by Andy Rotman
Meanwhile a certain solitary buddha, after traveling through the countryside, arrived at that market town. As one who inhabits remote areas,247 he didn’t enter the market town but approached the park instead. The householder Balasena saw the solitary buddha, who instilled faith through his body and was calm in his comportment, entering the park. Seeing him, the householder was pleased and delighted and hurriedly went out to meet him.
“This park is crowded,” the solitary buddha reflected, “I’ll go somewhere else.” With this in mind, he began to turn back.
The householder fell prostrate at his feet and said, “Noble one, why are you turning back? You are in want of food and I of merit. Take up residence here in this park and I’ll offer you a steady supply of alms.”
Great beings are intent on helping others. Maintaining a compassionate mind for him, the solitary buddha took up residence in that park, and the householder began to support him with alms.
After a time some work became necessary for that householder in another market town.
“My dear,” he said to his wife, “some work has become necessary for me in such-and-such market town. I’m going there. Offer a steady supply of food and drink to that great man who has gone forth as a renunciant.” With that said, he departed.
The next day the householder’s wife got up at daybreak and began to prepare food and drink for the solitary buddha.
“Mother,” her son said to her, “who are you preparing this food and drink for?”
“Son,” she said, “it’s for that calm man who has gone forth as a renunciant and now stays in the park.”
He became angry and said, “Mother, why doesn’t he get work as a day laborer and feed himself?”
“Son, don’t speak like that!” she said. “The result of this deed will be terrible.”
Even after being dissuaded he didn’t comply. Then the householder returned. [313]
“My dear,” he asked his wife, “did you offer a steady supply of alms to that solitary buddha?”
“Yes, dear husband, I did. However, this son of ours uttered harsh words toward him.”
“My dear,” he said, “what are you saying?”
She explained to him in detail what had happened.
“That poor fellow has been hurt,”248 the householder reflected. “I’ll go and ask that great man for forgiveness. I hope he isn’t very hurt.” With this in mind, he took his son and approached the solitary buddha.
The solitary buddha saw the householder coming with a second person and reflected, “The householder never comes with a second person.249 What is the reason for this?”
Now the knowledge and insight of disciples and solitary buddhas does not operate unless they focus their attention. So he began to focus his attention and, having focused his attention, came to know.
Those great beings teach the dharma through deeds, not words. Out of compassion for the householder’s son, like a royal goose with outstretched wings, he flew up high into the sky and began to perform the miraculous deeds of causing fire and heat, making rain and lightning.
Magic quickly wins over the ordinary person. Like trees cut down at the roots,250 the householder and his son251 fell prostrate at the solitary buddha’s feet.252 With gooseflesh bristling, the boy said, “Come down! Come down, O you who are righteous and worthy of offerings!253 Offer me a helping hand, for I am mired in the mud of desire!”
Out of compassion for him, the solitary buddha came down. The householder’s son, with heartfelt sincerity, fell prostrate at his feet and made this fervent aspiration: “Although I have uttered harsh words at someone so righteous and worthy of offerings, may I not suffer from this deed. Since my mind is now full of faith, by this root of virtue may I be born in a family that is rich, wealthy, and prosperous, and may I obtain such virtues so that I may please and not displease a teacher even more distinguished than this one!”
“What do you think, monks? That householder’s son was none other than the householder Sahasodgata. Since he uttered harsh words toward that solitary buddha, for five hundred births he was born to be a day laborer. Even up until recently he worked as a day laborer. Yet, having cultivated faith in his heart toward that solitary buddha, [314] he made a fervent aspiration, and because of this he suddenly became materially successful. Then, under me, he had a vision of truth. And as his teacher, who is more distinguished than hundreds of thousands of millions of solitary buddhas, I have been pleased and not displeased by him.
“And so, monks, the result of absolutely evil actions is absolutely evil, the result of absolutely pure actions is absolutely pure, and the result of mixed actions is mixed. Therefore monks, because of this, you should reject absolutely evil actions and mixed ones as well, and strive to perform only absolutely pure actions. Monks, it is this you should learn to do.”254
This was said by the Blessed One. With their minds uplifted, the monks rejoiced at the words of the Blessed One.
