipped out of his hands and as soon as it hit the ground it
disappeared back into the naga world. And so the Brahmin hunter
found himself dispossessed of three things: the priceless jewel,
Bhuridatta’s friendship, and his son. He was desolate and went off
to his home lamenting like a broken man.
As if preparing for war, Alambayana anointed his body with divine
drugs to protect himself from poison and ate some of it to fortify
himself within. Then he chanted the divine spell, went up to the
Bodhisatta and seized him by the tail, opened his mouth and spat
the drug into it. After drugging the naga with his magic potion,
Alambayana crushed his bones, seized him by his tail and pounded
him against the earth. The Bodhisatta suffered unbearable pain but
did not allow himself to feel anger.
Having thus made the naga prince helpless, the cruel Alambayana
made a basket out of vine and threw him into it. He then traveled
to village after village exhibiting the great serpent and making him
perform for the crowd. Forced to follow every command, the naga
danced, assumed various colors, shapes and forms, spitted forth
water and smoke, and caused a great wonder among the villagers.
Although he could easily kill his captor, he did not do it so he would
not violate the precept. The people were impressed with the astonishing
performances and they gave the snake charmer abundant
money.
When he reached the city of Benares, Alambayana announced
to King Sagara-Brahmadatta18 of Benares that he would
arrange a special exhibit of the naga’s magical performance before
him. Having already heard of the snake charmer’s reputation, the
king allowed his royal courtyard to be cleared for the occasion
and enthusiastically awaited for the day of the performance.
The Queen’s Bad Dream
On the day the Bodhisatta was seized by Alambayana, Queen
Samuddaja had a dream that a dark man with red eyes had cut off
her arm with a sword and carried it away, leaving a great stream of
blood. She woke up in terror. She surmised that some misfortune
must have come either to her sons or her husband. She was particularly
worried about Bhuridatta as the other three sons remained safe
in the naga world but Bhuridatta had ventured into the unfriendly
world of humans. At the end of the fortnight when the Bodhisatta
was due for his visit with her, he failed to show up. This worried
her even more. After one month had passed she could no longer
bear her anxiety. Noticing what was wrong, her eldest son Sudassana
asked her what it was that made her so distressed. She told him that
danger must have come upon his younger brother, for he had failed
to show up two fortnights in a row.
Sudassana comforted her and promised to find his brother and
bring him back. He assembled the other two brothers and discussed
the strategy for the search. “If all three of us go in one direction
there will be much delay,” said Sudassana, “We must separate and
go to three different territories: one to the world of the angels, one
to Himavanta, and one to the world of men.” And they assigned
themselves each to a separate territory.
Sudassana chose to go to the world of men. He disguised himself as
an ascetic and put on the garb of a yogi.
The Bodhisatta had a sister, Accimukhi, born of another mother.
She had great love for the Bodhisatta. When she saw Sudassana
getting ready for the trip she asked to go with him. “Sister,” he told
her, “you cannot go with me, for it is inappropriate for a yogi to have
a female companion.” “In that case, I will become a little frog and I
will hide inside your matted hair,” she said. On his consenting, she
transformed herself into a young frog and hid inside his matted hair.
Sudassana figured the most logical place to begin his search would
be in the place where the Bodhisatta was observing his precepts. So
he went there first. When he saw traces of blood in the area, he felt
certain that Bhuridatta had been captured by a snake charmer. He
followed the track, which led him to the village where Alambayana
had his first show performed. When the villagers told him that a
snake charmer had come to their village and performed a naga show,
he asked them where the snake charmer was headed afterwards, and
they told him the direction. He followed the trail until he
finally came to the city of Benares.
The Duel
Meanwhile, the people of Benares were buzzing about the
event that was about to take place in the king’s royal courtyard
that day. Sudassana followed the crowd to the king’s courtyard.
At that very moment Alambayana was arriving with his
attendants who were carrying a large ornamented basket. Inside
the basket was the naga prince. A great crowd collected and a seat
was placed for the king. Sudassana found his way to the edge of
the crowd. When the king was properly seated, Alambayana
ordered Bhuridatta to come out. The naga put out his head to
survey the crowd. As he looked, he saw his brother so he came out
of the basket and went toward him. The crowd, seeing the naga
approach, retreated in fear. Sudassana was left there alone. The
naga went up to him and laid his head on his foot and wept, and
Sudassana also wept. The naga then went back into the basket.
Alambayana, looking from the distance, thought the naga must
have bitten the yogi. He went up to the yogi and consoled him,
“Fear not, dear yogi; as long as I am here no naga or snake can
harm you, for I possess the divine potion that can cure all
snakebites.”
Sudassana insulted him with these words, “This lame snake of yours
can never harm me. I am no match for him. I am the most powerful
snake tamer in the land.”
Alambayana was offended when he heard this. He turned to the
crowd and said, “This arrogant recluse claims he can beat my naga.
Let him duel with my king of snakes and see who is more powerful.”
Sudassana responded, “Your challenge is accepted. Let your big,
clumsy snake fight with my little frog.” He asked the frog to come
out from his matted hair and spit three drops of venom onto his
hand. Then he threatened Alambayana with these words, “This
little frog is my half sister, daughter of a naga king. She possesses
immense power. One drop of this celestial venom would blow up
this city. Shall I show you?” On hearing this, Alambayana shrank
back and the people cried out in fear.
King Sagara-Brahmadatta appealed to the yogi, “O reverend, please
do not let the venom harm my city and my people. Can you please
destroy it?”
The yogi replied, “It is too late, now that the frog has let out her
ferocious venom. If I let this venom touch the ground it will spread
the poison throughout the land and kill all the trees and crops.
If I throw it in the air, it will spread and cause a great drought. And
if I throw it into the water it will kill all the creatures in the river.”
Alambayana was listening to the conversation with open ears and
watchful eyes. He did not believe a word the yogi was saying.
He turned to the king and said, “Your Majesty, please don’t listen to
these silly lies. How can three drops of venom from a little puny frog
be that powerful? Ask him to prove it to you.”
Sudassana warned the king to be careful, for this was not just any
ordinary poison found in the world of men. He told the king the
only way to neutralize the venom was to dig three large pits side
by side and to fill one pit with herbs, one with cow dung, and one
with the celestial medicine that he would provide, and to drop the
venom in the pits. The king ordered his men to do so and when this
was done, the yogi threw the three drops of venom into the first pit.
It caused a big burst of fire burning out all of the herbs. Then the flame caught the second and the third pits, burning away everything
inside them before it gradually extinguished itself.
Alambayana put his face over the third pit to look inside. The noxious
fume from the pit immediately burned away his facial skin
and part of his body making him look like a leper and causing him
intense pain. The terrified Brahmin screamed out these words,
“I surrender, I surrender, I surrender! I will release the naga immediately.”
Then he crept away in disgrace never to be seen again.
Bhuridatta emerged from the basket, and assuming a radiant
form of a young man, stood before the multitude in all his glory.
The little frog also transformed herself into a woman. The three of
them stood side by side, looking like celestial beings.
The two naga brothers revealed themselves to King Sagara-Brahmadatta
as his nephews, for their mother, Princess Samuddaja, was
his younger sister. The king embraced them and kissed them. He
brought them up into the palace and paid them great honor and
requested them to bring their mother to visit him soon. After having
spent some time together, the three bade farewell to the king and
returned to their naga kingdom.
False Doctrine
When the Brahmin hunter saw Alambayana’s downfall, he thought
to himself, “This cruel man has become a wretch because of his
mistreatment of an innocent soul. I, too, have committed a grave sin
for betraying the one who had been kind to me. I am sure that soon
a bad retribution will fall upon me. Before it comes, I will go to the
sacred bathing place in the river and wash away my sin.”
So he went to the Yamuna River, to a landing where Brahmins went
to wash away their sins. He walked to the landing, put his palms
together, and uttered his confession out loud, “I have committed
a misdeed because I have betrayed Prince Bhuridatta in spite of his
kindness to me and to my son. He gave me everything, yet I led a
snake charmer to him and caused him great suffering. I wish now to
wash away this sin.” Then he slowly walked into the river in order
to bathe himself.
At that time Prince Subhoga, Bhuridatta’s younger brother had
come to that spot. He overheard the Brahmin’s confession and it
infuriated him. He seized the Brahmin and dragged him under the
water threatening to drown him. The Brahmin cried out for mercy,
and in his desperation, said these words to him, “O naga prince,
please do not kill me. Do you not know that there are three kinds of
people you are not allowed to kill: Brahmins, beggars and worshippers
of fire? If you kill them the Great Brahma will punish you in
hell.” Subhoga hesitated and thought, “This outcast is trying to fool
me. I will find out the truth from my wise brother.” So
Subhoga dragged the Brahmin to the naga realm.
When Arittha, the youngest brother, saw the Brahmin being
dragged and beaten by Subhoga, he was alarmed and said to his
brother: “Brother, do not hurt the Brahmin. Brahmins are
descendants of the Great Brahma, creator of the world. Anyone who hurts them
will soon be punished in hell.” Kanaritha acted in this manner and
said these words because, in many of his past lifetimes, he was born
as a dedicated Brahmin who believed in the doctrine which taught
the world was created by the Great Brahma. This belief system was
so deeply ingrained in him that he carried it with him still into this
present lifetime.
Arittha addressed the naga crowds that gathered around: “Come,
all nagas, let me extol for you the virtues of Brahmins. Brahmins
are descendants of the Great Brahma, who created the world. Not
only did the Great Brahma create the world, but he also decrees
the four classes of human beings and assigns duties to them. The
sublime Brahmins occupy the highest caste. They study the Vedas
and perform rituals and make sacrifices to the gods. Kings and warriors
(Kshatriyas) occupy the second caste, and they rule the land.
Merchants (Vaishyas) occupy the third caste. They farm the fields,
raise cattle and do business. And servants (Shudras) occupy the lowest
class and serve them all. Individuals must remain in their own
caste and are not allowed to marry people of a different caste. Those
who revere the Brahmins and give them gifts will be rewarded in
the world of the gods, and those who cause harm to them will be
punished in hell.”
Then he went on to describe the virtue of the Vedas, the worship of
fire, the sacrificial offerings, etc., etc. When the nagas heard
these words, they said, “He is telling a legend of the past, we
should seek out the truth,” and they took the topic to the
Bodhisatta for his clarification.
Right Understanding
The Bodhisatta worried that his brother’s propagation of this
false view would lead the nagas down the wrong path and cause
them misfortune. He gathered all the nagas together and gave
them the following discourse:
“The belief that the Great Brahma is the creator of the world is false.
The Vedas, the sacrificial offerings, and the worship of fire do not
lead one to the celestial realm.
The Vedas are the clever man’s tool designed to deceive the ignorant
for their own gains. The Vedas have no hidden power. The fire,
though tended well for long years, leaves nothing but ashes. Fire
can be created by man; how can man worship what he has himself
created? There is no merit in worshipping fire.
If the Great Brahma indeed created the world and has such mighty
power, why does he not give happiness to his creatures but
instead allows them to be condemned to pain? Why does he allow
fraud, lies, and ignorance to prevail, and truth and justice to fail?
Why does he create the world in which to shelter the wrong? Why
does he allow the innocents to be killed and the wrongdoers to
go free? Why does he allow humans to be born crippled instead
of with perfect heath? Why does he not create a world that is full
of happiness and harmony, instead of one full of conflict and war?
The Brahmin’s Vedas are delusive. Studying the Vedas does not
prevent a Brahmin to kill, to steal, to cheat, or to lie.
Sacrificial offerings are designed for a Brahmin’s gain so he can eat
the meat of the animal and take the objects of offering. Only fools
should believe in such things.
The caste systems, claimed to have been decreed by the Great
Brahma, are unfit and destructive. They create disharmony, promote
prejudice, and hinder progress. Loss, gain, glory and shame
touch everyone regardless of what caste they occupy. A servant has
the same human rights as his master, his priest, or his king. To gain
livelihood, regardless of class or caste, all must follow the right pursuits
and legitimate means. It is foolish to believe in such a system.
The wise does not believe in false doctrines. He follows the Right
View, the view in accordance with the Truth. Only the Right View
can lead one to a happy destination.”
The above explanation enlightened all the nagas. They thanked the
Bodhisatta for his knowledge and wisdom and saluted him.
Pointing to the Brahmin, Subhoga asked his brother, “What about
this ingrate? He caused you so much suffering even though you have
been kind to him. Should we kill him?”
“Killing binds one with the bondage of vengeance. Killing begets
killing. The cycle never ends. A sage should avoid killing at all costs.
We shall let him go free,” answered the Bodhisatta.
And the Bodhisatta ordered his nagas to take the Brahmin back
to the world of men. He told them not to harm him in any way.
Nesada the Brahmin hunter was profoundly touched by the
Bodhisatta’s kindness. Tears flowed from his eyes as he paid his final
homage to the Bodhisatta.
Happy Reunion
mother (Samuddaja) and brothers went to visit his maternal uncle
(Sagara-Brahmadatta) and grandfather (Brahmadatta-
Kumara, former king of Benares) across the Yamuna River. His
grandfather, after giving up his daughter Samuddaja to the naga
king, had retired to become an ascetic. Queen Samuddaja and
her four sons came to his hermitage to pay him respect. King
Sagara-Brahmadatta also joined them there and they all paid him
respect. There was great joy and happiness at the family reunion.
Afterwards, they took King Sagara-Brahmadatta to visit the naga
world. He stayed there for a few days before returning to
Benares. Queen Samuddaja spent the remainder of her life in the
naga world.
The Bodhisatta continued to keep the precepts and performed
moral duties throughout his life. His wish had come true for him,
for upon death, he was reborn in the realm of heaven.
07 Canda Jataka PERFECTING THE VIRTUE OF FORBEARANCE
During the time of the Buddha, his cousin and disciple, Devadatta, was a misguided monk who schemed
to murder the Buddha and take control of the Order of Monks. He hired an expert archer to kill the
Buddha, then hired two other archers to kill the killer, who would in turn be killed by four other archers.
Finally the four men would be killed by eight other men. This way, no one could trace the killing back to
Devadatta. But when the first man came close to the Buddha and was ready to shoot his poisonous arrow
at him, he found himself unable to move any of his limbs. The Buddha approached him and gave him a
discourse which touched his heart and converted him. Eventually, all the men who were hired to kill one
another also were converted and became disciples of the Buddha and the assassination plan failed.
One day, at the Hall of Wisdom, the topic of Devadatta’s attempt on the Buddha’s life was brought up by a
group of monks. The Buddha heard the discussion and said to them, “Dear monks, this is not the first time
that Devadatta tried to deprive many people of their lives in his enmity against me.” And he told them a
story of the past: Canda Jataka.
Canda Jataka is the story of Prince Canda, the Bodhisatta, the son of a weak-minded and ignorant king
named Ekaraja. In that lifetime Devadatta was born as a wicked Brahmin priest who devised a human
sacrificial rite for the king to perform which involved Prince Canda and several others as victims. Although
facing death at the hands of his own father, Prince Canda maintained great fortitude and forbearance19,
not allowing himself to give way to hatred and vengefulness against his father and the wicked priest.
A Vengeful Brahmin
In the olden days, the kingdom of Benares was called Pupphavati.
This kingdom was ruled by King Ekaraja, a feeble-minded king who
was spiritually ignorant. The king had a son named Prince Canda
who he appointed regent. Prince Canda, the Bodhisatta, was a man
of high integrity and wisdom. He was just and fair to all people and
was loved by all.
King Ekaraja was advised in the ways of the world by Khandahala,
his chief Brahmin priest and teacher. This was unfortunate for the
kingdom, for Khandahala was a corrupt man.
Khandahala contrived to have himself appointed by the king as
judge, though he was in no way fair or honest. He often took bribes
and turned cases against the innocents.
One day, a man, the true owner of a property in dispute, had lost
his property in a court case because Khandahala, the judge, had
taken bribes. Grief-stricken by the injustice, the man went out of
the judgment hall complaining loudly to passersby. When the man
saw Prince Canda he came to his feet and pleaded him for justice.
Prince Canda summoned both parties back to the courtroom and
had the case reheard. After considering all the presented facts, Canda
reversed the judgment and restored the unjustly seized property to
its rightful owner.
The news of this good deed spread to the people and they began to
sing the praises of Prince Canda. From then on, they called on him
regularly to act as their mediator. The news of his competence as
mediator became known to the king, and the king eventually gave
him the office of judge and removed Khandahala from the position.
This infuriated Khandahala. Not only had it made him lose face,
but it also deprived him of his means of income from bribes. From
that time on he developed a deep hatred against the prince and
plotted to get rid of him. He constantly schemed and planned for
his revenge. Finally, an opportunity presented itself.
An Ignorant King
One morning, right before dawn, the king had a fantastic dream.
His dream appeared so vivid and real. In his dream, he was standing
in the celestial realm of Tavatimsa witnessing the great expanse of
heaven. He saw celestial streets paved with sands of gold extending as
far as the eyes can see. Celestial palaces and buildings glittered with
jewels and precious stones rose high up into the sky. The sight was
so magnificent, unlike anything he had seen in the human world.
Celestial beings were singing and playing divine music, and female
celestial beings were astoundingly beautiful. The whole experience
was spellbinding for the king.
When he awoke, he was seized by an overpowering desire to enter
this celestial world. He said to himself, “The world of the gods is
so magnificent indeed; nothing in the human realm can compare
to it. My palace, which was said to be the most beautiful in the
land, looks like a poor man’s hut when compared to Sakka’s celestial
palace. The most beautiful ladies in my court look like monkeys
when compared to the female celestial beings. Oh, how I crave to
belong to this celestial realm! I am willing to do anything to get
there. I must find a way to go to this heaven. I will ask Khandahala,
my wise teacher, to tell me how to get there. No one else knows the
answer except my good teacher.”
Later that morning, still dazzled by his vision, the king told Khandahala,
“Dear teacher, you are a seer to whom all sacred learning has
been given, tell me what sort of merit must one make to be able to
go to Tavatimsa Heaven?”
Khandahala’s eyes brightened up. He saw this as his moment for
revenge. He immediately took advantage of the king’s ignorance
and manipulated him. He said to the king, “O King, it will not be
easy for you to find this realm and it will cost you dearly. If you wish
to go to the celestial realm of your dream you must offer a splendid
sacrifice to the gods.”
A ‘Splendid’ Sacrifice
“What do you mean by a ‘splendid sacrifice?’” asked the king.
“It means a sacrifice that is most difficult to perform,” answered
Khandahala. Then he continued, “Your Majesty, the common practice
of giving away food and clothing to recluses and monks and
to poor people is not considered splendid. For an offering to be
splendid it must be something that is most difficult to do. The most
splendid sacrifice is to take the lives of ones who do not deserve
to die and offer them as gifts to the gods. This has to be done in a
proper way. The sacrifice must be made in units of four: four sons,
four wives, four wealthy merchants, four noble animals consisting
of the finest elephants, the finest steeds and the finest oxen. These
four kinds, sacrificed with proper ritual, will gain you entrance into
this heaven. Only such an offering can win the attention of the
gods.”
Khandahala’s motive was aimed at Prince Canda, but to conceal his
real motive he cooked up the scheme that included the murdering
of the others. This way, the people would not know that he did it
through his hostility towards the prince.
“What you suggested is indeed a very difficult thing to do,”
exclaimed the king.
“But if Your Majesty really wishes to go to Tavatimsa Heaven, this is
the only way to get there,” emphasized Khandahala.
So greatly had the king’s dream affected him that his mind was no
longer sound, and he succumbed to Khandahala’s dreadful advice.
He ordered all four of his sons, four of his chief consorts, four wealthy merchants, four royal elephants, four noble steeds, and four
of his finest oxen to be captured and slain.
Khandahala suggested to the king that the sacrificial site be located
outside the city walls and he and his men be the ones to prepare the
site and perform the rite, as the others might not have the strength
or the courage to complete it. The king agreed and gave him permission
to do so. Khandahala took several of his men and went out of
the city and ordered a sacrificial pit to be dug. He surrounded it
with fences to prevent possible interference from others.
Prince Canda thought, “Even animals love their young; why then
would a human being not love his own sons? There is something
fishy about this whole thing.” When Prince Canda found out that
it was Khandahala who talked his father into committing such a
hideous act, he knew right away that Khandahala did this to exact
his revenge on him. He thought to himself, “This cruel man will
have so many people killed just so he can get to me. I must find a
way to help the others.”
He went to his father and pleaded him to give up the idea of the
sacrifice, not to save himself, but for the sake of the other innocent
victims. He said to the king, “Father, human sacrifice is not a way
to reach heaven. To gain proper merit in order to reach heaven,
one should give alms, avoid killing humans and animals, be kind
and compassionate, and not cause suffering to anyone.”
One by one, those close to the king came and told him to abandon
the idea, but the king stood firm on his decision. He told them,
“Khandahala has been my teacher since I was very young. He taught
me everything. He is a seer well versed in all spiritual matters. He
assured me that the only way to get to the celestial realm is by doing
something that is difficult for ordinary people to do, to offer the
lives of those who do not deserve to die as gifts to the gods. I must
follow the advice of my great teacher if I wish to go to the celestial
realm.”
The king’s mother was terrified at his son’s delusional behavior and
rushed to see him. She said to him, “My son, what causes you to
commit such a monstrous deed? How could you think of such cruel
offering, putting your own sons to death?”
The king answered, “This costly sacrifice is the only vehicle that will
take me to the heavenly world.”
His mother pleaded, “To kill your own sons and wives can never
lead you to the heavenly world. Don’t believe in such nonsense.
It is the road to hell. If you wish to go to heaven, you must do what
is right: give alms, hurt no living beings, be kind, be compassionate,
be righteous; then you will be assured of heaven.”
The king replied, “Mother, I did not think up such thing on my
own, but I have been advised by Khandahala who has been my
teacher since I was young. I know that sacrificing those whom I love
is a very difficult thing to do, in the same way that it is very difficult
to get to the celestial ream. Therefore it is fitting that if anyone
wants to go to heaven, he must be willing to give up those he loves
the dearest as sacrifice. This is indeed a hard thing to do, but heaven
is the prize that I must gain.”
With tears pouring from her eyes, the mother begged her son to give
up such a monstrous act, but to no avail. It broke her heart that her
son had turned out this way. She cried and lamented, but the king
stayed unaffected. The king’s father also came to plead his son to
give up the idea. But the king stood firm in his decision.
Canda felt miserable that so many people had to suffer on his account.
He went again to his father and made a plea to him, “Father,
let us be Khandahala’s slaves, but spare our lives. We shall tend his
horses and his elephants; we shall sweep his stables and haul the manures;
we shall do whatever he wants us to do, and work in chains,
but spare our lives.”
To give up one’s dignity to become a slave of one’s own enemy and
endure any insults that should follow was a terrible humiliation.
Prince Canda was willing to do this, not due to cowardice or the
love for his own life, but to save others from being slaughtered. With
his power and popularity, he could have chosen to revolt against his
father and put the evil Brahmin in his proper place, but he chose
to resolve it in a non-violent way. This reflected in him the virtue
of forbearance that he had cultivated over many lifetimes, and the
courage to uphold good moral principle even at the cost of his life.
Prince Canda’s lamentations began to soften the king’s heart. His
eyes began to fill with tears as he said, “Let no one kill any of my
children. I no longer wish to go to the celestial realm. I will let
everyone go.” He ordered everyone to be set free.
Khandahala was busy preparing the sacrificial pit when he heard
the news that the king had released all the princes. He rushed to see
the king and said to him, “I warned Your Majesty that this sacrifice
would prove difficult. If it was so easy, anyone could have done it.
Only those who have the courage to give offerings such as these
will go straight to heaven. Bear in mind, those who are a part of
the sacrifice will all go to the heaven along with you. Their pain
will be only for a little while, but their enjoyment in heaven will be
ever-lasting. It is a worthwhile course for everyone. Why put a stop
to the rite now when it has begun so well? ”
Hearing these words from the Brahmin priest, the feeble-minded
king faltered. Blinded by illusion of grandeur and the desire for a
life in heaven he changed his mind once again and ordered his sons
to be recaptured.
The king’s ministers, his sons’ wives, and even his little grandchildren,
begged him to change his mind. Family members of the four
wealthy merchants all begged the king to spare their lives. They
offered themselves to become his slaves if the king would let their
loved ones live. But each time the king appeared to falter in his
resolve, Khandahala would rush in to remind him that this was the
only way to heaven.
More than once, the king weakened and released the hapless
victims, only to call them back into custody under renewed pressure
from the evil priest.
At last, everything at the sacrificial site was ready. The ground
was cleared, a platform was raised, the pyre was draped, and the
banners were hung. Multi-tiered ceremonial umbrellas were brought in and erected at the site. Finally Khandahala said to the king, “The
sacrifice and the offerings have been prepared and ready. Go forth,
Oh king, to offer them, and claim your journey to heaven.”
Sakka to the Rescue
Khandahala’s men escorted Prince Canda to the sacrificial site
amidst great lamentations of the multitude. They placed him on
the platform with his neck bent forward to be decapitated. Below it
was a large golden bowl to receive his blood. Khandahala took the
ceremonial sword and stood up, getting ready to behead him.
In her desperation, Queen Candadevi, Canda’s mother, clasped
her hands and walking amidst the assembly proclaimed
solemnly “May all the gods and the spirits that dwell in this place
please hear me in mercy. May the virtue of my good deed and my
truthfulness protect my son Canda and free him from harm.”
Sakka, sovereign of Tavatimsa Heaven, heard her desperate cry,
and through his divine eyes saw what was taking place in the
world of men and the injustice being done. Suddenly, like a
thunderbolt, mighty Sakka appeared floating in the sky over
the great crowd. Surrounded by a flaming halo, he wielded a
blazing steel mallet in one hand and a flaming diamond dagger in
the other and struck at the ceremonial umbrellas. As they fell
under the blows the sacrifice was halted, for without the
ceremonial umbrellas the ceremony was no longer sacred.
“You tyrant!” Sakka shouted in a commanding voice which frightened
the king, “Stop your heinous act right now. Nowhere has this
earth seen such an atrocious crime committed by anyone. You think
killing the virtuous and the innocents will earn you a place in my
heaven? Hell is where you belong! Release the people and the animals
now before I strike you dead and smash your wicked Brahmin
to pieces.”
Startled by the miraculous sight and the flaming glory of mighty
Sakka, the terrified king immediately set free all the people
and animals. After everyone was released the crowd turned to
Khandahala and looked at him with angry eyes. They each
grabbed a stone and hurled it at the wicked Brahmin mercilessly
until his whole body was mutilated and fell into the pit that he
had dug. He died in agony. His soul went straight to hell.
After having put the Brahmin to death, the crowd turned to the
king and prepared to kill him too, but Prince Canda stopped them.
The crowd spared the king’s life but stripped him of his royal attire,
chased him out of the city, and forced him to live in the colony of
the outcasts. They forbade him to enter the city ever again.
