by Andy Rotman
In preparation for his departure, the king addressed Yogāndharāyaṇa: “You stay here.”
Yogāndharāyaṇa wouldn’t consent. “I’m going with my lord!”860 he said.
Then the king addressed Ghoṣila, and Ghoṣila said the same thing.
So the king had Mākandika stay behind and put him in charge, and he told him, “Please take good care of Śyāmāvatī.”861
Even as the king prepared to depart, Mākandika followed him around, and the king repeated the same instructions. Though Mākandika was being kept from joining the battle, he nonetheless complied.
Mākandika then approached Anupamā.
“Father,” she asked, “who has my lord put in charge here?”
“Me.”
“Excellent!” she reflected. “I can take revenge with your help.” With this in mind, she said, “Don’t you know862 who Śyāmāvatī is to me?”
“My daughter, I know that she is your co-wife.”
“Father, that is true. And don’t you know863 which emotion is the most troubling?”
“My daughter, I know about envy and stinginess.”864
“Father, if that’s the case, have Śyāmāvatī killed.”
“Do you think I’m that two-faced?” he asked. “Three times the king ordered me to take good care of Śyāmāvatī. [532] Her name shouldn’t even be uttered!”865
“Father,” Anupamā said, “are you that much of a fool? Is there any father so averse to his daughter’s welfare that he feels more love for her co-wife? Have her killed! Then everything will be okay. If not, I’ll put you back in the position you were in before.”
Fearful, Mākandika reflected, “Kings fall under the power of women. Perhaps that’s the case now.” With this in mind, he said, “Daughter, I can’t have her killed just like that! I’ll devise a plan.”866
“Very well,” she said. “Do as you say.”
Mākandika went to Śyāmāvatī and said, “My queen, is there anything I can do for you?”
“No, Mākandika, there’s nothing you can do for me. These girls, however, study the word of the Buddha at night by lamplight. For this they need birchbark, ink, and reed pens as well as oil and wicks.”867
“Very well, my queen,” he said. “I will procure them.” He procured them in great quantities then had them delivered and piled up at the gatehouse to the women’s quarters [of the Puṣpadanta Palace].
“Mākandika,” Śyāmāvatī said, “that’s quite enough.”
“My queen,” Mākandika said, “I’ll have all this brought inside. Then it won’t be necessary to make repeated deliveries.”868
Mākandika then set fire to the last pile of birchbark and brought in some grass. He kindled the flames and set the gatehouse on fire.
A crowd of people from Kauśāmbī rushed to put out the flames. Mākandika drew his sword and began to drive back the crowd.
“Stand back! Who are you to see the king’s women!”869
A master mechanic870 from Kauśāmbī said, “I’ll use a special device to move this burning gatehouse someplace else.”
But Mākandika spoke to him just as he had to the crowd, and the man fled.
Then Śyāmāvatī, using her magical powers, flew up into the air and said, “Sisters, the deeds that we ourselves have performed and accumulated have now come together, and their conditions have matured. They remain before us like an oncoming flood and will certainly come to pass. Those deeds were performed and accumulated by us alone. Who else will experience their results? As the Blessed One said,
Not in the sky or in mid-ocean
or by entering a mountain cave
is there a place on earth to be found
where one isn’t overpowered by karma.871 [533]
“Therefore you should stay focused on karma.” And with that said, she uttered a verse:
I saw the Blessed One,
who is like a bulwark,
and came to know the [four noble] truths
and follow the teachings of the Buddha.
Led by Śyāmāvatī, those women flew into the air and then, like moths, cast themselves into the fire. And so, right there, those five hundred women, led by Śyāmāvatī, were consumed by the blaze. Kubjottarā (Hunchback), [Śyāmāvatī’s maidservant], escaped through a water drain.872
Mākandika had the bodies of those five hundred women dumped at the cremation ground, and he had the palace cleaned up, inside and out. He also had a crowd of weeping people, both residents of Kauśāmbī and visitors from other countries, chased away.