So ends the Sahasodgatasya prakaraṇāvadānam,255 the twenty-first chapter in the glorious Divyāvadāna.256
22. The Story of the Deeds of the Bodhisattva Candraprabha
CANDRAPRABHABODHISATTVACARYĀ-AVADĀNA257
THUS have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying in the city of Rājagṛha on Vulture’s Peak together with a large community of monks, 1,250 in number.
Some monks in doubt asked the Lord Buddha, the remover of all doubts, “Look, Bhadanta. How is it that the venerable Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana passed into the realm of remainderless nirvāṇa without waiting for the death of their [spiritual] father?”258
“What a wonder it is, monks, that in the here and now Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana were monks, free from attachment, hate, and delusion; that they were liberated from the irritations of birth, old age, sickness, and death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, and grief; that they were without craving or clinging to existence; that they were permanently rid of all evil propensities and the false beliefs of ‘me,’ ‘mine,’ and ‘I am’; and that they were the very first in the community of monks led by the Buddha to pass into the realm of remainderless nirvāṇa without waiting for the death of their [spiritual] father. Yet, in a time gone by, Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana were filled with attachment, hate, and delusion; [315] and they weren’t liberated from the irritations of birth, old age, sickness, and death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, and grief. But they cultivated faith in me, and when they died, they transcended the desire realm and were reborn in the Brahmā world without waiting for the death of their [spiritual] father. Listen to this.”
King Candraprabha and His People’s Royal Pleasures
Long ago, monks, in a time gone by, there was a capital city in the North Country called Bhadraśilā (Beautiful Stones) that was thriving, prosperous, and safe, with plenty of food and throngs of people. The city was twelve leagues long and twelve leagues wide; it was foursquare with four symmetrically arranged259 gates; it was adorned with high arched doorways,260 vents shaped like bulls’ eyes, windows, and railings; and it was teeming with a variety of treasures. There were homes belonging to extremely wealthy merchants who had every amenity261 as well as residences262 of the king and his ministers, householders, guildmasters, governors, and politicians.263 The city resounded with the sounds of veenas, flutes, paṇava drums, sughoṣakas, vallarīs, mridangams, kettledrums, war drums, and conchs.
And in that capital there was the smell of agarwood, sandalwood, and aromatic powders, as well as the perennial smell of flowers in bloom.264 These were stirred by flurries of wind, so that magnificent breezes blew through the marketplaces, squares, and crossroads. In addition, the city had armies of elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers; it was graced with vehicles and the animals to draw them; it had marketplaces and main roads that were wide and magnificent; it had colorful flags and banners raised up high; and it was covered with arched doorways, vents shaped like bulls’ eyes, and crescent-shaped windows.265 Truly, the city shined like the abode of the god
s.
And the city was adorned with blue, red, and white waterlilies, white lotuses,266 and wonderfully fragrant aquatic flowers;267 it was resplendent with lotus pools, tanks, ponds, and springs, each filled with water that was very sweet, pure, and cold; it was blanketed with many kinds of flowers—śāla, palmyra, tamāla,268 karṇikāra, aśoka, tilaka, punnāga, nāgakeśara, campaka, bakula, atimuktaka, and pāṭalā;269 and it was adorned with forests and parks, echoing with the calls of flocks of sparrows, parrots, mynahs, cuckoos, and peacocks as well as peacock pheasants.
And in the capital Bhadraśilā there was a royal park called Maṇiratnagarbha (Containing the Most-Treasured Jewel)270 that was resplendent with various flowers, fruits, trees, and shrubs and had a lovely pond that resounded with the delightful songs of geese, herons, peacocks, and parrots, mynahs, cuckoos, peacock pheasants, and pariah kites.271 As such, the capital Bhadraśilā was truly beautiful.
In the capital Bhadraśilā there was a king named Candraprabha (Moonlight) who was handsome, good-looking, and attractive and who possessed divine sight. He was a wheel-turning king ruling over the four quarters of the earth [316] and a just and virtuous ruler who had established kingship, lordship, and dominion over Jambudvīpa (Black Plum Island). King Candraprabha was radiant,272 so wherever he would go there would be no darkness, though he was led by neither jewel, lamp, nor torch. Light emerged from King Candraprabha’s body like rays from the disk of the moon. For this reason, King Candraprabha was given the name Candraprabha.