All of the victims were released and a vast assembly gathered
together and anointed Prince Canda to be their new king. Despite
what his father had done to him, the new king Canda harbored no
resentment and hatred toward his father. He made sure his father
was well provided for and he tended to his every need.
All those who had helped in any way in the sacrifice, or approved of
it, went to hell after they passed away.
Thence, a new and happy reign of prosperity and peace followed.
Comfort and happiness filled every home.
08 Narada Jataka PERFECTING THE VIRTUE OF EQUANIMITY
Throughout time, men have invented various belief systems and religious doctrines that did not coincide
with Truth. These misguided beliefs, or false doctrines, often led a person to the wrong paths and
caused him or her to fail in his or her spiritual development. To avoid these wrongful paths, one must
know how to choose the right teachers and the right teachings. One grave danger while on the path of
spiritual development is to expose oneself to fools. A fool is someone wicked, weak, or feeble in the
moral sense. One cannot tell a fool by his or her looks. A fool can be well-educated and be from a
good family. Education, intelligence, career success, or social position do not prevent a person from
being bad.
A fool’s mind is defective because of the ‘wrong view’ he or she assumes – the wrong view consists
of the following misguided beliefs: that generosity is not virtuous and should not be practiced; it
is unnecessary to honor people worthy of honor; it is unnecessary to show hospitality to others;
good and bad actions have no consequences; children have no debt of gratitude toward their parents;
there are no heaven or hell or afterlife; and that enlightened beings do not exist.
Equanimity is about the quality of mind that is stable and neutral, not affected by emotion or outside
influences, positive or negative, desirable or non-desirable. In the development of equanimity it is helpful
for one to be aware of the truth of nature, the Law of Kamma, and the impermanent nature of all things.
This helps one to understand the reality of life and to be able to make sound judgments based on wisdom
and not emotion.
This Jataka exhibits to us how a false doctrine can destroy one’s life and affect the lives of others. It also
teaches us to associate ourselves with the wise and avoid the fools.
King Angati
In the kingdom of Videha, there lived King Angati, who possessed
great wealth and power and ruled his kingdom righteously. He
worked hard for the welfare of his people and taught them how to
live a virtuous life and to be generous. His kindness and
generosity were well known throughout the land and he was
admired by all his subjects.
Although the king possessed great wealth and power, he had only
one child, Ruja, the daughter of his chief queen. Ruja was blessed,
for not only was she born into a family of high standing, but she was
as beautiful as a celestial being and as wise as a sage. It was no wonder
that she was the king’s greatest joy. Every day, the king sent her
baskets of flowers and exquisite gifts. Every two weeks, he provided
her with one thousand gold pieces to give alms on his behalf to the
poor and the needy. This almsgiving won him the love of his people
and also the admiration of his daughter.
One day, on the eve of the great festival of the full moon, King
Angati stood with his three chief ministers on his palace terrace
admiring the beauty of the city beneath him. As the moon rose
up the sky, the entire city and its festive decorations gleamed with
its magnificent rays, making it appear as beautiful and surreal as a
heaven on earth. In his happy spirits the king said to his ministers,
“Pleasant indeed is this clear and beautiful night, a night so perfect
for festivity. How shall we best amuse ourselves on this festive eve?”
The first minister, Alata, the general in charge of the kingdom’s warfare,
suggested, “On an auspicious occasion like this, Your Majesty,
let us gather a gallant army together and go forth in battle. Let us
bring under your power those who have not yet been conquered.”
The second, Sunama, the minister in charge of the king’s diversions,
said, “Today should be the day of festival, not war. Let us make this
day a great day of festivity and entertainment. Let the people bring
their best meats, drinks, and food, and let Your Majesty enjoy his
pleasure in dance, song, and music.”
The third minister, Vijaya, the chief court Brahmin, spoke up, “On
a special night like this, we should do something to enrich our soul.
It is more fulfilling to seek out a holy man learned in sacred lore, one
who is wise in the ways of the world, who can remove our doubts
and show us the path of liberation. Such is an appropriate activity
for a king who practices the Ten Virtues of the Sovereign.21”
Since King Angati had always enjoyed listening to ascetics, he
agreed to Vijaya’s suggestion. He said to the three, “This suggestion
of Vijaya pleases me. Let us find a worthy teacher and go wait on
him. Do you know of such a worthy one?”
Alata said right away, “Yes, Your Majesty, there is a famous ascetic in
the deer park who is learned and wise. He has renounced the world
and given up all forms of possessions. He is content with what little
he has and sees no necessity in wearing any clothes. This ascetic
who wears no clothes has a large following of disciples. His name is
Guna, of the Kassapa family. Wait on him, O King; he will remove
our doubts.”
Naked Ascetic
The king was curious.
“A naked ascetic?” he said amusingly, “This sounds like a good idea.
Let us go then to seek out advice from him.” After having said this,
he ordered his charioteer to prepare the royal carriage and to get
his entourage ready to accompany him to the deer park. As he and
his entourage approached the center of the forest, they saw a crowd
surrounding a naked man with scruffy long hair and beard. Not
wanting to disturb the gathering, the king came down from his
chariot and greeted Guna Kassapa, the naked ascetic, on foot. After
exchanging proper salutations and greetings, the king seated himself
to one side and told Guna the purpose of his visit.
The king looked at Guna’s peculiar appearance: his body completely
naked, his hair and beard unkempt, his skins looked dirty, and his
body put out smelly odor. He could not help but ask the naked
ascetic the reason for his lack of embarrassment.
“Honorable Kassapa, it is common practice that men should wear
clothes, cut his hair, and shave his mustache and beard so that they
look decent and acceptable in public. Why then do you and your
disciples practice the opposite by appearing naked in public and
letting your hair and beard grow long and untidy? What advantage
can such practices bring you?”
The king’s questions did not annoy Guna. He had been asked
these questions numerous times and had come up with perfect
answers for them. In fact, he welcomed these questions, for it gave
him the opportunity to extol the virtues of his practices in a way
that had won the veneration of many followers.
He said to King Angati, “Dear King, I do not wear any clothes
because I have discovered the truth that human beings are a part
of nature, and, as such, should live naturally. When humans and
animals are born, they are not born with any clothes on them.
Animals are born with hair and fur, yet they do not cut off their hair
or fur. They live the way nature wants them to live. All living beings
come from nature and should live according to nature. Nature has
a way of balancing everything. If we live naturally and use what
nature has provided for us, we will see no need to put on
clothes, cut our hair, or shave our beard. It serves no purpose to
wear clothes and it is a wasteful way of living.”
On the surface, Guna’s explanation sounded logical but the king
was not convinced. He argued, “Honorable Teacher, clothes may
incur an expense but they protect us from the heat of the sun
and from the cold. They conceal what should be concealed and
they give beauty to the wearer.”
Guna responded, “Great king, you said that human beings
must wear clothes to protect them from the heat of the sun and
the cold and for concealing what should be concealed. Such
belief comes from the lack of understanding about the way of
nature. Nature has already provided us with hair to protect us
from the heat of the sun and to keep us warm, just like it has done
so for other animals. Every hair in our body has its own specific
function. Brows prevent the sweat from the forehead to enter the
eyes; eyelashes keep dirt from the eyes; and hair in our nose
prevents dirt from entering our lungs. Beards keep the neck warm;
hair on the head shields us from the sun. When hair is allowed to
grow naturally, it keeps our body warm and it covers our private
parts. With all these benefits, why then should we cut our hair
and wear clothes? Why should we complicate our lives and take us
further away from nature?”
He added, “The desire for clothing makes people drift away from
nature. The more distant we are from nature, the more difficult and
complicated our lives will become. Clothing is a form of material
possession which leads to craving, and craving leads to possessiveness
and competition, which in turn leads to unrest and unhappiness.”
False Doctrines
The king listened to Guna’s peculiar concept, but he was not
completely comfortable with it. Then he asked Guna questions
regarding the right conduct towards others.
“How, Honorable Kassapa, should a mortal fulfill the law of right
conduct toward his parents, how towards his teacher, and how
towards his wife and children? How should he behave towards the
aged, how towards holy men and Brahmins, how should he deal
with his army, how with the people in the country? And most
important, how should he practice the law and so eventually attain
the path to heaven? And how do some on account of unrighteousness
fall down into hell?”
These questions should have been asked to a true sage such as a
Buddha or an Arahat21, ones who have attained insight and wisdom
through a mind that is enlightened. Unfortunately, at that time and
in that land there was no true sage to whom men could turn to for
advice, and Guna, an ascetic blind to the truth of life and of nature,
had gained a reputation for wisdom in spite of his ignorance. It was
the case of a blind leading other blind. This was unfortunate for the
king, for he was about to be influenced by a misguided mind that
swayed him away from the Right View22.
Guna did not know the true answers to the king’s questions, but he
acted as if he was the authority on the subject. He spoke with a clear
and confident voice as he described his misguided views:
“O King, there is no right or wrong way to behave. Merit and
demerit do not exist. Heaven and hell do not exist. There is no
afterlife. There is no such thing as rebirth. There is only
destiny. Every living being is born out of destiny and no one can
change it.
Grandparents and parents have no special virtues; teachers have
no special virtues; holy men and Brahmins have no special virtues.
All humans and animals are born equal. Paying reverence to the
worthy brings no consequence.
There is no benefit in giving alms, in observing the precepts, and
in practicing kindness and generosity. Whatever you do, whether it
be virtuous or evil, has no effect on your future. Whether you kill a
man, or help the poor, or give alms, is inconsequential, for there is
no merit or demerit in whatever you do.
Animals must hunt for food and have to kill other animals in order
to survive. If they had the same belief as humans, that taking a life
is an evil act, they would all starve to death.
A butcher slaughters animals everyday of his life. He kills by
the hundreds, by the thousands, but look at him, he only grows
richer and richer. He can eat any meat he wants and buy anything
he desires. His every wish is fulfilled. If evil deeds have consequences,
then these butchers should have suffered terribly, but instead,
they prosper.
On the contrary, the do-gooders, those who are kind at heart,
those who refuse to kill or hurt animals, those who are generous
and give alms, those who help others, find themselves hungry and
deprived of the good things in life. This further proves that merit
and demerit do not exist, and actions, good or bad, have no
consequences.
Everything happens according to nature. Some animals eat
only grass; some eat only meat. They do it instinctively and
do not have to be taught to do so. This is the way of
nature and nature maintains its own balance.”
And he continued:
“Heaven and hell do not exist; they only exist in one’s
imagination. There is no other world than this one. Suffering in
this world is hell and happiness in this world is heaven. So follow
your own will and seek your own pleasure. Do things that please
you and do not do things that displease you. Do not worry about
consequences; for there are no consequences for your future.
Fortunate and unfortunate things happen on their own; we do
not cause them to happen and we cannot influence the outcomes.
All beings are predestined. Every mortal gets what he is going to
get, what then is the use of giving? Almsgiving is a waste of money.
It is the practice of foolish people. Foolish people believe in giving,
but clever people believe in receiving. Almsgiving causes people to
be lazy and poor. It encourages receivers to not have to work for a
living. How then can almsgiving be considered a good thing?
Some people believe in keeping moral precepts and fasting at certain
times of the day. Refraining from taking certain meals at a certain
time or day is totally fruitless and is against nature. The practice of
controlling one’s thought, action and speech, and not to allow
them to behave badly is impractical. Why fight against things that
come to us naturally?”
Guna’s eccentric views fascinated the king. They were contrary to
what he used to be taught by his father, but their logic seemed to
make sense to him. Little by little, the king’s way of thinking began
to sway toward Guna’s theory of beliefs.
Having thus described the uselessness of giving, Guna went on to
describe the inconsequence of action:
“Actions, virtuous or evil, produce no karmic effect. As you can see
for yourself, some people live a good life surrounded by wealth and
riches even though throughout their lives they have done nothing
but evil; while others who have done nothing but good throughout
their lives find themselves in hardship and misery. If good actions
produce good consequences and bad actions produce negative retributions,
why then do evil doers go unpunished and good people go
unrewarded? The truth is there is no law of cause and consequence,
no Law of Kamma. Everything happens on its own. There is nothing
we can do to change it.”
Alata, the general, listened to Guna attentively. He had no
difficulty agreeing with everything Guna said. In fact, he proceeded
to reinforce Guna’s views by stating his own personal experience
as testimony in support of Guna’s theory. He said, “Honorable
Kassapa, what you said is quite true. I happen to be one who is able
to recall a past existence in which I was a huntsman named Pingala.
I committed a countless number of sins by killing all kinds of living
creatures. Passing from that birth, I was born into the prosperous
family of a general. Today, I live a healthy and wealthy life, holding
an important position for my king. I did not have to go to hell. This
is living proof that there are no evil consequences for doing bad
actions.”
As Alata finished speaking, someone in the crowd wept loudly. It
was a slave clothed in rags who had come to listen to Guna. When
he heard Guna’s dissertation and Alata’s affirmation, he sighed sadly
and burst into tears. King Angati asked him, “Dear friend, what had
made you so upset?”
The man replied, “O King, my name is Bijaka; I too remember my
former birth. I was one Bhavatthi in the city of Saketa, devoted to
virtue, given to alms, and conducted my life in the most virtuous
way. I remember no single evil deed that I committed. But when
I passed from that life, I was conceived in the womb of a poor
prostitute, and was born to a miserable life of a slave as you see
here. But as miserable as I am I keep my tranquil mind, and I give
half of my food to whosoever desires it. I uphold moral precepts,
fast every fourteenth and fifteenth day, never hurt living creatures,
and I abstain from theft. But all the good deeds which I do produce
no fruit. As I heard honorable Kassapa’s words and General Alata’s
comment, I began to realize that virtue is indeed useless. I see no
door by which I may go to heaven. It is for this that my heart is
tormented and I could not hold my grief.”Having heard the slave’s
words, King Angati said, “Indeed, there is no door to heaven; only
destiny. I devote my life to virtue and the welfare of my people.
I teach my subjects to do good, to avoid bad, and to give alms.
I attend to my business diligently, administering the laws and fulfilling
my Ten Royal Virtues of the Sovereign, but I myself have found
no enjoyment.”
He turned to Kassapa and said, “Honorable Kassapa, all this time
I have been uninformed of the truth, but now at last I have found
a teacher. From now on I will follow your teaching. I will take my
delight only in pleasure. I will no longer give importance to virtue
and will pay no more attention to the laws of righteousness. Please
stop your teaching now. There is no reason for me to continue
listening, as there is no merit or consequence in so doing. As you
have taught, I should do only things that I find pleasure in. In this
same regard, there is no reason for me to see you again.”
When the king first visited Guna he gave him proper salutations
and greetings, but when he departed he left without any salutation,
and left him no alms or gifts. In the king’s mind now, he saw these
good behaviors to be no longer of any consequence.
From Now On I Will Pursue Only Pleasure
The next day the king said to his ministers, “Henceforth, I will
pursue only pleasure. No other business, public or private, is to
be mentioned before me. Let the three of you carry on the
day-to-day administration of my affair.” And he indulged himself
only in activities that brought him pleasure.
From then on, he resolved to make no further efforts to do good. He
relinquished all cares and unpleasant kingly duties to his ministers.
He no longer made decisions. Since nothing he did was to have any
consequence, he would have no more to do with the business of life.
And he stopped giving alms.
A month passed and his subjects lamented the loss of their king’s
interest in them. Ruja wept for her father, for she heard the mourning
of his unhappy people and saw him harden his heart and close
his ears to reason.
On the next festival of the full moon, Ruja dressed herself in her
finest garments and entered her father’s court. Despite the
change of the king’s outlook on life, he continued to show great
love and care for his daughter. He asked her how she was
enjoying life and whether there was anything that she needed.
Ruja told her father that everything was going well for her, but
reminded him that the following day was the sacred fifteenth day,
the day to give alms.
“Father,” she said, “tomorrow is the sacred fifteenth day,
our traditional day of almsgiving. Could you kindly tell your
courtiers to bring the thousand pieces of gold to be used for
almsgiving as has been your custom?”
Her father replied indifferently, “Alms? Give away our gold? I no
longer have the desire to carry on such a foolish custom. Much
wealth has already been wasted without bearing any fruit. My
child, there is no such thing as merit or benefit from giving. We are
governed by destiny; nothing we do can change our predetermined
fate. I have no reason to waste any more of my wealth on
something that creates no consequence.”
“Also, my dear child, your practice of fasting is another useless
devotion. It is unhealthy not to eat. Why allow yourself to be
hungry. There is no merit to gain from fasting. You should discontinue
this silly practice as well.”
Ruja realized that her father had truly strayed from the holy
precepts. She tried to reason with him, “Dear father, I have heard
that he who listens to fools himself becomes a fool; he who surrounds
himself with children acts like a child. If one wishes to be wise one
must associate with the wise. Associating with fools is like wrapping
a leaf around a rotten fish; the fresh leaf will end up smelling like a
rotten fish. Associating with the wise is like wrapping a leaf around
a fragrant flower; the leaf will smell sweet and pleasant. Guna, the
naked ascetic, is but a fool; an ignorant who misconceived the Truth
and preaches false doctrines. Associating with such fools will only
close the door of heaven for you.”
The king responded, “It was not only the words of Guna that
changed my way of thinking, but Alata, the general, and Bijaka, the
slave, both bore testimony to the truth of Guna’s teaching. Both of
them were able to recall their past existences. In his former existence,
Alata was a cruel man who killed animals all his life and committed
all kinds of sins, yet he was born into prosperity and holds a vital
role in my kingdom. As for Bijaka, in his former life, he did nothing
but good, yet he was born into the womb of a prostitute and lives
in total misery. This proves that there is no such thing as the Law of
Kamma. Alata and Bijaka are the living proof that actions, good or
bad, bear no consequence.”
Ruja explained to her father, “The Law of Kamma is a complex
phenomenon. It is not something that can be easily understood.
Only those with proper knowledge and understanding can fully
grasp the significance of the Law. Every action, good or bad, has an
effect, but the effect of that action may not bear fruit immediately.
Some actions bear fruit in the same lifetime that it is committed;
some in the following lifetime; but some in a distant future lifetime.
Each living being has gone through countless cycles of rebirth.
Unless one has the ability to recall many past rebirths, one may not
fully comprehend the reason of one’s present life condition.”
She continued, “In the case of your prosperous General Alata,
the reason he is doing well in this lifetime in spite of his
misconduct in the former life is because he is reaping the fruit of
merit from good deeds performed by him in other past
lifetimes. But merit can be used up and Alata will find
himself in an unfortunate afterlife if he continues to live
recklessly like he does now. One must always accumulate new
merits to replenish the old merits that have run out.
“As for Bijaka, the slave who ranted to you of his sufferings, it is due
to the retribution from grave misdeeds committed by him in his
distant past, which is now taking effect. The good deeds he
performed in his recent former life did not yet have a chance to bear
fruit. After he has paid for his former sins his misery will end, and
the good he is doing now along with the good he had done in
his recent former life will bring him the reward of heaven.
Unfortunately, both Alata and Bijaka were able to recount only one
former birth. They failed to see what they had done in other past
lifetimes. So, with their limited insight, they jumped to the conclusion
that their actions in the past had no bearing in the present.”
Ruja’s Past Lives
Then Ruja went on to relate her own experience:
“I myself have the ability to recall several of my past lifetimes. Seven
lifetimes ago, I was born as a blacksmith’s son who, by associating
with wicked friends, used to indulge in drinking and corrupting
other men’s wives. As a result, I passed from that life into hell and I
endured the torment in hell for a great length of time. It grieves me
every time I think of it.
After getting out of hell I was born as a donkey. I was castrated
by my owner and put to work as a beast of burden and I suffered
abuse from the owner and his sons throughout my life. This was
the fated consequences of my going after other men’s wives.
After that, I was born in the womb of a monkey in a forest; on
the day of my birth, the leader of the herd violently seized my
testicles with his teeth and bit them off. The pain was so excruciating
that I almost died on the spot. This was the fated consequence
of my going after other men’s wives.
Next, I was born as an ox and was castrated by my owner because
he wanted me only to work and not to be distracted by other cows.
I drew carriages for a long time and endured immense hardships.
This was the fated consequence of my going after other men’s wives.
When I passed from that birth, my karmic retribution had been
reduced and I no longer was born as an animal. I was born as a
male person in the family of a rich man. But my manhood was not
complete; my body was that of a man but my temperament was that
of a woman. I grew up suffering insults and abuse from everyone for
being a half-man half-woman. As such, my life was miserable. This
was the fated consequence of my going after other men’s wives. As
you can see, dear Father, a wrongdoing committed in one lifetime
can bear bad consequences for many lifetimes. I committed
such grave sins because I chose to associate with fools and not with
the wise.
Father, in the lifetime where I was born human I began to do good
deeds and accumulate merits. After that, the fruit of my merit began
to take effect and I was born in the Tavatimsa heaven as a female
celestial being in the court of King Sakka. It was during my celestial
state of being that I was able to recall seven of my past lives and
seven of my future lives.
After passing from Tavatimsa Heaven, I was born as your daughter
here in this lifetime. These sixteen years of my present life are but
one short moment in heaven. A hundred years in the human world
is equal to only one single day in Tavatimsa Heaven. Life in this
world is very short, but life in the afterworld is long. Because of
this, we must take every opportunity we can to accumulate as much
merit while we are still alive in this world. Merit and demerit are the
only things we can take with us after we leave this world.”
She made a plea to her father, “Father, seek out the wise and avoid
the fools. Please do not follow the false doctrines of the misguided
ascetic, one who lacks decency of his own body as well as mind. He
is a fool who will lead you to misfortune. Please listen to what I said,
for it contains the truth.”
The king listened to his daughter patiently, but nothing she said
seemed to have an effect on him. Though the king still loved his
daughter, he was unmoved by her arguments.
Ruja did not give up. She went on to tell her father of the reality
of life:
“Father, the Law of Kamma does exist and is real. All beings are
subject to this Law. All beings have Kamma of their own. They
are heirs to their Kamma. They are born of their Kamma. Kamma
makes them the way they are, fortunate or unfortunate. Every action,
good or bad, produces a result. A person is directly
responsible for his or her own deeds. The consequences of our
deeds can never be avoided. It stays with us and follows us like
shadows, waiting for the right time to take effect.
Father, the fortune or misfortune of a person is the direct result of
the deeds the person has done. Everything that you possess now is
the result of merits from the good deeds you have accumulated in
the past. It is wise that you continue to perform good deeds and
accumulate more merits.”
The king responded, “My daughter, there are no such things as the
Law of Kamma, merit and demerit, heaven and hell. As you can
see for yourself, many evil doers find themselves living a good life
surrounded by wealth and riches, while many virtuous people find
themselves in hardship and misery. If good actions produce good
consequences and bad actions produce negative retributions, why
then are evil doers not punished and good doers rewarded? The
truth is, there is no Law of Kamma. Everything happens on its own.
There is nothing we can do to change it.”
Ruja was disappointed at her father’s stubborn view, but she did not
lose hope. She resolved that by some means or another she would
save her father from the false view and restore him to his former
virtuous self. She realized her rationality alone would not be enough
to change her father’s mind. She thought, by the virtue of her
father’s goodness, there must be some higher power out there that
could come to his rescue. With this thought, she stepped to one side
of the court, knelt down, and with her hands held together above
her head, made reverences in ten directions to the highest deities,
begging them to give some sign which would awaken her father
from his delusions.
Narada, the Great Brahma
In that era the Bodhisatta was born as a Great Brahma named
Narada. From time to time, the Great Brahmas in their compassion
cast their eyes over the world to watch over the righteous.
Narada was looking over the world that day, he saw the princess
praying for her father. He thought to himself, “There is none
other than I who can drive away false doctrines. I must
come and show kindness to the princess and bring happiness
to the king and his people. I shall go to the king in some
unusual garb, so that at first my appearance and then my words
will arrest his attention. King Angati values ascetics. I will dress
like the most striking one of them and when he sees me, he will
listen well.”
So he assumed a pleasing human form with the complexion of gold
and put on the garb of a yogi in a red-mottled garment with a
black antelope skin over one shoulder. He carried a golden pole
on his shoulders from which hung two golden begging bowls
suspended by strings of pearls. His hair was matted as is the
custom of ascetics, but with a golden needle tucked inside. Then
he sped through the sky and stood suspended in the air before the
king and his court.
Ruja, who had returned to the king’s side, saw the yogi appearing
in this miraculous way and perceived right away that this was the
Brahma. She was overjoyed knowing that her prayers had come true.
She bowed down to pay reverence to the yogi. But the king, alarmed
by this miraculous presence, came down from his throne and cried,
“Who are you? Why do you come to my court in this fashion? What
gives you the power to do miracles and to fly?”
Narada answered: “They know me as Narada. I am the Great
Brahma from the Brahma heavens. I come here for your benefit, to
open your eyes, to deliver you from false doctrines and to enlighten
you with the Truth. Loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic-joy
and equanimity are my virtues. I followed these virtues
diligently while I was a human and I practiced truthfulness,
morality, self-control, and generosity. These virtues enabled
me to become a Brahma, the highest celestial being. I have the
power to go wherever I want and to be as swift as my thought.”
The king remarked, “You claimed that the virtue of good deeds
gives you this power. Tell me, are there really heaven and hell?”
Narada answered: “There are indeed heaven and hell. But
men blinded by greed, hatred and delusion, fail to see them. Just
like a blind man who cannot see the sun and says there is no sun,
a man blinded by defilements cannot see life after death and he
says there is no heaven, there is no hell, and there is no afterlife.”
The king laughed when he heard this. He spoke sarcastically, “If you
really believe there are heaven and hell, then lend me five
hundred pieces of money and I will give you a thousand in the
next world.”
Narada warned him: “If you were a virtuous man, I would
gladly lend you the money, for it is not hard to collect a debt
from a man in heaven. But men like you, denying the precepts
and following false doctrines, are bound for hell. If you know how
bad hell is, you will see that no one would dare will see that no
one would dare collect a debt from a man in such a place. There is
not just one hell, but a thousand hells. Animals of all sizes will chew
on your skin and bite at your bones. Flocks of ravens, crows, and
vultures will prey upon you. Dogs with iron teeth will tear at
your insides. Hot winds, razor-edged mountains, burning coals,
and sword-leafed trees will torture you.”
Then the Bodhisatta went on to elaborate the details of each hell,
the misdeeds that a person had done that made him or her
belong there, and the horrific punishments that each hell
imposed upon the sinners. He then exhibited the hells and
punishments that King Angati himself would have to go through
and endure if he did not give up his bad practice. Imagining
himself going through these hells and suffering indescribable
agonies, the king trembled with fear. Finally, he came around
and asked the Bodhisatta for forgiveness and advice.
“I am tormented with terror, trembling like a fallen tree. I am
confused in my mind, knowing not which way to turn. You are
my lamp in the darkness and my refuge. O Sage, teach me the
sacred text and its meaning; teach me the path of purity so that I
may not fall into hell.”
Narada, the Bodhisatta, gave him the following advice:
“Follow the good examples of your ancestors. Be generous, be moral
and be wise. Observe moral precepts. Avoid killing, stealing, sexual
misconduct, lying and intoxication. Be righteous. Provide for the
poor, the hungry, the aged, and the monastics.