The next morning a large group of monks got dressed, took their bowls and robes, and entered Kauśāmbī for alms. That large group of monks heard that in the city of Kauśāmbī, while Udayana, king of the Vatsas, had gone to the countryside, the women’s quarters of his palace were consumed in a fire, as were five hundred women led by Śyāmāvatī.873 Hearing this, they continued their almsround in Kauśāmbī, and when they were finished, they returned and approached the Blessed One.874
“Bhadanta,” they said, “while wandering for alms in Kauśāmbī, we monks, who are many in number, heard that the women’s quarters in the palace of Udayana, king of the Vatsas, were consumed in a fire875 and that five hundred women led by Śyāmāvatī were consumed in the fire as well.”
“Monks,” the Blessed One said, “great is the demerit that this deluded man has earned. As a result, while Udayana, king of the Vatsas, had gone to the countryside, the women’s quarters of his palace were consumed in a fire, as were five hundred women led by Śyāmāvatī. Monks, although this deluded man generated great demerit, those women did not suffer a bad rebirth. All those who died were pure individuals. Why is that?
“There were, in the women’s quarters, women who had rid themselves of the five bonds to the lower realms of existence and have thus become spontaneously reborn [in a final existence], where they will attain final nirvāṇa. They are now nonreturners, destined not to return to this world again. Like this were the women in the women’s quarters.
“There were, in the women’s quarters, women who had rid themselves of the three bonds to existence as well as attachment, hate, and delusion876 [534] and, having died, have now become once-returners. They will return to this world only once before putting an end to suffering. Like this were the women in the women’s quarters.
“There were, in the women’s quarters, women who had rid themselves of the three bonds to existence and have thus become stream-enterers, destined never to suffer a karmic downfall and devoted to constant meditation.877 Their seventh existence will be their last, for after being reborn and cycling through saṃsāra as gods and humans seven times, they will put an end to suffering. Like this were the women in the women’s quarters.
“There were, in the women’s quarters, women who even at the cost of their own lives never transgressed the discipline. Like this were the women in the women’s quarters.
“There were, in the women’s quarters, women who died with faith in their hearts for me878 and, after the dissolution of their bodies, have now been reborn in a favorable existence among the gods in a heavenly realm. Like this were the women in the women’s quarters.
“Come,879 monks, [let us behold] the bodies of the five hundred women who were led by Śyāmāvatī.”
“Yes, Bhadanta,” the monks replied, consenting to the Blessed One’s request.
Then the Blessed One, together with that large group of monks, approached the [charred] bodies of those five hundred women. Having approached, the Buddha addressed the monks: “Monks, it is these five hundred bodies that made Udayana, king of the Vatsas, impassioned, attached, and lustful, that made him enslaved, infatuated, enthralled, and entranced. But a wise person would never touch them, not even with his foot.”
And he uttered this verse:
This world, which fosters delusion,
appears as if magnificent.
Fools, bound by attachment
and enveloped in darkness,
s
ee the unreal as real, but
in what they see there is nothing.
And then he said, “So then, monks, this is to be learned: ‘We won’t even have bad thoughts toward a burned stump, let alone a body with sensory consciousness.’880 It is this, monks, that you should learn to do.”
Now the citizens of Kauśāmbī gathered together and began to talk among themselves. “Friends, such a terrible misfortune has befallen the king! Who among us will inform the king of this?”
Some of them said, “Whoever is the bearer of bad news should inform him. Let’s send for him.”
“Yes, let’s do it,” others said. [535] So they summoned him and said, “Notify my lord of all the bad things that have occurred.”
“Pay me my wages. Isn’t the bearer of bad news to be paid? Well, now is the time.881 Otherwise, you can notify him yourselves.”
“But it’s for this very reason that you’ve been given a job,” they said. “It’s your duty! Notify him.”882
“I’ll notify him on one condition—you must do as I say.”
“Tell us! We’ll do it.”