At that time in Jambudvīpa there were 68,000 cities, the foremost of which was the capital Bhadraśilā, and all of them were thriving, prosperous, and safe, with plenty of food and throngs of people. Furthermore, the people of Jambudvīpa were exempt from taxes, customs, or freight fees; the districts were peaceful and well cultivated with farms; and the marketplaces, villages, districts, and capitals were so close together that a cock could jump from one to the next. And at that time in Jambudvīpa, people lived for 44,000 years.
Now King Candraprabha was a bodhisattva who gave away everything, who sacrificed everything, and who did so without attachment. He lived in a state of great renunciation. Leaving the capital Bhadraśilā and going outside the city, he established four great sacrificial sites at the four gates to the city, and at each umbrellas, flags, sacrificial posts, and banners were raised. Then golden kettledrums were beaten,273 gifts were given, and meritorious deeds were performed, such that there was food for the hungry, water for the thirsty, as well as hard and soft foods; garlands, creams, and clothes; bedding, seats, and bolsters;274 homes, lamps, and umbrellas; carriages, finery, and ornaments; golden bowls filled with silver powder; silver bowls filled with gold;275 and cows with golden horns that yielded milk whenever one desired.276 Young men and women were also adorned with all kinds of ornaments. When this was done, clothes of various colors, produced in various countries and having various patterns, were given as gifts—clothes of woven silk, Chinese silk, Indian silk, and bleached silk;277 beautiful clothes made of wool and dukūla; those made of bark from Aparānta; crocheted shawls;278 cloaks made with gold and jewels; silken cloth from Vārāṇasī; linen; and so on.
King Candraprabha [317] gave so many gifts that all the people of Jambudvīpa became rich, wealthy, and prosperous. King Candraprabha gave away so many elephants, horses, carriages, and umbrellas as gifts that not even a single person in Jambudvīpa traveled on foot. All the people of Jambudvīpa traveled from park to park and village to village on the backs of elephants or in carriages drawn by four horses, with umbrellas overhead made of gold and silver.
Then it occurred to King Candraprabha, “What is the use of my giving such petty gifts? I really should offer gifts of clothes, ornaments, and finery just like my own so that all the people of Jambudvīpa may enjoy royal pleasures.”
So King Candraprabha offered crowns, diadems, clothes, ornaments, and finery to the people of Jambudvīpa—that is, he offered gifts of bracelets,279 armlets, strings and necklaces of pearls, and the like. King Candraprabha offered so many gifts of clothes, jewelry, crowns, and diadems, all of which were fit for kings, that all the people of Jambudvīpa came to wear crowns and diadems. All the people of Jambudvīpa came to look just like King Candraprabha!
Then King Candraprabha had bells rung in his 68,000 cities for the following proclamation: “Friends, all the people of Jambudvīpa shall enjoy royal pleasures for as long as I live!”
When the people of Jambudvīpa heard King Candraprabha’s proclamation, every one of them began to enjoy royal pleasures. Thousands of veenas, flutes, paṇava drums, sughoṣakas, vallarīs, kettledrums, war drums, mridangams, cymbals,280 and conchs were played, hundreds of horns were sounded, and the people of Jambudvīpa, wearing armlets, necklaces, jewels, pearls, finery, and earrings, and surrounded by groups of beautiful young women adorned with all kinds of ornaments, experienced royal glory.
And at that time, as the people of Jambudvīpa enjoyed those royal pleasures, the sounds of veenas, flutes, paṇava drums, sughoṣakas, vallarīs, kettledrums, mridangams, and war drums as well as the melody of cymbals and bamboo pipes arose in all 68,000 cities. And as golden kettledrums were beaten at [King]281 Candraprabha’s four great sacrificial sites, sweet and pleasing sounds emerged.282 As such, all of Jambudvīpa [318] resounded with pleasing sounds. Even [Sudarśana], the divine city of the gods of Trāyastriṃśa (Thirty-Three), reverberated with the sounds of dancing, singing, and the playing of musical instruments. In this way, at that time and at that juncture, owing to the sounds of singing and music, all the people living in Jambudvīpa were filled with intense pleasure and enjoyed themselves greatly.