Cultivate your mind. Let a wholesome mind guide your thoughts,
your actions and your speech. Be humble, be gentle, and have self
restraint. Stay away from fools. Associate with the wise.
Do these, and heaven will be yours.”
Then he added: “Your daughter Ruja is wise and virtuous. She is
your most true and virtuous friend. You should listen to her and
clean your mind of false doctrines. It is dangerous to associate
with fools, for associating with fools turns you into a fool.”
King Angati thanked the Bodhisatta gratefully and vowed to follow
his advice. The king and Ruja knelt down to pay homage to the
Bodhisatta before he departed back to the Brahma World in a flash
of light.
From then on, King Angati ruled his kingdom dutifully and righteously
as he had done before. He resumed his almsgiving and
practice of moral precepts. Ruja was very happy with her father and
the population of Vedeha regained their good king. After death,
King Angati was reborn in a celestial realm.
09 Vidhura Jataka PERFECTING THE VIRTUE OF TRUTHFULNESS
Vidhura Jataka is the story of the Bodhisatta who valued truthfulness above his own
life. Truthfulness is synonymous with honesty, integrity, sincerity, forthrightness,
straightforwardness, trustworthiness and reliability. It is one of the ten virtues that
must be perfected before an aspirant can become a Buddha.
This Jataka contains valuable insight to help a person to become a good householder,
live a righteous life, and be successful in one’s career.
Although the teachings in this Jataka are more than two thousand five hundred
years old, the principles are still practical and applicable in modern times. It is said
that a sound principle should be able to stand the test of time. The teachings in this
Jataka certainly do fall in this category.
Rebirths of Four Young Men
Once there were four wealthy Brahmins in the city of Benares.
These Brahmins had been friends since they were young. As old age
came upon them, they began to realize that nothing was permanent
and whatever wealth they possessed would no longer be theirs after
they passed away. With this realization they decided to give all their
wealth to their sons and went into the forest of Himavanta to spend
their old age in peace and tranquility. They adopted the holy life of
yogis and sustained themselves with fruits and the roots of plants
from the forest. As time went on, all of them achieved high meditative
attainments and perfected their faculties.
One day, the four yogis felt an urge to eat some flavorful dishes that
they had not had in a very long time. So they went to the city of
Kalacampa, in the kingdom of Anga, for alms-receiving.
In the city of Kalacampa there dwelled four rich young men who
had been good friends since childhood. When they saw the yogis,
they were struck by their sense of calm. The young men invited the
yogis to their respective homes and fed them their best food. The
presence of the yogis made the young men feel fulfilled spiritually.
After having spent some time in the young men’s gardens, the yogis
thought of diverting themselves to otherworldly realms to continue
their meditations. One yogi chose to visit the Tavatimsa Heaven,
another the realm of the nagas, another the realm of the garudas,
and another the city of Indapatta in the kingdom of Kuru. By means
of their supernatural powers, each yogi traversed to each different
realm they had chosen. They witnessed the incredible beauty
and glamour of these realms and upon their return, they told the
four young men of their amazing journeys and the magnificent
wealth of the realms they had visited.
The first yogi spoke of the magnificently beautiful celestial realm
of Tavatimsa and the glorious palace of Sakka, its ruler. The
second spoke of the undersea kingdom of the nagas gleaming with
all kinds of precious jewels and treasures. The third spoke of the
fantastic wealth and beauty of the kingdom of the powerful garudas.
The fourth described the beautiful, rich city of Indapatta where its
human king possessed every kind of material wealth that existed.
The accounts of the yogis’ fascinating journeys captivated the four
young men’s imagination and greatly inspired them to wish to go
there. They realized that, only through the power of merit generated
through acts of good deeds, could they have a chance for their wishes
to be fulfilled. Hence, they dedicated themselves to practicing moral
precepts and giving alms. Every time they performed good deeds,
they made resolute wishes to be reborn as a ruler in each of the
realms that they have chosen.
On the account of their great merits and the resolutions that they
had made, at the end of their lives, each man was reborn in his
desired realm. One was born as Sakka, ruler of Tavatimsa Heaven;
another as Varuna, king of the nagas; another as Supanna, king
of the garudas; and another as Dhananjaya, king of Indapatta in
the kingdom of Kuru. As for the four yogis, the virtues from their
renunciations and the mental cultivation that they had developed
had led them to be reborn in the Brahma world.
Dhananjaya was a king of good moral character. He ruled his kingdom
righteously and was loved by all his subjects. The king was
fortunate, for he had a wise and trustworthy sage who advised him
in all matters temporal and spiritual. The name of this sage was
Vidhura-pandita23. Vidhura was no ordinary man of wisdom, for he was a Bodhisatta. Among his many good virtues, he was dedicated
to speaking the truth and did so in such a way that men would
become spellbound by his voice and his words. Vidhura’s wisdom
and eloquence charmed all the kings of Jambudvipa, who came
from all directions to listen to his teachings and moral
discourses. They were enthralled by his voice and his wisdom that
they wanted to remain in Indapatta and did not want to return to
their kingdoms. King Dhananjaya treasured Vidhura so much
that he had him protected day and night so that other kings could
not steal him away.
Whose Virtue is Most Superior?
On one holy day, King Dhananjaya went to his royal park to seek a
quiet place to observe the holy precepts and calm his mind through
meditation. At that same moment, Sakka, king of Tavatimsa;
Varuna, king of the nagas; and Supanna, king of the garudas, all
left their respective realms to seek a peaceful place in the world of
men in order to meditate and observe moral precepts. Although
they did not know it, they all chose to go to the royal park of King
Dhananjaya, their old friend from their previous existence, and they
found a peaceful spot there to meditate. As evening came, they rose
from their places and came to stand on the bank of the royal lake,
where they discovered one another. Pleasantly surprised and filled
with their old kindly affection, they rekindled their former friendships
and greeted each other with great joy.
King Sakka said to the other three, “All four of us have come here
to observe the holy precepts, but have you wondered whose moral
conduct is the most exemplary?”
Varuna, the naga king, spoke first, “I believe my moral conduct is
the most exemplary because I am able to hold no hatred or enmity
against my enemy. This Supanna, king of the garudas, is the arch
enemy of the nagas, yet even when I see him, such a destructive
enemy of our race, I never feel any anger.” Then he went on to say,
“The good man who feels no anger towards one who deserves it,
and who never lets anger arise within him or allows it to be seen,
his moral conduct is indeed exemplary. Because of this, my virtue
is superior.”
Supanna, the garuda king, spoke next, “This naga, Varuna, is my
principle food. But even though I see such delectable food at hand,
I endure my appetite and do not commit evil for the sake of food.
My ability to bear my hunger and commit no evil for the sake of
food earns me an exemplary moral conduct. Because of this, my
virtue is superior.”
Sakka expressed himself next, “In my kingdom of Tavatimsa, I am
surrounded by incomparably beautiful celestial beings and all kinds
of heavenly pleasure; yet, I have left them behind and came to the
world of mankind to observe the holy precepts. Because of this, my
virtue is superior.”
King Dhananjaya then said, “I have torn myself away from my
worldly possessions and sensual pleasures in order to observe the
holy precepts alone in this park. I have come to realize that material
wealth is the cause of worry and unhappiness. I left it all for the
sake of solitude. He who is self-restrained, resolute, unselfish, and
free from desire, is indeed exemplary in moral conduct. His virtue
is superior.”
Thus they each declared their own virtue as superior and could not
come to any accord. Then the three celestial kings asked Dhananjaya,
“Good fellow, in your esteemed kingdom, is there a wise and
just sage who can resolve this doubt for us?”
“Indeed there is such a sage here,” King Dhananjaya answered
proudly. “His name is Vidhura-pandita. He fills a post of unequalled
responsibility in my kingdom and declares civil and moral law. He
is well respected by all the kings in the entire continent of Jambudvipa.
He is one who can solve our doubt.”
“Well then, let’s go to see this sage,” said the other three.
The Incomparable Sage
So they left the park and went to the Hall of Truth in King Dhananjaya’s
court, a meeting place where secular and spiritual matters
were discussed. They invited Vidhura to sit on a high seat, and
after exchanging words of greeting, the four kings presented
the Bodhisatta with this query: “Honorable Sage, the four of us
had a discussion about moral conduct and debated among us as to
whose conduct was the most exemplary. We would like you to
help clear our doubts.”
The sage asked them to give him the detail of their discussion and
their debates. After hearing them, he said:
“All of your viewpoints are well-founded. These sayings are
well spoken.
Restraining one’s anger, abstention from killing, abstention from
sensual pleasures, and renouncing the world in favor of spiritual
development, all are equally worthy.
Each virtue is as important as the next. They are like the spokes
of the hub. He who is endowed with all the four virtues is
indeed noble.”
Well pleased with what they heard, the four kings remarked, “You
are wise indeed. Your wisdom is incomparable. You cut away our
doubts as smoothly as a skilled craftsman cut away the ivory with
his saw.”
Each of the kings rewarded the sage to show their appreciation.
Sakka gave him a robe of heavenly silk, the garuda king with a garland
of gold, the naga king with the precious jewel that he wore on
his neck, and King Dhananjaya with a thousand cows, a noble bull,
and tributes from sixteen villages.
Then Sakka and the rest, after having paid due honor to the sage,
departed to their own kingdoms.
Get Me Vidhura’s Heart
Varuna, the naga king returned to his undersea kingdom. His
naga queen, Vimala, noticed the precious jewel missing from
his neck and asked him what happened to it. Varuna replied, “I
was pleased at hearing the enlightening discourse of Vidhurapandita,
the sage of Indapatta, so I presented the jewel to him as
token of my appreciation. Not only was I the only one who did
this, King Sakka, King Supanna, and King Dhananjaya all did the
same.”
“He is, I suppose, eloquent in the law,” said Queen Vimala.
“Lady, that is an understatement. It is as if a Buddha had appeared
in Jambudvipa! A hundred and one kings in Jambudvipa who
heard him speak were all captivated by his enchanting voice and his
brilliance and they did not want to return to their own kingdoms.
They remain like wild elephants mesmerized by the sound of a
celestial lute.”
When Queen Vimala heard the alluring description of Vidhura’s
preeminence she longed to hear his voice. As a female, it would have
been unbecoming for her to ask her husband to bring Vidhura to
her. She thought up an idea: “I will pretend to be ill and complain
of a sick woman’s longing.” With that idea, she lay in bed and told
her attendants to tend to her as if she was gravely ill. When Varuna
failed to see her for days, he asked the attendants where the queen
was. They told him that she was sick and bed-stricken. With great
concern, he went to see her and asked her, “Dear wife, what made
you ill? Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”
Answered the queen, “My lord, in the human realm, it’s normal
for an expectant mother to crave a certain food. I too am suffering
from a certain craving.”
“What is it that you crave? I will bring it to you,” said Varuna.
“My lord, I wish to have a taste of Vidhura’s heart. Please fetch it
for me and please make sure that the sage is not bruised in any way.
As soon as I can have a taste of his heart, I will be able to recover
quite quickly. Otherwise, I’m afraid I won’t be able to be with you
much longer.”
Queen Vimala’s request startled Varuna. He misinterpreted her request
thinking that she wanted the flesh of Vidhura’s heart although
that was not what she meant. He said to her in a dejected manner,
“My love, your craving for Vidhura’s heart is like the craving for the
sun or the moon. It is not possible to fulfill. Vidhura is
cherished by all the kings of Jambudvipa and he is well guarded.
There is no way to get close to him. It will not be possible to
bring him here.”
Queen Vimala said disappointedly, “Since my craving cannot
be satisfied, I might as well say my farewell to you now.” She
pretended to become sicker and turned her back to him. She
pulled the cover over her face and lay very still. Although Varuna
wished to save the life of his queen, he was distraught at the
thought of causing harm to the noble sage. Who would have the
mind and heart to carry out such a low deed? His face became old
and withered.
The next morning, Princess Irandati, Varuna’s beautiful daughter,
went to pay respect to her father in his bed chamber. She noticed
her father was looking sad and pale.
She asked him, “What is troubling you, father? You look so worried
and pale, like a lotus mauled by a human hand.”
To which he answered, “It is your mother, my child. She has suddenly
fallen ill and her condition is quickly deteriorating. She
craves for Vidhura’s heart and would die unless her craving is
satisfied. There is no one in my court who can bring Vidhura
here. There is no way to save her.”
Then he said, “My daughter, there is one hope, if you are willing to
do one thing to save your mother’s life. Go outside the naga realm
and look for a husband, someone with a supernatural power who
could wrest the heart from Vidhura.”
It was not characteristic of Varuna, who was righteous by
nature, to be making such an unethical request of his daughter,
but the concern for his wife’s life had clouded his sense of decency.
Princess Irandati, being an obedient child, obeyed her father’s
request without questioning. She adorned herself with a sumptuous
dress and went forth in the night to Mount Kalagiri near
Himavanta, a place where deities and supernatural beings dwelled,
and looked for a husband. She gathered fragrant flowers of all colors
and made a bed with the most beautiful ones. Then she began a seductive dance and sang a song with an inviting tone: “What deity
or human, what demon or sage, what naga or yakkha, that is able
to make all wishes come true, will marry me this very night?” Her
passionate voice echoed throughout the atmosphere and was heard
by all the divine beings.
Punnaka the Yakkha
At that time there was a high-ranking yakkha, named
Punnaka, riding on his magic horse over the red arsenic
surface of the Black Mountain to a gathering of the yakkhas,
and he heard Irandati’s love call. Irandati’s voice pierced his skin
and nerves and penetrated his every bone; he fell in love with
her immediately. Irandati’s love call had such a strong and
immediate impact on Punnaka because, in several of his
previous lifetimes, he and Irandati used to be husband and
wife. Their love relationship in the past was a powerful
force that pulled Punnaka to her. Punnaka stopped short,
listened to her voice, and changed his direction towards her
immediately. When the two met, they were completely
enamored with each other and fell in love, and they agreed to
become husband and wife. But, for them to join in
matrimony, Irandati told the yakkha that she had to gain her
father’s permission. So, together, they rode to her father’s palace
to ask for his blessing. When King Varuna saw Punnaka he
approved of him, but declared that he would only give his
daughter to him on one condition, that Punnaka first obtain the
flesh of the heart of Vidhura and bring it to his queen.
Pleased at the chance to prove his extraordinary powers,
Punnaka readily accepted the challenge. He ordered his servant
to bring his horse and decorated it with gold and jewels from ear
to hoof. He trimmed his hair and beard, dressed in his most
extravagant attire, and rode off into the sky to Indapatta where
Vidhura dwelled.
As he went through the air he pondered, “Vidhura is well protected;
he cannot be taken by force. I must come up with a clever way to
capture him. King Dhananjaya is renowned for his skill in dice and
loves to gamble. I will challenge him in a game of dice and win the game using my supernatural powers. But the king will surely not
play for any common bet; I will have to bring something of great
value to entice him. Now, there is one legendary gem belonging to
the Universal Monarch24 known for its magical power. This gem is
located on the Vepulla Mountain and is guarded by yakkhas of lesser
ranks. I will wrestle it from these yakkhas and use it to entice the
king to a game.”
So Punnaka went to Mount Vepulla searching for the legendary
gem. Through his supernatural vision, he saw a mysterious light
radiating through a crevice on top of the mountain. He went to it,
but was stopped by a group of young yakkhas who were guarding
the gem. Punnaka overpowered these young yakkhas and caused
them to flee. He seized the gem, then mounted his noble steed and
rushed through the sky to Indapatta.
Play Me a Game of Dice
Punnaka, disguised as a young man, entered the gate of King
Dhananjaya’s court. There, he was stopped by the guards who asked
him to explain the purpose of his visit. He told them he had
heard of King Dhananjaya’s reputation with his skills in dice
and had travelled a long way to challenge the king to play a
game of dice with him. The guards informed the king of this
young man who dared to challenge him. The king was curious
and went out to meet Punnaka.
Punnaka saluted the king and said, “Mighty king, your
reputation for mastery of dice is known throughout the land and
no one in the whole of Jambudvipa has been able to beat you.
Accept a game of dice with me. If you win, this wondrous horse
of mine and this magic gem will be yours.”
The king said, “For what good reason do you think I should be
interested in this ordinary-looking horse and this ordinary-looking
gem of yours?”
“O, King, this is no ordinary horse and this is no ordinary gem,”
said Punnaka. “They are the most wondrous possessions in the
world. Let me exhibit to you their extraordinary features.”
Punnaka proceeded to demonstrate the supernatural power of
his horse. It walked on water without getting its hooves wet,
trotted on lotus leaves without damaging the leaves, flew through
the air, stood on the palm of his hand, and other incredible feats.
Then he commanded the magic gem to perform miracles,
showing inside it images of the various realms of heavens, nagas,
garudas, and their respective cities and treasures. Then he commanded it to create vari-ous living creatures, the sun, the
moon, and the constellations. He told the king that the gem had
the power to attract wealth and other auspicious things to its
owner.
The king was so dazzled by Punnaka’s magic possessions that he
enthusiastically accepted the game. He thought to himself, “I
am the best dice player in all of Jambudvipa. I have yet to lose
to anyone and I will not lose today.” He said to the young
Punnaka, “I will take your bet. If I win I will own your magic
horse and your magic gem.”
“What if you lose?” asked Punnaka.
“If I lose, you can take everything I own except myself, my queen
and my throne,” the king replied.
Punnaka accepted the bet. The king gave orders to his ministers
to get the hall ready for the match. A platform was set up in
the middle of the hall and a game table and two well-appointed
chairs were placed upon it. Seats surrounded them prepared for
the hundred and one kings and senior courtiers. Then the king
entered the hall with Punnaka followed by the hundred and one
kings and the courtiers. After everyone had been seated, the
official placed the golden dice on the silver board and signaled for
the game to begin. Punnaka asked the hundred and one kings to
witness the outcome of the game and hold the players to it.
The king and the others agreed to the arrangement.
King Dhananjaya had a guardian angel, who used to be his mother
in a previous existence. This angel watched over the king and made
sure that he always won in his dice games. This was the reason why
the king had never lost.
Punnaka let the king be the first to throw the dice. For the first two
throws the king sensed that the dice was not going to fall in
his favor and he caught them in mid air before they touched the
board. Punnaka noticed something strange was happening that
the king was able to foretell the outcome of the dice. So he
looked around the hall with his supernatural eyes and he saw a
female angel floating behind the king watching over his game. He
made a threatening gaze at her and scared her away.
With the guardian angel gone, the king could no longer control his
luck. On the third throw, his dice fell against him. Punnaka, on the
other hand, was a high-ranking yakkha who possessed supernatural
powers. He used his powers to control the dice in his favor and
made the king lose his game. After the game was over, Punnaka
declared, “I won, I won, I won!”
The king was agitated at his loss but had to accept his defeat in front
of the hundred and one kings who witnessed it. He said to Punnaka
in an unhappy tone of voice, “Take my elephants, horses, oxen, and
my jewels as your prize and leave.”
“Elephants, horses, oxen and jewels?” Punnaka smiled cunningly,
“These are not what I am after. There is one prize which is the best
of them all. This prize is your good sage, Vidhura-pandita. I have won this prize. Give him to me.”
The king replied: “This is not possible. Vidhura is a part of me. He
is my life, my shadow and my refuge, and as such he is myself. As
I said from the beginning, if I lose you can take everything I own
except myself, my queen and my throne. Vidhura is a part of me;
not a part of my possessions. You cannot have him.”
Punnaka said to the king, “I see that we are having a difference of
opinion, and I do not see that we can come to this accord easily.
Instead of engaging in a dispute between us which could be lengthy,
let us go to Vidhura-pandita and ask him to decide this matter
for us.” The king went along with Punnaka thinking that the sage
would take his side instead of the stranger’s. They left the game hall
and went to the Hall of Truth, followed by the hundred and one
kings and the courtiers. The king sent for Vidhura and invited him
to sit on a high seat.
After having paid due respect to Vidhura, Punnaka said to him,
“Dear Sage, you are a just man, one who values truthfulness above
your own life. This fact is known throughout the land. I will find
out today whether this fact is true or not. The king and I have a
different opinion about whether he has the right to give you away
as a gambling debt. I ask you to clarify to me are you in a position
superior to the king or are you his equal; are you his kinsman or are
you his slave, his possession?”
Vidhura knew he could avoid being taken by Punnaka if he told
Punnaka that he was not the king’s slave or possession and so the king would have no right to give him away as a gambling debt. But
the Bodhisatta chose to be truthful. He said to Punnaka, “There are
four types of slaves in this world. The first is a slave by birth, because
he has slaves as parents; the second is a slave by trade, because he
is sold into slavery; the third is a slave by his own free will; and the
fourth is a slave by being a prisoner of war. I myself am a slave
by birth to the king and thus I am his possession.”
Punnaka said, “If you are the king’s possession, then the king has the
right to give you away as a gambling debt.”
Vidhura replied, “I am a possession of the king; if the king wishes to
give me away as a gambling debt he has the right to do so.”
Punnaka was overjoyed when he heard this. He declared, “Honorable
Sage, your truthfulness is indeed as it is reputed. I have won
you as my prize, witnessed by all the hundred and one kings. You
now belong to me and I will take you with me as my possession.”
The king was gravely annoyed that Vidhura did not take his side
and save himself from being taken by Punnaka. In frustration, he
turned to Punnaka and said to him, “If he thinks he is my slave, not
my kinsman, then take him and go.”
Dhamma for Householders
The king had deeply regretted losing Vidhura. Realizing that he
might never see the Bodhisatta again, the king asked him to give one
final discourse to his assembly before he left.
He said to Vidhura: “Dear Sage, we may never see each other again.
After you are gone I will have no one to give me proper wisdom
and insight, to tell me the higher knowledge, and to show me the
way to a happy afterlife. Before you leave, I ask that you enlighten
me and my assembly with the knowledge of the right conduct for
a householder. Tell me what good conduct a householder has to
perform that will give him safety in this world and the next; how he
should help others and not cause suffering to others; how he should
speak only the truth; and what he has to do so that he would not fall
into an unfortunate state after he leaves this world.”
With penetrating wisdom the Bodhisatta knew the answers right
away. He began his discourse as follows:
“O King, there are twenty ways in which a householder should
conduct himself in order to gain a prosperous life, to be loved among
his own people, and to be free from suffering in this world and
the next.
A good householder should not commit adultery.
He should share a good meal with others.
He should not engage in quarrels and arguments.
He should observe the Five Precepts by not killing, not stealing, not
committing sexual misconduct, not lying and not engaging in any
form of intoxication.
He should respect good tradition and the law, abstain from unwholesome
deeds, carry out his duties wisely and efficiently, and be
humble, kind, and generous.
He should practice patience and forbearance, speak only the truth,
use endearing words, and not be rude to anyone.
He should be a virtuous friend to others by helping and
supporting others, and he should give alms regularly.
He should be wise in planning and managing his affairs,
support monastics and monks, and preserve and practice good
traditions.
He should accumulate knowledge through learning and listening,
seek guidance from monks and teachers who are righteous, and he
should associate with the wise and the virtuous.
These are practices that bring success and prosperity to a
householder. They protect him from harm in this life and the next.”
Having thus expounded the Dhamma for Householders, the
Bodhisatta came down from his seat and made his salutation to the
king. King Dhananjaya and the other hundred and one kings paid
him their final respects and bade him farewell.
Discourse on Good Conduct for State Officials
Punnaka urged the Bodhisatta to leave with him right away for fear
that King Dhananjaya might change his mind and prevent them
from going, but the Bodhisatta asked that he be given three days to
relinquish his personal affairs and to give his final teachings to his
children. Punnaka consented.
Vidhura invited Punnaka to stay at his home during these three
days. Punnaka accepted his invitation. He was very well taken care
of. He was given the best accommodation, the best food and drink,
the best entertainment, and the best services from a host of Vidhura’s
servants who catered to his every need.
The Bodhisatta gathered his wife, children and attendants and bade
farewell to them. He embraced his wife and children, and with tears
in his eyes, said this to them:
“My dearest, let me embrace you for the last time, for I may never
see you again. I have been given by the king to this young man,
Punnaka, who will take me away. I only have three days to remain
with you. Come, dear ones, sit down and listen to me. I want to
share with you knowledge and wisdom that will help you be successful
in life, both for your careers and for getting along in life.
Dear children, one day you may choose to enter the services of the
king and perform duties for your country. Listen well, and pay good
attention. It is a good way of practice that was observed by appointees
of the king since the olden days. Following this practice will
ensure a bright and prosperous career for you.”
Then the Bodhisatta began a lesson, which became known as the
Discourse of Good Conduct for State Officials:
“A state official should be recognized and promoted only after he
has done something useful for the state.
He should not be so brash as to have no concern for the consequences
of his actions; neither should he be so cowardly that he
submits himself to injustice and partiality as a result of fear and in
an attempt to save his own skin.
He should safeguard his king from danger; keep his secrets, not to
betray his confidence, and to check his own egotism should the king
neglect or slight him in any way.
He should perform every task to the best of his talent and abilities,
with consistency, reliability and fairness, and serve his king with
intelligence and bravery.
He should be watchful of his behavior, not to walk on the
path prepared for the king and not to do anything that would
offend the king.
He should not put himself on an equal status with the king, seat
on the same level as the king, adorn himself with garments and
ornaments or use things of equal quality or status as the king’s. He
should not abuse his privileges thinking that he is the king’s favorite,
and should not talk in the same tone or act in the same way as the
king, and not to mimic him.
In attending to the king, he should not position himself too close or
too far from the king; he should not show intimacy with the king’s
consorts or be playful with them in private, or act pompously in the
presence of the king.
He should not be extravagant or greedy, indulge in too much sleep
or too much eating, over-engage in sexual activities, be intoxicated,
or let his conduct become blemished in any way.
He should be gentle and polite, friendly and truthful, not be
arrogant, not speak falsely or offensively in the presence of royalties,
not be contrary to the king or displease him, or irritate him with
his words; and he should be wise in knowing the temperament of
the king.
He should not mistake the king for his friend, be carried away with
the king’s praises, or voice an opinion quickly or pose an objection
when the king grants favors or rewards to his relatives or employees.
He should be useful and loyal, diligent and conscientious in his
work and duties, exercise morality and self-restraint, not pilfer or
steal from the treasury, kill or harm animals in protected areas, or
cause work to be disrupted.
He should speak only the truth, speak with kindness, not be divisive
in his speech, not engage in useless chatter, not be too talkative or
too quiet, or be quick to anger.
He should be well learned in the arts, experienced in business,
Punnaka urged the Bodhisatta to leave with him right away for fear
that King Dhananjaya might change his mind and prevent them
from going, but the Bodhisatta asked that he be given three days to
relinquish his personal affairs and to give his final teachings to his
children. Punnaka consented.
Vidhura invited Punnaka to stay at his home during these three
days. Punnaka accepted his invitation. He was very well taken care
of. He was given the best accommodation, the best food and drink,
the best entertainment, and the best services from a host of Vidhura’s
servants who catered to his every need.