“The king is to be notified in the following way: Provide me with five hundred male elephants, five hundred female elephants, five hundred stallions, five hundred mares, five hundred boys, five hundred girls, and one hundred thousand gold coins. Then, on a canvas, draw the town of Kauśāmbī and the Puṣpadanta Palace, showing the birchbark, ink, reed pens, oil, and wicks,883 as well as Mākandika setting fire to the last pile of birchbark. And show the gatehouse catching fire, the people of Kauśāmbī rushing to put it out, and Mākandika drawing his sword and driving them back. And show the master mechanic coming and saying, ‘I’ll move this burning gatehouse someplace else,’ and then Mākandika driving him back as well. And show the five hundred women led by Śyāmāvatī flying into the air and then casting themselves into the fire.”
“Yes, we’ll do it,” they said.
So they presented him with five hundred male elephants, five hundred female elephants, five hundred stallions, five hundred mares, five hundred boys, five hundred girls, and one hundred thousand gold coins. And, on a canvas, they drew the town of Kauśāmbī and the Puṣpadanta Palace, showing birchbark, ink, reed pens, oil, and wicks,884 as well as Mākandika setting fire to the last pile of birchbark. And it showed the gatehouse catching fire, the people of Kauśāmbī rushing to put it out, and Mākandika drawing his sword and driving them back. And it showed the master mechanic coming and saying, “I’ll move this burning gatehouse someplace else,” and then Mākandika driving him back as well. And it showed the five hundred women led by Śyāmāvatī flying into the air and casting themselves into the fire. All of this was drawn on that canvas.
Then the bearer of bad news sent a letter to the king’s ministers that said, “Such a terrible misfortune has befallen the king! I will notify him in a skillful way. [536] You must provide assistance.” After writing that letter to them,885 the bearer of bad news, accompanied by the four branches of the military, went to a certain district and waited.
Then he sent a letter to [King]886 Udayana saying, “My lord, I am king in this district. My son has been carried off887 by Death. I shall therefore do battle against him. If you can defeat him in battle, that would be good. If not, I’ll pay Death a ransom of five hundred male elephants, five hundred female elephants, five hundred stallions, five hundred mares, five hundred boys, five hundred girls, plus one hundred thousand gold coins to recover my son.”
Meanwhile the powerful village chief would not surrender to King Udayana.
[After reading the letter,] the king said to his ministers, “Gentlemen, can this king be such a fool? Is there anyone carried away by death that can be brought back? What’s done is done.”888
Then King Udayana wrote back to him saying, “A village chief named such-and-such will not surrender to me. First offer us your help, and then I’ll help you.” The king’s ministers sent off the letter, and as soon as the bearer of bad news heard what it said, he came and set up camp not far from the village chief.
The village chief heard about this and reflected, “I’m already surrounded in ten directions by one king, and now there is a second.889 I’ll give up my homeland again but not my life.” He placed his sword in supplication against his neck,890 went out, and fell prostrate at King Udayana’s feet. King Udayana appointed him as a tribute-paying vassal.
Now that bearer of bad news, in the guise of a king, went before King Udayana and said, “My lord, my son has been carried off by Death. Please help me. I shall do battle against him. If you can defeat him in battle, that would be good. If not, to recover my son, I’ll pay Death a ransom of five hundred male elephants, five hundred female elephants, five hundred stallions, five hundred mares, five hundred boys, five hundred girls, plus one hundred thousand gold coins.”
“Dear friend, you’re a fool!” King Udayana said. “Is there anyone who can be brought back from death?”
“My lord, no one can,” he said. “And since this is so, look at this canvas.”891 He then spread it out.
The king examined the canvas, and looking892 as if pierced in the vitals, [537] he said, “What?” Then he said, “Friend, are you saying that five hundred women led by Śyāmāvatī were consumed in a fire?”
The bearer of bad news took off his royal insignia and crown and uttered this verse:
I’m no king, nor the son of a king,
but a servant, my lord, living at your feet.
I have come here, prostrate before you,
to deliver very bad news.