Now at that time in the capital Bhadraśilā there lived seventy-two thousands of millions of billions of people.283 To them, King Candraprabha was cherished, dear, and beloved, and they never tired of gazing upon his complexion, characteristics, form, and figure.284 Whenever King Candraprabha would go to one of the great sacrificial sites, hundreds and thousands and millions and billions of beings would look at him and say, “What a wonder! King Candraprabha is born from the gods, yet he rules here in Jambudvīpa. No other man has a complexion and form like that of Lord Candraprabha.” And whichever way King Candraprabha would look, thousands of women would be looking at him and thinking, “Lucky are those women who have him for a husband!” And this thought that occurred in their minds was pure, not otherwise. Truly King Candraprabha was someone to be seen.
King Candraprabha’s Ministers and Their Alarming Dreams
King Candraprabha had 12,500 ministers, and among them were two chief ministers—Mahācandra (Great Moon) and Mahīdhara (Supporting the Earth). They were wise, learned, and intelligent; distinguished from the rest of the cabinet of ministers by their virtues; authorities for everyone; and managers and protectors of the king.285 The king had few worries about any of his affairs, for the chief minister Mahācandra repeatedly urged the people of Jambudvīpa to follow the tenfold path of virtuous actions. “People of Jambudvīpa,” he would say, “adhere to the tenfold path of virtuous actions!” The minister Mahācandra would admonish and instruct them just as would a wheel-turning king. To the chief minister Mahācandra, King Candraprabha was cherished, dear, and beloved, and he never tired of gazing upon the king’s complexion, form, characteristics, and figure.
One day the chief minister Mahācandra had a dream that piśācas the color of smoke carried off King Candraprabha’s crown. When he woke up, [319] he was afraid, he was alarmed, and his hair stood on end. “Oh no!” he thought. “Don’t let anyone come begging for Lord Candraprabha’s head! My lord is all-giving. He gives away everything.286 There isn’t anything that he hasn’t given away to the poor, the destitute, orphans, mendicants, and beggars.”
Then he had an idea. “I won’t tell King Candraprabha about this dream. Instead, I’ll commision some heads to be made out of jewels and I’ll store them in the treasury.287 If someone comes begging for my lord’s head, I’ll entice him with these
jeweled heads.” With this in mind, he commisioned some jeweled heads and stored them in the treasury.
Then one day the chief minister Mahīdhara had a dream that a child288 made completely of jewels, who was inside King Candraprabha’s palace,289 shattered into hundreds of pieces. Having had this dream, he was frightened, scared, and terrified. “Oh no!” he thought. “Don’t let King Candraprabha’s kingdom come to an end! Don’t let there be any obstacle to his life!”
He then summoned some brahman soothsayers290 who could interpret omens. “Gentlemen,” he said, “I have had such-and-such a dream. Interpret it for me.”291
Then those brahman soothsayers292 who could interpret omens explained it to him: “This dream that you have had indicates that very soon someone will come begging for King Candraprabha’s head. He will come down from on high, right here to the capital Bhadraśilā.”
When chief minister Mahīdhara heard this interpretation of his dream, he sat lost in thought, cheek in hand. “King Candraprabha is kind at heart, compassionate, and treats all beings as his children. Yet very soon he will experience the force of impermanence.”
Then one day all 12,500 ministers had a dream that karoṭapāṇi (“bowl in hand”) yakṣas threw down the umbrellas, flags, and banners and broke the golden kettledrums at King Candraprabha’s four great sacrificial sites. Having had this dream, they became frightened, scared, and terrified. “Oh no!” they thought. “King Candraprabha is a protector of the great earth. He is kind at heart, compassionate, and treats all beings as his children. Don’t let him come under the force of impermanence! Don’t let us become deprived, detached, and disconnected from our lord! Don’t let Jambudvīpa become unsafe and unprotected!” [320]
King Candraprabha heard about all this and, having heard, had bells rung in his 68,000 cities for the following proclamation: “Friends, all the people of Jambudvīpa shall enjoy royal pleasures for as long as I live. Why worry about things like dreams and illusions?”293