The Bodhisatta gathered his wife, children and attendants and bade
farewell to them. He embraced his wife and children, and with tears
in his eyes, said this to them:
“My dearest, let me embrace you for the last time, for I may never
see you again. I have been given by the king to this young man,
Punnaka, who will take me away. I only have three days to remain
with you. Come, dear ones, sit down and listen to me. I want to
share with you knowledge and wisdom that will help you be successful
in life, both for your careers and for getting along in life.
Dear children, one day you may choose to enter the services of the
king and perform duties for your country. Listen well, and pay good
attention. It is a good way of practice that was observed by appointees
of the king since the olden days. Following this practice will
ensure a bright and prosperous career for you.”
Then the Bodhisatta began a lesson, which became known as the
Discourse of Good Conduct for State Officials:
“A state official should be recognized and promoted only after he
has done something useful for the state.
He should not be so brash as to have no concern for the consequences
of his actions; neither should he be so cowardly that he
submits himself to injustice and partiality as a result of fear and in
an attempt to save his own skin.
He should safeguard his king from danger; keep his secrets, not to
betray his confidence, and to check his own egotism should the king
neglect or slight him in any way.
He should perform every task to the best of his talent and abilities,
with consistency, reliability and fairness, and serve his king with
intelligence and bravery.
He should be watchful of his behavior, not to walk on the
path prepared for the king and not to do anything that would
offend the king.
He should not put himself on an equal status with the king, seat
on the same level as the king, adorn himself with garments and
ornaments or use things of equal quality or status as the king’s. He
should not abuse his privileges thinking that he is the king’s favorite,
and should not talk in the same tone or act in the same way as the
king, and not to mimic him.
Discourse on Good Conduct for State Officials
trained in aristocratic manners, be well-mannered, value cleanliness,
and be able to get along with others.
He should be prudent and brave, and keep up with good traditions.
He should be steadfast in doing good deeds, care for his parents,
associate with monastics and monks, respect them, support and take
care of them, study and get advice from them, learn from them
insight on merit, demerit, benefits and harm, and practice their
advice. He should be respectful to elders and seniors, give alms, be
helpful to those who come to seek help, and not to deprive them of
their well-earned gifts.
He should watch out for the assets, treasury and interests of the
king, and make sure that his resources do not run short.
He will not appoint anyone who is short on morals, or practice
nepotism, or hire relatives who are not qualified to do the job, for
they are the dead weight that will pull him down.
He should keep away from spies and serve no other kings.
The wise man will keep his belly lithe like the bow, but will bend
easily like the bamboo.
One who wishes to be prosperous in the king’s service should
revere the king, for the king provides him with a good livelihood
like clouds that give rains to the fields.
Following this practice will gain you favor and respect from the king
and the esteem of everyone around you.”
In closing, the Bodhisatta said to his family:
“Take care of yourselves and practice what I have taught you and
you will not meet with difficulty in life.
Do not despair. What is happening to me is due to my own bad
kamma. It is the retribution from my past misdeed which is now
taking effect. But I am sure, all the good deeds I have earnestly
accumulated shall one day bear fruit, and I shall become victorious.
Be strong, be courageous, and be hopeful. Most important of
all, be truthful, for truthfulness is the virtue that will protect you
from harm.”
Farewell My Sage
The next morning, he went to the king and bade his final farewell.
“Your Majesty, I am here to bid you farewell. I ask that Your Majesty
continues to be kind to my loved ones. Please protect them and
their properties. I realize that I have done you wrong by not
taking your side and I deserve to be punished. I ask that my loved
ones do not have to suffer the consequences of my action.”
The king listened to the sage in silence, then he said, “Vidhura,
I have no desire to see you leave. I shall have the young man cut into
pieces and bury him in a secret place. No one will know about it.
This way, you will not have to go with him.”
When the Bodhisatta heard this he said to the king, “O King,
such an intention is unwholesome and not worthy of Your
Majesty. Unwholesome deeds will lead you to the unfortunate realm.
Please maintain your righteousness and do not compromise your
integrity.”
The king said, “My dear sage, please do not worry; I will
look after your family as I have done in the past. I wish you all
the best and I hope that one day we will be with each other again.
Farewell, my sage.”
After Vidhura had finished tending to his affairs, he went to
Punnaka and told him he was ready to go. Punnaka looked upon
his victim and declared, “You are about to cross from life to death.
A long journey awaits you. Take hold of the tail of my magic steed.
You shall not see the world of men again.”
The Bodhisatta answered resolutely, “I fear nothing and no one,
for I have no ill-will toward anyone and I have harmed no one. My
virtues will protect me from harm.”
Then he made a resolute wish, “Let my virtues and the good deeds
I have accumulated throughout my life protect me from all dangers.”
After having made his resolution, he tightened his robe around him
and gripped the tail of the horse.
No Harm Comes to One Who is Virtuous
Punnaka galloped his magic steed across the sky to the Black Mountain
while Vidhura hung on to its tail. When the king and the people
of Indapatta saw Punnaka and his horse take off into the sky with
Vidhura, they reckoned that the young stranger must not have been
a human but a yakkha in disguise that came to capture the sage and
take him away from them. They were angry and grieved at losing
the Bodhisatta. The king comforted them and assured them that the
virtue of goodness of the sage will protect him from harm and will
return him to them in due time.
Punnaka thought, “There is no good reason why I should keep this
Vidhura alive and let him be my burden. I will kill him and take his
heart’s flesh, then I will go to the naga world and give it to the queen
and marry her daughter.”
So Punnaka decided to kill the sage. As his horse traversed in great
speed, he tried to crash Vidhura’s body into some big trees hoping
to kill him. But every time Vidhura’s body got close to the trees,
the branches would bend or part in time for the Bodhisatta to pass.
Then Punnaka tried to crash him against the rocks on the side of
the mountain, but the rocks would fall away before they could harm
Vidhura. Each time Punnaka turned back to look at the Bodhisatta
and noticed that he was still alive, he came up with different ways to
kill him. But no matter what methods Punnaka used, the
Bodhisatta could not be killed. People who have practiced the
Perfections to a high degree like the Bodhisatta are protected by
divine forces. For this reason Vidhura was shielded from physical
danger.
Punnaka did not give up. He tried to frighten Vidhura to death
by turning himself into demons and other fearful creatures which
would have made the most courageous of men die of fear. Yet all
of these terrifying forms failed to ruffle the calm of the Bodhisatta.
Punnaka realized that he could no longer resort to those
means to kill his captive and would have to use his own hand.
With the gigantic body of his yakkha form, he seized the sage
violently and whirled him around, dangling him upside down to
the earth and tried to beat him to death.
Still the Bodhisatta was unscathed. He calmly addressed his executioner.
“Young Punnaka, you assumed the noble form of a gentle
young man, but your true nature is depraved. You are doing a cruel
and monstrous deed. Who are you? What is your reason for trying
so hard to kill me?”
Punnaka answered, “I am a high-ranking yakkha named Punnaka,
nephew of the yakkha ruler. I am charged with the duty of taking
your heart to a naga queen, wife of mighty Varuna, ruler of
the naga kingdom. His queen, Vimala, is dying and desires your
heart to save her from death. King Varuna offers his daughter,
Princess Irandati, to be my wife if I can bring your heart to his
queen. I have set my mind on marrying his daughter and I must
kill you to get your heart so I can win the hand of my beloved
Irandati.”
The Bodhisatta reflected and through his penetrative insight he
immediately perceived that everyone concerned here had
misinterpreted the naga queen’s request for his heart. She had not
meant his physical heart, but it was the heart of his wisdom that
she desired, for the heart of a sage was his wisdom.
Virtues of the Righteous
“What use will my insights be if I were to be killed by Punnaka?”
thought the Bodhisatta. “I must persuade him from killing me.”
Vidhura said to Punnaka, “My dear Punnaka, before you kill me,
I wish to present you with a Dhamma discourse that has not been
heard by anyone, men or deities. I will present it to you in its
entirety. After you have heard this discourse you can go ahead and
complete your task of killing me.”
Punnaka thought, “Vidhura is a renowned sage, revered by all
of Jambudvipa for his knowledge and wisdom of the truth of
nature and the world. It would be a good benefit for me to hear his
discourse.”
Punnaka might have appeared ferocious, but this was not his true
nature. He was a yakkha of high standing and, as such, has been
exposed to a degree of righteous practice. His beastly action was
caused by his lust for Irandati which blinded his sense of righteousness.
The thought of hearing a Dhamma discourse softened his
heart. He understood that it was a tradition for a Dhamma teacher
before presenting a discourse to his audience to clean his body
and mind and for the audience to place the teacher on an elevated
seat. So Punnaka brought the Bodhisatta bathwater to clean his
body. He then brought him fresh attire and some food, and
adorned the area with flowers. He placed the Bodhisatta on a
stone slab and waited for him to begin his discourse.
After the Bodhisatta was seated, he began the discourse, now called
The Virtues of the Righteous, with the following words:
“O youth, follow the path already traversed; do not burn the wet
and innocent hand; do not be treacherous to good friends; do not
submit to unchaste women.”
The Yakkha, unable to comprehend these four rules expressed
so concisely, asked the Bodhisatta to explain them in detail and
the Bodhisatta expounded as follows:
“In whosesoever house a man dwells, even for one night, and
receives food and drink there, let him not conceive an evil thought
against the host in his mind. The one who prepares food and drink
is known as one who has his hands wet; he who is treacherous to his
friend burns the wet and innocent hand.
Let not a man break a bough of that tree under whose shadow he
sits or lies. Such a wretch is treacherous to his friend. He is known
as one who is ungrateful. Reciprocate kindness with kindness, and
travel the path already traversed by your benefactor.
A man gives his wealth and riches to the woman whom he has
chosen, yet she despises him and slanders him at every opportunity;
this is an unchaste woman. Let him not submit to unchaste women.
Thus does a man follow the path already traversed; thus does he
not burn the wet and innocent hand; thus does he not fall into the
power of unchaste women.
Such a man is righteous.
O Punnaka, you should adopt the Virtues of the Righteous and
abandon unrighteousness for this is the practice that will shelter
you from hell and open doors to heaven.”
Thus did the Bodhisatta reveal to the yakkha with a Buddha’s deep
and simple truth of the four duties of a good man.
Punnaka listened to the Bodhisatta’s discourse attentively. He became
aware that he practiced none of these virtues. His conscience
told him, “Vidhura-pandita welcomed me, a total stranger, to his
home; he extended gracious hospitality to me, made sure that I was
well accommodated, and looked after me like his own best friend.
Not only have I not followed the path already traversed by repaying
him in kind, but I have been intent on killing him. I have both tried
to burn a wet and innocent hand and harmed a virtuous friend. I
drove myself to commit such heinous acts because of my lust over
Irandati. I have violated all four duties of a good man, the Virtues
of the Righteous.”
Punnaka saw with clarity the evidence of his wrongdoing and he
became deeply regretful. He resolved to change his way of behavior
and to turn himself to the practice of the Virtues of the Righteous.
His resolve unshackled his mind and made him feel like a new person.
He made his apologies to the Bodhisatta for his vicious acts
and offered to take him back to Indapatta. But the Bodhisatta
asked that he be taken to the naga kingdom in order to resolve
the misunderstanding. Together, they rode on Punnaka’s horse
toward the naga kingdom.
I Feel No Fear, For I Have Done Nothing Wrong
They arrived at the splendid palace of the naga king and met with
Varuna. Varuna greeted the Bodhisatta and said to him, “You seem
to have no fear of danger coming to this fearsome naga kingdom
of mine and you refused to pay homage to a king. This is not
considered an act of a wise man.”
The sage responded, “Great King of the naga world, I feel no fear,
for I have done nothing wrong and I have harmed no one. I did not
pay homage to you because it is not a practice for a prisoner to pay
homage to his executioner who is about to kill him, and it is not
reasonable for an executioner to expect his prisoner of death to pay
homage to him. There is no benefit in paying such homage. And
since you have commanded Punnaka to kill me, what good reason
is there for me to pay you homage?”
Instead of being cross at the Bodhisatta for making such a bold
statement to him, the naga king saw wisdom in the Bodhisatta’s
words, and was impressed with him.
Then Vidhura asked him, “You are the mighty ruler of this distinguished
kingdom and your abode is magnificent, how did you come
into the possession of such immense wealth and power?”
The naga king replied, “Honorable Sage, these possessions are the
results of acts of good deeds I accumulated in a previous existence.
In that existence, my wife and I were born in the city of Kalacampa
in the kingdom of Anga. We were a charitable couple who enjoyed
doing good deeds and helping others. My home was like a well
where ascetics and mendicants could come and drink from. We gave
alms and food to ascetics and we gave shelters, blankets, candles,
clothes, and other necessities to the needy. We practiced good deeds
and accumulated merits throughout our lives. The riches and glory
that I enjoy today are the fruits of merit from the good deeds that
I have done in my past existence.”
Vidhura said, “Great king, if you know that all of your wealth and
greatness happened because of the good deeds you have performed
in the past, why then do you become reckless and not continue
to perform good deeds in your present lifetime so that you can
continue to enjoy their fruits?”
“Honorable Sage, in the realm of the nagas, there are no ascetics
to whom I can offer food and water and alms. How then can
I accumulate merits?”
“Dear King, you can accumulate merit by being kind to your
kinsmen and your subjects; do not cause harm and suffering to
others; and practice loving-kindness and generosity. Doing so will
ensure your success and happiness hereafter.”
The naga king was pleased with the Bodhisatta’s enlightening
words, and said to him, “Dear sage, I wish you to see my wife,
Queen Vimala, who longs to meet you and to hear your endearing
words. Please come with me.” He took the sage’s hand and led him
to Queen Vimala’s quarters.
The king said to his wife, “Dearest, this is Vidhura-pandita. He’s the
reason that you have not had any appetite and gotten so thin and
pale. This is the sage whose heart you have longed for. Pay
attention to his saying and you will find peace and happiness.”
Queen Vimala was delighted to see the sage. She asked him the
same questions from which the naga king had asked him before.
The sage gave her the same answers as he gave the naga king which
satisfied her as it had satisfied Varuna. Then the sage encouraged her
to accumulate merits by treating her subjects with generosity and
loving-kindness, as the virtues from such good deeds will lead her
to be reborn in a higher realm. The queen was pleased to hear this
revelation. She rewarded him graciously and asked him to deliver
Dhamma discourses for the benefits of all the nagas.
So Vidhura honored her request. After having heard the discourses,
the naga king said, “Honorable Sage, wisdom is the heart of every
sage. What we meant by wanting your heart is to have the opportunity
to listen to your profound teachings. I told Punnaka to bring
your heart by a righteous means, not to blemish you in anyway
physically. Today we are delighted to have heard the most
profound Dhamma discourses from you. I shall honor my promise
to Punnaka by allowing him to marry my daughter and I shall let
you go back to Indapatta City safely.”
Punnaka was elated to hear the king’s intention. He said to Vidhura,
“Honorable sage, you have made it possible for me to have the princess
for my wife. I’m deeply grateful to you. I wish to express my
appreciation for you by giving to you this magical gem that once
belonged to the Universal Monarch. It will please me greatly if you
would take it.”
Vidhura accepted the gem from Punnaka and thanked him. Then
he said, “Young Punnaka, congratulations for having your wish fulfilled.
May you and Irandati cherish each other and live in harmony.
May you both find happiness and peace, and be in good health.
I shall accept this magical gem as token of our friendship.” Punnaka
thanked him for his blessings. After Vidhura said his farewell to the
naga king and queen, Punnaka mounted him on his noble steed
and he climbed up to sit behind him. They rode up into the sky
and in a short time arrived at the city of Indapatta. Punnaka paid
his final respect to the Bodhisatta and in lightning speed, went
back to the realm of the nagas where he later married Irandati with
the blessings of the king and queen.
The night before Vidhura arrived at Indapatta, King Dhananjaya
had a dream. In his dream, he saw a great tree of wisdom standing in
front of his palace and a multitude of people worshipping it. Then a
dark man wearing a red cloth and bearing weapons in his hand
came up and cut the tree down by its roots amidst the cries of
disapproval from the multitude. He dragged the tree off and
went away, and then came back and planted it again in its old
place, and departed. The king interpreted the tree of wisdom in
his dream to represent Vidhura the sage and the dark man to
represent the yakkha that carried off the sage into the sky. And
because the dark man brought the tree back and replanted it, he
interpreted that the yakkha was to bring back the sage.
Confident that this dream of his was soon to be realized, the king
told his attendants and the people of Indapatta to look forward to
the sage’s return. On that same day, Punnaka arrived with the sage and returned him to the people of Indapatta amidst the great cheers
of joy from the king and everyone.
Vidhura told the king everything that had happened; the reason
behind Punnaka’s action and how he turned the hearts of Punnaka
and the naga king and queen.
He then brought out the celestial gem and said to the king, “Your
Majesty, this is an auspicious gem that once belonged to the Universal
Monarch. It has a supernatural power and can attract wealth
and prosperity to its owner. Punnaka gave it to me as token of his
friendship. I would like to offer it to you as a symbol of my high
regards for you.”
The king was overjoyed when he heard this. After all, this was the
celestial gem that he had wanted so badly to the point of willing to
bet his fortune away. The king accepted the gem from Vidhura with
excitement and expressed his deepest thanks to the sage. The gem
eventually became the grand jewel of Indapatta City. To express
his appreciation for the sage and to symbolize the sage’s freedom
from captivity, the king ordered all animals in captivity to be
released and set free. There was a great festivity in the kingdom to
celebrate this auspicious occasion, and all ascetics and monks and
mendicants were given food and alms.
After a month, the festival came to an end. The Bodhisatta, as
if fulfilling a Buddha’s duties, continued to teach the great assembly
the moral law and also counsel the king in all matters civic and
spiritual. Abiding in his teachings and following their king, all the inhabitants of the Kuru kingdom gave alms and performed
good deeds. At the end of their lives they went to the various
heavenly realms.
Vidhura’s pursuit of the Virtue of Truthfulness bore fruits for him
in his lifetime and the next. After he passed away he was reborn in
the heavenly realm.
10 Vessantara Jataka PERFECTING THE VIRTUE OF CHARITY
When Siddhattha, the Gautama Buddha, visited his father’s kingdom for the first time
after he achieved the supreme Enlightenment, arrogant elders of the ruling dynasty
did not pay him respect because the Buddha was younger than them. To subdue their
arrogance, the Buddha performed a miracle by rising up in the air above his relatives.
His father, the king, having witnessed his son’s superiority over others in the past was
the first to bow down paying respect to his own son. Seeing the king himself bowing
down to pay respect to Siddhattha, all the elders of the clan followed suit and bowed
down to pay respect as well.
At that moment, rain clouds gathered and wondrous red raindrops appeared, refreshing
all and falling only on those who so wished it. The Buddha explained that this
rain had appeared once before during his last existence before his present life.
Then he told them the story of his previous life as King Vessantara.
Vessantara Jataka is a literary classic that is popular in Southeast Asia and many
other Buddhist countries. It chronicles the final birth of the Bodhisatta before he
became enlightened and attained Buddhahood in the subsequent birth as Prince
Siddhattha Gautama.
Phusati’s Wish
Once upon a time, in the city of Jetuttara of the Sivi kingdom
reigned a king named Sivi who had a son named Sanjaya. When
Prince Sanjaya came of age, the king handed over the kingdom to
him and chose a beautiful princess named Phusati to be his queen.
Phusati was a lady of extraordinary birth. In one of her past
lifetimes, ninety-one eons ago, a Buddha named Vipassi took birth
into this world. Phusati in that lifetime was a kind and charitable
princess. On one occasion, she had the opportunity to pay respect
to Vipassi Buddha and had made an offering of sandal wood
powder to him. The extraordinary attributes and greatness of Vipassi
Buddha had made a lasting impression on her. Her admiration for
the Buddha was so great that she made a resolute wish to become
the birth mother of a future Buddha.
Merit gained from making offerings to a Buddha is remarkable
indeed. After Phusati passed away in that lifetime, she ascended to
the celestial realm and, thereafter, went through a series of rebirths,
passing to and from between the worlds of men and of angels.
Eventually she became the celestial queen of Sakka, sovereign of the
Tavatimsa heaven. She spent her celestial life in Tavatimsa happily
until the day she had to be reborn again as a human. Before her
departure from Tavatimsa, Sakka granted her ten wishes, one of
which was to become the mother of a future Buddha. She descended
to the human world and was born to the court of a king and later
married to King Sanjaya.
Birth of a Future Buddha
At that time the Bodhisatta was a celestial being in the Tavatimsa
Heaven. His time in the celestial realm was about to expire and
he was due for rebirth. Sakka, foreseeing that the Bodhisatta was
to become enlightened in the life immediately following the next
rebirth, suggested that he be conceived in the womb of Queen Phusati.
The Bodhisatta agreed. Whereupon, he descended to earth and
took birth in Phusati’s womb.
When Phusati became aware that she was carrying a child, she had
six alms halls built from which she distributed alms daily. King
Sanjaya, upon noticing her new aspiration for charity, consulted
the fortune tellers and asked them to explain the reason behind her
munificence. The fortune tellers said to the king, “Great King, in
your wife’s womb is conceived a being devoted to almsgiving, whose
generosity knows no bounds.” Hearing this, the king was pleased
and he, too, made a practice of giving.
From the time of the Bodhisatta’s conception, the kingdom of Sivi
enjoyed a remarkable increase in wealth and revenue. By the virtue
of the Bodhisatta, and the renown of his father and mother’s goodness
and charity, gifts and presents poured in from all the kings and
rulers of Jambudvipa.
As the birth of her child grew imminent, Queen Phusati expressed
the wish to visit every part of her husband’s capital city. The king
granted her request and had a lying-in shelter made ready to follow
her along with a procession of attendants. As they approached the
merchant sector of the city known as Vessa, her labor began. Behind
the shelter she gave birth to a son. Having taken his first breath of
air from the Vessa Street in the commercial quarter, the newborn
child was named Vessantara, which meant “One Who was Born in
the Merchants’ Quarter.”
The Bodhisatta came from his mother’s womb free from impurities.
As soon as the infant opened his eyes, he extended his little hand
to his mother and said, “Mother, I wish to give alms. Do you have
anything for me to give?” The queen was astonished at her son’s
ability to speak at the moment of birth, but she was not
frightened. She said to him, “Yes, my son, give as you will,” and
she handed a purse of a thousand pieces of coin to the infant.
And so, the Bodhisatta infant, his mother, and the attendants
began to give out money and other gifts to all the people around.
On the same day of Vessantara’s birth, an extraordinary event took
place in Sivi. A female celestial elephant flew in with her newborn
calf and left the calf in the royal stable of the palace. The calf was
white all over and endowed with auspiciousness. At the time of its
appearance, Sivi was showered with rains that refreshed the entire
city. This signified a good omen for the kingdom. The white elephant
came to be the companion of the Bodhisatta as they grew up
together. It was called Paccaya. It was on Paccaya, that Vessantara
visited his mother’s alms halls six times each month to distribute
alms. Indeed, many of his subjects had attributed the prosperity of
the kingdom and the helpful rains that regularly watered the fields
to the virtue of the white elephant.
Born to Give
As a youth, Vessantara contented himself with giving away readily
and frequently the things he had acquired. When he was four years
old, King Sanjaya gave him a set of precious ornaments made with a
hundred thousand pieces of money, but he turned around and gave
them to his nursemaids. The nursemaids were reluctant to receive
these expensive gifts and went to see the king about it. The king did
not find fault with the prince, but instead, was pleased at his generosity.
The king then had new ornaments made for him, but again,
the prince gave them all away. This happened nine times in a row.
When he was eight years old, the boy expressed his desire to give
away something of his very own, something that had not been given
to him by another. He thought to himself, “Everything that I have
given so far has been of outside possessions. Such alms are not the
ultimate kind of giving that would lead me to Buddhahood.”
Then he declared, “If someone should ask for my flesh, or my
limbs, or my eyes, or my heart, I will give it to him. I am
willing to give up anything in order to perfect my Virtue of
Charity and attain Buddhahood.” This exalted wish attracted the
attention of the gods. The earth trembled and thunder rumbled
in the clouds, and rains fell throughout the kingdom. Celestial
beings in every realm rejoiced.
By the age of sixteen, the Bodhisatta had attained a mastery of all
the arts and sciences, and he possessed great wisdom and leadership
qualities. The time was ripe for his father to hand over the kingdom
to him. And so King Sanjaya consulted with his queen to find him
a worthy wife.
Queen Phusati said to the king, “My brother, King Madda, has a
beautiful daughter the same age as Vessantara. Her name is Maddi.
She is a woman of high intellect and her conduct is impeccable.
It would be ideal that she become Vessantara’s queen.25”
The king was pleased to hear this and said to her, “This is good
news indeed. I will go to see King Madda and ask for the hand of
his daughter for our son.”
So a marriage was arranged between Vessantara and Maddi. After
the marriage, King Sanjaya ceded his kingdom to Vessantara and
Maddi became his queen.
From the time of his coronation, King Vessantara distributed alms
daily, giving six hundred thousand pieces of money to the poor each
day. Six times each month, the Bodhisatta would mount upon his
magnificent white elephant and visit the six alms halls. News of his
generosity spread far and wide. All kinds of people — the poor and
deprived, the homeless, mendicants and holy men, and the needy
– came from all around to the kingdom of Sivi to receive alms from
Vessantara.
The kingdom prospered and their marriage was happy. Soon, Queen
Maddi brought forth a son and they named him Jali. By the time
Jali learned how to walk, the queen had birthed a daughter and they
named her Kanhajina.
Famine in Kalinga
In the north of the kingdom of Sivi laid a neighboring kingdom
called Kalinga. It was a bad time for that kingdom, for a prolonged
drought had plagued the land and killed all the crops. Food which
was once abundant became scarce. All the prayers of its people, all
the supplications and offerings of its king were to no avail. Men
being unable to grow crops and facing starvation turned to robbery.
Some decided to move away to other kingdoms. Tormented by the
lack of food and other hardships that followed, the people gathered
in the king’s courtyard and pleaded for help.
Kalinga-raja, the king, summoned his ministers to come up with
ways and means of overcoming the famine but none of them were
able to do anything. The king pleaded, “We have done everything
we could, but we have no power over the rain and cannot cause it
to fall. Tell me what else we should do to alleviate this dilemma.”
One minister said, “Your Majesty, perhaps we should prepare
another sacrificial rite. This time we will make it a grand ritual
involving all the people. Let them bring their offerings and, together,
we will implore to the gods. If we collectively and earnestly offer up
the sacrifice, perhaps the gods will take pity on us and bring forth
the rain.”
The chief minister expressed his disagreement, “What use is there
in arranging another sacrificial rite when all the grand rituals in the
past have not produced anything?”
The king also disagreed. He said, “I agree with the Chief
Minister. There will be no more sacrificial rites. These rites
have done no one any good. Besides, the people are already
deprived of their food and supplies. We cannot impose any more
hardship onto them by asking them to give away what they have
so little of.”