The king examined the canvas closely and thought to himself, “This is the city of Kauśāmbī, this is the palace, this is Mākandika using birchbark and so on to set fire to the Puṣpadanta Palace, and this is five hundred women led by Śyāmāvatī being consumed in the fire after flying into the air and casting themselves into the flames.” Having thought this over, he said, “Friend, are you saying that Śyāmāvatī has been consumed in a fire?”
“My lord, I’m not saying so. It’s my lord himself who says so.”
“Friend, you’ve informed me in a skillful way. Otherwise, I would have decapitated you with my sword and tossed your head to the ground.” With that said, King Udayana fainted and fell to the ground.
Splashed with water, the king regained his senses and said, “Gentlemen, prepare the four branches of the military for battle! Let’s go to Kauśāmbī.” The ministers prepared the four branches of the military for battle. The king set out for Kauśāmbī and arrived there in due course. He heard all the details from the townspeople and became enraged. The townspeople tried to console him.
Then the king ordered Yogāndharāyaṇa, “Go! Put Mākandika along with Anupamā in the torture chamber and torture them!” But Yogāndharāyaṇa secretly secured893 them in an underground chamber. After seven days the king’s grief departed—he was free from grief.894
“Yogāndharāyaṇa,” the king said, “where is Anupamā?”
Yogāndharāyaṇa reminded him of his previous order.895
“Good,” the king said. “Mākandika killed Śyāmāvatī, and you killed Anupamā. So now I should go forth as a monk.”896
“My lord,” Yogāndharāyaṇa said, “it is for this very reason that I secured her in an underground chamber. I’ll see if she is still alive.”
Yogāndharāyaṇa brought her from the underground chamber. She seemed untroubled, and she had a fresh appearance.
When the king saw her, he reflected: “She looks fresh. [538] She hasn’t been without food! She must have been having sex with another man!” With this in mind, he said, “Anupamā, have you had sex with another man?”
“Heaven forbid! I would never do that.”
“How would I know?”
“Do you have faith in the Blessed One?”
“I have faith in Gautama.”
“Before he was the ascetic Gautama. Now he is the Blessed One.”
“What will I say to the Blessed On
e about Anupamā’s fresh appearance?897 What will I say to him about Śyāmāvatī?”898 With this in mind, the king approached the Blessed One and, having approached, placed his head in veneration at the Blessed One’s feet and then sat down at a respectful distance. Udayana, king of the Vatsas, then said this to the Blessed One: “Bhadanta, what deed did those five hundred women led by Śyāmāvatī do that resulted in their being consumed in a fire? And how did Kubjottarā manage to escape through a water drain?”899
“Great king,” the Blessed One replied, “the deeds that they themselves have performed and accumulated have now come together, and their conditions have matured. [They remain before them like an oncoming flood and will certainly come to pass. Those deeds were performed and accumulated by them. Who else will experience their results? For those deeds that are performed and accumulated, your majesty, do not mature outside of oneself—neither in the element of earth nor in the element of water, in the element of fire or in the element of wind. Instead, those deeds that are performed and accumulated, both good and bad, mature in the aggregates, elements, and sense bases that are appropriated when one is reborn.
Actions never come to naught,
even after hundreds of millions of years.
When the right conditions gather and the time is right,]900
then they will have their effect on embodied beings.”
King Brahmadatta, the Palace Women, and the Solitary Buddha
Long ago, your majesty, in a time gone by, in the city of Vārāṇasī, a king named Brahmadatta ruled a kingdom that was thriving, prosperous, and safe, with plenty of food and throngs of people, [that was free from quarrel and strife, with no hustle and bustle, thieves, or diseases, that was rich in rice, sugarcane, cattle, and buffalo. He was a just and virtuous king,]901 and he ruled according to dharma.
When no buddhas are born, solitary buddhas can arise in the world. They have compassion for the poor and neglected, they live in remote areas, and they alone are worthy of people’s offerings.
At that time a certain solitary buddha, after wandering through the countryside, arrived in Vārāṇasī. He settled in a hut in a certain park.