The third minister, well versed in the area of astrology, said to
the king, “Your Majesty, I’ve been checking the fate of our city
and found that misfortune is indeed upon us. Performing an
ordinary ritual will not help in this case. There’s only one way left:
to change the name of the city to something more auspicious.”
On hearing this, the king said, “Over the years, you have suggested
many astrological rituals and we’ve allowed you to carry on
even though they produced nothing. Now you want us to
change the name of our city. What can that accomplish? If a
mere change of name could bring luck, then there would not be
any poor person or poor country in this world because all they
have to do is to change their names. Besides, the name of our city
had been established by our forefathers and this name has been
ours since time immemorial. I will not allow the name of our city
which has been given by our forebears to be changed during my
reign. Does anyone else have other more practical suggestions?”
The chief minister suggested, “Your Majesty, every year on the day
of your coronation anniversary, you have followed the practice of
your forefathers by keeping the Holy Precepts for one week. Although
now is not yet the time of your coronation anniversary, but
because the people are experiencing so much hardship, now could
be a good time for you to begin the observance of the Holy Precepts.
Merit gained from this practice could bring us rain, Sire.”
King Kalinga-raja thought for a moment and said, “What Chief
Minister said is quite true. I have followed this fine tradition every
year; so had my father and his father before him. I have yet to keep
the Holy Precepts this year. It will be another two to three months
before our coronation anniversary. This is too long for us to wait.
By then there may be nothing left of our kingdom. Indeed, I should
observe the Holy Precepts starting tomorrow and I will maintain
them immaculately for the entire seven days. Let us see if this will
make a difference.”
The next morning, King Kalinga-raja took off his regalia and put
on the white robe, a symbol of purity. He went up to the top of
his palace and prepared to observe his Holy Precepts with strict
compliance. Unfortunately, when the week was over, there was still
no sign of rain.
In desperation, the king called a city-wide meeting of all of his
subjects. As the people gathered together in his courtyard, the king
announced to them, “My dear citizens, this persistent drought has
brought a great hardship to all of us. My ministers, counselors and
I have done everything we could to remedy the situation, but to no
avail. I feel personally responsible for your suffering. I think it would
be to the best interest of the citizens of Kalinga that I abdicate from
the position of your king to make room for someone more worthy
to rule this kingdom. Perhaps someone with a higher virtue and
merit than me could bring forth a better future for our kingdom.”
There was a great silence and an atmosphere of sadness within the
crowd. After a while, the chief minister said to the king, “Your Majesty has been a great king. You have loved and taken care of your
subjects over the years. A king such as you is not easy to come by.
Your Majesty should never have to think about abdicating. We must
all put our heads together and try to come up with a more viable
solution.”
King Kalinga-raja was at a loss for words. He was so overwhelmed
by his emotions that he put his face down on his palms and cried.
All the ministers could only lower their heads and stay quiet. The
people there were filled with hopelessness.
The Auspicious Elephant
At that moment of sadness, a voice from the middle of the crowd
broke the silence. “Your Majesty,” said a young man who had just
arrived at the gathering, “I believe there is a way which can help save
our kingdom.”
These words instantly invigorated the people. Hope returned and
the people came to life again. Every eye was on the young man.
King Kalinga-raja said to the man, “You said that there is a way to
help us? Your words are like divine water that resurrects our dying
souls. Do tell us now what you have in mind.”
The young man said, “Your Majesty, not far from here is a kingdom
called Sivi. It is a large and prosperous kingdom and its capital city
is called Jetuttara. This kingdom is ruled by Vessantara, a generous
king who shares what he has with the people from all walks of life.
I used to live here in Kalinga but could no longer find enough food
to eat so I left with my family to ask King Vessantara for help. My
family and I were fed to our hearts’ content. He also gave me money
to help me establish myself in business. With this help from King
Vessantara I was able to build a business and become successful.
I have just come back here to return to my homeland. As soon as I
got here, I heard that the people have been called to a meeting with
Your Majesty so I came here to attend the meeting.”
Having told everyone about who he was, the young man added,
“King Vessantara owns an auspicious white elephant which
possesses great powers. He can cause the rain to fall on whatever
path he treads. He can cause any desperate land to become a land of
plenty. If your majesty can secure this elephant, our kingdom will
surely be saved.”
King Kalinga-raja said excitedly, “Is it true that this white elephant
really possesses such great powers?”
The chief minister said, “That is true, Sire. Two years ago, Your
Majesty sent out diplomatic emissaries to establish a relationship
with neighboring kingdoms. At the time I took the opportunity to
send soldiers along with the envoys in order to find out everything
that went on in each of the kingdoms. The report which I received
from the soldiers about the kingdom of Sivi is the same as what this
young man just said. The city of Jetuttara is prosperous because
King Vessantara has a companion elephant named Paccaya that
attracts fortunes to his kingdom. I ask for Your Majesty’s forgiveness
for not having told you earlier about this clandestine activity.”
King Kalinga-raja said, “That does not matter now; I know that
you did it for the good of our kingdom. Let us hear more about this
elephant. How can we get him?”
The same minister who suggested a sacrificial offering in the past
said,“Your Majesty, allow me to get the troops ready so that we can
attack Jetuttara and bring the elephant back for Your Majesty.”
The chief minister objected, “Sivi is a great and prosperous kingdom.
It is densely populated and its army is strong. Moreover,
from my spies, I have found out that the auspicious elephant is
especially skilled in combating another elephant. Our kingdom, on
the contrary, has been suffering from a food shortage. Many people
have left and our soldiers are undernourished. We are no match for
Jetuttara.”
The minister paid no attention to the chief minister’s words and
said, “Sire, it may be a difficult feat but we have no other alternatives.
If we do not go to war, we will starve to death.”
King Kalinga-raja said, “Going to war is out of the question even
if our kingdom was powerful. How can we act like a thief and use
force to take away another person’s possession?”
The chief minister said, “Sire, there is another way. We should send
an able diplomat to ask for the white elephant from King Vessantara
directly.”
The king said discouragingly, “Any king who has such an auspicious
elephant in his possession will naturally treasure it. He can never
give it away.”
The young man spoke up once again. “Begging Your Majesty’s
forgiveness, but I agree with the chief minister. An able diplomat
should be sent to ask for the elephant from King Vessantara. It can
work because King Vessantara is extraordinarily generous. His fondness
for alms-giving knows no bounds. I myself used to be in a dire
state. Yet, I’m now well off because I was helped by him. Sending an
able diplomat to ask for the elephant is the best way, Sire.”
The man’s conviction convinced the king and he said, “If that can
really work, then it’s our good fortune indeed.”
The king then turned toward the chief minister and said, “My dear
Chief Minister, I assign you to take care of this mission.
The chief minister put together a team of eight Brahmins, headed
by the most senior Brahmin named Rama, to carry out the task.
After three days of traveling by horse they finally arrived at the city
of Jetuttara. They surveyed the city and strategized on the best way
to approach Vessantara. After much deliberation they concluded
that their best approach would be to disguise themselves as poor
Brahmins (instead of diplomatic emissaries as they first set out to
do) to avoid the attention of Vessantara’s officials who might pose an
objection to them for taking their most valuable asset away from the
kingdom. They tore their clothes and soiled them, and they soiled
their bodies with dirt and mud to make themselves look poor and
destitute. They then studied the route that Vessantara took to make
his alms rounds and decided to wait for him at the eastern gate.
Early that morning, King Vessantara mounted upon the back of his
richly adorned white elephant and proceeded to the eastern gate.
Great crowds gathered along the paths that he was approaching.
The Brahmins found no opportunity to get close to the king as he
was surrounded by great crowds of people from all directions. So
they hurried to the southern gate which was the Bodhisatta’s next
almsgiving stop. There, they found a strategic position on higher
ground and waited for King Vessantara to arrive. After Vessantara
finished his alms giving at the eastern gate he headed toward the
southern gate atop his mighty elephant. The Brahmins watched joyfully
as King Vessantara came toward them.
Upon the arrival of King Vessantara and his procession to where the
eight Brahmins were waiting, the eight men knelt to the ground and
together they hailed, “Long live the king; long live the king; long
live the king!” With the most pitiable of expressions, they stretched
out their right hand in a gesture of alms-begging. Vessantara heard
the Brahmins and turned toward them. He saw the eight Brahmins
make a gesture of alms-begging and thought, “I wonder what it is
that they wish to ask me for.”
King Vessantara then rode the elephant near the waiting Brahmins
and said to them, “You have dirt on your bodies; you have dust in
your hair; and your right hands are outstretched. What is it that you
wish?”
Rama, the leader, said, “Your Majesty, we are here to ask for the
sublime elephant which brings prosperity to the kingdom of Sivi.”
King Vessantara took a closer look at the Brahmins in their disguises
and thought, “They look like ordinary paupers. But paupers generally
ask for food to quell their hunger, or they ask for clothing to
protect them from the cold, or they ask for money to ease their
poverty. But instead these men are asking me for my companion
elephant. This is highly unusual. They must be court officials from
another kingdom coming here to ask for the jewel of my kingdom.
I must find out what this is all about.”
So he said to the Brahmins, “Where are you from and why do you
have need of this auspicious elephant?”
Dhaja the brightest Brahmin in the group said, “Lord of the Sivi
Kingdom whose compassion knows no bounds, we have traveled
here from the kingdom of Kalinga in order to ask for Your Majesty’s
help. The land of Kalinga has been suffering a prolonged drought
which killed all the crops and allowed nothing since to grow. There
is a severe shortage of food in the land and the people are starving.
We have heard that Paccaya, your auspicious elephant, can cause
any land to become fertile. We were sent by our king Kalinga-raja
to ask for Your Majesty’s help by allowing us to take the elephant
back with us so that it can save Kalinga from the famine and allow
its people to live as happily as the people of Sivi.”
Upon hearing this, Vessantara thought to himself, “I have once
resolved that I was willing to give away things of my own-my
flesh, my blood, my life-as alms in order to perfect my Virtue of
Charity so I can attain Buddhahood. Here, these men are asking
from me something that is an outside possession, something
much easier to give than my own body. Why then can I not give
it?” He then said in a resolute tone, “If my elephant Paccaya can
save Kalinga from famine and restore its land to fertility, then
by all means take this elephant with you.”
He dismounted and walked around the auspicious elephant three
times to see that all the bejeweled ornaments which the elephant was
wearing were in perfect shape. These items were worth a fortune:
the jewels in his necklace of pearls, the ornaments on the elephant’s
four feet and his two sides, the jewels on the head, the nets of pearls,
gold, and jewels on his back, a rug on his back, the small ornaments
on his ears and the two tusks, the ornaments for luck on his trunk
and on his tail, the ornaments on his body, a ladder to mount, the
food vessel, and the jewels great and small upon the canopy. More valuable beyond all of these was the elephant itself. All these were
given to the Brahmins along with five hundred attendants with the
grooms and stablemen.
Once King Vessantara was satisfied that everything was in order,
he held a golden gourd with his right hand and called the Brahmins
to approach. He held the elephant’s trunk with his left hand
and placed it on the men’s palms before he poured water over it to
signify that he had given the elaborately decorated elephant to the
eight Brahmins of Kalinga.
As soon as the deed was done, the earth trembled and thunders
roared, the same way it had happened when he made a resolute wish
to give away his own body and flesh when he was eight years old.
The elephant was given to the eight Brahmins along with five hundred
elephant caretakers, their families, and mahouts.26 Now that
the celebrated elephant was theirs, the Brahmins were ecstatic. Their
hearts jumped with excitement as they led the elephant and the
entourage away. King Vessantara returned to his palace fully content
with his charity.
The King Must Be Banished!
The residents of Sivi saw the auspicious elephant from afar and
thought that King Vessantara was passing by so they came to pay
him homage, but what they saw instead was a group of paupers
walking in front of the magnificent elephant. The people said to
the Brahmins, “Wait, you paupers. How dare you walk in front of
the royal elephant? He is the personal elephant of our king. Where
are you going with it?”
One of the Brahmins told the people, “We are Brahmins who came
from the kingdom of Kalinga which lies north of here. Our land has
been struck by famine due to a prolonged drought and our people
are starving. We came to ask King Vessantara to give us his auspicious
elephant so that it will bring us the rainfall and let our land be
fertile again. The great king has agreed to give the elephant to us.”
“You mean to tell us that King Vessantara has already given Paccaya
our auspicious elephant to you?” The city residents expressed their
disbelief.
The Brahmin said, “Indeed, King Vessantara has given us the auspicious
elephant. These five hundred elephant caretakers can confirm it.”
The residents of Jetuttara crowded around the elephant caretakers
and were told, “Yes, indeed, King Vessantara has given the elephant to
these Brahmins.” The residents were shocked when they heard this.
While the people were busily talking, the Brahmins told the mahout
to hurry up and drive the elephant forward so as to avoid potential
riot from the people. They left the city hastily and headed towards
Kalinga.
The news quickly spread throughout the city. All the people,
from court officials to soldiers to members of the royal family to
merchants and commoners, were distraught at King Vessantara’s
act. Criticisms were rife. Some were angry at the loss of the kingdom’s
most precious asset; others were fearful that their kingdom
would face misfortune now that the auspicious elephant no longer
remained with them.
They gathered in front of the palace and demanded to see King
Sanjaya27, Vessantara’s father. When King Sanjaya appeared, the
people complained loudly, “Your Majesty, our kingdom is doomed!
King Vessantara has put our kingdom at risk. He gave away Paccaya
to strangers from a foreign land. Without Paccaya, the auspicious
elephant, our kingdom will no doubt be plagued with calamities.
Your Majesty must punish King Vessantara so that this kind of deed
will never happen again in the future.”
King Sanjaya responded, “My son Vessantara is a man of high moral
ground. His conduct has been without flaws. He has followed the
good royal tradition ever since he assumed the throne. You can’t
expect me to have my son harmed in any way.”
The people said, “We have no desire to harm King Vessantara physically
or deprive him of freedom. But we want him to be banished
from the kingdom of Sivi so that he will no longer be in a position
to give away any more valuable possessions from our kingdom.”
King Sanjaya did his best to appease the citizens but it was to no
avail. They were deeply upset at Vessantara and insisted that he be
banished from the kingdom immediately. If King Sanjaya refused
to do so, they threatened to take action against both him and Vessantara.
King Sanjaya found himself in a dire position. The will of
the people had been set and they were unwilling to compromise. To
avoid confrontation and a potential uprising, King Sanjaya was left
with no choice but to comply with the will of his people. He said
sadly, “I wish to maintain harmony in our kingdom. Since you are so
adamant in your decision against King Vessantara, I am compelled
to go along with your will. But give him one day to say farewell to
his family. Let him depart tomorrow.” The people consented. With
this settled, the people of Sivi were pacified and they dispersed to
return to their homes.
The people of Sivi were set on punishing Vessantara because they
misunderstood that the auspicious elephant was the property of the
kingdom and no one would have the right to give it away without
the consent of the people. But in truth, the elephant was a personal
possession that belonged to Vessantara. It was due to his inherent
virtue and merit that caused the celestial female elephant to fly into
the city and give her white elephant calf to him as a birthday gift.
In this regard, it was Vessantara’s right to be able to give away his
elephant to anyone he pleased.
After the citizens had been dispersed, King Sanjaya sent an
official to inform his son of the bad news and tell him that he had to
leave the kingdom by sunrise. Vessantara was dumbfounded by the
reaction of the people. Then he rationalized, “I was willing to give
away my own body and my life for the sake of charity, let alone my
material wealth. The people of Sivi can expel me from my kingdom
or kill me, but they can never stop me from giving alms. I shall
feel no attachment to anything. If the people of Sivi wish for me
to leave, I will do so without harboring any resentment or ill-will
against anyone.”
He asked the official, “Where do they want me to go?” To which
the official replied, “They agreed that Your Majesty should go to
Mount Vamka. It was said that, since ancient times, any king who
left a householder life, or was expelled from his kingdom, or wished
to assume a holy life of an ascetic, would go to Mount Vamka to
practice asceticism.”
Vessantara liked the idea of giving up worldly possessions and
becoming an ascetic. He said to the official, “I will leave Sivi
and follow the path of kings who left the householder’s life to pursue
spiritual attainments by becoming ascetics. But before I leave
I wish to make a great alms-giving tomorrow and will leave the
following morning.”
After the official was gone, Vessantara summoned his chief minister
and said to him, “Tomorrow I shall give great alms which will
consist of seven different types of alms and each type consists of seven
hundred in number. Prepare for me seven hundred elephants, seven
hundred horses, seven hundred carriages, seven hundred milk cows,
seven hundred male slaves, and seven hundred female slaves, and
provide every kind of food and drink, everything which is fit to give.”
Then he departed to see Queen Maddi at her quarters. He explained
to Maddi what had happened and why the citizens of Sivi wanted
him banished from the kingdom. He told her to remain in Sivi
with their two children, to perform charity regularly, and to be free
to remarry should a worthy person come along who could care for
her. Maddi’s heart was broken to see her husband leave. She pleaded
for her and their two children to come with him but Vessantara
discouraged her. He told her how life in the forest would be too
dangerous and uncomfortable for her and their two young children.
With a trembling voice, Maddi said to her husband, “You should
not talk as if I am a woman without lineage and proper upbringing.
I must not let you go alone. I will follow you everywhere
to serve you until I die. A virtuous wife should never think of
abandoning her husband in times of trouble. If I have to choose
between dying alongside you and living without you, I will choose
death. What will be the point for my living if it is without you?”
Maddi told her husband how their lives together in the forest
would be so blissful for them, how it would be so joyous to be
with their two lovely children, to see them play, to hear their
laughter, and to be close to them, and enjoy the beauty of nature.
After much pleading and insistence from Maddi, Vessantara finally
gave in. King Sanyaja and Queen Phusati, however, did not like the
idea of Maddi and the children living in the forest. King Sanjaya
tried to scare her with all the frightful things that could happen
in the forest, but Maddi told him that there was nothing more
miserable than not being with her husband.
Queen Phusati also tried very hard to dissuade her from going, but to no avail. Maddi
had made up her mind to be with her husband. It was then that
both King Sanjaya and Queen Phusati found out the virtue of a
truly good wife in Maddi and her loyalty to her husband. They
were deeply touched by the noble quality of their daughter-in-law.
Gift of the Seven Hundreds
The next morning, everything that Vessantara asked of his chief
minister to prepare for the great alms offering was carried out
perfectly. Included in the great almsgiving were seven hundred
elaborately decorated elephants, seven hundred choice steeds, seven
hundred elaborately decorated carriages, seven hundred milk cows,
seven hundred male slaves, and seven hundred female slaves. A large
amount of food and drink were prepared. People of every social
class, from the rich to the poor, from Brahmins to sudras,28 from
soldiers to merchants, all came to receive his gifts. The entire city
of Jetuttara was in a jubilant mood. This offering became known as
Gift of the Seven Hundreds.
That day, Vessantara spent sunrise to sunset giving out alms.
Throughout the entire day his heart was filled with joy. After the
great almsgiving was completed, he put his palms together and raised
them to touch his forehead and made a deliberate wish: “May this
great almsgiving make it possible for me to become enlightened as a
Buddha some time in the future.” At the end of his resolution, the
earth trembled as if to acknowledge this wish.
The next morning, the officials brought for them a beautiful carriage
drawn by four thoroughbred horses. Vessantara, Maddi, and
the two children paid their respects to King Sanjaya and Queen
Phusati and bade them farewell. They said goodbye to all the attendants
who came to send them off. Then they took their seats in
the carriage and departed.
Vessantara drove the carriage slowly as he and Maddi looked at the
city of Jetuttara for the last time. As they approached the city gate,
Maddi noticed four Brahmins bickering among themselves and
running behind trying to catch up with them. She told her husband
and he stopped to wait for them. When the Brahmins finally caught
up, they told Vessantara that they came too late for the Gift of the
Seven Hundreds and asked if Vessantara had anything to give them.
Vessantara told them the only things he had left were the four
horses and the carriage. The Brahmins then asked for his horses
and he gave them willingly – one horse for each Brahmin.
After the horses were disposed of, the yoke of the chariot remained
suspended in the air, but as soon as the Brahmins were gone, four
deities in the guise of red deer came and caught it and drew it in
place of the horses. The Bodhisatta knew them to be deities and
he was delighted. He said to his wife, “See, Maddi, what a wondrous
thing; these clever horses in the shape of red deer drawing
our carriage!” Maddi was astounded at what she saw. She perceived
that it was due to the transcendental virtue that her husband had
cultivated over many lifetimes that attracted the celestial beings to
look after them. She became more and more cognizant of the fact
that merit power was something to be reckoned with and that the
Virtue of Charity that her husband was cultivating was something
quite worthwhile and she was glad to be a part of it.
They continued their journey in the carriage drawn by the four
stags. But after a short way, another Brahmin approached them
and asked for the carriage. Vessantara dismounted his wife and
children and gave the Brahmin the carriage. He did this with a
happy heart and Maddi supported his action for she knew charity
was his life mission.
The Nobles of Ceta
After he gave the carriage away the four stags disappeared and they
continued their journey on foot, carrying the two children on their
hips – the boy on his father and the girl on her mother. By nightfall,
they came upon the land of Ceta, a kingdom ruled by sixty thousand
nobles. The people of Ceta took notice of them and informed
the nobles of their arrival.
All sixty thousand nobles of Ceta had heard of King Vessantara’s
reputation as a compassionate and generous king. When the news
of his arrival into their city was heard, they quickly went to pay him
respect. When they saw the scruffy condition of the royal family
they were taken aback and asked what had happened to them. Vessantara
told them the whole story, which brought tears to many of
them. Some of them expressed their disapproval, “How can anyone
find fault in such a benevolent act? This is so unjust. We must help
King Vessantara. We will go to Jetuttara and speak to King Sanjaya
and ask him to withdraw his decree and reinstate Vessantara as their
king. If he refuses, we will take action.”
Vessantara thanked them for their good intentions but told them
that the king did not have power over this matter and that it would
cause conflict between the two kingdoms should they pursue this
action, in which case it would make him very unhappy. The nobles
then asked him to stay in their city and be their king. They said, “It
will be a blessing to have a righteous king like you to be our king.
We will be happy to serve you, for we know you will bring greatness
to our land.”
The Bodhisatta expressed his thanks and gratitude to the nobles for
their friendship and earnestness but explained to them that it would
not be wise for him to accept their offer as it might result in conflict
between the two kingdoms.
The nobles of Ceta expressed their views on peace and harmony as
follows: “Virtue of people should be based on gratitude. Gratitude
is the mark of decency. The people of Ceta have always upheld this
virtue and it has made our land harmonious and peaceful. The
people of Sivi, on the other hand, lack this virtue. They acted badly
against their king without consideration for all the goodness he had
done for them. They banished their king from their land in spite
of his kindness to them. The lack of gratitude is the characteristic
of fools.”
The Bodhisatta praised the nobles for their virtue, but explained
to them that the people of Sivi are not to be blamed; it was due
to some misunderstanding that they had acted harshly and that it
was his own fault for failing to make his people appreciate the virtue
of charity.
Vessantara and his family spent that night in a shelter at the outskirts
of Matula City. The nobles took good care of them and
accompanied them on their journey the next day. When they
reached the forest that had a pathway leading to Mount Vamka,
they paid their final respects to the Bodhisatta and returned to
their city. From there, a forester was assigned to guide them
and the Bodhisatta continued on with his family. The forester
led them through several mountains and rivers. Moving onwards,
they passed along the banks of Lake Mucalinda to its
northeastern corner and came upon a narrow footpath leading
to the foothills of Mount Vamka, at which point the forester
left them on their own. From this footpath, they entered into
the thick forest, and following the course of the stream inside
the forest they came to a magnificent lotus pond at the Himavat
region.
The Hermitage
At this moment, Sakka, king of the devas, took notice of what had
happened. “The Great Being,” he thought, “has entered Himavat
and he must have a place to dwell in.” So he gave orders to Vissakamma,
his architect, to go and build a hermitage on a pleasant
spot on Mount Vamka. Vissakamma went and made a hermitage
with separate huts and a covered walkway and planted rows of flowering
trees and a banana grove. Then he proceeded to create the
necessary items for the use of ascetics and engraved at the front of
the hermitage these words: “Whoever wishes to take up a holy life
in this place, feel free to use these articles.” Then he drove away all
non-humans and unfriendly creatures from the area and departed.
The Bodhisatta arrived at the walkway and saw the hermitage. He
left Maddi and the two children at the entrance to the hermitage
and went in. When he saw the inscription, he instinctively knew
that Sakka had provided the hermitage for him and his family.
He opened the door and entered and put down his bow and sword.
He found four sets of ascetic’s robes made of tiger skins neatly folded
nearby, next to the robes laid a wooden staff and some useful items.
He knew that these were provided by Sakka who was looking after
him. He removed his royal garments and put on the ascetic garb of
hermit and took the vows of an ascetic. He took up the staff, went to
the walkway and paced up and down slowly in the manner of walking
meditation. Then he approached his wife and the two children
with the quietude of a Pacceka Buddha.29 Maddi could feel the aura
of peacefulness emanating from the Bodhisatta. She fell at his feet
in tears. Then she entered the hermitage with him and went to her
own hut to put on the garb of an ascetic. After this, they took care of their children and let them change into the garbs of hermits as
well. Thus the four royals became hermits and dwelt in the recesses
of Mount Vamka.
Life was good for them in the forest of Himavat. By the power of the
Bodhisatta’s loving-kindness, even the wild animals around the area
had compassion toward one another. Maddi asked her husband to
allow her the task of looking for food in the forest. They also vowed
to observe celibacy and they slept separately in the different huts.
Every day at dawn, Maddi would rise to take care of the children,
sweep the hermitage, and with the basket and spade in hand, went
out into the forest to collect wild fruits and roots. At the evening
she would return with her basket filled with edible foods. Then she
would wash the children and the four of them would sit at the door
of the hut and eat their fruits and roots. Then Maddi would take
her two children and retire to her own hut. In this way, they lived
happily for seven months.
Ugliest Man in the World
Back at the kingdom of Kalinga, after the eight Brahmins took Paccaya,
the auspicious elephant, to Kalinga, the drought was broken.
As soon as the elephant stepped inside their kingdom, dark clouds
formed and rain poured from the sky to cover the entire land of
Kalinga. Lightning and thunder filled the skies. The people of
Kalinga shouted in ecstasy when they saw the rain and they ran out
in it getting wet, singing and dancing all the while. Kalinga, the land
that once forgot to smile was now filled with laughter as the land
became fertile once more and prosperity returned.
But within this renewed prosperity a problem was brewing for the
Bodhisatta….
At the border of Kalinga lay a village called Dunnavittha. In this
village lived an old and ugly Brahmin by the name of Jujaka. Jujaka
was extremely ugly, for he was short, skinny, and deformed. His eyes
were mean and his cheeks hollow; his skin was wrinkled, withered
and full of moles; his back was curved and his stomach protruded.
He had only two teeth left in his mouth, and his breath was so
bad that it smelled like a rotting corpse. He was indeed a sight
painful to look at. Everyone who saw him was repelled by his
ugliness. People looked down upon him, and because no one wanted
to have anything to do with him, Jujaka found himself in poverty
and had to beg for a living.
When someone is born ugly or deformed, it is usually due to bad
Kamma – something unwholesome that a person has done in his
or her past life, such as being cruel to animals, having a bad
temper, or making fun of another person’s appearance.
But Jujaka was not entirely unlucky. He had a family of Brahmins
as old friends. These Brahmins were the only friends Jujaka had in
the entire world. For many years, Jujaka had never burdened his
friends with anything or asked for their help. It was not until three
years earlier that Jujaka had come to his only friends to ask them for
a favor. Jujaka was a beggar in Kalinga and life was hard for him.
He decided to leave Kalinga to seek a better life in other towns. He
had saved up a good sum of money from his lifetime of begging.
He felt it was too dangerous for him to take this money with him
and thought that it would be safe to leave his money with his
Brahmin friends for safekeeping until he returned. Thinking this,
he went to see the Brahmin couple.
Upon seeing the couple, he brought out an old pouch and placed it
in front of them. He slowly opened it and said, “My old friends, in
here there are one hundred pieces of money. It is what I have been
able to save since I started out as a beggar. I don’t dare keep the
money with me, since I must go from place to place. It will be better
if I ask you to safeguard it for me, since you are my only friends. Do
take good care of it.” Jujaka’s voice invoked pity as he knelt down
with a sad expression in his face.
The couple looked at each other and they pondered, “He is already
quite old. If we keep the money for him and he dies before he asks
for it back, this money will become ours.” And so thinking, they
said to him, “We may not be rich in material, Jujaka, but we are
rich in spirit. So for the sake of our long friendship, we will keep the
money for you.”
Jujaka looked at them dubiously and said to them, “You must promise
me that you will take good care of my money and will gladly give
it back to me when I ask for it later on.”
The Brahmin couple pretended not to care and said, “Now besides
the two of us, who else will help you? If you don’t trust us, then go
and find someone else.”
After a few more exchanges of words, Jujaka left the money with his
friends and proceeded on his journey to another town.
The couple went inside their hut with Jujaka’s money bag. They
opened the bag and gawked at the coins closely. There were smiles
on their faces as the inherent greed which dwelled deep in human
nature reared its ugly head and tempted the couple into stealing
the money. Fortunately, their conscience reminded them that the
money did not belong to them but had been given to them for
safekeeping. So the couple put the coins back into the bag and put
it away in a safe place. Days, months, and a year had gone by, but
Jujaka never showed his face, neither did he send any news to the
couple. The couple continued to keep Jujaka’s money safe as they
counted the passing days and thought that it would be nice indeed
if Jujaka never came back for the money.
Two years had passed and the couple still had not heard from Jujaka.
By then they felt certain that Jujaka must have died. At the time, the
prolonged drought in Kalinga also had a bad effect on the couple.
It was tough for them to make a living because they could not grow
anything. They finally took out Jujaka’s money to spend it so they
could survive. Jujaka’s money lasted them until the drought ended.
Life returned to normal and the couple forgot all about what had
taken place.
On one fateful morning seven months later, while the Brahmin
couple was still in bed, they heard the hoarse voice of an old man
outside their hut. It was the voice that they dreaded to hear.
“Is that Jujaka’s voice?” The husband asked, hoping that he had
heard wrong. He was hoping that it was the voice of Jujaka’s ghost
coming around to visit. “I’m not sure either,” said the wife, “it does
sound like him. Why don’t you go and find out?”
Both the husband and wife dreaded to go to the door for fear that
it indeed was Jujaka who was still alive. Finally, the wife pushed the
husband to the door and he opened it. Standing in front of him was
the ugly sight of a hunched-back, wrinkled old man gazing at him.
The Brahmin’s heart nearly stopped beating. He felt paralyzed as if
he was facing a denizen from hell. He managed to utter out a few
husky words, “So you are still alive.”
Jujaka did not care to say a word of greeting. He went straight to
the point, “My friend, I’m here for my money. I hope all the money
is here.”
The Brahmin did not know what to do, but said instinctively, “Wait
here for just a minute, I’ll go get the money.” Then he hurried back
to his wife and said frantically, “What a catastrophe! What do we do
now? Jujaka is here for his money. He is sure to make a real scene and
everyone will know about this. How can I bear the humiliation?”
“Forget the humiliation,” his wife retorted, “We should be thinking
about how to repay him and try to come up with a way out.”
“Oh dear, Jujaka is back for his money.” The wife thought for a
minute and said to her husband, “I’ve got the answer. The one person
that can help us out is our daughter Amittata.”
The Brahmin asked, “Our daughter Amittata? How can she help us?”
The wife said to her husband, “We could give Amittata to Jujaka
as payment for our debt.” Without a second thought, the Brahmin
went along with her idea and asked her to go fetch Amittata.
It was unfortunate for Amittata, for her parents’ sense of morality
was marred by their fear for Jujaka and their lack of responsibility.
The selfish parents decided to unload their responsibility onto their
innocent daughter.
The Brahmin returned to face Jujaka. His legs were still shaking as
he assumed a sad expression. “Forgive us, dear man. We have not
heard from you for such a long time that we thought something bad
had happened to you. Also in these past two years, Kalinga had gone
through a severe drought. We could not plant anything. We were in
such dire shape that we had to use your money in order to survive.”
Jujaka’s face turned white when he heard this. He almost had a heart
attack. Then he became uncontrollably enraged and shrieked at the terrified Brahmin, “How dare you think that I was dead! You are the
one who is now facing death. I trekked all the way here two years
ago thinking that for the sake of our long friendship you could be
trusted and depended upon. But it turned out that you are nothing
but a thief. How could you do this to me? It was my lifelong savings!
I have wandered all over begging for a living so that I can add a little
more to my savings and have enough for my old age. You and your
wife are a bad lot. I want my money back right now!”
“Now, now, calm down, dear man. We admit that we have been
wrong, but we will make things right for you. We cannot repay you
in coins but we will pay you in another way.”
The Old Man and a Young Wife
At that moment, the Brahmin’s wife pulled her daughter by the arm
out for Jujaka to look at. “Now, old friend, this is our daughter. Her
name is Amittata.”
The woman then turned toward her daughter and said, “Amittata,
today Mr. Jujaka has graciously come to visit us. He is not only a
friend but our family is very much indebted to him. Amittata, do
pay respect to Mr. Jujaka.”
Amittata paid her respect to Jujaka. She felt somewhat confused and
said to her mother, “Mother, you told me to come out here because
you wanted me to help with something. Does it have anything to
do with Mr. Jujaka?”
As soon as Jujaka laid eyes on Amittata, he instantly fell under her
spell. She was a dainty-looking girl with a nice complexion. She
was very attractive and it was easy for anyone to fall in love with
her. Jujaka was melted away by her beauty. He could not keep
his eyes off her. He had never been married before because no
woman would come near him. They were all repelled by his
ugliness. Therefore, he had never dreamt that he would ever have
a wife. He spoke up without waiting for the Brahmin couple to
speak first, “Are you giving me your daughter as repayment for
my money?”
“Indeed, dear Jujaka,” the Brahmin woman answered. She
turned toward her daughter and said, “Amittata dear, Mr. Jujaka
here has been very good to our family. The money which he
gave us made it possible for us to survive the famine. We have
nothing of value to repay him with. All we have is you. You
alone can help us out this time. So go with Mr. Jujaka and serve
him well. Repay him the kindness which he has shown us.”
Amittata listened to her mother and felt sorry for her parents. She
was indeed a good person and a very good child to her parents.
She has a deep sense of gratitude toward her parents and felt it was
her filial duty to help them. Although she found herself being given
away as wife to an ugly old man whom she had just met for the
first time, she had the following words to say to her parents, “If it
is your wish and if it can help, then I will willingly go and live with
Mr. Jujaka.”
Jujaka could not have been happier. His desire for Amittata was
clearly apparent on his face. He was not about to let this golden
opportunity slip away, for fear that the parents might change
their minds; so he said, “It is agreed. I will take Amittata with me
and consider the debt all paid in full.” And he hurried away
with Amittata.
Amittata’s youth and beauty caused Jujaka’s heart, which had long
laid dormant, to suddenly become active. He was in ecstasy over
his young wife and was jubilant all the way back to his home. After
some time, they arrived at his house in the town of Dunnavittha
which had been left empty for a long time. He could not wait to
show his wife off to the villagers who used to look down upon
him. Jujaka got his wish because the villagers came out to admire
Amittata’s beauty and wondered at old Jujaka’s luck.
Having just acquired a young bride, Jujaka hurried to put his shabby
house in order. He wanted to make sure that his new bride did not
move in with some younger man. Amittata could only resign to her
fate by accepting her lot in life. She was so obedient to her parents
that she did not complain about having to become an old, ugly
man’s wife. When she saw Jujaka cleaning she said, “Can I help with anything, Mr. Jujaka?”
“There’s no need to call me Mr. Jujaka, it sounds much too formal,”
said Jujaka, “It’s better to just call me Jujaka. I don’t want you to
have to do anything at all, so just sit here and watch me work.”
Jujaka was so in love with his bride that he wanted to spoil her.
“I don’t want the villagers to say that I’m lazy. Please let me take care
of the housework the way a good wife should,” said Amittata as she
got up to sweep the floor.
From then on, Amittata’s conduct was that of a good wife. She got
up early to prepare breakfast for her husband before she went down
to the stream to do her laundry. She took good care of the old house
and planted flowering plants all around it. She also carried out such
heavy work as chopping wood, pounding rough rice, and fetching
water. She did everything there was to do and she looked after her
old husband so well that he regained his youthful energy. She cared
for Jujaka the way she used to care for her father before she left
home. She was not in the least repelled by her old, ugly husband.
She could only blame her own fate. Despite the huge age difference
between the two, they managed to live together happily.
The villagers could not help but observe them. Soon, Amittata
became the villagers’ favorite subject of conversation. The young
men in the village who were jealous of Jujaka ever since he brought
Amittata back with him were always talking among themselves
about Amittata’s virtues and about what a good wife she was. They
compared Amittata’s virtues to those of their own wives and they
complained, “Why, our wives at home are so different. My wife
never tends to me or takes care of the house the way Amittata does.
We need to tell our wives to start using Amittata for an example and
behave like a good housewife.”
And so, they reproached their own wives and talked down at them
in the following tone: “Look at that Jujaka’s wife, Amittata. She is
hard-working and she takes good care of her husband, unlike you.
You are lazy and irresponsible. You don’t keep the house tidy. You
don’t serve me dinner when I come home from work but leave me
to fend for myself. That old Jujaka never has to lift a finger. Amittata
does everything for him; she even chops wood and beats the grains.
You must look up to Amittata and follow her good example. Don’t
be an embarrassment to me!”
The women were upset at their husbands for comparing them to
Amittata. And when some of them argued back, they were beaten
by their husbands. They showed their bruises to one another and
blamed it on Amittata. They vowed to teach Amittata a lesson and
to drive her away from their village.
Why Did You Marry an Old, Ugly Husband?
One morning when Amittata went to the stream to fetch water as
she usually did, she greeted the women who gathered there with
her usual friendly smile. The women gave her a hateful stare, surrounded
her, and began their verbal attacks:
“Hey Amittata, you are pretty enough, so why on earth did you
agree to live with a man old enough to be your father?”
“What is the matter with you? There are plenty of young men
around. Why did you decide to choose an old, ugly man like Jujaka?
“Your parents must have really hated you to give you away to a
decrepit, sorry old man.”
“You must have reviled a virtuous monk in your past life and now
you are paying for it.”
“You are bad luck! Even your parents wouldn’t let you stay with
them. You bring bad luck to us. You should take your bad luck with
you and leave our village.”
The women laughed raucously at Amittata and made fun of her.
Their wicked laughter pierced her heart like a thousand sharp
needles. It hurt her so deeply that she ran weeping all the way home.
Jujaka was distressed to see his young wife sobbing so badly. The
sight of his beautiful wife stained with tears pained him. He asked
her what had made her so upset and she told him: “The women
mocked me and laughed at me for marrying an ugly, old man. They
reviled me and wanted to chase me out of town. From now on,
I will never go to the landing to fetch water or wash your clothes
anymore.”
“Poor Amittata, don’t pay any attention to these women. They have
foul mouths. From now on you need not go fetch the water anymore;
I will do it for you.” Jujaka consoled her.
“This will not do. I was not brought up to have my husband do
the housework. You need to find me a servant or buy me a slave to
do this kind of work, or I will no longer stay with you,” Amittata
demanded.
Jujaka said, “How can I hire a servant or buy a slave? I have no
money, no corn, no skill.”
Amittata then said, “Listen up, my husband. I heard that there lives
a king named Vessantara in the kingdom of Sivi. He is kind and
compassionate and will not turn anyone down who comes to him
for help. He gives away everything that he possesses. He has given
up all his wealth except his two young children. Go to him and ask
him to give us his children to be our slaves. He will not refuse to give
you what you ask.”
At first, Jujaka refused to do so, telling his wife that he was too old
and too weak to travel such a long distance, but Amittata insisted.
She threatened to leave Jujaka if he failed to do so. Fearing the loss
of his beautiful, young wife, Jujaka finally agreed. He donned the
garb of a Brahmin ascetic, took a walking cane, put his bag of provisions
over his shoulder, then bade his wife goodbye.
After several days of traveling, Jujaka finally arrived at the city of
Jetuttara. He asked the towns people where to find Vessantara. The
people told him Vessantara no longer lived in Jetuttara but had been
exiled to Mount Vamka with his wife and two children. Noticing
the destitute appearance of the impoverished Brahmin, the town’s
people questioned Jujaka about his intentions for wanting to see the
Bodhisatta. When they found out that Jujaka was there to exploit
the Bodhisatta’s generosity, they were angry at him and scolded him
with these words: “It was mendicants like you that had caused our
good king to be banished.” Then they grabbed some stones and
whatever they could find to hurl at him. Jujaka ran for his life without
looking back. In spite of his advanced age, Jujaka was an expert
when it came to running for his life. He had a lot of practice as a
beggar, who often found himself having to flee from snarling dogs
and unfriendly folks.
Unbeknownst to him, as he kept running, he was headed toward the
direction of Mount Vamka. Soon, he found himself lost in the forest
and tried frantically to find his way out. But the more he tried, the
deeper he went inside the forest. He started to feel sorry for himself,
moaning and groaning for his misfortune, when he spotted a pack
of ferocious dogs ahead of him. The dogs barked at him fiercely and
raced toward him as if to tear his flesh into pieces. Their ferocious
barking sent chills down his spine. He ran for his life and managed
to climb up a tree and sat on one of its limbs, shaking with fright.
Then he noticed these were not wild dogs but domestic ones and
thought to himself, “These dogs must have an owner. The owner
must not be too far away. I will call for him.” And he shouted loudly
to call for attention.
At that moment, a forester appeared. He had been assigned by the
nobles of Ceta to safeguard Vessantara from intruders who came to
beg from him. When he saw Jujaka he questioned his purpose for
being there. Jujaka lied to him and told him that he had been sent
by Vessantara’s parents to bring the prince home, adding that the
people of Sivi had forgiven Vessantara and wanted him to return
to resume the throne. The gullible forester fell for Jujaka’s lie. He
told his dogs to back away, gave Jujaka food and drink, and sent
him on his way. Then he pointed Jujaka towards the direction of
Vessantara’s hermitage and told him that on the way there he would
run into an old yogi named Accata. This yogi would give him the
rest of the directions.
Jujaka left the forester and by the late afternoon of the same day he
arrived at the yogi’s dwelling. Jujaka’s dubious demeanor made the
yogi feel suspicious, but, again, the cunning Brahmin lied his way
out of trouble. The yogi then invited Jujaka to spend the night at his
hermitage as it was getting too late to travel. Jujaka spent the night
there and befriended the yogi. He found out from the yogi that
Vessantara lived not far from there and that Maddi went out to
the forest each morning to find food and would not return until
late in the afternoon. He figured the best time to approach Vessantara
would be when Maddi was away so that she would not pose
a problem for him. He also found out the direct route to Vessantara’s
hermitage as well as an alternate route that bypassed the yogi and
the forester, which he thought he would use on the way back to
avoid being seen with the two children. The next morning Jujaka
left the yogi and headed toward Vessantara’s hermitage.
Maddi’s Nightmare
That day, Maddi felt a strange and uncomfortable anxiety all day.
She had a premonition that something bad was going to happen
to her family. That evening she held her two children close to her
heart and sang them to sleep. As for herself, she could hardly close
her eyes and fall asleep. When she finally fell asleep near dawn, she
was haunted by a gruesome dream. In her dream, she saw a fiercelooking,
dark-skinned man with a huge sword in his hand, entering
her hut. He grabbed her and pushed her down on the floor and
gouged out her eyes. Then he sliced off her arms, cut open her chest
and took out her heart and carried it away with him. Blood spilled
all over the floor. The dream appeared so real that she screamed out
in pain and woke herself up. She went to Vessantara and told him
about her dream and asked him to interpret it for her.
Vessantara’s intuition told him that this was an omen forewarning
his wife that their two children were about to be taken away by some
unscrupulous person. He sensed that someone was about to come to
him and ask for his two children to be given away as alms. For him,
this was good news, because it would allow him to complete another
vital step toward Buddhahood – by giving away things that are
most difficult to give. However, he knew that it would be too
upsetting for Maddi if he were to tell her the true interpretation of
her dream. So he calmed her and told her not be concerned about
it, blaming it on some kind of indigestion that she must have had.
Give Me Your Children
When Jujaka arrived at the lotus pond near Vessantara’s hermitage
he thought to himself, “If I go in now and ask for the children it
would not work because Maddi would never agree to it. I better
wait until the morning and go to see him after Maddi is gone.”
So he went up on a nearby knoll to spend the night there and he
fantasized about his young wife. The next morning, he waited until
Maddi had left for the forest then came down from the knoll and
went up the footpath towards the hermitage.
Anticipating the arrival of the Brahmin, the Bodhisatta came out of
his hut and seated himself upon a slab of stone looking like a golden
statue. Jali and Kanhajina were playing close by. As he looked down
the road, he saw a deformed Brahmin coming. He asked Jali to go
and welcome the Brahmin. Jali went up to Jujaka and greeted him
politely but the Brahmin showed his meanness to him right away. In
his wicked ways he thought, “This boy will soon become my slave;
I better intimidate him from the start so that he would become
submissive to me.”
Jali was startled at Jujaka’s rudeness. He wondered, “Why is this
Brahmin so rude? He is not like any Brahmins I know.” As he
observed Jujaka closely the way a clever boy would, he saw all the
bad features which made Jujaka so ugly: his feet were crooked and
turned in; his fingernails rotten and black; h is calves fl oppy; hi s
upper lip covered his lower lip and he salivated all the time; his teeth
were like tusks; his nose was totally flat; he had a pot belly and his
back was hunched over; one eye was small and the other was big;
his skin was wrinkled and coiled; his body was covered with
freckles; his eyes were yellow; his body curved in three places:
the waist, the back and the neck; he was bow-legged and his body
made noise when he walked; throughout his body he was covered
with long, coarse hair. Anyone possessing just one of these
features would already make him homely, but when all of these
unsightly features were present in one person, it was a painful sight
to look at.
“This man does not possess a single good feature,” thought
Jali, “I fear he is here for no good reason.” Having made his
observation, Jali left the old Brahmin and went to his sister and
they both went to hide behind the great rock that their father sat
on.
The cunning Jujaka came up to the Bodhisatta and tried to
ingratiate himself to him with kind words. The Bodhisatta
welcomed Jujaka graciously and offered him some food and
water and asked him, “Dear Brahmin, what is your name? What
brings you to this deep forest?”
Now Jujaka immediately put Vessantara at ease by flattering him
with these words: “I am a Brahmin from Dunnivittha, a village in
the kingdom of Kalinga, and my name is Jujaka. I have heard from
the people that you are the refuge of all people in need. You are
like a lake full of water that is ready to feed all animals that come
to quench their thirst.” Having adequately praised the Bodhisatta,
Jujaka stated his purpose for being there: “Your Venerable, I have
risked my life and come all the way here to ask for your two children
to be given to me and my wife, Amittata, as servants.”
Path of a Great Being
to give away his children. But in the case of the Bodhisatta, whose
aspiration was to attain Buddhahood, it was different. By giving
something that was flesh and blood to him, something that was a
part of him, something that was dearest to him, something that he
loved even more than his own life such as his own children and his
wife, it signified the willingness to free oneself from attachment in
exchange for Enlightenment and Buddhahood. Even though this is
extremely difficult to do, it is only a small sacrifice compared to the
exalted achievement of Buddhahood and the sublime ability to lead
all beings away from the cycle of rebirth and suffering.
Many will argue that such a giving is a cruel and irresponsible act
and is unfair to one’s own family. But it must be understood that the
Bodhisatta must be willing to give up everything, including his own
life, in order to ultimately attain Buddhahood and the knowledge to
break the endless cycle of misery and suffering for all mankind. The
attainment of such an arduous goal requires great and unfathomable
sacrifices, which the Bodhisatta must make.
Through countless lifetimes of mental development and the cultivation
of Perfections, the Bodhisatta had acquired transcendental
wisdom and foresight that led him to the ingrained knowledge of
what needed to be accomplished in order to achieve Buddhahood
and break the cycle of rebirth. In order to attain Buddhahood, the
Bodhisatta had to perfect all faculties, as well as the ten virtues consisting
of Renunciation, Perseverance, Loving-kindness, Resolution,
Wisdom, Morality, Forbearance, Equanimity, Truthfulness, and
Charity.
To perfect the Virtues of Charity, the Bodhisatta must perform
five ultimate forms of alms-giving to the benefit of others. These
consisted of giving away his worldly possessions, his own body
parts, his life, his children, and his wife. The reason for giving
away all forms of ownership is to free oneself from every form of
attachment that may hinder one’s success in mental development
leading to Enlightenment.
A Bodhisatta is a being who has progressively cultivated virtue and
accumulated merit for a countless number of lifetimes in order to
perfect his faculties and mental power. It is this mental power that
brings about the awareness and realization that life in samsara is
full of endless suffering. The only way to break the bonds of samsara
is to rid oneself of all forms of defilements, namely greed, hatred,
and ignorance.
The Bodhisatta did not love his children any less than his wife did,
but he was cognizant of his great responsibility to find the way out
of the cycle of birth and death so that he could lead his family and
other living beings out of suffering. Although he knew his action
may lead his children to suffer; but their suffering would last for
one lifetime while Enlightenment would bring the end of suffering
for all lifetimes.
This was his last birth as a Bodhisatta, for in the subsequent birth,
he would attain Enlightenment and become a Buddha. It was a long
and difficult journey that has taken him several eons and countless
earth ages to arrive to. And in the lifetime as Vessantara, he was able
to reach the ultimate perfection of Charity through the challenge
presented by Jujaka.
For the Sake of Buddhahood
The Bodhisatta said to Jujaka, “Dear Brahmin, my children are my
flesh and blood; they mean more to me than my own heart or my
own eyes and I will readily give up my life for them. But my love for
Buddhahood is greater than my love for anything in this world. For
the sake of Buddhahood, I am willing to give my beloved children to
you.” Then he said, “They are yours now and you have full authority
over them. However, Maddi, the children’s mother, is presently
away in the forest and will not be back until late afternoon. Why
don’t you rest here for the night and leave in the morning? This
way, their mother can bathe them and adorn them with garlands
and flowers, and say goodbye to them. We will pack some fruits and
honey for you and send you off in the morning.”
Jujaka did not like what he heard. He said to the Bodhisatta, “This
is not a good idea. Queen Maddi will never let you give her children
to me and she will spoil your alms-giving. Please bring in the children
and give them to me now so you can reap the full benefits of
your ultimate alms-giving that will lead you to Nibbana.”
Vessantara was concerned for the welfare of his children. He
perceived that if their grandfather had a chance to see them he
would want to redeem them by paying Jujaka off. He said to Jujaka,
“If you have no wish to let the children see their mother, I suggest
that at least you take them to Jetuttara and present them to their
grandfather, King Sanjaya. The king will reward you with so much
wealth that you would no longer have to beg for a living the rest of
your life.”
Jujaka said immediately, “There is no way I will do that. King Sanjaya
will think that I stole the children from you. Instead of giving
me a reward, he will give me death.”
Hiding behind the big rock that their father sat on, Jali and
Kanhajina overheard the entire conversation and it frightened them
horribly. They slipped away quietly to hide behind the hut, then ran
from behind the hut to hide in the bush, and from the bush they
came to the lotus pond and plunged into the water and stood under
the thick cluster of lotus leaves, perfectly concealed.
Jujaka noticed that there was no sign of the children anywhere in
the hermitage so he went to look for them. He became angry when
he could not find them and spewed forth sarcastic words at the
Bodhisatta accusing him of concealing his children. The Bodhisatta
calmed him down and went to look for the children. He followed
their tracks and found their footprints on the bank of the lotus pond
which disappeared into the water and knew that they were hiding
somewhere in it.
He called to Jali with a tender voice: “Jali, my beloved son, please
come to your father and consecrate his heart. Help me fulfill my
will. Be the ship that ferries me across the river of samsara to the
shore of Nibbana.”
Upon hearing this, Jali resolved to help his father attain his goal. He
thought to himself, “I will help my father attain his goal of Enlightenment.
Let the Brahmin do with me what he will.” Then he moved
out of his hiding place under the lotus leaves and went forward to
his father and bowed low at his right foot. He embraced his ankle
and wept
The Bodhisatta called to Kanhajina with the same gentle tone and
words. Kanhajina also resolved to help her father. She came out of
the water and bowed low at her father’s left foot. She embraced
his other ankle and wept.
The Bodhisatta’s heart was in immense pain to see his two children
weeping so piteously. He lifted them up, wiped off their tears, and
comforted them with these words: “Jali and Kanhajina, my dearest,
you are the love of my life. Please know that I love you more
than anything in this world. I have spent a countless number of
lifetimes cultivating merits and perfecting virtues. It is the practice
of all great Bodhisattas who aspire to become a Buddha to abandon
all possessions in order to free themselves of attachments. By giving
away the two of you as alms, I have done what is most difficult to
do, and have fulfilled one important requirement for becoming a
Buddha. If I fail to free myself of all attachments, I will not be able
to achieve Enlightenment. In making this sacrifice, the two of you
not only help your father fulfill his noble goal, but you also help
countless beings to escape from suffering. You will be known as the
great givers. Be brave and be strong, my loved ones. Do not give in
to hardships.”
The Bodhisatta’s words were like a celestial potion that healed the
hearts of his two children. It brought them strength and courage.
They knew that their sacrifice would serve as a bridge by which all
beings could use to cross over to the shores of deliverance.
The Bodhisatta was concerned about the future of his children
and thought of ways to protect them from falling into the hands
of unworthy people should the greedy Brahmin decide to sell them
as slaves. To protect them from falling into the hands of people of
low births he put high monetary values for each one of them. He
assigned the price of one thousand units of gold for the prince. For
the princess, he thought she would need a much better protection
and therefore assigned her with a higher value, which consisted of
one hundred male slaves, one hundred female slaves, one hundred
elephants, one hundred cattle, plus a hundred units of gold. This
was to ensure that only wealthy monarchs could be able to afford
them and their future would be in good hands.
Then he took them back to the hermitage, called Jujaka over and
poured water from the gourd onto his hand to signify his giving.
With an unburdened heart firmly fixed on Buddhahood, he said
to Jujaka, “However precious my children are to me, it is incomparable
to Buddhahood which is far more precious. I hereby give my
beloved children to you as the ultimate alms.”
As soon as he finished saying these words, the earth shook, lightning
flashed, and rain fell; lions of the Himavanta forest roared in unison,
and celestial beings in every realm rejoiced. The Bodhisatta saw this
miraculous phenomenon and knew it was the reaction from all the
celestial beings acknowledging his ultimate act of giving. It made
Bodhisatta’s heart fill with a great sense of satisfaction.
How Can Anyone Be So Mean?
On the part of Jujaka, the wicked Brahmin was quick to show the
true nature of his heart, which was far worse than his physical ugliness.
Because of his own evil nature, he believed all people were
as evil and tricky as he was. He feared Vessantara would change
his mind and try to get his children back. So he went to look for
some jungle creepers and wove them into a rope. With the rope in
hand, he ruthlessly bounded Jali’s right hand to Kanhajina’s left and
dragged them quickly away. His cruelty frightened the two wellloved
children. They froze in fear and cried and asked their father
for help. The ruthless Brahmin thought, “What stubborn kids! If
I don’t break their will today, they will definitely be unruly and
disobedient to Amittata and me so I better put them in their right
place starting now.”
He raised his cane and beat the children mercilessly right in front
of Vessantara. The cane struck their bodies and broke their skin
giving them bloody wounds. The children cried in pain. As Jujaka
was struggling with the children, he tripped and the rope fell away
from his hand. The children ran tearfully toward their father. Jali
embraced his father’s feet and cried out, “Father, this Brahmin is
so wicked and cruel. He has no pity in his heart. He must not be a
human but a yakkha in disguise. Please do not give us away until
Mother returns. My sister Kanhajina is so young and innocent and
has never seen suffering in her life. She will cry herself to death
without her mother. When Mother does not see Kanhajina, she too
will cry so hard that her heart will dry up like a river without water.”
Meanwhile Jujaka caught up with the two children, beat them and
dragged them away. Again, he stumbled and fell down and the rope
slipped from his hand. The children, trembling like wounded fowls,
ran back again to their father. Jujaka caught up with them and
brought them back, beating them all the way.
Kanhajina cried out: “Father, this Brahmin thrashes me like slave.
I thought Brahmins are moral men. This cruel person cannot be
Brahmin. He must be a yakkha in disguise. He is taking us off to
eat. Can you bear to see us be eaten by a yakkha?”
As his little daughter lamented, trembling as she went, the
Bodhisatta was overcome with grief. Not strong enough to endure
it, he went into the hut, tears streaming from his eyes, and wept
pitifully. He lamented, “O my precious ones, they must be so
frightened and scared. Who will hold their hands to help them walk?
Their feet must have hurt so badly without their shoes. They must
be crying for their mother. Who will feed them and comfort them?”
He decried, “How could the Brahmin feel no shame to strike my
harmless innocents in front of their father’s eyes. No man with any
sense of shame would treat another so.” Anger came into his mind
and he thought of killing the Brahmin and bringing his children
back. He grabbed his sword and took up his bow and set out to
pursue Jujaka into the forest. Then he regained his composure and
said to himself, “My children are mistreated and are now suffering
hardship, but there is nothing I can do because I have already given
them away. To regret after having given something as alms is not the
way of the righteous. Such unbearable suffering happens because of
the love and attachment that I have for my children. I must control
my emotions.”
Jali and Kanhajina had endured great suffering due to the cruelty of
Jujaka. They wailed pitifully throughout their journey: “Our little
feet are all swollen. The pain is terrible and there is still a long way
to go. The Brahmin beats us without mercy and does not let us rest.
I wish Mother could be here to help us.”
Their lamentations had an effect on all the deities that dwelled
in the Himavanta Forest. They felt deep compassion for the two
children but worried that when Maddi learned Vessantara had given
the children away to Jujaka, she would come after the children and
thereby interrupt the ultimate charity of the Bodhisatta. They also
feared that if Maddi saw her children suffering so badly it would
cause her such an overwhelming grief that she might die as a result.
So they resolved to prevent Maddi from arriving at the hermitage
that afternoon by letting three deities take the shapes of a lion, a
tiger, and a yellow panther and then proceeded to block the only
route that led to the hermitage
Where Are My Children?
That day, several strange things happened to Maddi. First, the spade
fell out of her hands as she was working away, then the fruit basket
fell from her shoulder and all the fruit scattered all over the ground.
As she bent down to put them back inside her basket, all the fruit
trees around her disappeared and all the trees which had never borne
fruits before were now laden with fruits. Then she noticed that the
forest around her which she had known very well had completely
changed and had become unfamiliar to her. She anxiously tried
to find her way back home but ended up quite lost. After a good
while, the forest appeared normal again and she found herself back
to where she was before. Then her right eye began to twitch.
She thought to herself, “What is going on here? All these strange
things are happening to me today. These must be some kind of signs
warning me that something bad is about to happen to me or to my
children or my husband.”
As she arrived at the narrow path leading to the hermitage, she
found that a lion, a tiger, and a yellow panther were blocking the
way. There was no other path that she could use to get to the hermitage.
So she stayed out of sight of the three wild beasts and waited
for them to leave, but they never did. Only as it began to get dark
did the three beasts finally go away.
Maddi hurried her way back to the hermitage. When she finally
got there and did not find her children, she asked Vessantara of
their whereabouts. But Vessantara kept his silence. She repeated the
same question several times, yet Vessantara did not utter a single
word. Maddi sensed that something must have gone wrong. So she
went back into the forest to look for them until late into the night,
but there was still no sign of them anywhere. That night she could
not sleep at all as she worried sick about her children. As soon as
morning came, she went back to see her husband but the Bodhisatta
continued to remain silent. She was overtaken by grief and collapsed
on the floor.
The Bodhisatta was frightened, thinking that she had died. He rose
up and laid a hand on her heart to feel her heartbeat. For seven
months he had not touched her body, for they both took vows
of chastity. In this difficult moment, the Bodhisatta had to put
aside his ascetic conduct and tried to save Maddi’s life. With tears
in his eyes he raised Maddi’s head and laid it upon his lap,
sprinkling it with water, and rubbing her face and chest to
revive her. After a little while Maddi regained her consciousness
and rising up in confusion, paid respect to the Bodhisatta and
asked, “My lord, where have the children gone?”
That was the time he apprised her of what he had done and told
her that the children had been given to a Brahmin as alms. By then
Maddi had mustered up the courage to endure the trauma. She
asked him, “My lord, if you had given the children to a Brahmin,
why did you let me go weeping about all night without saying a
word?”
“I did not speak at once because I did not want to cause you pain,”
the Bodhisatta replied. Then he said, “O Maddi, do not be overgrieved
but set your eyes on me. An impoverished Brahmin came
to beg for our children and I gave them to him. You know it is the
quest for Buddhahood that I should give what is asked of me.
Please rejoice with me in this great merit.”
Partners in Merit
Maddi had been a life partner of the Bodhisatta and had pursued
Perfections alongside him in several of their past lifetimes. Because
of the virtues that she had accumulated, she too was aware of the
supreme charity that a Bodhisatta had to perform in order to attain
Enlightenment. The thought of giving away her children to some
stranger was hard to bear, but understanding that such deed would
help her husband achieve Buddhahood, she was able to overcome
her deep sorrows and rejoiced with him.
Maddi said to the Bodhisatta, “I do rejoice in your act of charity.
Giving away your own children is the hardest thing for any man to
do. Amidst a world of selfish men, you have done what no one can.”
The Bodhisatta told Maddi the miraculous phenomenon that took
place after he gave their children away to the Brahmin. Maddi
responded, “Yes, my husband, I did hear the earth rumble and saw
that the lightning flared and heard the thunder echoed through the
hills. Your supreme charity was acknowledged and rejoiced by all in
the celestial realms. I do praise your action.” Thus Maddi, lady of
royal birth, princess of high degree, rejoiced with him.
Now that the Bodhisatta has given his children away, there remained
one last and greatest gift for him to give to complete his task — his
devoted wife.
Sakka was aware that should someone come to ask for his wife
Vessantara would not withhold it. He pondered, “Now suppose a
vile man should come and ask him for Maddi herself, he would give
her to him. I should not let this happen. I myself will go to him to beg for Maddi. Thus I will enable him to attain the supreme height
of perfection. I shall make it impossible that she should be given to
anyone else and then I will give her back.”
Sakka assumed the guise of an old Brahmin and approached the
hermitage that morning. After an exchange of greetings and salutations,
the Bodhisatta asked him the purpose of his visit, “Dear
Brahmin, what brought you this way? What do you seek in this
mighty forest?”
Sakka, in the guise of an old Brahmin replied, “O Venerable, I am
feeble and old. I need someone to take care of me. I heard that your
generosity knows no bounds and would not turn down anyone who
comes to you for help. I come here to beg for your wife Maddi.”
Vessantara realized that he must also give away his dear wife to attain
his goal. He expressed his willingness to do so. He took Maddi’s
hand with his left hand and poured water from his gourd onto
the Brahmin’s hand with his right hand and pronounced: “I love
my wife dearly, but my love for Buddhahood is a thousand fold. I
hereby give Maddi, my beloved wife, to you. May this act of charity
help me attain Buddhahood in the future.”
Maddi submitted without showing any signs of disapproval or any
unhappiness. She knew that this would fulfill her husband’s ultimate
goal. At that moment, the earth rumbled, thunder rumbled,
the heavens shook, the oceans roared, and celestial beings rejoiced
just as they had when the Bodhisatta gave away his children.
Eight Wishes of the Bodhisatta
Having seen that the Bodhisatta was capable of supreme charity,
Sakka said to him, “Dear Vessantara, miserliness is the enemy that
prevents one from obtaining celestial and worldly wealth. Though
a householder, you have given up your most beloved children and
wife in charity. With such detachment, there can be no greater
exemplification of magnanimity. Your quest for Buddhahood is
soon to be fulfilled.”
Now it was time for Sakka to reveal his identity. He gave Maddi back
to Vessantara and said, “I am Sakka, king of the heaven. I hereby
give you my blessings and offer to fulfill eight wishes of yours. Tell
me what eight wishes you desire.” As Sakka spoke, he rose into the
air ablaze like the morning sun.
The Bodhisatta was glad to know that his acts of good deed had
been observed by the beings of heaven. He said to Sakka, “Mighty
Sakka, thank you kindly for your blessings and for granting me
eight wishes. The following are my wishes:
“May my father welcome me back to his kingdom, to return the
throne back to me so I will have plenty of resources to give alms.
This is my first wish.
May I condemn no man to death and let me have the power to
release the condemned from death. This is my second wish.
May I be the refuge for all, young and old, rich or poor; let them
rely on me for their welfare. This is my third wish.
May I not seek the wives of my neighbors, be contented with
my own, and not to be subject to a woman’s will. This is my
fourth wish.
May my children have long lives and conquer the world with
righteousness. This is my fifth wish.
At dawning of the day, may celestial food be revealed for me to give
in plenty, for alms to never run low. This is my sixth wish.
May means of giving never fail and may I always give with a heart
full of joy. This is my seventh wish.
When I pass away, may I go straight to heaven and after passing
from heaven to be reborn as human, let it be my last birth and never
have to be reborn again. This is my eight wish.”
Sakka recognized that all of Vessantara’s wishes were toward helping
others. Through his divine insight he saw that all of his eight wishes
were within reach. He said to the Bodhisatta, “Your father will soon
come to see you; he will return the throne to you. All of your wishes
will be realized. Please be happy, exercise prudence and strive on
with awareness.” After having said this, Sakka left and returned to
his heavenly abode.
Jujaka Confronted the King
Back at the forest, Jujaka continued on with his journey, dragging
the two children along with him. When the sun went down, he
would tie the children to the trunk of a tree, but he would climb
up the tree to sleep. This way, he thought, should a wild beast come
along looking for food it would attack the children and eat them first
and not bother him. But the hardship of the two children caught
the attention of the angels in the area and they watched over them.
At night, they would take the forms of Vessantara and Maddi and
came to look after them. They would free them from their bonds,
wash them, give them food, and put them to rest. Then at dawn
they would lay them down again back in their bonds and disappear.
Thus with the help of the angels the children remained safe from
harm.
After a few days of travel Jujaka arrived at a cross road with one
leading to Kalinga and the other to Sivi. By the doing of the angels,
Jujaka was made to choose the road that led to the land of Sivi.
After several more days of travel he arrived at the city of Jetuttara
not knowing that he had come to a different town. The old Brahmin
unconsciously led the two children to the royal courtyard of
Jetuttara. His rugged appearance and harsh behavior with the two
delicate children attracted the attention of the royal guards who
brought him before the king. The king saw the two children from
afar and thought they looked quite familiar to him. He sat there
admiring their beautiful appearances and elegant disposition and
wondered, “These two children look just like Jali and Kanhajina,
my grandchildren.”
The king asked Jujaka, “Brahmin, tell me how did you get a hold of
these two children.”
Jujaka told the king, “A fortnight ago, King Vessantara gave these
two children to me.”
King Sanjaya did not believe what the Brahmin said and insisted
on hearing the truth from him. Jujaka maintained that what he said
was true and that Vessantara, whose heart was as vast as an ocean,
gave his two children to him as alms.
Hearing this, the courtiers reproached Vessantara saying, “This
was a wrong thing for King Vessantara to do, giving away his own
children. He could have given money, slaves, elephants, horses,
carriages, or anything else to the Brahmin, but instead he gave away
his own children. This is irresponsible indeed.”
On hearing the courtiers blaming his father without knowing the
truth behind his action Jali retorted, “How can my father give any
of the things you described? He was alone with his family in the
forest without any possessions. He had none of these things: money,
slaves, elephants, horses, mules, or carriages. It is the tradition of
Bodhisattas to give away their children as alms in order to attain
Buddhahood. My father gave me and my sister away so that he could
one day become a Buddha and free himself and all beings from
suffering. He did this for the benefit of mankind. He did not do this
because he was ignorant or superstitious. After he had done this,
miracles happened; the earth shook and thunders roared in witness
of his great act of charity. My sister and I willingly supported his act
of generosity and we rejoice in his merit.”
The king said, “My dear children, I do praise your father’s act of
generosity. But tell me, how did his heart feel when he gave the two
of you away?”
Jali replied, “His heart was in pain and tears came down from his
eyes. When he heard Kanhajina cry and bewailed how cruel the
Brahmin had treated her, tying her, dragging and beating her with
his cane, he grieved painfully.”
The king was furious at Jujaka and gazed at him with burning eyes.
It sent chills down the Brahmin’s spine. He stood there trembling
and worried for his life. Jali and Kanhajina were standing at a distance
from King Sanjaya and did not come to the king. Seeing this,
the king asked them, “My grandchildren, why are you standing over
there instead of coming to sit on my lap like you often did before
you went away?”
Jali replied, “We are no longer free. We have become the Brahmin’s
slaves and no longer your grandchildren. It is not our place to be
close to you.”
Jali’s words cut through the king’s heart like a burning knife bathed
with acid. The king bemoaned, “My grandchildren, do not speak
this way. It torments my heart and depresses my soul. I am so sad to
see you in this way. I will redeem you from the Brahmin. Tell me,
my boy, when your father gave both of you away did he place any
values on you?”
Jali replied, “Yes, Father did put a price on each of us. A thousand
units of gold was my price. My sister’s price was one hundred male
slaves, one hundred female slaves, one hundred elephants, one
hundred cattle, plus a hundred units of gold.”
The king said, “I will pay these prices to set you free.” Then he
summoned his courtiers to put together the money and the rest
of the payments to pay off Jujaka. In addition, he gave Jujaka a
seven-storied mansion to live in. The Brahmin’s fortune had changed
overnight. He became a wealthy man surrounded by slaves and
attendants with abundant food and drinks.
The courtiers took the two children to wash, dress, and feed them.
King Sanjaya had Jali sit on his lap and Kanhajina on Queen Phusati’s.
The king then said, “Jali, tell me about your parents. Are they
well? Did they have plenty to eat? Are they in good health?”
Jali replied, “Grandpa, everyday Mother goes out to the forest to
find wild fruits and roots and lets Father meditate. At night we
would come together and eat. Mother has to endure heat and
harsh weather in the beast-infested forest. Her hair is ruffled and
her body is soiled. She is clothed in animal skin and sleeps upon
the ground. Mother works so hard she has become thin and frail.”
Having described his mother’s hardships, he reproached his grandfather:
“It is the custom in the world that each man loves his son.
But you did not show this love to your son.”
The king acknowledged his fault and said, “It was indeed a grave
fault of mine. By following the voice of the people, I drove my son
to banishment. I have caused so much suffering to all of you who
are innocent. To compensate for my faults, all the wealth which I
possess and all my power, I wish to relinquish to your father. Let
him return to rule Sivi.”
Jali said, “My father will not return to Sivi on account of my
words only. It is better for you to go in person and restore him to
the throne.”
The king said, “Yes, you are right. This is the right thing for me
to do.”
Return of the Elephant
Back in the kingdom of Kalinga, eight months had passed since
Paccaya, the auspicious elephant, had been brought to the kingdom.
The drought had ended, the land became fertile once again, and
people everywhere rejoiced with their renewed prosperity and happiness.
Kalinga-raja was grateful for what Vessantara had done for
his kingdom. One day he gathered his ministers together and said
to them, “My dear ministers, our kingdom is prosperous again now
that the drought has been broken and all the crops are growing
abundantly. Our people are happy and prosperous thanks to King
Vessantara of Sivi. I think it is now time to consider returning the
auspicious elephant back to its original owner. What do you think?”
The reactions from the ministers were not unanimous.
One minister said, “The elephant had been given to us officially
by King Vessantara. It rightfully belongs to us. There is no need to
return it, Sire.”
Another minister said, “Sire, the reason our kingdom has become
prosperous again is solely due to the reason that Paccaya, the auspicious
elephant, had been brought to our kingdom. If the elephant
is no longer present in Kalinga, I am afraid the drought will return
and our people will suffer again. I do not think it is a good idea to
let go of the elephant, Sire.”
The third minister spoke up, “I heard that after King Vessantara
gave his auspicious elephant to us, the people of Sivi were angry at
him and demanded that he be banished from his kingdom.
They forced his father, King Sanjaya, to have him abdicated and
drove him out of the kingdom more than seven months ago. He
took his wife and two children to Mount Vamka and they became
hermits there. I heard that they have suffered a great deal.”
On hearing this, King Kalinga-raja became quite sad. He said to his
ministers, “This is unfortunate, indeed. King Vessantara got himself
in trouble because of his benevolent act toward us. We have brought
hardship to him and his family. As righteous people, it is our duty
to help him. We must return the auspicious elephant back to the
people of Sivi and restore King Vessantara to his kingdom.”
Having made clear his position to the ministers, the king announced
his decision to his subjects and asked for their support. He told
them the situation of Vessantara and explained to them why it was
the right thing to do to return the elephant back to Sivi. The people
of Kalinga supported their king’s position and praised him for his
virtuous deed. So the king ordered his chief minister to put together
a delegation to bring the elephant back to Sivi, accompanied by
numerous gifts and a message of appreciation from their king. The
delegation comprised of the original eight Brahmins who went to
Sivi to ask for the elephant along with a great entourage and attendants.
Return of Vessantara
Back at the royal palace of Sivi, after King Sanjaya had freed his
grandchildren from Jujaka, he resolved to return the rule of his
kingdom to Vessantara. At that moment, his chief minister came
into the court and announced that a huge procession of envoys from
Kalinga had brought the auspicious elephant back again to Sivi; they
had just arrived at the northern city gate and asked for the king’s
audience. King Sanjaya was overjoyed to hear this. He ordered his
guards to open the city gate and invite the procession from Kalinga
to the royal courtyard. He told the chief minister to announce the
news to all the courtiers, the army and all the inhabitants of Sivi to
come to the royal courtyard to welcome them. The people of Sivi
were filled with excitement as they followed the procession to the
royal courtyard.
After having paid homage to King Sanjaya, Rama, head of the
delegation, brought the royal message and read it out loud:
“Your Majesty the sovereign ruler of Sivi Kingdom:
We are envoys and representatives of King Kalinga-raja of Kalinga.
We are here to bring Paccaya, the auspicious elephant, back to Your
Majesty’s kingdom.
Many months ago, the kingdom of Kalinga was plagued by a prolonged
drought which killed all of its crops and prevented anything
from growing. There had been a famine in our land and our people
were suffering immeasurably. We learned of King Vessantara’s
boundless generosity and compassion, and came to him for help by
asking him to give us Paccaya, the rain-producing elephant. Because
of the kindness and generosity of King Vessantara in giving us the
auspicious elephant, the prolonged drought ended and our kingdom
has returned to prosperity.
We owe our continued existence to the virtue of King Vessantara.
We wish to express our gratitude for the kindness and generosity of
King Vessantara by returning the auspicious elephant along with
the five hundred care-taking families that he had bestowed us. In
addition, we have brought with us magnificent gifts from our king
as a token of gratitude to Your Majesty.
Finally King Kalinga-raja wishes to convey to Your Majesty that,
in the future, should Your Majesty and King Vessantara wish the
people of Kalinga to aid you in any way, all you have to do is send
our king the message and we will stand ready to fulfill our debt to
you.”
The people of Sivi cheered heartily after Rama finished.
King Sanjaya was overjoyed. He expressed his appreciation to the
delegates, “Please convey to King Kalinga-raja my deep appreciation
for his friendship. As for Paccaya, King Vessantara has already given
this auspicious elephant to you. It rightfully belongs to you. But if
you wish to return him to us, on behalf of the people of Sivi, I will
graciously accept it.” Then he added, “Please remain with us a while
longer for I have an important announcement to make to my people
and I wish for you to bear witness to what I am about to say.”
He turned to face all the masses and declared:
“Hear this from your king, citizens of Sivi. The virtue of Vessantara,
my son, is beyond doubts. As you have seen for yourselves, his good
deed has not gone unnoticed and is now bearing fruit. Unfortunately,
it was due to a misunderstanding and our lack of insight
that we have wrongfully punished him and banished him from the
kingdom. I hereby proclaim that seven days from today, I will lead
a grand and elaborate procession worthy of his greatness to
invite my son, Vessantara, back to the kingdom of Sivi and let
him resume the throne.”
The people of Sivi cheered for the second time.
Then King Sanjaya gave order to his chief general, “Great General,
go and get ready our mighty troops and warriors fully armed and
adorned. Prepare fourteen thousand elephants, fourteen thousand
horses, fourteen thousand chariots, with all their riders and charioteers,
fully decorated and armed, along with their banners. Prepare
suitable roads and pathways from Jetuttara to Mount Vamka for
our travel. Have all the villages and hamlets accommodate us with
food and drinks along the way. Arrange for musicians, singers and
dancers to give us a festive mood.”
Seven days later, everything that the king had ordered was
completed and assembled. A great ceremony was held and the King
set out on the journey with Jali as his guide.
Death of Jujaka
After having been paid handsomely by the king, Jujaka’s lifestyle
changed abruptly overnight. But unfortunately, in his everimpoverished
condition, the Brahmin had never been exposed to
such a sumptuous lifestyle and did not know how to handle it. He
overindulged himself with so much food and drink that his body
could not digest it. In spite of his body’s warning, the greedy Brahmin
continued to eat unceasingly. As a result, he overate and choked
himself to death.
The king arranged for his funeral and announced his death in
public, asking his relatives to come and claim his wealth. However,
none of his family including his wife and in-laws showed up to claim
his possessions. So the king had all the treasures and possessions of
Jujaka returned back to the treasury.
Thus ended the story of the greedy Brahmin
Return of the King
After many days of travel, King Sanjaya and his great troops and
entourage arrived at the banks of Lake Mucalinda and they
encamped there. The noisy sound of the great army, the elephants
and horses filled the forest. Vessantara heard the noise and feared
that an enemy army had come to do him harm. He took Maddi
with him and climbed up a hill to survey the army. Maddi took
a close look at the army and recognized the flags of Sivi and she
told her husband that it was the army of King Sanjaya, his father.
Vessantara was relieved and came down from the hill with his wife
to return to the hermitage.
King Sanjaya left the encampment with his elephant and went forward
to seek his son. He arrived at the hermitage and saw Vessantara
and Maddi. The king dismounted his elephant and went to greet
them with a heart overwhelmed with joy. Vessantara and Maddi
paid him respect. He embraced them and stroked them with gentle
kindness. Then weeping and feeling sorrow, the king spoke to them,
“How are you my son and my daughter-in-law? I hope both of you
are well, with plenty of food to eat.”
Vessantara said to his father, “My Lord, we are well, but life in
the forest is not easy. We had to live as best as we could and ate
whatever we could find. But it is the absence of parents that is most
difficult to bear. Jali and Kanhajina, your heirs, have been taken by a
cruel, merciless Brahmin who drove them like cattle. Have you any
news of them?”
King Sanjaya said, “Both Jali and Kanhajina are safe now. I have
bought them from the Brahmin.”
The Bodhisatta was consoled to hear this. He asked about his
mother. As they were talking, Queen Phusati arrived with her
entourage. Vessantara and Maddi went to greet her and paid respect.
Then they saw Jali and Kanhajina approaching from afar. Trembling
with great excitement, Maddi ran to hug them. The six royal
personages were thus reunited. Their joy was so intense that they all
fainted and lay senseless on the ground.
At that moment the hills resounded, the earth quaked, the great
ocean rumbled, and celestial beings rejoiced. Sakka saw the six
family members laying senseless on the ground and he produced a
celestial rain to refresh them. Those who wished to be wet were wet
and those who did not were dry. The six were restored to their senses
and all the people who witnessed it cried out at the wondrous rain.
Then, in unison, the people called out to Vessantara, “O mighty
Vessantara, it is time to wash off the dust and dirt and come back to
the land of Sivi and be our king!”
Vessantara, having given all, was willing to resume his kingly role.
He put away his hermit’s robes, circled the hut three times saying,
“Here in this place, I have attained great merit,” and prostrated
himself before it. Then he was bathed, had his hair trimmed, and
was dressed in princely garments, and he shone with great splendor.
Maddi was similarly arrayed in beautiful cloths and gems.
The couple looked magnificent.
Thus they proceeded to the camp of King Sanjaya. After a month of
joyful festivities in the forest, they returned to Sivi with great pomp.
The citizens of Sivi were delighted at the return of their prince.
They decorated the city in his honor and gave him their warmest
welcome. Vessantara resumed the throne. He set free all the captive
creatures. By the power of his virtue, he was endowed with boundless
treasures as if it poured down from the sky. Throughout his
reign, he always had plenty to give and never ran out of alms. After
reigning gloriously for many years, the king passed away to heaven.
He remains a symbol of generosity for all time.
Upon his next rebirth, he was born as Prince Siddhattha Gautama,
the son of King Suddhodana and Queen Maya in the kingdom of
Sakyans, a tribe of the Aryan race that lived in the North of India.
At age thirty five, Prince Siddhattha attained Enlightenment and
became the Buddha.
The quest for Perfections of the Bodhisatta has thus been fulfilled.
The Historical Buddha
Siddhattha Gotama
The historical Buddha was born in 623 B.C. His name was Siddhattha
(which means “Wish Fulfilled”) and Gotama was his family
name. He was born in the Lumbini Gardens30 at Kapilavatthu31, on
the Indian border of present day Nepal. His father was King Suddhodana,
ruler of the Sakya32 clan, in the state of Kosala,33 a warrior
tribe of the Aryan34 race. His mother was Queen Maya, a princess
from the neighboring state of Devadaha35 in ancient Nepal. A week
after Siddhattha was born, Queen Maya died and her younger
sister, Pajapati, who was also married to the King, became his
stepmother.
At Siddhattha’s birth, it was predicted that the Prince would either
become a Universal Monarch or a Buddha. King Suddhodana
wanted his son to become a great ruler rather than a spiritual leader.
Reasoning that it would be the experiences of the hardship of life
that would turn the young Siddhattha’s mind towards the spiritual
path, King Suddhodana created an environment of pleasure and
luxury for his son and sheltered him from all knowledge of worldly
suffering and unpleasantness of life.
First Meditative Attainment
A remarkable incident took place in Siddhattha’s childhood, which
later served as a key to his Enlightenment. When he was seven
years old, his father took him to an annual Plowing Festival. While
watching the proceedings, the young prince noticed a worm that
had been unearthed being devoured by a bird. This chance observation
led young Siddhattha to contemplate upon the realities of
life –- to recognize the inescapable fact that all living beings kill one
another to survive and that this is a great source of suffering.
During the Festival, the Prince sat cross-legged under a nearby
rose-apple tree and began to meditate. It was then and there that
he attained the meditative absorption known as the First Jhana,36
a highly developed state of consciousness in which the mind is
perfectly concentrated and becomes capable of higher levels of
insight. This was an early experience of meditation in the life of the
Buddha, which would lead to his eventual Enlightenment many
years later.
At age sixteen Siddhattha married Yashodhara, a beautiful
princess of the same age, who was from the Koliya37 clan, a
neighboring state of Kosala. His father had three palaces built for
him to keep him comfortable year round — one for winter, one for
summer and one for the rainy season. For many years, he continued
to live a pampered life surrounded by every form of worldly
pleasure. But deep inside him, Siddhattha had felt something was
missing, something more fulfilling than worldly pleasure.
Siddhattha’s curiosity about the conditions in the outside world began
to grow and slowly ate away at him. King Suddhodana could
no longer hold back his son. He arranged for him to be driven
down to the local village by a charioteer, but he first ordered that all
people with any kind of disability and suffering be kept out of sight
so as not to upset the prince’s compassionate nature.
Upon Siddhattha’s first three visits to the village, he saw something
that he had never seen before: a decrepit old man, a sick
man, then a corpse surrounded by grieving relatives. At the sight
of each, he asked his charioteer the meaning of what he saw and
whether it happened to everyone. Channa, the charioteer, told him
that what he saw was indeed a natural phenomenon that happened
to everyone who was born into this world and no one could
escape from it.
For the first time, Siddhattha was initiated into the reality of suffering
in three of its most significant forms: old age, sickness and
death. He, himself, was not immune to these conditions. Although
he had spent his entire life surrounded with luxury, this recognition
led the Prince to develop a sense of detachment from the transient
pleasures of this world and prompted him to seek the ultimate
truth about existence.
Then, on the fourth drive to the village, Siddhattha encountered
a homeless ascetic who had renounced his worldly possessions.
The air of serenity and nobility of his bearing suggested that he
had found a degree of peace and freedom from the influences
of the mundane world. Although homeless and without possessions,
the ascetic appeared blissful, content, and fulfilled.
It was a moment of awakening for Siddhattha. The first three
encounters showed him the universal suffering of humanity. The
fourth revealed to him the means to overcome the ills of life and
to attain calm and peace. He felt a deep pity for humanity who
had to endure suffering as an intrinsic quality of life. A sense of
compassion awoke within him and he felt the call to find an answer
to the problem of human suffering and to seek a path to liberation.
After much contemplation, he resolved to renounce the world and
to seek the Truth and Eternal Peace for the benefit of all mankind.
Renunciation
When his one and only son was born, it became clear to him that
it was time to leave the palace to pursue his Path of Liberation. He
was not overjoyed at news of the birth of his son like other fathers
but knew that this love for his son would become an impediment
to his quest for universal liberation. The infant son was accordingly
named Rahula, meaning “Bound by a Fetter.”
At the age of twenty-nine, the Prince renounced his worldly life and
left the palace to become a homeless mendicant. His compassion
for his wife and son was great at this moment of parting; but
greater still was his compassion for the suffering of humanity. He
was not worried about the future welfare of the mother and child
as they had every luxury in abundance at the palace and were well
protected.
Leaving everything and all behind, he left the palace at midnight
and rode into the dark with Channa, his loyal charioteer. He journeyed
far and wide, and upon arrival at the river Anoma38, he cut
off his hair and assumed the simple yellow garb of an ascetic. He
handed over his royal garments and ornaments to Channa and
instructed him to return to the palace.
The ascetic Siddhattha, who once lived in the lap of luxury, now
became a penniless wanderer, living on alms-food. He had no permanent
abode. A shady tree or a lonely cave sheltered him by day
or night. Bare-footed and bare-headed, he walked in the scorching
sun and in the piercing cold. With no possessions to call his own
but an alms-bowl and robe to cover the body, he concentrated all
his energies on the quest for Truth.
Spiritual Quest.
Siddhattha spent the next six years on an intensive spiritual quest
inside jungle retreats. He studied with the best yogic teachers of
the time and learned everything they had to teach him but soon
realized that their knowledge would not lead him to find the highest
Truth. So he left them and decided to attempt to try his own way.
In the ancient days in India, great importance was attached to
rites, ceremonies, penances and sacrifices. It was a popular belief
at that time that no deliverance could be gained unless one leads
a life of strict asceticism. Accordingly, for six long years, the ascetic
Gotama made a superhuman effort to practice all forms of
the severest asceticism. He experimented with various extreme
ascetic practices of self-mortification: clenching his teeth until his
gums bled, pressing his tongue against the palate until his body
perspired, holding his breath until air came out of his ears, eating
almost no food, frying in the midday heat and freezing beneath
the moon at night. He starved and punished his body with the
hope that all his desires could be rooted out and wisdom could be
gained. His graceful form wasted away almost beyond recognition.
His golden skin turned pale and blue, his blood dried up, his sinews
and muscles withered, his eyes became sunken and blurred. To all
appearances, he was a living skeleton and on the verge of death.
The Middle Way
Realizing that these prolonged painful self-mortifications proved
utterly futile and only exhausted his valuable energy, the ascetic
Gotama decided to abandon that practice. By then, he had already
experienced first hand both ends of the extreme: self-mortification,
which tends to weaken one’s intellect, and self-indulgence, which
tends to retard one’s moral progress. He became conscious that
the Middle Way – avoiding either end of the extreme – was the
right path to reaching wisdom and the Truth. So he turned to the
experimentation of pure meditation practice.
He recalled the memory of the incident at the Plowing Festival
when he was seven years old, how he sat in the cool shade of
the rose-apple tree and meditated. He remembered how he had
attained the First Jhana, a developed state of consciousness that
led to a supreme bliss, and felt certain that meditation was the
path to the Awakening. He knew that Enlightenment could not be
gained through an utterly exhausted body; physical fitness was
essential for spiritual progress. So he decided to nourish the body
and began to eat some food. His five disciples felt disappointed at
his change of direction, believing that he had abandoned and had
returned to a life of comfort, so they left him.
The Enlightenment
After having regained his strength, the ascetic Gotama sat down
under a Bodhi39 tree and was determined to sit immovable upon
that spot until he found an answer to his question or die in the
attempt.
He easily reached the First Jhana which he had already experienced
in his youth. Then, through sheer determination and the
perfections he had already attained in his many past lifetimes, he
reached the Second, Third and Fourth Jhana as well, his consciousness
contracting to a perfect single point leading to clarity of
sight. His mind was now like a polished mirror where everything is
reflected in its true perspective.
Thus with thoughts tranquillized, purified, cleansed, free from lust
and impurity, alert, steady, and unshakable, he was able to have
clear insight into the basic mechanisms that created and sustained
samsara,40 the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. He achieved the
ability to recall his past existences. He relived his own innumerable
past births in the different ages of the world, how he went through
the many cycles of rebirths and finally came into the present existence.
Then, turning his attention to others, he saw how they too
circulated through samsara, and that the way in which they passed
on was determined by the moral quality of their actions (kamma41).
He saw that suffering is a part of all unenlightened beings and that
suffering is caused by defilements, which consisted of attachment,
aversion and ignorance. He then considered how the defilements
that cause suffering could be eradicated and that it was indeed
possible to do so. This reality is known as the Four Noble Truths42,
and the path to end suffering is known as the Noble Eightfold
Path43.
He surveyed the process how birth inevitably leads to aging, sickness
and death, which is a prelude to yet another birth -– and one
that will merely turn the wheel of life through another repetitious
revolution unless the process is stopped. He saw that the
ultimate and eternal happiness (Nibbana) can be attained
through the building of perfect virtues (Paramis).
He saw that a person is caught up in the notion of separate, individual
being or person – self – with a name, history, social role,
memories, relationships, and so on. Beneath this veneer of identity,
the reality was very different. A person’s true self was in fact vast,
open, unconditioned and beyond the dualities of pain and pleasure,
space and time, life and death.
When, toward dawn, Siddhattha looked up, he saw the morning
star rise with new eyes – not the eyes of Siddhattha Gotama but
those of the Buddha’s, the “One Who is Awake,”or the “One Who
Knows.” He was Enlightened!
Siddhattha became a Buddha at the age of 35.
The Great Teacher
For the next forty five years until his death, the Buddha travelled
between the towns, villages and cities of the middle Ganges plain,
giving wise and compassionate teachings. Though many of his
followers were lay people, there were also those who wished to
give up the worldly and family life in order to devote their time and
energy entirely to the Dhamma.44 Thus emerged the Sangha, the
community of Buddhist monks. At first the Sangha lived lives of
extreme simplicity as homeless mendicants, dressing in rags, living
only on alms-food and seeking shelter in caves and beneath the
roots of trees. Later, wealthy lay benefactors which included kings,
aristocrats and rich merchants provided permanent residences
during the Monsoon season. This was the beginning of Vihara,
Buddhist monasteries.
The Buddha died at the age of eighty in the year 543 B.C. in
Kushinagara,45 not far from his birthplace at Lumbini. Surrounded
by his disciples, both monastics and laity, his last words to them
summarized the heart of his teachings:
“Impermanent are all created things. Strive on with awareness.”
Glossary
Anoma a river in southern Nepal, near Kapilavatthu. Chinese pilgrims
have also recorded the position and the importance of the
Anoma River in Nepal.
Arahat (Sanskrit, Arahant) a person who has eliminated all the
unwholesome roots who upon death will not be reborn, since the
bonds that bind a person to the samsara have been finally dissolved;
one who is fully enlightened and attained Nibbana, including
the Buddha himself.
Aryan a nomadic people from Eastern Europe, perhaps the
steppes of modern Poland & Ukraine, who invaded the subcontinent
of India around 1500 B.C. The Aryans worshiped a number
of gods. Their religion was Brahmanism, an early form of Hinduism.
When the Aryans arrived in India, they very soon became the
dominant civilization.
Asuras demonic titans, former devas that have been cast away
due to wrongdoings while in heaven. The world of the asuras is
the space at the foot of Mount Sumeru, much of which is a deep
ocean. It is not the asuras’ original home, but the place they found
themselves after they were hurled from Tavatimsa where they had
formerly lived. The Asuras are always fighting to regain their lost
kingdom on the top of Mount Sumeru, but are unable to break the
guard of the Four Great Kings. The Asuras are divided into many
groups and have no single ruler.
Bodhi Tree also known as Bo tree, was a large and very old
sacred fig tree (ficus religiosa) located in Bodh Gaya in the Indian
state of Bihar, under which the Gotama Buddha achieved
Enlightenment. The Bodhi tree is recognizable by its heartshaped
leaves.
Brahma the most superior form of celestial being with the longest
lifespan than any other deities. There are two types of Brahmas,
those with form and those that are with non-form. Brahma heavens
are the highest levels of heaven in Buddhist cosmology.
Brahmanism religion of the Vedic period (1500 BC to 500 BC), a
historical predecessor of modern Hinduism. The religious practices
centered on a clergy administering rites and sacrifices. The mode
of worship was worship of the elements like fire and rivers, worship
of numerous gods, chanting of hymns and performance of
sacrifices.
Brahmins individuals belonging to the priestly caste who practiced
Brahmanism, a predecessor of modern Hinduism. The religious
practices centered on a clergy administering rites and sacrifices.
The mode of worship was worship of the elements (e.g., fire and
rivers), numerous gods, chanting of hymns and performance of
sacrifices. In some cases, certain persons were born into other
castes but dedicated themselves to such an austere life that they
were also recognized as Brahmins in ancient India.
Buddha “One Who is Awake,”one who is fully enlightened and
who has realized Nibbana without the benefit of a Buddha’s teaching
in the lifetime in which he attains it. Those who attained Enlightenment
by following the Buddha’s teachings are called Arahants or
Arahats. The name Buddha is a title, not a proper name. Buddhas
appear at vast intervals of time. There are countless numbers of
past, present and future Buddhas.
Catumaharajika a celestial realm, also known as The World of the
Four Great Kings, located on the lower slopes of Mount Sumeru,
though some of its inhabitants live in the air around the mountain.
Its inhabitants include devas (angels), gandhabas (celestial musicians),
nagas (serpent-like beings), yakkhas (ogres, earth sprites),
and other celestial creatures.
Celestial beings former human beings, who have accumulated
abundant merit through acts of good deeds. After death they are
reborn into heavenly realms to enjoy the fruits of their merit. The
length of their existence in heaven and the magnitude of their
celestial wealth depend upon the degree of their merit. They are
forever young and do not experience any illnesses although they
are still subject to rebirth.
Dasajati Jataka Dasajati is a Pali word which means “Ten Births”
or “Ten Lives”. Jatakas are stories that tell about the previous lives
of the Buddha. There are more than five hundred stories of the
Buddha’s previous lifetimes, of which the final ten are regarded
as the most important. These are called Dasajati Jataka, which
means Ten Birth Stories of the Buddha.
Defilements (kilesa) mental impurities consisting of greed, anger,
and delusion; hindrances or poisons that cause beings to perform
undesirable deeds.
Devadaha a township of the Sakyans in what is now the
Rupandehi District of Nepal.
Devadatta a cousin and disciple of the Buddha who created a
schism in the monastic order. Due to jealousy and thirst for power,
he attempted to murder the Buddha. Devadatta became a symbol
of a bad monk.
Devas celestial beings
Dhamma (Skt., Dharma) the Truth; the natural condition of things
or beings; the law of their existence; the ethical code of righteousness;
the whole body of religious doctrines as a system; the Teachings
of the Buddha; the eternal truth that the Buddha realized, his
verbal expression of that truth, and the phenomena or elements
that comprise reality.
Dhammakaya a Pali word which means “Body of Enlightenment”
or “Body of Truth”. The term appears in many places in the Buddhist
scriptures of Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana (Tibetan)
schools.
Dhammakaya Tradition (vijja Dhammakaya), also referred to as
Dhammakaya Knowledge, is a method of meditation founded by
the Great Master Phramongkolthepmuni, former Abbot of Wat
Paknam, one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Thailand.
According to Dhammakaya Tradition, it has been established
that each individual person possesses eighteen transcendental
inner bodies, which can be reached through advanced stages of
meditative absorption. Once a person reaches the Dhammakaya,
the purest of all transcendental bodies, the person achieves
a higher form of insight and knowledge not available through
ordinary means.
Fools (pala) spiritually defective people. A fool is someone wicked,
weak, or feeble in moral sense. His discretion is faulty, not
knowing right from wrong, good from bad. A fool is one who
gives bad influence. You can’t tell a fool by his looks. He could
be well educated and be from a good family. You can tell him by
his action or behavior. The opposite of a fool is a wise.
The Four Great Kings celestial beings who are the protectors
of the world and fighters of evil. They live in the Catumaharajika
heaven on the lower slopes of Mount Sumeru, which is the lowest
of the six worlds of the devas.
Four Noble Truths (Noble Truths of Suffering) The Buddha’s first
and most important teaching. It explains the reality and nature of
suffering, the origin of suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation
of suffering, and the path to freedom from suffering.
Garudas a type of celestial being that is half-bird, half-human, with
the face and lower body of a bird and the upper body of a human.
They live in the celestial forest of Himavanta and feed on nagas.
They possess supernatural powers and can change their physical
forms at will.
Great Brahma (Mahabrahma) title of a higher celestial being in
Buddhist cosmology; inhabitant of the higher heavens. A Brahma
state is achieved through a high level meditative attainment and
the practice of the Four Divine States of Mind consisting of lovingkindness,
compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity
Heaven celestial realm; in Buddhism there are six levels of heaven
which offer a temporary respite from rebirth in the human realm;
however, only Nibbana offers a permanent state of bliss. Unlike
heaven, the human realm is the only place where merit can be
acquired and Perfections achieved.
Himavanta a celestial forest which surrounds the base of Mount
Sumeru. It is the home of an assortment of supernatural creatures,
such as the nagas, the kinnaris and the garudas.
Jatakas stories that tell about the previous lives of the Buddha
before he was born for the last time as the Enlightened One. In
Thevarada Buddhism, the Jatakas are a textual division of the Pali
Canon, included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka. The
Jatakas were originally amongst the earliest Buddhist literature
dating their average contents to around the 4th century BCE.
Jambudvipa one of the four continents (worlds) that surround the
celestial mountain Sumeru. It is the region where the humans live,
and is the only place where a being may become enlightened and
attain Buddhahood. Jambudvipa is shaped like a triangle with a
blunted point facing south. It is in Jambudvipa that one may receive
the gift of Dhamma and come to understand the Four Noble
Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path and ultimately realize the liberation
from the cycle of life and death.
Jhana meditative absorption, a state of consciousness achieved
through attainment of full concentration or oneness of mind (Samadhi).
Attaining Jhana is the beginning pathway to achieving
Awakening and eventual Enlightenment.
Kamma (Skt, Karma) action or deed of body, speech and mind.
Every willed action brings future consequences, including future
rebirths; the consequences of past deeds largely determine one’s
general life situation. Under the Law of Kamma, by which all creatures
must live, a person bears the consequences of his or her
own actions. Bad actions cause bad consequences and good
actions bear good consequences.
Kapilavatthu capital city of the ancient Sakyans, located in
present day Nepal.
Kinaris (female) and Kinaras (male) a type of celestial being that
appear half-bird, half-human, with a face and upper body of a human
and a the lower body of a bird. They are gentle creatures that
live in the celestial forest of Himavanta.
Koliya one of the clans in ancient Nepal. The Sakya and the Koliya
clans were both of warrior caste (khattiya) of the “Solar Dynasty”.
There was no other royal khattiya family equal to them in the region
and, therefore, members of the royal families of these two
kingdoms married only among themselves.
Kosala an ancient state situated on the northern border of Ancient
India.
Kushinagara a celebrated center of the Malla kingdom of ancient
India. Later, it would be known as Kushinagara, one of the most
important four holy sites for Buddhists.
Luang Por Thai word for Venerable Father.
Luang Pu Thai word for Venerable Grandfather.
Lumbini Gardens in the Buddha’s time, Lumbini was situated
between Kapilavatthu, the capital city of the Sakya clan, and
Devadaha, an ancient city in Nepal.
Mahout an elephant rider; he is usually assigned to an elephant
early in its life and they would be attached to each other throughout
the elephant’s life.
Mara evil, both as a concept and as a personification. In Buddhist
cosmology, Mara is a supra-natural being responsible for hindering
people from performing meritorious deeds. Mara can also mean
obstacles for doing good deeds.
Merit result of good deeds, a positive energy that gives rise to
good kamma. Merit is something that can be accumulated as well
as used up. When someone is enjoying his good fortune, he is
using his old merit. A wise person should not let his merit run out
by acquiring more new merit whenever he can.
Merit Sphere each person possesses a sphere of merit within; the
more merit accumulated the larger the merit sphere.
Mount Sumeru a celestial mountain considered to be the center
of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. Sumeru
and its surrounding oceans and mountains are the home of
many extraordinary beings. On top of Mount Sumeru is Tavatimsa
Heaven. On the lower slopes is Catumaharajika Heaven. At the
foot of Mount Sumeru is the realm of the asuras (demonic titans).
The mountain range that encircles Mount Sumeru is surrounded
by a vast ocean. In this ocean there are four continents (or worlds)
inhabited by humans and human-like beings. One of these continents
is Jambudvipa, which is the dwelling of ordinary human
beings.
Mundane Merit merit gained through performance of good deeds
such as sweeping the temple, helping the poor, making charitable
contributions.
Nagas magical serpents that live in the lower celestial realm known
as Catumaharajika. They possess great supernatural powers and
can change their physical forms at will. Although nagas are known
for their powers and magical abilities, they are no match for garudas,
their arch enemies.
Nibbana (Skt, Nirvana) the state of ultimate happiness, the happy
condition of Enlightenment, the highest spiritual attainment. This
is not the sense-based happiness of everyday life; nor is it the
concept of heaven as interpreted by Western culture. It is an enduring,
transcendental happiness integral to the calmness attained
through Enlightenment. Once a person has attained Nibbana, he
has reached the end of the cycle of rebirths-the final and total
release from cyclic existence-never again to be subject to
rebirth. Nibbana is a supramundane state that cannot be
expressed by words and is beyond space and time. This is the
state of perfect Enlightenment realized by Buddhas and Arhats.
Those who have gained this realization no longer accumulate
karmic consequences and will no longer be reborn into samsara,
the cycle of existence, when they die.
Noble Eightfold Path The Path to end suffering, consisting of
Right View, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort,
Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
Pacceka Buddha a Buddha who has attained Enlightenment by
himself but does not teach others or lead others to Enlightenment;
a private Buddha.
Pali an ancient language used in India, now no longer an active
language; the original Buddhist scriptures were written in Pali; Pali
texts are used by the Theravada school of Buddhism.
Perfections (parami) perfected virtues; transcendental virtues.
In Buddhism, Perfections are transcendental virtues cultivated as a
way of self purification, purifying kamma and helping the aspirant to
live an unobstructed life while reaching the goal of Enlightenment.
Precepts (sila) moral principles that form the framework
of Buddhist ethical conduct and the baseline of one’s virtue.
Right View View and wisdom in accordance with the Truths, consisting
of the following beliefs: generosity is virtuous; it is necessary
to honor those worthy of honor; it is good to be hospitable; actions
produce consequences (Law of Kamma); a child has debt of
gratitude to his parents; this world and the next exist; there will be
afterlife and rebirths; there are heavenly and hell beings; monastics
are able to purify themselves of all defilements (to become enlightened).
Sakka ruler of Tavatimsa Heaven, sometimes referred to as Indra,
a god who often comes to the Bodhisatta’s aid at the time of need.
Sakya an ancient kingdom of Iron Age India, situated at the foothills
of the Himalayas in South Nepal and extended over much of
modern Oudh. Kapilavatthu was its capital.
Samma-Arahang (samma-araham) a Pali word which means
“The Buddha Who Has Properly Attained Enlightenment.”
This mantra is used during meditation to help focus the mind.
Samsara the repeating cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. The
concept of samsara is closely associated with the belief that one
continues to be born and reborn in various realms in the form of a
human, animal, celestial being, or hell being.
“Stop” stop in this sense means stopping the mind from wandering
or stop doing bad deeds. The key to success in meditation is
to stop the mind from wandering.
Sudra servant class in Brahmanism.
Tavatimsa Realm of the Thirty-three Devas; name of the second
heavenly abode, of which Sakka is the sovereign. It is a wide flat
space on the top of Mount Sumeru, filled with the gardens and
palaces of the gods (devas). Aside from the Thirty-three Devas,
many other devas and supernatural beings dwell here.
Ten Virtues of the Sovereign ten royal duties of kings and monarchs,
consisting of charity, morality, self-sacrifice, honesty, kindness,
austerity, non-anger, non-violence, forbearance, and righteousness.
Tipitaka (Skt, Tripitaka) Buddhist scripture. Tipitaka means the
Three Baskets. They consist of the Basket of Discipline (Vinaya
Pitaka) – rules and regulations of the Order of monks and nuns; the
Basket of Discourses (Sutta Pitaka) – discourses concerning social,
moral, philosophical and spiritual significance; and the Basket
of Ultimate Things (Abhidhamma Pitaka) – dealing with psychological
and philosophical aspects of the Doctrine, the four ultimate
things, i.e., mind (citta), mental properties (cetasika), matter (rupa)
and Nirvana.
Transcendental Merit merit acquired through mental cultivation
and the practice of meditation.
Tusita known as the “World of the Joyful Devas”, this world is
best known for being the world in which a Bodhisattva lives before
being reborn in the world of humans. The beings of this world are
3,000 feet tall and live for 576,000,000 years.
Universal Monarch Monarch of the Four Great Continents, of
which Jambudvipa is one.
Vedas a large body of Sanskrit texts originating in ancient India.
Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest Sanskrit
literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.
Vessa traders, merchants.
Wat Thai word for a Buddhist temple.
Wat Paknam one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Thailand,
known for its meditation teaching and practice.
Wise (pundita) A wise is someone who has wisdom. Being wise is
not the same as being educated. A wise can be a person who is
highly educated or one with no formal education at all. He is righteous
and ethical by nature. A wise is someone who possesses the
Right View and the ability to separate right from wrong, good from
bad. A wise is the complete opposite of a fool.
Wrong View View that is in contrast with the Truths, for example,
having the notion that generosity is not good, parents are not worthy
of gratitude, the Law of Kamma does not exist, there is no
afterlife and rebirth, heavens and hells do not exist, etc.
Yakkhas (male) and Yakkhinees (female): are earth sprites with
gigantic bodies and fearsome appearances. They live in the lower
celestial realm of Catumaharajika and are often projected as bad
characters in Buddhist cosmology.